Category: Personal

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[is korea getting kinky?]

“Abracadabra” from Brown Eyed Girls is the first bit of Korean pop culture I’ve happened across that makes explicit reference to either BDSM or female bisexuality. (It’s much more common to see sadomasochism couched in a “horror” context, which makes it more acceptable.) It’s a sexy video, and not just a cutesy pantomime of American sexy.
Back in 2002, Korea was not sexy or cool. It really wanted to be cool, but it just wasn’t.
I had a friend who was teaching in Japan at the time, and she reminded me that Japan used to be the same way. Back in the 80s, Japan was Mr. Miyagi and the dorky car executives in Gung Ho. And then one day, somehow Japan was cool. It was weird techno and Cibo Matto and tentacle porn, and those cheesy anime shows we used to watch were suddenly part of a vibrant Asian subculture.
When I wondered whether Korea would turn a similar corner, I saw a few things holding it back, but mostly it came down to prudishness and conservatism. Where Japan has a long tradition of frankly bizarre erotica and exuberantly weird subcultures, Korea’s long-reigning Joseon Dynasty emphasized Confucian values of propriety, frugality and restraint. And Korea today is home to a large and passionate community of devout Protestant Christians. Also, Korea doesn’t really do irony, and irony seems crucial to finding your way into the hearts of American hipsters.
Even so, the Hallyu, or Korean Wave, has managed to spread Korean pop culture across Asia in recent years. Compared with a stagnant, aging Japan and a China where censorship still rules, Korean culture can seem downright (dare I say it?) dynamic.
Will it catch on in the US? And if it does, where in our culture will it fit? I don’t know, but I do know that Korea continues to surprise me.
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[dancing with the ajummas]

“Body like swan: above the water, everything slow. Down below the water, fast.” “Like cha-cha-cha! Cha-cha-cha!” “Everybody, Fast! In a circle! She is thief, I am police!” With these and other curious exhortations, I was initiated tonight into the world of traditional Korean dance.

I found the class on Craigslist, where people seek to enlist their fellows in all kinds of bizarre behavior. I arrived at Lotus Music and Dance, a world music-oriented dance studio whose entryway resembles a dental clinic for a dangerous clientele — I had to sign in through a metal grate before I was buzzed into the office area, where I filled out forms and signed and insurance waiver. Once that was done, I was waved down the hall to studio A, where I found myself in the company of three middle-aged Korean women, a young American woman, and our teacher, Songhee Lee, standing resplendent in her hanbok and moving with daunting grace.
Korean dance is unlike any dance I’ve done before. For one thing, it’s slow, requiring a smoothness of movement that, shall we say, does not come naturally to me. Second, its rhythms are dauntingly alien to me. And third, it involves keeping your arms in the air for extended periods of time, which is exhausting. (Toward the end of the class, I got to thinking about CIA-administered stress positions, and how they were inspired by North Korean techniques.)
In fact, my first experience of learning Korean dance was a lot like my experience of learning Korean: confusing, difficult, fascinating, and presented with a curious combination of welcome and wariness. Lee Seonsaengnim wanted my phone number and email, and so did the American (a dedicated Korean dancer, it turns out — I’ll have to get her story), and everyone was terribly impressed at my ability to speak Korean. But as is so often the case with Koreans, the question of how I learned Korean shades into the more accusatory question of why I’m interested in Korea. There seems to be a general consensus among Koreans that while foreign fascination with her gigantic neighbor to the west and her rich and sexy neighbor to the east makes perfect sense, there’s something a little weird about being interested in Korea. It’s like finding out your friend is really into polka, or a huge Steve Gutenberg fan.
Nevertheless, the welcome won out, as usual. People are usually flattered when you find them interesting. Lee Seonsaengnim offered to arrange special sessions to teach me “man dance,” and the American woman promised that she would give me free lessons. “Have you been to Korea?” I asked her.
“I go every year.”
“Then can you teach me out to dance like the drunk old men in the park?”
She says she can teach me in an hour. We’ll see.
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[the cup]

Many years ago, I saw a lovely Tibetan film called The Cup. It has been a long time, but I finally watched it again, and I found it just as sweet, moving and lovely as before. It’s the story of some monks in a Tibetan monastery in northern India — refugees, mostly — and one young monk’s passion for soccer during the 1998 World Cup.

I guess I don’t have all that much to say about it right now except that I would encourage you to see it if you can.
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[i love my india]

This video from India’s Got Talent, passed on by a Facebook friend, is a great example of what I find so compelling about India: the passionate mix of high and low, sacred and profane, beautiful and silly, devout and camp, until you’re completely unable to tell which is which.

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[not a christian country]

There is a kind of meme among conservatives that America is a Christian nation — that the founders were Christian, that the Constitution is based on Christian principles, that sort of things. And so I thought it was interesting to discover that in our treaty with Tripoli, passed unanimously by the Senate in 1797, Article 11 expressly states that “the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

Seriously.

Now, this isn’t a note written by Thomas Jefferson or George Washington. It’s merely the expressed views of a unanimity of senators at a time when they could personally recall exactly what the foundation of our country was about.

America has, from its foundation, embraced religious freedom. This is just one more example of how basic that idea was to the founding generation.

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[revivifying the palaverist]

It has been brought to my attention that I did in fact once have faithful readers, and that they’re kind of disappointed that this blog has slowed to the point of nothingness.

So I came rattling back around in here and found that the place had grown a bit musty. For one thing, my about page still had me working at the South Korean Mission to the UN, a habit I gave up back in January of 2008. And the picture was in need of an upgrade. I’m much cagier now.

I’ve also decided to embrace modern technology — blogs are so early aughts! — by creating a Facebook page where you can become a fan and pick up the feed for this blog. (The Palaverist shall not, however, tweet.)

More than any of that, however, is a renewed interest in actually producing some content. So enough of this meta-content! On to the other kind …

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[it’s harder than it looks]

Rules: It’s harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag 10 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real…nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can’t use your name for the boy/girl name question.

1. What is your name: Josh

2. A four letter word: Jolt

3. A boy’s name: Jesus

4. A girl’s name: Jessica

5. An occupation: Journalist

6. A color: Jade

7. Something you wear: Jodhpurs

9. A food: Jambalaya

10. Something found in the bathroom: Jars

11. A place: Jaisalmer

12. A reason for being late: Jalopy broke down

13. Something you shout: Jump!

14. A movie title: Jacob’s Ladder

15. Something you drink: Juice

16. A musical group: Jamiroquai

17. An animal: Jaguar

18. A street name: Joralemon

19. A type of car: Jeep

20. The title of a song: Just

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[josh needs]

More facebook memery:
Type in your name and the word “needs” in quotes (“[Your first name] needs”) INTO YOUR FAVORITE SEARCH ENGINE and see what comes up. List the first 10 and then tag 10 or more of your friends. Google seems to think I need…
1. A holiday or just a cuddle
2. To stop lounging on here’s [sic]
3. Help
4. A scolarship [sic]
5. Extra lovin’ to keep mind off ScarJo
6. To quit stalking Supermac
7. To explore the idea that Trojan War was really in …
8. Tips!
9. To visit Hawaii
10. To make me this super awesome owl cupcake for my bday!