Scribblings of the Metropolitician

Korea Needs to Hold Up Its Obligations to CERD as It Tries to Call Itself a "Multicultural" Country

Hat tip to Ben Wagner and Matt VanVolkenburg, the latter of whom I am meeting now. For all who complain about criticism of "Korea" as an entity responsible in certain ways to to discriminate. Read up. Bullshit bar conversations on the subject end here. Here are the facts.

 

Go Mini without LTE 'Cause LTE mini ain't coming anytime soon!

I'm writing this post on an iPad mini with voice recognition and the Blogsy app. Forget all into my technology love, let me break down the history of wireless Internet options in Korea.

Until a couple years ago, Nespot was the dominant wireless Internet provider year, which I believe was run out of KT. Nowadays, good luck finding a NESPOT connection, since everything is Olleh by KT. If you been wondering around Korea I have seen a lot of wireless connections by Olleh, here's the breakdown. You'll see Olleh connections everywhere, and the ones with password protection on them are the ones that are offered to customers who are paying by the hour by the day usually on a credit card. The ones without password protection on them, but which you can connect to, but won't work, are ones that recognize your MAC address on your device.

I just asked at the KT center for the third time in recent memory, and according to those guys, they don't know about any official time schedule for rolling out 3G service for the iPad minis. So don't expect it anytime soon. However, I basically get leaflets service by combining the technologies of readily available only wireless service, which seems to be just about everywhere, since it is designed for mobile subscribers to have wireless access on their phones. But for a small fee every month, you can subscribe to a service that allows you to use those wireless connections with any NAC address, which would mean any iPhone or iPad or what have you from outside or without 3G service, or in theory, your notebook. When I'm in a taxicab like I am now, of course I can't use any of the wireless connections that I'm whizzing past at high-speed. So, I tethered it to my iPhone via Bluetooth. This is the best way to connect on 3G mobile device with Internet on the run. And yes, it's better, much better at making a Wi-Fi hotspot on your phone, since the Bluetooth draws less power and also when you power up the mobile device using the tether, it automatically reconnects. So, you can just pull out your iPad mini on the bus just to check your email Like it''s3G, meaning you don't have to manually go in and set up a wireless Wi-Fi hotspot every time you want to check your email on your Kaether device. Between Bluetooth tethering to your iPhone and using the Wi-Fi networks made available by KP, there's almost no need to have a 3G or LTE connection for an iPad mini, as it's not going to come out anytime soon in any case. So, not only Woodmaple my breath for that eventuality, I would just go and buy an iPad mini and integrated into readily available services and the Bluetooth tethering on your iPhone.

Oh, and unlimited data on the iPhone for KT is officially dead. When I upgraded to an iPhone five, they told me to say goodbye to my old plan, which meant all that unlimited data I wasn't even using anyway is no longer available to me. Still, using the iPhone in Korea means much better data plans the US.

So, in short combine Olleh's very cheap nationwide Wi-Fi coverage and tethering to your iPhone. I don't know much about tethering to other phones, but I know it's possible. Bluetooth tethering to an iPhone means that you don't have to create a hotspot every time you pull out your device. It just connects as if you never turned it off, like you had 3G.

And hey, the combination of voice recognition on the Siri enabled iPad mini and wireless serviceand the blogging on the Blogsy app makes for a nearly science-fiction-level blogging experience

 

Meet Juanita Hong!

Here's a real quick post based on the conversation I just had with a cool dude I just met in Haebangchon. In it, I was recommended to get in touch with someone named Juanita Hong, who did a really interesting documentary that I've pasted below. She's another documentary and portrait photographer living here in Seoul, and in the interests of collegial support and friendship, I've decided to put her up for your perusal and edification. I'm impressed!

 

 

The Two Koreas

You have a choice when living in Korea as a liberal-minded Westerner. and that choice will define your life here, as you interact with the Two Koreas. But they're not the ones you think....

One "Korea" is a place full of warm-hearted, friendly people who are steeped in a Confucian way of understanding the world that is a direct result of centuries of a beautiful traditional culture deciding to keep doin things in the Old Ways. This Korea is wonderful.

Another "Korea" is a soul-grinding, heartless mutant child of modernity and all its ills, with morals being dictated by a runaway capitalist bottom line, racist, supremacist assumptions about how the world works, and a soul-wrenching pragmatism that is typical of people who h ave had to give up moral ground to survive. This Korea is a shitty place to live, and as an intelligent , educated westerner used to a modicum of human respect and decency, you will find it hard to live here. 

Both Koreas exist and overlap with one another.

But what you must do is decide which world you want to see and continually justify to yourself the choice not to see the other. 

Such is the struggle of the intelligent non-Korean living in this land.

You Shouldn't Forget about the Past, Cuz It Don't Forget About You...

Oops. I've been in South Korea this time around since 2002, when I was busy taking pictures of the anti-American protests and actually stopped taking the subway because the harassment of foreigners became so bad around that time. I was also treated to the lovely song stylings of "Fucking USA", a song that was commonly performed at protests at the time. Actually, I have a bit of schadenfreude for Psy on this one, as representative of the unacceptable orgy of hatred that took place at the time As superficial as it was, admittedly, it's still important to talk about this issue, since I feel that the nation kind of got away with this unacceptable pattern of behavior that it has actually never come to terms with.

From Seoul, 2002 by Michael Hurt.

At the time, I was made to feel like some right wing reactionary or apologist for American Empire, sometimes even by my lefty colleagues, for being uncomfortable with or angry that many otherwise educated and intelligent young people in South Korea felt okay to say stupid things such as expressing a desire to see American soldiers die, or many other hurtful things. And the truth of the matter is that side was an idea leader, one of the people who was more responsible than others for spreading these hateful ideas. Frankly, I felt that anyone who was an adult or had half a brain should not have been spreading such hateful ideas about any group, even if it was politically correct or acceptable at the time. Which is why I think that side should be held accountable for everything that he said as an entertainer and performer at the time. Now, I can forgive people for having said things or done things and moments of youthful indiscretion who then grew up and out of that mode of thinking when they became famous later, but frankly, even if only on a moral level, Psy should have known better. He was already a famous entertainer and public figure who was busy spreading hatred. And the onus of responsibility For not acting a fool is greater when you command the attention and good graces of millions of people. Which is what makes his act completely immoral and irresponsible. And now, since he is much more famous than he was before and has been given millions of more international fans, I feel it is perfectly reasonable for these fans to hold him accountable for every aspect of his personality as a performer and public figure, even if that was before they came to know him.

For South Korea, this could be an object lesson in the importance of fostering an international and global mindset, because long gone are the days when Koreans could act ignorant towards and say stupid things about foreigners and other Others without fear of other ramifications. Some might cry foul here by saying that it's unfair to dig into Psy's past and hold him accountable for ideas that pretty much everyone had in South Korea at the time. But that's precisely why he should be held accountable. Even if he was only following the fashion, he is emblematic of a nation that came to exist and prosper because it was in the good graces of the United States, whatever one wants to think about the history or the interpret why United States has been interested in concretely and materially assisting South Korea. That's the whole tricky thing to South Korean anti-Americanism, isn't it? Much more then anyone is pointing out, his anti-Americanism is very "Gangnam Style." The nation prospers and gets rich, then suddenly forgets about the circumstances and sacrifices it took to get there. Or who created the material circumstances of that success. This is not to say that the US protection of South Korea should engender love and affection for the US on the part of South Koreans, but rather at least a realistic knowledge of the circumstances in which their nation exists.

Do I think Americans should take his recent apology seriously? No. Not in the American sense of the idea. People should realize that the Korean apology, as it functions in South Korea, is very much a superficial protection of "face" after having violated a social norm or rule of social relationships. It is very "regretful" to have been caught, but it is also not an expression of actual sorrow nor is it a sign of meaningful introspection, but merely something that is expected after being caught doing something considered to be negative given one's social role, an apology given quickly and easily. And in this case, after having been thrust, much to his own surprise, into the international spotlight and gaining millions of American fans, Psy's hand has been caught in the proverbial cookie jar, and he has to apologize in order to save face, but also save the prospects of continued popularity and financial gain. Suddenly, both Psy and South Korea are no longer ignored, and are finally getting what they have always wanted: attention and recognition from the west. Now, it's time to own up to the fact that South Korea doesn't have many positive views of people who come from that place, and has a lot of shit to deal with in terms of how it thinks about and treats outsiders and deals with the sticky issue of its own history and how it came to be.

 

How Korea Insults Women

Come ON. Really? Even I, as a long-time resident of Korea, am surprised at the crass objectification of women this decision represents.

It's not like this country has any other prominent women in the news or politics, such as perhaps the first viable contender to become the first female president of this republic, or anything, right?

SISTAR?! Let's do this thought experiment -- "We have candidates for Woman of the Year in US GQ: Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, First Lady Michelle Obama, and television personality Kim Kardashian! And the winner is... Kim Kardashian!"

SERiously, in KOrea, teenie-looking sexpot dancing girls get the prize BECAUSE BEING "SEXY" AND ATTRACTIVE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE IN LIFE FOR A WOMAN. At least in korea.

Did a little rant in Korean on Yahae! as well.

HT to the Marmot (almost forgot my blog manners!)

 

Food porn, reborn!

Seriously, only in Korea. I mean, really? Has the hypersexualization of women gotten to this point? Giving the "do me" face for pizza? And, semiotics fans, a limp, thin-crust slice?The ad falls short even on its own terms! At least give the male gaze-possessing viewer a thick, hard crust, yo?! You know a man made this ad, albeit not a very smart one.

Really, this ad left me hanging...

 

Korean Politics on the Ground

"Let's support the beautiful female candidate Park Geun-hye. She's soft/gentle, not full of tricks, and is overflowing with charm." -- A male bathroom stall in Seoul train station

Frankly, one might expect more rough treatment by men scrawling on the bathroom stall in the train station about Korea's first viable female candidate for president. You're on the ground and South Korea, many people liken the possibility of the first female president being elected into high office in this highly sexist country to the United States' election of the first black person into its presidency.

It feels like most young people and those who are politically progressive already for another president park, who happens to be the daughter of the former dictator/president of the same name.

This seems like a good portent to me, if reasonable discourse about the first minority and underdog candidate can exist in the men's bathroom stall at a train station. This is real candid talk amongst those who hold power here, and it's not that bad. What we saw and heard about Obama just before his first election seem far, far worse.

Still, even praise of her centers around her gender-normative characteristics, such as being " gentle"or pretty.sort of how certain white folk gave Obama credit for "speaking well."

Wish me luck!

Just a quick update for those who might be interested. I am now well into the process of finishing up my dissertation, And I recently received a request from one of the tenure-track positions I am applying for to come and do a job talk at their campus on Tuesday. I have a very good feeling about this position, since they seem very serious about opening up a an American style department with American level academic standards and practices. I hope that if I can wow them a little bit on Tuesday that this might be the job that is my first real step out of adjunct professor hell (What Koreans call "시간 강사"). Such positions are still pretty rare here in Korea, so I'm really hoping that this goes somewhere. If Tuesday turns into anything, you're certainly going to hear a lot more about it here from me, and my blogging will probably turn a much more into the direction of teaching in the university classroom. Specifically, that is, teaching content based subjects in actual disciplines, more than the teaching of English. I really hope this marks a major career turning point in my life, and this may well be reflected here in this blog. In any case, I will be keeping you updated here, since this is my blog and I want to make sure to not only record this process in my life, but to update those of you who might be interested as to what I've been doing since my recent medical misadventures. Also, you might have noticed that my blogging frequency has been reduced greatly these days. More than for any particular reason, I think this reflects the change in the way both that I, and other people, use social media these days. In terms of small little commentaries on life and politics, as well as on Korea itself, a lot of my energy to express those small things comes out on Facebook these days, so if you would like to keep up with the older snarky me, I might suggest you follow me on Facebook. Just because I save the blogs for larger moments of inspiration, which by definition come far less frequently than the desire to put up a music video or make a snarky comment about Mitt Romney.

You can follow me on Facebook by going to my address there, which is www.Facebook.com/metropolitician And then instead of asking for a friend request, simply indicate that you would like to follow me, à la Twitter.

I'm not saying this because there any big changes to the blog coming up anywhere, but rather because it's a good time to mention what I've been doing and explain why my blogging frequency has decreased, all while preparing for what I hope to be a major life change in the very near future. So, expect to hear more information down the line about me filing my dissertation in the upcoming spring semester, as well as hopefully beginning life as a real professor. I'm toying around with the idea of putting up a chapter of my dissertation as a lengthy blog post. This is for those of you who might find such a thing interesting. Any feedback on that? In any case, drop me a line and wish me luck as I endeavor to steer my life back onto a proper academic course! And to my long-time readers, thanks for sticking around and for coming back to read this blog from time to time. I only make the suggestion about Facebook because that's where I'm more active these days. And I hope that if you follow my updates, you can get the same old snarky me that brought you to the blog in the first place. Thanks!

 

A typical piece of Metropolitician hate mail...

XXXXXXXXXXXXX@aol.com

5:43 AM (10 hours ago)

to me 

Die painfully okay? Prefearbly by getting crushed to death in a
garbage compactor, by getting your face cut to ribbons with a
pocketknife, your head cracked open with a baseball bat, your stomach
sliced open and your entrails spilled out, and your eyeballs ripped
out of their sockets. fvcking btch

I really hope that you get curb-stomped. It'd be hilarious to see you
begging for help, and then someone stomps on the back of your head,
leaving you to die in horrible, agonizing pain. fggot


STFU, before you get your face bashed in and cut
to ribbons, and your throat slit.

And some people wonder why I am so concerned with setting the record straight anf my online reputation in general. Because if there's any misunderstanding, that kind of lovely greeting increases.