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Cheongdo Bull Fighting 2011

This past weekend was the yearly Bull Fights in Cheongdo a smaller city in Gyeongsanbukdo. I have attended this event for many years but have missed it recently. Upon my return, I noticed that the site was greatly improved and the venue was amazing!

The city has constructed a new stadium specifically for the event in recent years which makes the whole festival that much more enjoyable! From restaurants to art exhibitions they had it all. It is truly a good time. Sadly, I was called away this year and had to leave shortly after I got there.

Some tips that I would give if you plan of visiting next year are:

  1. Bring  a monopod to rest your camera on.
  2. Use a long/fast lens if you have one. (Brings the action in closer)
  3. Bump up your iso. (It may look like decent light but it is not that great for movement)
  4. If you are shooting from the first row rail, stand in front of the stair to not block anyone’s view.
  5. If shooting from the seats, sit a few rows back to get the rail out of your frame.
  6. The colours can be a bit drab or cool, so shoot in raw and/or warm them up a bit with a filter in PS

One more thing to note is that the drive out there from Ulsan, particularly just past Unmunsa was unbelievable. There is a stretch along a lake (HWY 69) that was lined with cherry Blossoms. It was amazing!

 

More Awesome Articles and Video about Cheongdo Bull Fighting 2011

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Jason Teale 

Photographer, educator, podcaster

Podcast    Website    Instagram

Photographing Korea and the world beyond!

 

 

Taejongdae Clam Tents on Yeongdo Island - Busan Awesome

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clams and mussels at taejongdae clam tentsThis is a strange memory, but I remember being 14 years old and watching a random show on the Discovery Channel or something similar on Okinawa. The people in the show were diving into piles of squid and clams and other strange sea aliens that I didn’t know the names of. It was cool when I was watching, but later that night, I’m pretty sure I had some Fear Factor-style nightmares, and I might have wet the bed. Not sure.

So anyway, flash forward to present-day in Busan. Who would have thought that one of the coolest things to do in this city was to eat the stuff that made me pee the bed all those years ago?

The Taejongdae clam tents are seriously a fun time. We show up after a long-ish bus ride to the end of Yeong-do, walk along this parking lot overlooking a pebble beach, and stroll down, scoping out the tents. I always feel like the prettiest girl at the ball as all the ladies who work the tents shout at my friends and me (Hey! Come on! You! Here!) and try to coax us into their tent. Don’t stress too much about the selection process: all are pretty much the same. They have no menus; our particular lady told us “memory” when we asked her for one, as she gestured towards the buckets of seafood out in front.

taejongdae clam tents eating on the pebble beachI’ve been here twice now, and both times, you just kind of mime what you want (or speak some Korean if you’ve got the skills), and the ladies will take care of the portions. I think clams (조개 – jo-gae) and mussels (홍합 – hong-hap) are the best things to go for here. There are also prawns (새우 – sae-oo) and some smaller shellfish, as well as Gaebul (the weird sea penis-looking things… I steer clear) if you’re feeling saucy. (NOTE: Just to be clear here: you’ll need to cook the clams. Sorry, just had to say it. You might want to use the scissors as well to cut the clams away from their shells).

There are no “prices” posted, but both times I’ve gone, it’s been about the same. For five people, mussels and clams, beer and some soju should run you 80-100k, depending on how much you drink. Another time, we had 10 people eating and the total was 160. Not bad, considering how much you get, and considering that the divers are about 50 meters away plucking the shellfish out of the ocean.

taejongdae clam tents on yeongdo islandTaejongdae is also a really nice scenic park that give you some nice views along the ocean, so you can go hiking before or after you eat. There is a small train (think something like those trains that go around the zoo) that goes around Taejongdae, and there is also a small ferry/tour boat that goes around a couple small rock islands off the coast. I’ve heard that you can get a ferry from Jagalchi market to Taejongdae, but I’m not sure about this.

Directions:
FROM JAGALCHI/NAMPO: get to Jagalchi metro station exit 10 and take bus 8.
FROM SEOMYEON: get the 88-B or 88-A across the street from Judie’s Taehwa. The ride is about an hour.
FROM POINTS EAST (east of Seomyeon): Metro to Daeyeon station, exit 2 and take the 101 all the way to Taejongdae. OR you can take the 139, 1001 or 1003 to the Munhyeon stop and transfer to the 101 there. The ride from Daeyeon will take about an hour.
FROM BUSAN STATION: Bus 101, 88-A or 88-B will do the trick.

Take the bus to the END of the line (TaeJongDae) and you’ll get off in a parking lot. Turn left and you’ll see the entrance to the park. Turn RIGHT after the Family Mart, BEFORE the main gate. Walk down the path (it looks kind of seedy) till you come to a parking lot. You’ll see the tents and the ocean. ATM and bathrooms are to your left of the parking lot, slightly uphill, and overlooking the clam tents.



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Tradition Korean Lunch

Sunday 17th May, 2011

After coming home from Busan last night, Mr Kim, the hotel manager said there was a message for me from Joy. .... Joy.... Joy..... I'm thinking, who is Joy?! and how did they know how to contact me. I had no idea! I looked at Daniel, thinking, hmmm did you meet a Joy???? Hmmm!...

And then it clicked! Joy! from Pub Garagie. True to her word, she left a message at reception saying she was going to come pick me up at 1.30pm tomorrow. Hahaha I didn't know what to think. What else did I agree to do on Friday night??? Ekkk!!! All I could do was wait until tomorrow and see what I signed up for...

Daniel kissed me goodbye and I said to him if I wasn't home by nightfall, come looking for me or go to the Pub Garagie, atleast you know where she works!!

There was a wedding in the hotel today and it was FULL of Koreans dressed in Traditional clothing so I was sure I would be easy to spot. Soon enough 1.30pm rolled around and I went downstairs to wait. Joy was already waiting for me and when she saw me she gave me a huge hug and said 'ohhhh Tahneeeeee!!' I was so surprised she actually remembered my name. Noone ever remembers my name. Not even English speakers! We went over to her car and I thought now would be a good time to ask what we would be doing, or where we were going. She said we would have lunch with Dick and Hansy and then, who knows! I thought, ok yep, sounds good; and so off to lunch we went...

On the way there, Hansy rang Joy to tell her they were already there and waiting. We were only about 10 minutes away. Joy lives close to the Basketball Stadium, up in on of the back streets. I haven't really been in the back streets of Changwon, but it's such a cute kept secret. It is mainly all residential houses and they either have a small courtyard or a wrap around balcony. She lived on the top floor, with two other room mates.

We all greeted each other outside before we made our way up the stairs. Before entering, we took our shoes off and went into the lounge room, where they already had the table set up. She soon told us to have a seat as lunch was about to be served.

I have never been to a Koreans house for lunch, so I didn't know what the tradition was, but I soon learnt. We sat on the floor and got comfortable. I laugh when I write this. It was quite funny seeing Hansy, Dick and myself trying to cross our legs and spread them out, trying to get into a good sitting position. We managed, but I'm amazed at how Joy and her flatmate could sit in the same one position for ages, while the 3 of us kept moving and changing positions- hahaha I loved it!
Getting comfortable

Getting comfortable

Apparently Joys flatmate (I'm not too sure what her name was, but I think it was mina??) had been cooking all morning for us. I felt so bad as I was not expecting any of this, but she was happy to do it. Mina has been friends with Joy for a long time and they recently started renting this house together. She has a 10 year old daughter, who also lives in the house and a small maltese dog, who just kept barking and barking and barking at us, until they took her to the beauty salon for the rest of the afternoon.
Bark, bark, bark!!!

Bark, bark, bark!!!

With the beer flowing and orange juice for me, Lunch was served; and it looked AMAZING. I could not believe they had cooked all this for us and all out of generousity. All up, there was about 5 courses! First they brought out the all famous Kimchi, with Korean pizza, which is like a huge omelette and some noodles. Then we had squid and boiled chicken with soup and then rice pudding. I was already full after the first serving! The food was so tasty and again I just couldn't get over how welcoming and hospitable these girls had been with us.
Lunchies!!!

Lunchies!!!


Joy cutting up the squid

Joy cutting up the squid

After a delicious lunch, we headed outside onto the balcony to take in the view and rest our full belly's. The location of their house was so good, being close to the shops, schools and main road. Although it close to everything, it was in a very quiet area and you didn't hear any traffic. Mina's daughter soon came over with two of her little friends. They brought back the pup from the beauty salon, who I can tell you, looked like a little windup toy. For W25,000 The little pup, got a bath, clip and new hair dye. That is so cheap! in comparison what the grooming rates are back home. One of her friends also brought over her pup, cookie. A fluffier, bigger maltese, minus the hair dye
I love this photo of the girls and their pups

I love this photo of the girls and their pups

Back from the beauty salon!

Back from the beauty salon!


View from the balcony

View from the balcony

View from the balcony

View from the balcony


I love these trees

I love these trees

It was a lovely, warm afternoon and made me remember about lazy, sunny, Sunday afternoons back in Sydney. How I miss them. It's just strange to think I was in South Korea, in someones home, with some great company and to top it off- Joy brought us fresh, giant, juicey, red strawberries. My Gosh they were good.

Dick and cookie

Dick and cookie

Hansy and the gifts he brought over

Hansy and the gifts he brought over

I didn't realise how fast the afternoon had gone. It was now close to 6pm and Daniel finished work at 4pm! He was probably wondering where I was by now, as I'm usually always at home first before he is. We started saying our goodbyes and Joy and I made plans to go hiking on Thursday. We also plan to go shopping, but I'm not too sure when. I told her to let me know as I'm more flexible with time, then what she is. Hansy and Dick gave me a lift back home. I can't believe how random, but how awesome, my Sunday was.

Thank you Joy and Mina
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Mina and Joy

Mina and Joy


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The Economist, Censorship, and Korea’s Youth

The Economist Has Criticized the Korean Government’s Use of Censorship
This week, one of the world’s most influential magazines, The Economist, has criticized the online censorship laws in Korea. K-bloggers who are resident in Korea do need to be careful. As those who have sharply criticized Korea or individual Koreans know, posting articles online can be a dicey activity. Many K-bloggers have received threats, and are prevented, in general, from criticizing certain aspects of Korean policy-making. Most famously, the blogger Minerva was prosecuted in Korea, although he was eventually acquitted.

This Criticism is Too Late
To everyday Koreans, this is not new news at all. Neither is the story of Minerva. Most recently, the author of Black Out Korea, has been the subject of harsh criticism by native Koreans who found the content of Black Out Korea offensive. Here, the Seoul Gyopo Guide has opined that while the blog may indeed be offensive and in poor taste, that doesn’t mean that these scenes don’t exist in Korea. It is a fact that a casual observer can easily find them, with little or no effort. Nevertheless, death threats were reported made.

Anything Stifling Creativity is Bad
Despite the tardiness of The Economist’s criticism, the thesis is quite true. In particular, this statement is telling:

Yet South Korea’s mild paranoia about controlling information harms its reputation as a liberal democracy and undermines its potential as a creative powerhouse.

Why is this a problem? It is a problem because the most creative segment of the population are young, college graduates, who have the vitality, imagination, and the qualifications to turn that creativity into invention. For those outside Korea, it may be easy to point at the record low unemployment rate in Korea as evidence of its economic progress. However, just below the surface is the fact that Korea is over-educated, and under-employed to the extreme. Today, The Korea Times pointed out that the number of college graduates that are unemployed and not looking for a job are at an all-time high.
This is a particularly scary development. If the main consumers, and those that demand the best innovations in all consumer goods are the young, and those young are increasingly unemployed or under-employed, then how will they be able to buy the newest products? They won’t. In turn, that demand for the latest and greatest innovation has kept Korea’s companies on the cutting edge of development. That advantage could also be jeopardized in the long run.

These Aren’t Today’s Problems But…
This combination of censorship, chaebol dominance, and the unemployment of Korea’s college grads will not result in economic failure overnight. Then again, Japan’s decline has been gradual, but definite. Even without Japan’s latest natural disaster, Korea has taken the lead in many respects when it comes to innovation of consumer products, from home appliances to mobile phones. Some of that has been the result of policy, but much has been due to the decline in size and influence of Japan’s youth on its economy. Korea must avoid duplicating the slow, excruciating decline that is occurring in the Land of the Rising Sun.


Friday night crazies

Friday 15th April, 2011

Today was like any other day in Changwon. The weather was beautiful, the birds were singing, the cherry blossoms are changing, Life's great.

I just thought I'd go for a bike ride around the city and get some lunch along the way. This morning I confirmed all our booking details for Spain. We have our accommodation in Madrid and Barcelona all booked. We have our tickets to see a bull fight booked. I can't wait!! We just have to organise our care hire once we decide to leave Barcelona and drive back to Madrid. We are hoping to stop at Zaragoza on the way back and perhaps some of the other little towns inbetween.

Today would be a perfect day to take some photos of the landmarks around the city. So I went to the Basketball Stadium, which is home to the Changwon Sakers. I also took photos of the giant round-a-about, and some art displays at The City7
Art sculptures at The City7

Art sculptures at The City7

Tiger art!

Tiger art!

Arty indeed

Arty indeed


Art outside the basketball Stadium

Art outside the basketball Stadium

The Sakers Basketball Stadium

The Sakers Basketball Stadium

Team Sakers!!

Team Sakers!!

City Hall

City Hall

Warrior Statue

Warrior Statue

The massive round-a-bout

The massive round-a-bout

Fridays always go quick and soon enough Daniel was back home. We started getting ready to go out to dinner to the local IP Bar. It's the place to be, either there, or The Westin or O'Brien's Bar.

Daniel ordered the Burrito's and I thought I'd try something new, so I opted for the Seafood Spaghetti. Last time I was here I had their signature Chicken Salad and it was absolutely DIVINE!

The food takes a while to be served, especially if it's a busy night. In fact, One time, they got so busy, they got confused with the orders and totally forgot about Daniel's meal! They felt so bad about it, they gave us a free drink and apologised. They know how to take care of their customers.

I was so surprised when I got my meal. The plate was massive and smelt sooooo good. I was really looking forward to this. Daniel's burrito was good too, but it's usually quite spicy and I don't like spicy food, so I don't usually order it.

There was noone from work at the IP Bar, so we decided to go downstairs to the Pub Garage (pronounced- Pub Garag-ie) and everyone from work was there! I had a feeling it was going to be a late night...

I got talking to alot of Daniel's work mates and they're all really nice guys. Alot of them have been doing this line of work for years and had some really interesting stories to tell. I also got talking to Joy, the manager of Pub Garagie. She speaks English well and has been working here for a while. She asked me about my nails, because earlier in the day, I put gems on them, and before you knew it, she was inviting me to go to her house for lunch on Sunday with Hansy and Dick (from Daniel's work) I said- 'Alright! Sounds like fun' and proceeded to give her the details of the hotel so she could ring me as I don't have a phone. I really didn't think anything of it, as our conversation got interrupted with jager shots and more random conversations.

Don't ask me what time we left, or how we got home- I have no recollection of this. All I know is that I woke up around 2.30am not feeling too great. You can just imagine what kind of night I had. Unfortunately Daniel had to work the next day, but he was feeling fine. I on the other hand, was grouchy, due to my broken sleep and I was nursing a hangover. I managed to sleep most of the day and watch reruns of our favourite show at the moment- Pawn Stars, which is about a family run Pawn Shop in Las Vegas and people bring in all sorts of things to be pawned or sold. It's such a good show and I totally recommend it. My favourite is Chumlee. He is this chubby, not too bright, worker at the shop and everyone makes fun of him. ahhhh Chumlee :)

In the evening, we headed out to Busan for a night out

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Finding the Snow Fields: Road to Nari Basin

I realize it’s mid-April, and photos of snowy Korean fields on an island off the east coast might contradict the reality of bursting cherry blossoms along my neighbourhood stream in Busan (as well as trigger an unexpected chill in my Canadian readers who are enjoying the thaw of spring), but snowy fields is what I’ve got to show you.

They were taken in a place called the Nari Basin, which is the only flat stretch of land on Ulleungdo–yep, I’m still posting about Ulleungdo (the island was gorgeous, why stop now?)–and surrounded on all sides by volcanic mountains.

Like most places we ventured to during our off-season stay in early February, the Basin, we discovered, wasn’t accessible by local transport.

The coastal road bus

After a morning drive that wound up into Ulleungdo’s hills and cruised along its coast from Dodong, the bus dropped us in the village of Cheonbu, where, upon our mention of “Naribunji” the driver pointed to an uphill road in the distance and shook his head at our enquiry of another bus heading there.

Facing a long steep trek in already-damp boots that weren’t built for snowdrifts wasn’t making me the cheeriest foreigner on Korean soil, but we forged ahead anyway, with the exact time and distance the journey would take a vague notion in our minds of “a few hours.”

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About 20 minutes in, we passed this grave, with the mountains climbing skyward behind it.

Soon after, a Korean family of three drove by, spotted us, slowed down, and picked us up.  We climbed into the backseat and the five of us spoke in broken English, with a few key Korean words thrown in by Joe, who far surpasses me in his ability to communicate with the locals in their native tongue.

They were headed to the Basin.  The drive was icy, steep and miles long; we never would have made it on foot.  Photos of the fields in fall show rust-coloured grass framed with red trees carpeting the mountains surrounding them.  But this day they were bright white, their wide banks shining under the sun.

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Up next: More from the coastal road…


Red Links, 4-16-11

All-East Asia, No Liberties Post

  • Censorship in South Korea:

    Unusually in a democracy, a “real-name” system is now in effect for those posting on popular online forums: any participant signing up to websites must use their national identity number. So would-be Minervas are now easily traced. The spread of false information carries a maximum punishment of five years’ imprisonment and a hefty fine.

    What is more, since 2008 a supposedly independent Korea Communications Standards Commission has had the remit to promote a “sound and friendly communications environment”. Critics argue that the commission serves as the government’s de facto internet censorship body. It is supposed merely to “advise” portals to remove articles believed to contain falsehoods, obscenity or statements in favour of North Korea that infringe the National Security Act. In fact it may issue administrative orders backed up by law, forcing content to be deleted. Unsurprisingly, its “advice” tends to be followed.

    Chang Ha-joon of Cambridge University, whose free-trade critique, “Bad Samaritans”, is on a list of books the defence ministry has banned troops from reading, argues that such efforts are counterproductive. “This is not the 1980s, when you could just cut a few telephone lines,” he says. Blocking free speech in one place would simply “start a bushfire” somewhere else.

    Much of the desire to control the flow of information and ideas can be traced back to longstanding fears over the spread of North Korean propaganda, which remains illegal. The administration of President Lee Myung-bak has additional suspicions about the power of IT thanks to massive, internet-driven protests against imports of American beef that brought Seoul to a standstill in 2008. Yet South Korea’s mild paranoia about controlling information harms its reputation as a liberal democracy and undermines its potential as a creative powerhouse

  • China’s Crackdown:

    In the short term at least, these troubling developments undermine the comforting idea that economic openness necessarily leads to the political sort. All the more reason, then, for the West to hold China to account. America and the European Union are right strongly to condemn Mr Ai’s detention, though it would have been better had they taken a stand sooner. Speaking out might just help constrain the regime’s behaviour. It will certainly give succour to those in China working bravely to create a better future.

  • When Fund-Raising Is a Crime:

    In the odd way these things work in China, word has trickled out that on April 7th an appeal court in Zhejiang, a famously entrepreneurial coastal province, conducted a five-hour hearing on a death sentence handed down to Wu Ying, a prominent 29-year-old businesswoman, on fraud charges. Before her arrest Ms Wu had seemed to personify the miraculous business success that could be achieved by people from even the most humble background in modern China.

    The revelation that she faces execution is the latest in a string of dramatic events surrounding her case, including the arrest of several prominent bankers and officials from information she is said to have given, and her own reported suicide attempt. Details are murky because much of the case, including the appeal, has taken place behind closed doors, with restrictions on direct press coverage. That, however, has not stopped Chinese newspapers and internet opiners from discussing avidly a case that has clearly caught the public interest.

  • BRIC Wall:

    The authors are careful to say that there is no iron law of slowdowns. Even so, their analysis is unlikely to cheer the leadership in Beijing. China’s torrid growth puts it on course to hit the $16,740 GDP-per-head threshold by 2015, well ahead of the likes of Brazil and India. Given the Chinese economy’s long list of risk factors—including an older population, low levels of consumption and a substantially undervalued currency—the authors suggest that the odds of a slowdown are over 70%.

    It is hazardous to extend any analysis to a country as unique as China. The authors acknowledge that rapid development could shift inland, where millions of workers have yet to move into manufacturing, while the coastal cities nurture an ability to innovate. The IMF forecasts real GDP growth rates above 9% through to 2016; a slowdown to 7-8% does not sound that scary. But past experience indicates that slowdowns are frequently accompanied by crises. In East Asia in the late 1990s it became clear that investments which made sense at growth rates of 7%, say, did not at expansion rates of 5%. Political systems may prove similarly vulnerable: it has been many years since China has to deal with an annual growth rate below 7%. Structural reforms can help to cushion the effects of a slowdown. It would be wise for China to pursue such reforms during fat years rather than the leaner ones that will, eventually, come.

  • Princelings and the Goon State:

    China is entering a period of heightened political uncertainty as it prepares for changes in many top positions in the Communist Party, government and army, beginning late next year. This is the first transfer of power after a decade of rapid social change. Within the state, new interest groups have emerged. These are now struggling to set the agenda for China’s new rulers.

    Particularly conspicuous are the “princelings”. The term refers to the offspring of China’s revolutionary founders and other high-ranking officials. Vice-President Xi Jinping, who looks set to take over as party chief next year and president in 2013, is one of them. Little is known about his policy preferences. Some princelings have been big beneficiaries of China’s economic reforms, using their political connections and Western education to build lucrative business careers. Other princelings are critical of China’s Dickensian capitalism and call for a return to socialist rectitude. Some straddle both camps. Prominent princelings in business include President Hu Jintao’s son, Hu Haifeng, who headed a big provider of airport scanners; and Wen Yunsong, a financier who is the son of Wen Jiabao, the prime minister.

    Cheng Li of the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, argues that a shared need to protect their interests binds these princelings together, especially at a time of growing public resentment against nepotism. Since a Politburo reshuffle in 2007, princelings have occupied seven out of 25 seats, up from three in 2002.

  • Japan’s Post-Tsunami Politics:

    The quake and tsunami that devastated north-eastern Japan, and the nuclear disaster that followed, have disrupted the economy, with power shortages and stricken factories. Ordinary Japanese have cut back on inessential spending, in a mood of sacrificial restraint. Much has changed. Yet one constant remains: petty political bickering.

    As the government has attempted to deal with the mess, the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has picked on minor gaffes to justify exaggerated displays of outrage. Mr Kan’s offer to the LDP’s leader, Sadakazu Tanigaki, to form a “grand coalition” with his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was rebuffed. The opposition thinks Mr Kan is flailing and his prime ministership, which was in trouble well before the earthquake, is in danger.

    In opinion polls, Mr Kan’s personal support has increased slightly since then, but around two-thirds of voters are disappointed with the government’s handling of the crisis, particularly at the Fukushima nuclear plant. On April 12th the nuclear accident there was upgraded to level seven, the highest rating on an international scale of severity. That places it on a par with the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago this month (though the radiation released at Fukushima is only a tenth of Chernobyl’s, and nobody has died from it yet).

    On April 10th the DPJ’s troubles took their toll in regional and local elections. The party lost all three of its races for prefectural governorships to the LDP. It failed to gain a plurality in any of 41 prefectural and municipal assemblies that were up for grabs. The drubbing has emboldened LDP politicians to resist more collaboration. As ever, they aim to oust Mr Kan and precipitate an early general election.

  • Window-Shopping with China’s Central Bank:

    China’s central bank has a lot of money but not a lot of imagination. It keeps a big chunk of its reserves in boring American government securities. That means it can count on getting its dollars back. But it frets about how much those dollars will be worth should America succumb to inflation or depreciation.

    So what else could China do with the money? Instead of the dollar, China might fancy the euro. China could buy all of the outstanding sovereign debt of Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Greece, solving the euro area’s debt crisis in a trice. And it would still have almost half of its reserves left over.

    It might, alternatively, choose to abandon debt altogether and buy equity. China could gobble up Apple, Microsoft, IBM and Google for less than $1 trillion. It could also follow the lead of those sheikhs and oligarchs who like to buy English football clubs. According to Forbes magazine, the 50 most valuable sports franchises around the world were worth only $50.4 billion last year, less than 2% of China’s reserves.

    Another favoured sink for the world’s riches is property. Perhaps China should buy some exclusive Manhattan addresses. Hell, why not buy all of Manhattan? The island’s taxable real estate is worth only $287 billion, according to the New York City government. The properties of Washington, DC, are valued at a piffling $232 billion. China is accustomed to being Washington’s banker. Why not become its landlord instead?

    China could also allay its fears about energy, food and military security. Three trillion dollars would buy about 88% of this year’s global oil supply. It would take only $1.87 trillion (at 2009 prices) to buy all of the farmland (and farm buildings) in the continental United States. And China could theoretically buy America’s entire Department of Defence, which has assets worth only $1.9 trillion, according to its 2010 balance-sheet. Much of that figure is land, buildings and investments; the guns, tanks and other military gear are valued at only $413.7 billion.

  • Go East, Young Moneyman:

    The percentage of business-school graduates choosing finance as a career has dipped only slightly since the crisis, no doubt largely because pay in the industry has held up remarkably (some would say obscenely) well. But within the industry career priorities are changing, at least when it comes to location. Talent and transactions are migrating from London and New York to faster-growing markets, particularly in Asia. Though some headhunters predict indigestion in Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai this year after an overzealous bout of hiring, most are bullish on the region’s long-term prospects.

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Filed under: Business/Economy, East Asia, Korea, Link Dumps, Politics, Subscriptions Tagged: BRICs, censorship, china. japan, naoto kan, South Korea, the economist, wu ying

Busan e-FM Week 18: Shopping, Vitamins and Other Imports

About 'Open Mike in Busan'

Background

I think I mentioned LG and Samsung before on the show. In fact, it’s kind of hard to get through talking about life here without mentioning Korea’s ubiquitous [yes] brands. But this was the week I was told not to mention them – not even the foreign ones - even though this week’s subject was shopping - 20 minutes before I went on air.

One of the K-satire sites seems to have re-branded LG aka ‘Lucky Goldstar’ as ‘Fortunate Quasar’, and I was sorely tempted to go through the entire show calling them that, but 20 minutes is not enough time to think up alternate names for all the other chaebol, so the whole thing felt rather forced in the end for me. Well that’s live radio for you – next time I hope to be better prepared.

It’s fair enough that Busan e-FM doesn’t want to mention brands, but I have no such restriction here, so here it is, Week 18 – Uncut.

Introduction

So this week is about another very important aspect of life in Korea – shopping. I used to think we had quite a consumer-oriented culture in England, but it’s nothing compared to Korea.

The differences

There are a lot of differences between the UK and Korea when it comes to shopping. In the UK our shops are mainly in the city centres rather than everywhere you look, and we also have big ‘out of town’ retail centres – whereas here you don’t really have ‘out of town’ stores because there is no ‘out of town’ - everything is the town in a big city like Busan [seriously, it’s like Logan’s Run here]. And we have a lot of big brands in England, but here it often feels like a constant choice between LG and Samsung [or in the radio version – between a company beginning with ‘L’ and a company beginning with ‘S’ - see why it fell flat?]

I expected there to be a bigger variety of brands, and I actually thought there were at first, but then I found out that brands like Xcanvas, PAVV, Zippel and Hauzen belong to LG and Samsung. I suppose that’s the nature of the chaebol system, which of course we don’t have in England [unless you count the multi-branded tentacles of the government] – where almost all our products are made overseas anyway.

I found chaebol brands quite odd. For example, Daelim seem to make toilets and motorbikes. In England, the last car I owned was a Ford. But how would I have felt if my toilet was made by Ford as well? But I guess people here feel that the brand is more important than the object it’s attached to.

Purchases and consumer protection

In fact, the first thing I bought in Korea was a Korean keyboard for my laptop computer – it was made by a major Korean chaebol – but the quality was really poor. I admit, I realised later it was really cheap [I had no idea about the relative value of things here at first], but it made me think these companies will sometimes put their names on anything.

My experience with subsequent purchases has been mixed. My wife and I buy a lot of things from the Internet, but Internet shopping here is quite different. We have eBay in the UK, but most people choose to order from established online retailers like Amazon. Here, Gmarket and Auction – which are both owned by eBay – seem to be one of the main ways of buying online. So it feels riskier but from very small companies and individuals.

I also think we have much stricter consumer protection laws in the UK than the ones which exist in Korea. For example, we bought an aquarium online that was supposed to be 35cm deep, but it was shorter when we got it. The seller said it was because they had the wrong picture on their page, but they didn’t seem particularly sorry about it. Online prices are good though, so maybe you just have to take the risk.

Expensive item risk

But this means that it’s difficult to justify buying certain things online. When we bought a TV, the prices were much cheaper on the Internet, but we felt we couldn’t risk buying such an expensive item that way, so we bought it from Tesco Homeplus [declaration – I’m a shareholder] in the end. It’s the same with the DSLR I bought – I got it from Hi-Mart because it seemed too risky online. That’s different to the UK where you have big online companies that you can trust. And of course, it’s also difficult for me to shop online, because I don’t understand Korean.

Online and offline shopping

There are good things about shopping online. I love how deliveries are so fast compared to England, and you get these text messages telling you about when things have been dispatched – it’s really efficient. It’s just a pity I can’t browse through the Korean Internet to shop for things. That said, I’m not one of those foreigners who seems to think that Korean shopping sites should be available in English as well. I think if you want to shop in English, go home – this is Korea. If I can’t use Korean Internet sites, that’s my problem, not Korean people’s. I have to work on my Korean language skills.

So I find myself shopping offline a lot. Buying things from local shops here is also quite different from the experience in England – the opening hours are much longer here for one thing, and there’s an assumption that everything will be delivered, whereas in England you normally have to work that out yourself. Plus, if something needs installing, that will be done for you here as part of the service, even if it’s just a small aquarium from a local store.

The customer service is almost too good sometimes. For example, I bought a printer from a store, and because we lived around the corner and didn’t have a car, one of the staff insisted on carrying it to our apartment – which was a bit embarrassing [still, thanks Hi-Mart]. But on the other hand I find all the special cards which exist rather confusing - my wife has a special card holder just for all the extra points cards she carries.

The price is right

And prices are confusing, because I often can’t really work out what the prices in stores are supposed to be. This is partly because I have to convert them into my own currency to work them out, and partly because the ticket prices and the real prices are sometimes two entirely different things.

For example, when we were shopping for a TV, it became quite common for us to walk into a store, and immediately be offered 30% off the price of a TV we were looking at – and that’s before trying to haggle. In England, haggling isn’t as common, and you might get 5 or 10% off, but here we can haggle a price down 40% sometimes.

Ajumma rental servicet

Actually, my mother-in-law’s haggling skills are legendary – so we always take her with us when buying something expensive. She saves us a lot of money. Once we got a couch so cheap through haggling that when she told the store owner we’d come back later to buy bookcases, he actually said “Please don’t!” - and from the pained look on his face I think he really meant it too. [Shortly afterwards  he moved his business away from our district shortly afterwards and in my mind it was just to avoid her].

What else you can’t buy here - drugs

There are things you can’t buy in Korea that I wish I could. I used to take drugs [no, not that kind] to control my Meniere’s Disease in England, but when I came to Korea I discovered that they aren’t available here, and there isn’t any alternative. That’s a huge problem for me, and I was really worried when my pills ran out.

I started taking various vitamins and herbal supplements instead - because some people believe they help – but the cost can be very high here. You can get them a bit cheaper online, but I don’t really want to buy vitamins from individuals on auction websites. And some items just aren’t available, so I have to import them from the U.S.

Free trade and other myths

Importing things into Korea from overseas really isn’t easy. With vitamins for example, you can only import a maximum of six items – not more than two of one item within that six – and the customs limit is around $130, including the postage, which is usually $40. So in other words, the postage is around a third of the whole cost. And yet... often buying things this way is still cheaper than the prices in Korea, which makes me think that Korean prices are a rip-off. That’s really unfortunate because people have a right to their health, and somehow – because of the way the market is here – Korean people are potentially suffering.

So there’s no easy solution to my vitamin problem. In fact – my wife and I even looked at setting up our own company just to import vitamins for our own use, but the rules are horrendous. It’s a shame, because there’s a famous cosmetic product in England for example, that I think Koreans would love if they could get it here [it’s Boots’ – ‘No. 7’ brand]. Sometimes locally-made products are not always the best choices, and they shouldn’t be the only choices.

But I’m hopeful that the free trade agreements Korea’s signed recently with the U.S. and E.U. might change things.

Links
Busan e-FM
Inside Out Busan

Air date: 2011-02-23 @ ~19:30

Busanmike.blogspot.com
 
Twitter:  @BusanMike
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Me and the Mountain

There’s a 3rd grade homeroom teacher at my school who considers himself to be my older Korean brother. I like to call him  Mr. Boastful. You might remember him. He’s the one who got me shit faced on soju one night following a staff dinner. He’s the type of person you always enjoy being around but who in some ways, scares the shit out of you because you never know what type of hijinks he’s gonna pull. Following my recent staff noraebang experience, he tried to physically hold me hostage until I agreed to let him come downtown with me to meet a friend for beers. I pulled a spin move to shake free before running to catch a cab. He’s really a nice guy, just a tad pushy.

Now Mr. Boastful is quite the outdoors man and a couple weekends back he invites to go rock climbing with his climbing team on Guemjeong mountain in Busan. Earlier in the year I had expressed some interest in going climbing while he was showing me cell phone pictures of a recent expedition.

I should mention that of the two times in my life when I’ve gone rock climbing, neither of them was on a mountain (let alone real rock) and neither was high enough to brag about. I contemplate coming up  up with an excuse for why I can’t go (afraid of heights, bad knees, expected Saturday morning hangover), but instead agree to go.  He takes my shoe size and tells me that he will prepare every thing I’ll need for the climb–harness, shoes, helmet, climbing pack, etc. At this point I realize he’s more excited about the climb than I am.

He picks me up Saturday morning and we head off for the mountain. With us are two members of his climbing team (a couple college aged girls fully decked out in climbing gear).  The hike to the climb site is short and when we arrive at the site one of the girls gives me a crash course on how to prepare and put on a climbing harness. She barely speaks a word of English so she carefully performs each task on her harness in front of me and I attempt to do the same on mine. I  pay close attention because I’m already nervous and the last thing I want is be in the middle of the climb and have something go wrong because I didn’t attach or tie something properly. My angst is heightened when one of the other team members tells me “Don’t worry. With good harness you don’t never die on mountain!”

Up until that point, the notion if dying hadn’t even crossed my mind. I was completely naive to the possibility that I may not make it back from the mountain alive. I give her a thumbs up accompanied my a nervous smile and proceed with readying my gear. The words “you don’t never die” would become my motto for the rest of the day.

Before starting the climb I reach into my pack and grab the pair of climbing shoes that have been prepared for me. I can instantly tell they will be too small (even for climbing shoes, which are generally smaller than a normal pair of shoes) but I try to squeeze my feet into them anyway just to say I did. After several attempts I decide to simply do the climb in my Reebok running shoes.

Everyone is tied off and we start the climb with one of the girls going first followed by Mr. Boastful then myself. I watch them make their way up the first stage taking mental notes on their route and technique all while thinking “there’s no fucking way in hell that I can do this.” When it’s my turn to start I try to do the same route but quickly find myself  slipping and struggling to find a good hold. Luckily Mr. Boastful takes pity on me and, seeing me about to throw in the towel, begins to hoist me up until I can find a proper hold to continue under my own strength. Despite what you might think, this in no way impedes on my feeling of accomplishment after I complete the first part of the climb.

Just before we start the second stage, I notice two other men have joined us on the climb ( other members of Boastful’s team). One is in full climbing gear and looks like he knows what he’s doing, and the other is a legitimate ajossi with no gear whatsoever; just a small backpack and a pair of lime green Nikes.  This second gentleman ended up doing the entire climb as a free climb. No ropes, no harness, no helmet, all balls. During one stage of the climb I start before him and arrive at the top to find him relaxing on a rock smoking a cigarette. A feat that has earned him the title of Mr. Bad-Ass. I can be positive, but i’m pretty sure he lit his cigarette with his bare hands.

In general Mr. boastful is helpful during the climb; coaching me up rough sections, showing me how to position my body, telling me I “don’t never die” to make me feel at ease.  However there are certain parts of the climb, usually when I’m struggling the most, when he tells me to stop where I’m at and look up for a photo. Here I am clinging for dear life to the face of this fucking mountain, sweating like a slave in my too-small-for-dreadlocks helmet, and I look up to see the man who’s supposed to holding the rope keeping me from falling to my death, grinning and pointing a camera down at me. Several times this happens. Several times I almost panic but keep my cool and muster up a smile. Damn Koreans and their paparazzi tendencies.

We make it to the peak where we plan to have lunch before repelling down, but before I can break out my kimbap and nacho cheese chips, I’m told that I need to hop a gap about five feet wide to get to the flab slab of rock where we will eat. Below the gap is drop that is easily 100-120 ft. down. I look over at Mr. Boastful and Mr. Bad-Ass who are already on the other side waiting and laughing and begin to think they’re actually anticipating that I won’t clear the gap. Again, Mr. Boastful takes out a camera to document the feat.

I clear it just fine, but the same cannot be said for the girl behind me who spends an entire 45 minutes trying to work up the courage to take the leap. When she finally does make it over, she completely breaks down in tears and can barely eat her lunch. And I thought I was the rookie?

When its time to repel down, Mr. Boastful goes first and I follow after leaning how to attach the rope to my harness. He gives me one last “you don’t never die” and snaps another photo before my feet are planted firmly on the ground.

On the ride home I am asked several times if I had a good time and if I would ever do it again. I say yes and Mr. Boastful says that it makes his heart “vely happy.”

“But,” he adds. “Next time you bring soju!” I nod my head and look out the window while mouthing the words “fuck no.”

Ciao,

Kimchi Dreadlocks


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