South Korea

Well, it’s after midnight here in Daejeon (Slogan: It’s Daejeon) and I’m about to begin my final week here in Korea. I’m back in Daejeon for the third time in as many weeks to interview for at least a third (if not fourth) time, Kilnam Chon, the father of the Internet in Korea. I don’t have the energy right now to write a whole narrative, so I’ll just give you some snippets of things that I’ve done in the last…

I think it goes without saying that this whole incident where the crazed South Korean kid who shot up Virginia Tech is incredibly tragic. My heart goes out to the affected families. The most fascinating factoid (in a weird way) about this whole incident was pointed out by Michael Hurt, an American living in Seoul: Then there’s the interesting fact that the record holder for the worst shooting in world history, Woo Bom-gon (우범근), is also Korean, this time a…

Sorry I haven’t posted in a few days. I was down in Daejeon for the weekend and am now back in Seoul for the rest of the week. I’ll be here until Friday, when I head down to Busan. I hope to sate you with some photos until I get some writing in. As usual, all photos are here.

All of my photos can be found here, but these are some of the highlights:

Adjacent to my table for one, the only word that I can make out is “computer virus.” Sitting a few meters away from me are six Korean men in their mid-50s, possibly older. They have rounds of various empty coffee cups scattered in front of them and seem to be engaged in some animated conversation. Some look attentive, others disengaged. But me? I’m the only one in the place who is obviously not Korean. And yet, minutes before, the friendly…

Well, I’m in Daejeon, or as the local tourism board says “It’s Daejeon!” I got in at a bit after 6 pm local time last night and was on the 7:50 pm bus from Incheon Airport to Daejeon. Two and change hours later, I was in Daejeon. My friendly seatmate helped me get a cab and directed me to Chungnam National University, where after my cab driver got rear-ended (slightly), and asked in a combination of Korean and pantomime if…

Greetings from SFO. In 20 minutes I’m going to board a plane bound for Seoul (it’s a 12 hour 40 minute direct flight). Then I’m off to Daejeon for one night, and then back to Seoul for the rest of the week. Thanks to everyone for all their support and help! If you want a postcard from Korea, email me your postal address.

Alright, peoples, here’s where I’m tapping the collective wisdom of the interwebal series of tubes. I’m off to Korea on Saturday and will be there until Sunday, April 29. I’ll be mainly in Seoul, but will also be traveling to Daejeon and Busan. What are things that I can’t miss while I’m there? What should I make sure to do/eat/see? Logistics: Mobile phone: I’m thinking about renting a cell phone, when I get to the airport. But then again, I…

“When the things got for real, I got up in the fold / and put into practice all that I was told.” – “The Inkwell”, Blue Scholars Things are getting pretty freakin’ real right about now, that’s for sure. I just got a book deal. Yeah. Really. A book. Like you know, one of those things that’s printed on dead trees and sits in libraries and stuff. Maybe you’ve heard of ’em? I’m going to have an entry in the…