Blogger Notes

Thusfar, Survival Korean is just ok. The first few segments on the alphabet were quite a bother because no one thought it helpful enough to seperate the audio into tracks or at least provide an audio marker in the track-that-never-ends to seperate them. So, on pages 30-31, there are 5 different audio segments which are stuffed away in the middle of a 16-minute track on the accompanying cd. I kid you not, it was so annoying, I used an audio editor and divided it into 20 different tracks. That way, I can easily go back to any particular section of consonents or vowels without having to fast forward or rewind like it's 1999.

My only other beef is the fact that there are lists of "Bonus Vocabulary" at the end of each chapter that are NOT on the cds. Folks, how much does it really cost to keep the talent in the studio a few more hours? Seriously.

On a positive note, this is the first Korean language material I've picked up that didn't start off by introducing the concept of kimchi or devoting more than a paragraph to the scientificness of the Korean alphabet and how smart and fabulous King Sejong was.

That said, I've got the alphabet about half memorized. I haven't been able to make any proper flash cards since my printer broke. In the meantime, I'll try not to devote too much brain power to what the heck is up with two different methods of counting--one of which is supposed to be based in Chinese but sounds NOTHING like Mandarin. What's up with that? Do they match with Cantonese or something? *sigh*

I watched The Host (괴물) again with a friend who was seeing it for the first time. On the small screen at least, the movie isn't so much scary as it is intriguing. It offers a sort of backhanded social commentary about bureaucracy (and I think the writer was insulting the US but it was well-written so it seemed justified by the storyline).

Obviously since I've watched it more than once, I liked the film. In part, I wanted to watch it with a friend to see if the moments I found so amusing are just particular to me (the memorial scene) or if they might play the same way with a friend. [Conclusion: My sense of humor is universal, I just need more tests to solidify my conclusion. ;)]

As I understand it, the film is the highest grossing K-film to date, and after watching it, it's not hard to understand why. Everybody loves a good action flick and there's unexpected moments of comedy tucked throughout.

The little girl on the poster Ko Ah Seong (고아성) did an amazing job. Her performance seemed extremely natural--a tremendous feat considering she was facing off against a creature she couldn't actually see.

Watch this one with the lights out and the volume up. You'll have loads of fun. I promise!

This movie is out of control! It is seriously ridiculous. I loved it!

I love pop culture in general and movies in particular. Entertainment serves as a barometer of a country's interest and humor, etc. After Full House (풀하우스) served as my gateway drug to K-pop heaven, I've been searching out new K-films to watch. This one was a great choice.

Mission Possible (권순분 여사 납치사건) tells the story of three sweet, gullible losers who decide to kidnap a rich old lady to pay off some debts surrounding some previous illegal activity. Naturally, this ajumma didn't get rich by being dumb. Chaos ensues. Eventually, everyone lives happily ever after.

Important things to note:

• This is the second time I've seen Nah Moon Hee (나문희) beating the crap out of young people. (The first was My Name is Kim Sam Soon.) She's really good at it.
• This little boy* (U Gun 유건) is just one more reason why older women go for younger men. Because there's no way a child could appreciate his level of beauty like a grown woman can. Recognize. He's got a serious Ashton Kutcher thing going on. Just call me Demi Moore.
  
• I need to have a conversation with the special effects guy about how he got the heavy-set chick to look like Paul Bunyan. That don't make no kinda sense. Hilarious!
• Surrealism is alive and well in Korean film.

Other than that, it's pretty entertaining and accessible. Buy a copy from YesAsia or check it out Crunchy Roll style like I did.

*No need to call the police. He's 25. Chill!

...well, at least easier than Korean.

I don't think--actually, I'm pretty sure--that probably won't be true in the long run but I'm impatient with myself. Learning to hear the difference between 안녕(an-nyeong) and 아녕 (a-nyeong) or 안영 (an-yeong) for that matter, might take a good long while. It took me 3 months just to even hear the tones in Chinese. Telling them apart was another matter entirely. Even now, I'm still limited to about 200 Chinese words! *sigh*

I should stop panicking. There's two days left in my "week".

...or at least I will be according to this book:


While the cover irks me to no end--Who was the designer on this one? Weren't you the least bit perturbed about this pose? What's he doing with his hands? Were they supposed to be holding something?--it seems like a good enough place to start. I'm completely uninterested in starting off with anything academic because it's usually chapter nine or so before you learn how to say what it is you really want to say.

Also, I absolutely must take the opportunity to brag on Hanbooks.com because if you're going to pay way too much for an import + S&H, at the very least, it ought to be delivered fast. And it was! Lightening fast. I placed my order on Monday and it was in my mailbox on Wednesday. That's what I call service! Hanbooks makes the Good List.

You may, or more likely may not, recognize the author and "guy on the cover" Stephen Revere as host of one of the incarnations of Let's Speak Korean a mini microseries on the Korean state-funded channel Arirang. More recently, he did a similar series Traveler's Korean. Both programs seem pretty useful BUT being the nerd that I am, I prefer to sit down to more than 1 minute of instruction a session.

So, this week's (ok, week and a half) goal is for me to learn the Korean alphabet - Hangeul. Hopefully, by next week, I'll have figured out how to type it...

So, as the title of the blog says, I'm pre-sold on going to, not just Korea, but Seoul...specifically. I'm not so hot on small town America so I'm absolutely not down for living in small town "anywhere else". That being the case, and Google being my best friend, I've done a wee bit of research on getting a suitable teaching position.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), there are only four companies authorized to recruit native English-speaking teachers:

Footprints Recruiting Incorporated
•Contact Person: Ben Glickman, Director of Employer Relations
•E-mail: recruiting@footprintsrecruiting.com
•Website: http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com

Korea Connections
•Contact Person: Jay. M. Lee, Director of Employee Relations
•E-mail; jaymlee@koreaconnections.net
•Website: http://www.koreaconnections.net
•North American Office: Cindy Bond, Director of Employee Relations
E-mail: CindyB@KoreaConnections.net

WorknPlay Incorpotated
•Contact Person: Gloria Hwang, Recruiting Consultant
•E-mail: gloria@worknplay.co.kr
•Website: http://www.worknplay.co.kr

Woongjin TOS
•Contact Person: Clara Kim(Kim, Young Hee), Senior Officer
•E-mail: clara@wjtos.com
•Website: http://www.wjtos.com

Of the above, I believe Footprints has been in existence the longest. I sent "general info" emails to all the agencies almost a month ago and Will at Footprints was the only one that responded (and quickly!) Because of that, I plan to apply through them.

I'm going to take a big sigh and dive in!

Seven days ago, I turned 30.

I committed to two things: 1) to live without fear and 2) to make conscious steps toward making my "life list" come true.

This blog will chronicle year one of that commitment, the year that I will accomplish goal #1: Use my passport and hopefully #2: Pay off my credit cards.

I'm going to teach English in Seoul, South Korea.