Sunday, May 3rd was a beautiful day. The sun was out, there was a light breeze. It was the perfect day for a colorful festive parade. Here are some shots I got that I'm proud of. Enjoy. Dan

Pic from The Sultan's Secret Garden I know that you've all done it. I'll admit it. I've done it too. My sister Jenna was the best at it. She once cooked popcorn and set the timer for 3 minutes and it started to burn after 2. The entire family ran to the kitchen to see what was going on and Jenna was there staring at this smoking microwave and not doing anything. I think I turned the microwave off. We asked her why she didn't do the same and she answered, "But the directions said 3 minutes!" Yes, we have all burned something in the microwave and then had to deal with the stench of burnt food. Now the worst smell of all has to be burnt popcorn. I don't know why that is, but burnt popcorn smells like rancid cat urine with a liquid smoke scent. Now, my friend burned something in her microwave yesterday and she asked me how she could get the scent out. The solution that Momma Gray taught me was to take some vinegar and baking soda and coat the walls with it...

Aza, now I can blog while having a big Americano with a melty, gooey chocolate Tofinek. Have you ever done the Tofinek thing? I recommend the regular one more, but you just take off the lid of your coffee and set the Tofinek on top. In two minutes, the caramel inside will be all melted and delicious. It's quite awesome. And the wifi! If you have a ARC card, you just log on to NESPOT and follow the instructions and you'll be signed on. There is no time limit and all the instructions are in English. Nice...Starbucks is giving a little back to the expat community. Starbucks has much better coffee than Tom N Tom's so this is just brilliant! Brilliant! hahaha Dan PS. If you see a guy with a laptop covered in gaudy stickers, it's me. Remember to say hi.

Join Itaewon's Biggest St. Patricks Day Party at the Wolfhound Irish Pub & Restaurant. It all starts on Thursday March 12 with Live Irish Acoustic Music and culminates on St. Patricks Day March 17th with Live Irish Traditional Music by the musical group "Bard" with a whole lot of drinking in between. Thursday March 12 - Live Irish Acoustic Music from our long time friend Eric Custer and his mates with sets at 9pm and 11pm. Saturday March 14 - St. Paticks Day Warmup Party with Green Beer and Jello Shot specials all day and night long. We will also show the Ireland Scotland Six Nations Rugby game at 2am. Its Parade Day with a traditional Irish Concert & Fair at Marronnier Park, Daehangno, Hyewha Station from 11 a.m. The St. Patrick's Day Parade to start at 1pm Sunday March 15 - All Day and All Night St. Patricks Day Party. Doors open at 11am. The pub will be all dressed up and we have ordered extra beer, mugs and party hats for the day. Green beer and sh...

http://www.wingbus.com/ http://r.wingbus.com/seoul/samcheongdong/yeon_schd/map/?splayer=N If you are looking for great online maps of neighborhoods in Seoul, then I recommend you check out Wingbus. Here is a map of Samcheongdong with a listing of cafes and restaurants. It's all in Korean, but I think you can figure it out. Dan

Via Zenkimchi.com Korea’s Most Celebrated Foreign Festival Saved by Seoul Government - 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Festival to focus on community spirit thanks to “rub of the green” – (Seoul, 09.02.26) With business tightening its belt buckle in the face of the prevailing global economic downturn, one of Korea’s largest and most well-attended foreign festivals has received last-minute funding to ensure its celebration in 2009. Thanks to sponsorship and assistance from the City of Seoul, Korean Air, Diageo Korea (Guinness) and the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Seoul’s 9th Irish Festival – 2009 St. Patrick’s Day Festival – will go ahead as planned in Daehangno on Saturday, March 14th from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Attracting an estimated 18,000 attendees in 2008, the Irish Festival, organized by the Irish Association of Korea (IAK), was in danger of not going ahead this year as significant corporate sponsorship was not renewed. The traditional and colorful street parade is a costly venture, and the festival i...

I wrote this up for my radio show and I thought you might be interested. If I was musically inclined, I would probably go to this. Do the words: 가야금, 징, 복, 아쟁, and 장구 ring a bell? Maybe it should, for they are the names of Korean instruments. And if you ever wanted to learn to play the 가양금, 징, 복, 아쟁, or 장구, then you should sign up for classes at the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. They have classes starting this spring on Saturday, March 7th. For a mere 30,000 won you can 12 lessons at the center and you’ll learn how to play the gamut of Korean instruments. It’s all pretty amazing and fun. I think I might sign up as well. You can find out more information at the Korean Traditional Performing Arts center website at www.ncktpa.go.kr or e-mail at eric@ncktpa.go.kr again that’s www.ncktpa.go.kr or e-mail at eric@ncktpa.go.kr Dan

Here are some fun events for you this week. YEOL will have a lecture with Professor Yi Sung-mi tomorrow, March 3rd, at 10:30am at the Seoul Museum of History. Her lecture is entitled: Lost in Translation : Caption Alert. Professor Yi Sung-mi is a Professor Emerita of Art History at the Academy of Korean Studies. You can find out more information on their website at www.yeol.org Naminara Republic Foreigner’s Free Festival Period: Saturday 28th Feb - Sunday 8th of March 2009 - 9 days Venues: Special event halls on Nami Island, Chuncheon Province, Korea. Entry fee: free entrance for all foreigners and immigrants in Korea. Events: Exhibitions, Performances, International Free Market, Workshops, Cultural Hands-on Experiences Throughout Asia, Nami Island is famous as the setting for the KBS TV drama ‘Winter Sonata’, and it is renowned as a clean and peaceful place set apart from the hustle and bustle of urban life.

Could someone please tell me why the 14th is so special? Here is a great website that I found with information on each of the 14th days. January 14th - Diary Day Couples are meant to give each other a diary or year planner thing, and note down all the rest of these lovely gift-giving days. February 14th - Valentine's Day In contrast to Western society, today is traditionally when women give chocolates to their men and confess their love. March 14th - White Day Men give candy to the women they love (and flowers and choc and cuddly toys....in fact, anything really!) April 14th - Black Day A purely Korean day, for those singletons out there, who havnt received choc or candy so far, console yourselves by eating ja jang myun - a black noodle soup - or other black foods. May 14th - Rose Day / Yellow Day Couples exchange roses, and those lonely hearts gather for curry and companionship. Apparently dressing in yellow is also recommended. June 14th - Kiss Day As one site puts it: 'Lover...

This was aired on TBS efm on Monday February 2nd on Soul of Asia. There is information on cycling, events, credit cards, and how you can get your pension back. PS. The reason I am posting it on this site is because when I upload this to the TBSefm website, it is not searchable so the information is difficult for others to find. So here is the script. Let’s start with some news from the Seoul Global Center, because you know how I heart them. The Itaewon·Hannam Global Village Center on Feb. 6th will be having a living in Seoul orientation class at 10:30am. There will be lots of good living tips and information there. Plus, you’ll meet other Seoulites. And you can get the fabulous Living in Seoul books at the orientation and they’ll have snacks and coffee. Also the Itaewon.Hannam Global Center will be offering an exciting tour of the city on this Saturday, February 7th. The tour is free of charge and it has a jam packed itinerary full of great activities. It starts with a cooking class to...

Listeners, I’m not sure if you know this, but I haven’t always been an MC in Korea. Like many foreigners that come to Korea, my first job in Korea was working at a hagwon. I came to Korea totally naïve and I just thought to myself, “This is going to be easy; I’ll just think of it as playing with kids.” And like many I thought, “I can speak English, therefore I can teach English.” Boy was I wrong. Jennifer gave us many insights into teaching and I want to expound a bit more on teaching in Korea. Let’s start off with some tips. Tip number 1: You are the teacher in the classroom. You are the boss. You are not a friend. Roles should be distinctly established in the classroom- especially when you are working with younger kids. If you go into a classroom and try to be too friendly or too fun, kids will not take the class seriously. If you are working at a hagwon, your boss has convinced the parents that you will teach their children. Tip number 2: You need to be aware of the parent...

These are some living tips that will help you survive Seoul. They were announced on Soul of Asia on TBSeFM 101.3 this week by Sara Kim. Here are the tips. Did you know that if you have a sore throat you can just gargle with a half glass of hot water and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper? The cayenne pepper will kill all the bacteria in your throat that’s causing the pain. This will also work with pickle brine, lemon juice, or Tabasco sauce. Now if you would like more traditional medical advice then I think you should call the medical referral service at 010 4769 8212 or e-mail them at medicalreferral@seoul.go.kr There are English Speaking operators available that can refer you to general practitioners as well as specialists in dermatology; dentistry, PODIATRY, gynecology…basically whatever medical need you have. If you are going to a hospital or to a clinic it might help to have your health insurance card. Your school should give you a health insurance card that says NHIC on it. If you do...

Surviving Seoul Part 1: Your Rights Everyone, it is getting dangerously cold out so be sure to make sure you are safe. Most of the houses are warmed through the ondol floor heating system, so it’s very important that you let your water faucet drip a little so your pipes don’t freeze. If they do freeze you could look at a couple million in expenses and most landlords will foot you with the bill. And if you have one of those thermal fan heaters, please be sure to turn them off when you leave the house and be very careful where you have them located. Do not have lots of loose paper around and also be sure that you are not too close to the heater when you go to sleep. And those heaters take up a lot of power, so be sure not to plug it into a power plug that is overloaded. It could cause a spark. Today, I wanted to start by going into a bit about labor laws. Korea has a lot of laws on the books, and I feel it’s important to know your rights. Now if you ask your employer about the rules, th...

Yay! people read my blog! Here is a question I recently got from a reader and my answer is below. If anyone has any other questions, feel free to send them to me. Dan Lynn I've been reading your blogs and articles for the past 6 months. They were helpful for my first trip to Seoul. I mostly used your site for restaurants and culture research. But now I'm going back to Seoul at the end of January and want to spend my days cooking. (After all, it is freezing now and wandering about isn't going to be as fun as it was in the fall.) I couldn't find any butchers on my last trip. Can you suggest a couple places? I'm staying just south of the river in kang-nam-gu and only get around by subway. Thank you! Me It's best to find a local butcher. You'll find them around in each neighborhood, but it really depends on the kind of meat that you would want and the cut. You would go to the chicken guy to get chicken. Most of the fish you can get fairly fresh at a market or yo...

Let’s start with some trash talk. These are items that are not and let me reiterate, NOT, acceptable as food wastes. You can throw these away in your regular trash bags that you buy from the store. Ok, here we go. Hard nut shells such as chestnut, walnuts, peanuts, acorns, coconut, pineapple, or cherry or grape stems. These are also not acceptable: Onion peels, roots of green onions, garlic peels, corn husks, large seeds or pits of peaches, apricots, persimmons and other fruits with pits or seeds. Just remember this, if an animal can eat it, then it is considered food waste. If not then it goes in the regular trash bag. The trash in the regular bags are usually burned, so it is very important to get rid of all the recyclable items. Oh, and bones from meat and feathers from poultry (now I don’t know who would defeather their own poultry, but just in case) are NOT food waste. Neither are clam shells, abalone, crab or lobster. Oh and if you happen to gut and clean your own blowfish (which...

If you have a gas bill or an electric bill, you can pay it through a couple of different ways. Many convenience stores will let you make the payments there. Which convenience stores allow you to pay your bill will be listed on your bill. You can also do a bank transfer at the bank. Just send your payment to the correct bank and account number listed. The final way is to take your paper bill and head to your nearest bank and there are special machines that you feed your bill through and pay by debit. It can be a bit confusing so get the security guard to help. Just hold up the bill and say, Help me or (say it in Korean) or you can simply say How, (Ottakgye) and move both hands up and open palmed. Tilt your head to the side and lift your left foot. As we all know, this is the universal sign for I’m confused, help me. He’ll be sure to help your through this process. Just review a little about money or woney in Korea. If you happen to encounter an ATM that is all in Korea here are some tip...

Hey everyone, the Internet Phenomenon, the darlings of Korean Media, the Beastie Boys of Korea will be on Soul of Asia tomorrow: Monday, from 11:05-12. They will be talking about their Korean experience and we'll be playing their songs. If you have questions you can message us at #1013 or call at 02 778 1013. Tuesday, we will have legal advice with Mr. Noh. Wednesday, Danya Gunnell will be on to talk about motorcycling in Seoul and how a taxi driver broke her leg. Thursday, we have the amazing Michael Hurt. Friday, we'll have Timothy Lee from AIMS who will talk about his organization that helps North Korean defectors. And Saturday, we'll have Ana talking about her experience as a Filipina in Korea. I hope you listen in and if you have any questions for our guests, you can e-mail us at tbsefm@gmail.com, message us at #1013 or call us during the show at 02 778 1013. Thanks you and I hope you are having a wonderful New Year! Dan Gray Writer for Soul of Asia tbsefm@gmail.com

First of all, thank you for helping others by leaving comments on the blog. Today, I would like to talk about fire safety. Fire safety is very pertinent issue for ourselves and for others. The expat community has seen the devastating effects of inadequate fire safety this year with the tragic deaths of Bill Kapoun and Nerine Viljoen. For those that don’t know, Bill Kapoun died back in March due to burns over 70% of his body. He was living in an apartment that didn’t have any smoke detectors, sprinklers, and the only route of escaped was blocked by the fire. . And just recently in December, Nerine Viljeon was house sitting for a friend when a fire broke out in the apartment building. She couldn’t get out of the door because it was blocked by fire. She tried to get out by window, but she couldn’t figure out how to open it. So today, I would like to talk to you about how you can protect yourself and loved ones from fires in Korea. Don’t rely on the building superintendent to do this for y...

Hey everyone, I would like to invite you to a New Year's Eve event that TBS efm is hosting. The radio station is hosting a party that is open to all- especially foreigners in the city. It is going to on Wednesday, December 31 from 7-10pm-so it would be a great place to pregame before heading out to another New Year's Day party. It is going to be held at Nam San Gukakdang (Classic Korean Music Hall) in Nam San Korean village. Directions are below. They will have live music, free T-shirts, and lots of free beer. Yes, you heard me correctly: free beer. And they will be giving away 10 iPods! I think they'll be giving other things away too. There is going to be an after party and lots of cool bands. Kim Yong Woo, Lee An, Kim Mok Kyung, Windy City, Mithy Mouth, The Choi Chi Woo Band, We need Surgery, Fan Death, New Town and Achtung and Dynamic Duo will be performing. It's going to be a totally rocking Christmas Eve. The registration period is over, but I have been given a bu...

Dear readers, Recently, a reader who shall stay anonymous asked wrote this: Anonymous said... great pics! i've really been enjoying this blog ever since i stumbled upon it a few weeks ago .. you guys seem really knowledgeable in the realm of food & s. korea ... so if it's not too presumptuous, i have a question ... where the heck can you get fresh herbs in korea?!!!!!!!!! i'm dying for some fresh thyme and rosemary and cilantro and .. etc .. :) First of all, thank you for reading my blog. I am flattered. E-mart usually has basil when it is in season. I'm not sure if they have it now since it is so cold. Usually they'll have fancy (curly) parsley. I've found that in Itaewon, the Foreign mart will almost always have cilantro and they often have basil, mint, and rosemary. They also have fresh kaffir leaves, Thai bird chili peppers, and lemongrass. Hannam Market is also pretty reliable for herbs and I have even seen fresh thyme there, but the prices are often r...