North Korea Business

So if you're reading this, I'm sure you've read about what's been happening in the past 8 hours between North Korea and South Korea concerning the island of Yeonpyeong (연병도). Don't worry please. This incident will probably not escalate, but in the event that something does happen, I will let you know.

I first found out at 4pm (local time) from my club class students. They asked to use my computer so that they could read what was going on. I wasn't sure what the appropriate thing to do was, so we ended up discussing the issue while making x-mas decorations for my classroom... A strange combination, yes. Though it seemed to calm them down. We discussed the possibility of the two Koreas uniting, and 5 out of the 7 students present expressed their opinion of not wanting it to happen. Their reasoning was that they didn't want South Korea's economy to absorb the poor nation that North Korea is (though they didn't state their thoughts quite like that, but that was the gist of it). Definitely an interesting afternoon... Hopefully things will get taken care of in the least violent way possible....

The Hunt for Plastic Surgery Ads

So on the art side of things, I've decided to start making collages, you know, just to get some crazy ideas flowing. And since I'm in Korea, I wanted to pull imagery from only Korean things, and see what they become under the guide of my westernized eye. And speaking of westernized eyes, one thing present among the mass of imagery here that has caught this eye is the prevalence of plastic surgery ads.

However, they are strange b/c there is this clear divide between what is a good nose, eye, arm, etc and a bad nose, eye, arm, etc. There is clearly a universal standard in Korea, but unfortunately the people themselves are only particulars, hence the great success of plastic surgeons. They're also strange b/c the ads are just these very raw comparisons of flesh, good flesh and bad flesh. So visually I think they're quite intriguing.

Ok, so in order to make these collages, I set up some parameters to make it a game of sorts.

1.) There will be 2 main figures in the piece.
2.) I must use at least one image from a plastic surgery ad.
3.) I am not allowed to pencil in lines and then ink them over later. Every line must be fresh and not premeditated. If I screw up, so be it.
4.) There must be a title.

So I asked my host mom for assistance in acquiring such ads. And she pulled through yesterday while her youngest daughter received her unwanted hair cut. As 유경 got her hair trimmed, my host mom and I poured through old magazines that the hair dresser had saved, and cut out as many ads as we could find. My host mom would turn to me and say, "How about these eyes? Do you like these eyes?" And I would reply with a zealous, "Ooo! Yes! Cut those eyes out please!" We would go back and forth like this, replacing eyes with noses, ears, breasts, and other body parts. By the time 유경 jumped out of her chair to show us her hair, we had cut out quite the stack of body parts and altered faces. I was thrilled.

The Gravity of a Different Type of Mass (m), collage and pen & ink on paper

As of recently, I've finally begun to focus on art stuff more consistently, so if you're curious about how drawing and the whatnot is going, I'll be posting images here as I go along.

Lastest Girl's Generation Song, "Hoot"

Don't ask me what the title means, b/c I don't quite understand it myself. The music vid has a Korean James Bond theme to it. And of course, the girls are all hot... though I still can't tell them apart... aishhhh.

New Shoes!

I went shopping with my coteacher and her mom yesterday, and in the process, found these cute and surprisingly comfortable shoes at ABC Mart. Yay for having my size... in another store, so they are shipping them to my apartment. Even in Korea I have somewhat small feet! Aish....

A Field Day Like No Other (well unless you're in Korea!)

A couple of weeks ago my school had its annual Field Day. Field Day in Korean middle schools is amazing, beats American middle school field days any day. Each homeroom class dresses up in ridiculous costumes and all classes can watch the individual sports events as they happen. Students and teachers make signs and cheers which they use to encourage their teammates. Below are some examples of the various dress.

Apparently the Supermen/girls were a bunch of Clark Kents and Linda Langs, b/c they didn't want their identity known, hence covering up their faces.


I ran into this group of boys as they were preparing to go outside. Their entire class dressed up in matching pajamas. Girls in pink and boys in blue. They too did not want their identities revealed.


This is one of my favorite second grade boys (equivalent 8th grade in the USA). He belonged to the pajama team, but halfway through he shed his pajamas and traded them for poop that he could wear on his head.



The class I was cheering for was class #9. They all wore bunny ears and painted bunny noses and whiskers on their faces. They attacked my face too. This is me and their homeroom teacher, one of my favorite English teachers at the school.

Does this student's shirt say, "Gaudi Picasso Mania?" Why, yes it does!!!!!!!


Some of my boys are quite large, which I didn't realize until I saw this picture of us together. Yikes!!!

So the various activities that students competed in included (but were not limited to): tug of war, relay races, three legged races (though a crazy version), soccer, jump rope, and something called a "boat race." Below you can see the giant classes of 35 students compete in tug of war. They are smart and give the students gloves to use. Sometimes it amazes me just how practical Koreans can be.


I did my part by yelling at class #9, to get them to pull harder. By now I am quite good at yelling at students. Though I was yelling in English, so they probably didn't understand me. However they won first place out 11 classes, so I'd like to thing I did something to help with that.


Now earlier I mentioned something called a "boat race." If you are anything like me, you are probably wondering, what the heck is a "boat race?" Well it's a class relay race that involves 4 students at a time, but their legs are tied to one other. One of the third grade classes dressed up in full animal suits, so it boggles my mind how they managed to play sports all day like that, let alone finish the "boat race." Needless to say, it was quite the experience, this Korean middle school Field Day.

I Can't Wait Until I Have a Real Studio Again Someday...