From Shanghai to Busan

Well, I'm back in Korea and although I had a great trip to Shanghai was pleased to see the farmiliar surroundings of Busan and more specifically, my neighborhood, Jangsan.

Shanghai is truely a city of contrasts. I was staying along East Nanjing Road which is the glitzy tourism driven hub of downtown Shanghai. It reminded me of a more upscale version of Koasan Road in Bangkok. It's a street lined expensive department stores, cafes and boutiques, yet filled with scam artists, beggars and prostitutes. You can't sit down on East Nanjing Road for more than 20 seconds without someone trying to sell you something. When the male hawkers approach you (a male), their pitch starts with them attempting to sell you something and quickly slides downhill.

A typical pitch goes something like this: "Hey you want a Rolex? handbag? dvd? English dvd? t-shirt? Foot massage? Full-body massage? Sexy girl? Beer Bar? You want sexy China girl? You can have sexy China girl!"

I'm not exaggerating! I heard this at least 20 times a day. Mind you, one just has to walk a block or two off the beaten path and the glitz quickly disappears. I suppose you see the true Shanghai. There are no fat European tourists or young foreign professionals walking to the office; just poverty. I spent my last morning walking through Old Town with my friend Tom and we saw and smelled the poor side, the more fascinating side for sure.

Here I am in the most typical pic that everyone who goes to Shanghai must have. I'm standing on The Bund with the new Pudong International Economic Zone in the background. It looks like the set from The Jetsons!

Here is the same place lit up at night. It looks like this every night. This was taken from what was to be my evening base of operations. The Captain Bar which is a bar on the roof of the Captain Hostel. I didn't stay at the hostel, but loved their bar and the view.

Standing in an alleyway in Old Town. Everywhere you go there are clothes hanging out to dry. Just a short walk away, you can find a Ferrari and Mazorati car dealership.

Close to Renmin Park.

Filth in Old Town. Obviously, the streets around The Bund and other touristy areas are immaculate, but this isn't the case in the rest of Shanghai.

These were just a few people going about their daily lives. What to do on a Shanghai morning?

As everyone knows, I've been living in Asia for more than 4 years now. Wow, it's been a long time. I lived in Seoul and now Busan, Korea. There are many simialr things I noticed between China and Korea (many Koreans will disagree with that!) as well as many differences. Some of my observations are as follows:

1. There are garbage cans on the street in China!! Wow, what a concept. Korea could learn from this. If you put garbage cans on the street, people will throw their garbage in them and not on the road.

2. People in both countries spit on the streets a lot...a lot! The Chinese gov't has a public awarnesss campaign now. They are trying to get people to stop spitting. They want to improve their image for the upcoming Beijing Olympics and Shanghai Expo.

3. Crossing a street (at a crosswalk) is taking your life into your own hands in China.

4. There are no seatbelts in Shanghai taxis, at least in the back, so ride shotgun!

5. Tiger Beer!! It's so wonderful. Made in Singapore, but popular in China. Why don't they sell it in Korea??

6. Koreans always tell me that Chinese people are loud. I beg to differ. The people who tell me this should look in the mirror! Or voice-recorder!

7. The are NO RULES as far as traffic is concerned in Shanghai. In Korea they have 1 or 2.

8. Many Shanghai taxi drivers don't want to pick up a foreigner (my experience), reminded me of parts of Seoul.

9. Korean students have told me that Chinese people drink too much alcohol. Again, look in the mirror, Korea wins this battle.

10. Although traffic in Shanghai is more chaotic than in Seoul of Busan, there seem to be fewer accidents. I have no idea why this is....very mysterious!

11. Oh yeah.....evryone smokes in both China and Korea...well not everyone...I'm sure there are a few babies yet to take up the habit. It's sooooo nasty! Everywhere you go, somone's sucking on a cancer-stick.

Last Night in China

It's been a great week. Shanghai is certainly a place that has something for everyone. Prostitutes hovering around hotels like mosquitos, amazing food, great beer, amazing views, excellent shopping, thought provoking parks....good stuff. This is my last afternoon here though and by this time tomorrow I will be back in Busan, South Korea and to my regular life.

I plan to write some detailed blogs about my trip this week and add many photos. Check later this week and there will be a lot more! I'm sitting in a smoke choked interenet cafe at the moment and need to get the heck out....my eyes are burning.

Shanghai Nights!!!

Well...I'm in Shanghai at the moment for anyone interested. I got here last night. It's been a trippy two days so far. It's definately an interesting city....a world of difference from Beijing. There are reems of foreigners walking around too which is startling. Sooo many more than in Seoul let alone Busan.

Things are great so far. I have a hotel room close to an area called The Bund. It's near the main shopping area on East Nanjing Road. I thought it would be a wise idea to centralize, but it is damn noisy til about 12am.

I'll be back home in Busan on Saturday afternoon. I'll write more in detail and post pics after that.

Time to suck on more car exhauste. (the air quality is terrible here, but unlike Korea, the Chinese actually have garbage cans on the street! Korea could learn from Shanghai....garbage cans are good!!! if you have them...people won't throw so much trash on the street.)

Holy CRAP...It's Windy!!!!

I think the windows in my apartment are about to blow out. My entire apartment is shaking and the windows are rattling. My emergency light keps getting triggered and the hanging plants by my closed windows are swinging. Not a warm and fuzzy kinda feeling.

There's a typhoon in town and it's kicking Busan's butt at the moment. I'm not sure whether or not it has been downgraded to a tropical storm yet, but DAMN, it's windy. I was at the beach earlier this evening with the two Steves from my building. It was windy and wet then, but nothing like it is at the moment. We were at Haundae beach. It was a far cry from 6 Sundays ago when there were more than 700,000 at the beach in that one day. There were the 3 of us and a few surfers in the water...that was pretty much it. Mind you, Koreans hate rain more than lmost anything in the worl and deem those who go out in the rain voluntarily as insane. haha....I suppose everyone on the penninsula thinks they are made of sugar and fears they will melt!

Haeundae beach about 5:30pm this afternoon.

Steve and Steve hangin out, enjoyin the typhoon.

It's me. I dug out a gor-tex shell and went to the beach with the guys. Didn't do a very good job in keeping me dry though....a lot of fun. I've always loved storms.

Hopefully the windows will still be attached to my apartment in the morning. I'll have to see. I may poke my head outside in little while. I'm curious to see how nasty the winds are.

Oh yeah...the Hermit Kings took the weekend off. It was nice to not be playing in a club this weekend. I believe we will play next Saturday...probably at U2. And of course....in one wek...at this time...I'll be in Shanghai for the first time!!!! I can't wait.

Drunken G.I.'s Terrorize Koreans on Bus

Crazy assed shit!!!! (pardon my French). I've personally seen this kind of crazy behavior in Seoul from time to time by drunken U.S. soldiers.They're big and strong and they know they can hide behind their SOFA Agreement....basically means they can break any Korean law they want and are untouchable by Korean police!

Video footage of drunk GIs allegedly behaving very badly on an Uijeongbu (30 minutes north of Seoul) city bus. Among the highlights—GIs trying to force open the bus door to leap out of the moving vehicle, GIs escaping through a window and remaining GIs beating bus driver/passengers and using the emergency-use hammer to break bus windows and terrorize passengers. Or so it is alleged. Probably not a Kachi Kapshida moment.

http://news.naver.com/news/read.php?mode=LSD&office_id=055&article_id=0000079495§ion_id=102&menu_id=102

Thanks to the Marmot's Hole for this info...

A Student's Viewpoint!

I was reading some of my student's essays today and some of their ideas made me giggle. Mind you, these are not very high level students. They are about 11 or 12 years old. The question was, Would you rather be an only child or have a brother or sister? Here are a few cute responses...


One 12 year old boy doesn't want a sister....why??
"And sister is always trying to make an unreasonable demand of shopping."

Another boy feels that sisters prefer brothers who are clean!....
"sister is, the many noisy and very clean. she will doesn't like me , but brother will like me!"

One 11 year old boy wants a brother for one reason...games...
"If I have brothers, I can speak with brother about my computer games. but I have sister, I can't speak about my games."

A 10 year old student realizes that he won't be as spoiled if he has a sibling!
"if i have brother of sister, my parents are do it same as me as the! if i'm alone, my parent buy me more delicious food of cool cloth,or anything !"

The topic was "only child vs. brother or sister".....for some reason, this kid wrote about B.O.!!!!!"
"Sweat stink is when you sweat smell it that smell is a sweat stink . When older. Then more then before. ."


Never a dull moment as a teacher in Busan!

Powerful Alcoholics Rule Korea

I now truely feel ok about my sometimes Saturday Booze-ups and my weekday post work beer or sometimes 2 are ok......apparently I'm the poster-boy for sobriety compared to some of the wheelin and dealin CEO's in my neighborhood!


Distillery CEOs Drink Often, Heavily
By Kim Yon-seStaff Reporter

Most of chief executive officers of distillers and breweries drink often and heavily.
The CEOs drink an average two bottles of soju, Korea’s distilled liquor, every night, according to industry sources. They wine and dine four nights a week. An average Korean adult does not tend to drink more than a bottle of soju in one session.

Jinro CEO Ha Jin-hong’s drinks on average two bottles of soju and five bottles of beer each day. But that figure is topped whenever he participates in dinner gatherings for business purpose.
A company official said Ha drank about 10 bottles of soju during a dinner with company executives. ``It seems that he drinks six days a week, except for Sunday.’’

Doosan Liquor BG CEO Han Key-sun drinks three or four bottles of soju a day. A company official said Han drank five or six bottles before he underwent an operation against intestinal cancer in 2003.

Hite Beer Yun Jong-woong CEO drinks three or four bottles of 5.6-liter beer before lunch or dinner. OB CEO Kim Jun-young drinks about six bottles of beer a day.

Jean-Christophe Coutures, CEO of Pernod Ricard Korea, which produces the series of Ballantine’s and Royal Salute, drinks a half bottle of whisky or cognac a day. More than three days a week are drinking days for him.

It is believed that Couture also has a taste for boilermakers, a mixture of beer and whisky.
Song Duck-young, CEO of Johnnie Walker series maker Diageo Korea, has a drinking practice similar to Coutures’ Pernod Ricard became the world’s second largest Wine & Spirits operator by taking over the Britain-based Allied Domecq Group, which involves Jinro Ballantine’s, last year. The liquor-maker sells more than 78 million cases and owns global brands.
Diageo Korea is a Korean subsidiary of the London-based liquor firm Diageo, the world's largest beer, wine and spirits company.

kys@koreatimes.co.kr
09-04-2006 18:06

"Kevin's Viewpoint"

Holy Crap!!!!!Damn...I'm a monk compared to these guys.....wait...monks are allowed to drink.....bad comparison.....But....I'm definately a good boy in comparison. these are some high-paid alchoholics!!!!

Cry Me A River!!!

The Dawn of Modern Korea- War of Details

By Andrei Lankov

Every foreign resident of Korea is exposed to a number of habitual Korean statements, which reflect Korean ideas about themselves and their nation. Many of these beliefs are true, some are not so well founded, while others are strange _ like, say, the well-known tendency of Koreans to boast that their country ``has four distinct seasons’’ as if this is something unusual and unknown to most other countries of the globe.

One such oft-repeated statement is that Korea has always suffered invasions and wars. Koreans often say, ``Our history has been tragic, for centuries we have been invaded by powerful enemies and suffered in their hands greatly.’’ Every visitor to Korea is bound to hear such a remark sooner or later, and most people tend to take it at face value. This statement might correctly describe Korean history of the last one hundred years, but it is hardly applicable to earlier eras.

Well, let’s have a look at the Choson Dynasty period, from 1392 to 1910. The last four decades of these five centuries were turbulent indeed, but what about earlier times? Even a cursory look demonstrates that it was hardly a ``time of troubles.’’ Throughout 1392-1865, Korea fought three wars against foreign invaders, not including some minor border skirmishes with nomads in the north, and Japanese pirates on the coasts. In one case, the war with Japan from 1592-1598, known as ``Hideyoshi’s invasion’’ in the West, and as the ``Imjin War’’ in Korea, was disastrous and the entire country was devastated. As you know, the medieval armies, all those ``knights in shining armor,’’ were not too nice when they encountered the civilian population. The two other conflicts, of 1627 and of 1636, were of much smaller scale _ essentially, two blitzkriegs brilliantly executed by Manchu generals whose cavalry units broke through Korean defenses, approached Seoul, and forced the Korean government to agree to an unfavorable peace.

Let’s compare this with the fate of more or less every European country. Throughout the same period of 1392-1865, almost every country in Europe fought a much greater number of conflicts, and suffered much greater casualties. Let’s have a look at German history. The period under consideration is marked by at least four major military conflicts, each lasting for one or several decades, and resulting in mass death and destruction: the Reformation Wars, the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the Prussian campaigns of the mid-18th century and the Napoleonic wars. And these are only large-scale wars, each being as significant and bloody as Korea’s war with Japan in 1592-1598 (in all probability, all these conflicts were more destructive than the ``Hideyoshi invasion’’). Apart from these, there were a number of smaller conflicts, many of which were not small at all _ like the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), or the chain of conflicts that accompanied German unification in the 1850s and 1860s. And, of course, there were countless quarrels between the mini-states which formed the Germany of the era, each such quarrel being a military conflict on its own right, far exceeding Korea’s occasional skirmishes with Japanese raiders.

Is Germany an exception? By no means. This is the fairly typical history of any European country, and against such a background Korean history appears rather quiet. Rather than being a country with a uniquely turbulent history, Korea actually was a country, which enjoyed stability undreamed of in most other parts of the world!

The same is true in regard to domestic policy. Of course, old Korea had its own share of court conspiracies, poisoned dignitaries, and scheming royal concubines. But throughout the same period of 470 years, only two Korean kings were actually overthrown (and in one case the life of the ex-sovereign was spared _ an almost unthinkable leniency by the standard of medieval Europe or the Middle East!). There were two unsuccessful gentry revolts, each lasting for but a few weeks, one peasant uprising on moderate scale, some local disturbances, a bit of banditry _ and that’s all! Once again, in comparison with France (at least a dozen major revolts, revolutions, and civil wars), Germany, or even relatively peaceful England demonstrates that Korea was indeed a very secure and stable place.

Suffice to say that the Korean army for most of the period had about ten thousand soldiers on active duty _ a very small army for a country with population of some ten million. The armed forces were increased when the government faced a perceived security threat, but for most of this long period the Korean army was essentially a police force, sufficient to fight bandits, patrol borders, restore order in some villages, and ensure the personal security of the king. So much for the talk of the permanent invasions Korea allegedly faced: a country, which lives under threat, does not have such a small army.

But why did such a view develop? There might be few reasons, but I suspect that Korean intellectuals of the 1950s or 1960s were shocked by the turbulent nature of the last hundred years of Korea history (to be more precise, the period between 1865 and 1960). This came as a sharp contrast to the tranquility and predictability of earlier times. This shock made Koreans believe that their history has always been that difficult and hard. And, of course, Korean nationalists used these feelings for their own gains. But this is another story…

08-31-2006 18:59

Korea Herald

HOLY CRAP! Steve Irwin is killed.....

I was shocked to see that the infamous "Crocodile Hunter" was killed today. He was fatally stabbed through the heart by a stingray while filming a documentary. It's a shame....he did great work for animal conservation around the world.

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/04/australia.irwin/index.html



In less dreary news........the latest SOJU NEWS...........something we all need to know!


Traditional Spirit Soju Turning Milder

Korea's traditional distilled liquor soju, known chiefly for its potency, is turning milder. Jinro, the country's largest maker of the spirit, has launched a new soju product with alcohol content of around 20 percent or 40 proof. Jinro says Chamisul Fresh targets the growing consumer appetite for milder soju.

Earlier this year, Jinro's major competitor Doosan Liquor BG took the market by storm with Cheoumcheoreom soju with alcohol content of 20 percent. Launched in February, the drink saw its market share double to 10 percent in July.

Arirang News

Fans of Mr. Kevin vent Anger and Rage!!!!!

Mr. Kevin raises a glass and apologizes to those who feel annoyed and unloved by his absence from the "blogging" world.....I'm sorry....and I'm back......

hmmmm.....hmmmmm.....apparently I owe an apology to some folks out there. Some fine ladies and gentlemen are not pleased with my lack of BLOG input over the past few months. First....to those 0.01% A.T. through-hikers and to those who SHOULDN"T drink Busan tap water with their coffee...I apologize.

Soooooo....to begin. I'm back. I'm Kevin. I was working a lot so I was trying to avoid time behind my laptop. I was trying to spend every free moment I had outside, in attempt to have fun. I was working 6 days a week, wolves were chasing me and I had to walk both ways uphill...AND...the ladies of Victoria's Secrets were pelting me with handfulls of lingerie....haha.....a rough life I live!

The Hermit Kings have been rockin it. We played last night at Ol55 and the house was jammed to the rafters. It was insane. I went on a bathroom break before our first set and literally couldn't get through the crowd to get to the stage. i had to duck and dodge behind the bar to get up to my drum kit. We rocked it....it was great...Mike, Gino and Travis were on the money. The crowd was sooooo crowded around the stage that they even knocked Mike's micophone down a few times. Closest i ever felt to being a rockstar....minus the fame....minus the money...minus the groupies.....wait...i suppose it wasn't much of a rockstar moment....poo poo...

Went to Trivia night for the first time in months. I was strong-armed by the ever aggressive Liz and Aubrey. We combined forces with a few others...including my trusty celphone....winkwink...and were able to pull off a shocking "second-last place"....we are amazing. I always know that when Liz, Aubrey and Kevin combine forces...we can stare mediocrity in the eyes...and hopefully equal it!!!!!! WE DID!!!! We came second last, winning a rancid bag of Onion Rings....whatever hapenned to the M&Ms?????? Then a big ole pile of U.S. soldiers showed up to drink........buzz kill! ...Kevin walks home...

Now I sit in my humble apartment....wondering how ...."How may I quell those who feel anger towrds me???" I know.....keep this page filled with my bizarre ideas and thoughts.....

TooDLEs.....kEV!!!!!!!!!!!!!