Ganghwa Island

We took a short day trip to Ganghwa Island (강화도) yesterday.  The main highlight of the journey was a brisk hike up Mani-san, which still had traces of snow left on it from the week before.  From its peak we were able to get a nice view of the Yellow Sea and make out some of the smaller islands nearby.

There is a legend that the founder of Korea's first kingdom built an altar on top of this mountain and made sacrifices to his ancestors there.

We were the very last ones down the mountain at sunset.  By the time we got back to the bus stop it was dark and quiet in town; quite a difference from what we're used to in the city.

Another thing we're not used to: random acts of kindness.  A woman actually saw us waiting in the cold and invited us into her store to keep warm while we waited for our bus home.  A bit taken aback, we accepted.  But being Americans we couldn't help but keep our guard up.

It was a butcher shop after all.

Brain-eaters at the ball

I just finished the hit mashup novel "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" last week. Read my review of it here.

White-naped cranes

Nearest train station to the DMZ.
This line is part of the inter-Korean railway that was rebuilt in 2007.

I went up to the DMZ area again last Friday, this time for a piece for Radio Netherlands Worldwide. We were lucky enough to get pretty close to a family of white-naped cranes. The cranes are endangered in Asia, and symbolize longevity here in Korea.

Following are a few highlights from the trip.

70 years later, still waiting for apology

Yi Ok-seon with a photo of herself in her 20s.

Back in mid-January I went on a tour of the House of Sharing -- a museum and home for Korean "comfort women" survivors about an hour outside of Seoul. These brave 할머니 (grandmas) are spending their retirement telling their stories of sexual enslavement during World War II and fighting for an apology from the Japanese government.

Last week Radio Netherlands Worldwide's "The State We're In" aired the interview I helped put together with one of these grandmas. It was incredible hearing Yi Ok-seon 할머니's story and spending time with the other women. Not enough people know about their struggles, even here in South Korea.

A shrine at the House of Sharing museum. The garland on the right is a chain of tiny origami cranes made by Japanese visitors.

Club day in Hongdae

TV Yellow CD release party at Club FF

TV Yellow

도원경 (Do Won Kyung) at Club FF

Move over boy and girl bands -- the Korean indie scene is alive and well in Seoul. Last night we went to see our friend's band play a gig as part of Hongdae's monthly "Club Day," where you can get into 21 clubs for the equivalent of $18.

After trying out a couple other clubs, we spent most of the night at Club FF, where our friend's band TV Yellow was playing. Later in the night we saw 도원경 (Do Won Kyung), a famous female rocker in Korea. Do has been on the scene (and Korean TVs) for over 15 years, and the club was packed. She reminded me a little of Garbage's Shirley Manson -- a complete breath of fresh air after hearing Girls' Generation for the last 9 months straight.

Do played this song from 1997 last night:


Compare that song with Girls' Generation's biggest hit, "Gee," which topped the charts in Korea for nine-weeks straight:


Ugh, I could write a thesis just on how much those two videos say about gender in Korea.

The Dawn of Eco-lit

My review of Margaret Atwood's environment catastrophe novel "The Year of the Flood" published in the JoongAng Daily.

Siem Reap