Koreabridge Writing Center

The old Pusanweb/Koreabridge Writing Center went through several iterations. Below are the archives of most of what was published.  Apologies for broken links you might encounter.  Some pieces were lost in the ether because of the server crash of 2006.

 We still welcome writing contributions. These can be single posts or republished blog posts. For more information, visit our publisher page.

If you come across any problems, please let us know.


Recent Submissions

Contests

Old Pusanweb Archives (1998~2003)

Underwood

Travel

Adult

Mother-in-law
Diaries

Tales
from Abroad

The
Straight Dope

 

Daily
Kimchi

The Last Features (from the old Writing Center)

FICTION

Kim's Song by Quintain Bosch
..I rolled and he lost me in a nearby drain. I came to earth through the drain in the sky.
.

The Conspiracy of South Kogglebot by Thor May
...The wise elders and the feckless noviates, the desperate mothers and the captains of industry, even it is rumoured, the king, nowadays puzzle over backwash from the great South Kogglebot bell curve conspiracy....

After Survival by Johnny Bravo

... She gave me that look. She spoke really slowly and with very good pronunciation.
--You know what I mean?..

Second Chance Love by Reji
So-hee sat at the window watching the full moon gleam along with thousands of stars on a very fine night...

A Gift Of The Emperor by Therese Park
"I cried… I was afraid of becoming a gift of Emperor Hirohito to his soldiers after all.."

I Have Been Waiting For You For A Long Time - by Hye-Gun Song, Translation by Hyun-Hee Kim
She is different from other women in the city. He thinks she is pretty but it is a different beauty that he hasn't seen before.

Popular Textbook Character Sick of Tidal Wave Comments by Patrick Carle
He specified that Nami was in "grave danger" of turning into a "psycho killer" if proper steps are not taken immediately...

First Steps by The Rooster
Dr. Maury Gomin (Part Two) by L Becco, of the Busanists
Psychic Comas by Steve Trites

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NON-FICTION

"Korean Soul Food" by John Hansen

I awoke to an overbearing smell of hot sauce. It was that time again. The time I could not invite anyone over to my home, knowing they would simply not understand.

North Korea - Pick Your Godfather by Thor May

My friendly neighbourhood supermarket checkout girl greeted me with a joke about emigrating to Australia. Geopolitics is not the currency of daily conversation in this small, sleepy city in central South Korea, so clearly something was up....

How Samsung Failed To Sell Me A Phone by Thor May

So there is was. Nobody in Chungju wanted to sell me a phone. What was to be done? Well, when the slaves run away, all you can do is go to the head cook and bottle washer, and here that meant corporate Korea...

Letter to Jim 5 - The Siam Silence by Guy Hormel

During the walking meditation this morning I brushed by a beautiful old willow tree and felt it's breath. The tree was covered in red ants which fiercely attacked me. It all seemed implacable paradox. You can't have the nurturing without the devouring...

Letter to Jim 4 - Back in Korea by Guy Hormel

General Park Chung Hee dragged a nearly medieval, war ravaged South Korea out of it's depressed peasant slumber to become the world's tenth largest economy. No one guessed that Korea would be Asia's second tiger after Japan. Most economists thought it would be the Philippines..but...

Tobacco Road is the Rage by Johnny Bravo

...I’m not going to stencil Marlboro onto my motorbike and if you ever see me wearing a Coca cola tee shirt, you’ll know I’ve been in Korea too long.

Road Rage Against The Machine by Johnny Bravo

...most drivers on the road in Korea are not qualified to drive in the real world, but are qualified to receive a driving certificate, just like most Korean college graduates who possess a 900+ TOEIC score can not really speak or understand English in the real world.

Road Rage at Megamart by Johnny Bravo

... I was trapped between oversized cereal boxes and a fleet of metal wicker carts with wheels. Kids behaving badly to the left of me, Kellog hawkers with bite sized cups of Fruit Ring cereal to the right of me ...

First Encounter With Coca Cola by Therese Park

Father leaned forward to smell the brown bubbles but straightened his back immediately. "Something pricks my nose. I don't think we should drink it."

My brother laughed. "It's from America, Father. Why don't you try it? I promise it won't kill you..."

Marian Anderson - Black Swan by Therese Park

This was the singer the grand conductor Arturo Toscanini complimented by saying, "The world can hear such a voice only once in a hundred years..."  

 

Where is America the Beautiful? by Therese Park

Our government forced all citizens to eat only two meals a day, including children, to save food for fighting soldiers and starving refugees--so those Hershey Bars and Nabisco Cookies were manna from heaven. When I arrived in Kansas City a decade later I discovered that America wasn't a paradise after all...

Letters to Jim (3): Tales of Surratthani by Guy Hormel

Couples lie on mats, toes entwined, under gnarled shade trees. Huge mottled rust and green leaves plunge earthward to make fetching patterns on the grass. Giggly teenage girls dressed in short shorts and autumnal jean jackets whiz by on motorbikes shouting, “ What’s your name.?” ...

The Grass is Not Always Greener by Chris in Canada

While living in Korea and working like a dog, I had lost sight of what Canada was like in reality and instead began to focus only on this ideal vision of what life there would be like ...

Naked Ambition - Seoul naturists fight for the right to bare all in public by Jean Briesbois

Harassed by irate neighbours, visited by the local constabulary, chased by outraged marine veterans - New Zealand naturists Sally and Rene de Jonghe refuse to turn the other cheek in their struggle to go the full Monty ...

The Chinese Car of the Future by Thor May

...a Chinese designer is trying to figure out the likely Chinese taste for automobiles in 2015. Along the way, our discussion touches upon some key ideas about what might make China tick...

Student Surveys - some high school students dare to ask and tell by Thor May

.. They chose the topics, constructed the questions and conducted the interviews on anyone handy. My only rule was "this is an English zone : no Korean!". That was tough, but they played it pretty well... Yeah, I was taken aback by a couple of the topic choices too ...

Kate's Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

“All Americans are weak” proclaims my chauffeur, an overweight and garrulous monk. He is taking full advantage of having an audience, and we sit politely as he continues his scathing monologue...

Buggery Uprooted - A Review of Scott Burgeson's Korea Bug by Thor May

One of the more harmless expletives in my native dialect is 'go to buggery'. This is a rather milder invitation to disappear than the damning 'go to hell'. Few users ever check the dictionary etymology, or suspect that they are willing their annoyer to have a fun time with the back end of a sheep.... Scott Burgeson's Korea Bug sort of creeps up on you like that...

Letter to the Korean Immigration Office - re: Foreign Teachers’ Credential Check by anonymous

As a Korean citizen, I wish to make some suggestions to you about a current issue: your checking of credentials for foreign teachers now working in Korea...

 

Meet Ticolette by Thor May

A car is not just a noun. A car is definitely a family member, so meet Ticolette. Our acquaintance has been brief, and I hope it doesn't end in tragedy. So far we're mostly getting along fine, with a few passing little tiffs, and she did lose her radio voice half an hour out of the car sales yard, but every lady has the odd strange habit...

Strategy by Fred Finicky

It didn't bother Rob too much that Mrs Lee had beaten him, it was just a game after all. However, her confidence seemed to soar. They played again a couple of days later and she won again, this time by a bigger margin. She was very elated...

Letter to Jim 2 - A Rainy Night in Burma by Guy Hormel
The eldest of the two Burmese daughters, I would guess fifteen, was sitting next to me facing the bow. Every time she got slapped in the face by a wave, she came closer to crying. Finally she reached over grabbed my hand, buried her face in her lap, and began sobbing gently in a chanting prayer...

Letter to Jim 1 - : Escape to Thailand by Guy Hormel
No doubt she was just what she seemed: A benign and rather delicate creature, who was a devotee of generally tolerant southeast Asian Islam. Then the lights went out as they are prone to do when tropical power sources are overloaded. A lone woman's congested shriek floated atop a collective intake of breath..

Law and Order by Jean Briesbois
.. Lee passes me his nightvision monocular and begins to film the dimly lit apartment window using a NiteMax Digital Vision Viewer

Teacher, I Saw Two Foreigners Kissing ! by Thor May
Yeah, I've got something to tell you; listen up please. Yesterday, I went to Haeundae Beach. And I saw two foreigners kissing each other right in front of me... It was a real scene ^^ . I was shocked...

Why Our Schools Are Failing (... are they?) by Thor May
In many ways "mass education" is a contradiction in terms ....

Ethnicity and Racism - Stirring the Pot by Thor May
The idea of a "true" American, or a "true" Korean is about nationalism. Nationalism is a modern form of tribalism...

Euthanasia - Whose Final Choice? by Thor May
When a student asks my direct opinion, I try to give an honest answer. It is not always easy. Try this one...

Some Language Learning Mysteries by Thor May
I'm a veteran failed language learner, always a thousand miles from success, and an eternally hopeful beginner..

Wisdom From A Father To His Son by Anonymous - translated by Hyun-hee Kim 
".. Purchase the best quality of bedding. Sleeping well is one of the most important things .."

Men Who I Want to Date, and Men Who I Want to Marry by Anonymous - translated by Hyun-hee Kim
"..I want to date a man who touched my hair or shoulder while he is driving. However, I would like to marry a man who holds my hand while changing gears.."

A Tale of Two Teachers by Nicolas Grandsen
"..the job market has changed since I became a straw professor almost ten years ago. Now having a graduate degree in fitness management or cosmetology isn't enough.."

A Late Bloomer's Resolution by Therese Park
His lips trembling, he pronounced a Korean name. “Do you remember what happened to you three days ago?” He didn’t reply.

My Brother Lost and Found by Therese Park
"...the soldiers rounded up several boys, including your brother, and took them somewhere on a truck. Your mother was crying when she left. Now go! I have work to do,"

His Majesty, The Bird by Therese Park
"...he played it over and over, making interesting melodies--biting every key and poking the gaps between them..."

Growing Pain by Therese Park
"..The seventh and eighth graders' job was hauling dirt and gravel from the mountain... "

Bird's Nest Soup, Anyone? by Therese Park
"..For the sake of swiftlets, I hope the general American public doesn't discover Bird-nest Soup at any time soon."

Inchon Landing and Grandfather's Exile by Therese Park
.."'Why don’t you shoot us now? It'd be an easy solution for you, and we don't have to die on your truck..."

Inchon Landing Remembered by Therese Park
... “This is for real,” he said to himself. He was nervous, but not that much, he says. He had been a Marine for three years...

A Lost Friend by Therese Park
... “The Tiger” became his nickname. During a nine-day “Death March” along a 110-mile snow-covered mountain terrain, the Tiger destroyed 98 lives, including two elderly women..

Copping It Sweet - by Thor May
... Not such a bad life, he tells himself very quietly, lowering expectations once again just in case the gremlins get to hear about any hint of good fortune...

All Is Forgiven by Thor May
Shibuya Awakening by David Carlson
A Question of Faith by Jean Briesbois
''DDD'' Experiences ''Old Boy'' by Scott Soper
Culture Shock by Carolyne Park
A Peaceful Little War by Johnny Ioannidis
Conversations With a Monk By Rick Ruffin

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POETRY

 

Korean Cowboy Wings; The Next Generation by Andrew Crown

Times Sixty on Frosty Gyemyeongsan by Thor May

From Rooftop; Yong Koong Sa by C.J. Pellerin

Another Andromache by Dan Bosworth

Some Korean Inspired Haiku by Dan Bosworth

Vestigia by Dan Bosworth

Train from Taegu by Vernon James Mooers

Moon Viewing Hill by Vernon James Mooers

She Cries at Night by Vernon James Mooers

Seasons of a Fisherman by Vernon James Mooers

Foreign Holiday by Thor May

World's End by Thor May

What Is A Man Meant To Do? by Stephen Brown
Insomnia, day 12 by Chris Weagle
Trainspotting!!! ; Soul Train :) ; by busannewboy
Walk On U2 by tryingtowrite