I wouldn’t want to be a dog in Korea

It was in early December 1990 when I got together one afternoon with Dick Verucchi (he had been the drummer of Buckacre and The Jerks two very popular bands in the Illinois Valley and still played out with local musicians) for lunch.
It had been just a little over a year since we had last [...]

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The Race is On (with apologies to George Jones)

It’s 10:45am and I’ve got my class of ten beginning language learners doing a speaking activity in pairs. It’s a dialogue between two people asking what they like to do in their free time; the students, once they’ve read through the dialogue are supposed to substitute various “free time” activities like “listening to music” “reading [...]

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“Kit Kat” Copy Cat

Imitation might be the cheapest form of flattery unless a little logo borrowing is involved.
The other day I was in this Mom and Pop shop (kagae in Korean) in the mood for some chocolate when I espied what I thought was a bag of Kit Kat candy bars. At least from a distance and in [...]

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The accidental journalist — Part 1

From 2000-2006 I was a feature writer for The Korea Times, the oldest English-language newspaper in Korea.  
Starting out with book reviews, I moved on to feature articles, interviews, travel, culture, and the occasional news story. In that time, I had the chance to interview everyone from Korean War veterans and celebrities like Johnny Grant (honorary [...]

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Hell hath no fury than a woman scorned…

and especially if you try and break up with her as one unfortunate Korean man found out recently in a story reported by the Korea Times.
“Police Monday arrested a woman Monday for the attempted murder of her boyfriend. Last week, the 22-year-old woman, identified as Kim hired a 21-year-old man to give her boyfriend a [...]

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Happy Feet

 It might have been the coldest day of the year, but Spring is in the air. 
“Customers at a Nine West store in Myeong-dong, Seoul, look forward to spring’s colorful fashions, such as these enamel shoes released by the brand yesterday. Bright enamel shoes are expected to attract many customers with the change of season.” 
Be that [...]

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Happy Feet

It might have been the coldest day of the year, but Spring is in the air.
“Customers at a Nine West store in Myeong-dong, Seoul, look forward to spring’s colorful fashions, such as these enamel shoes released by the brand yesterday. Bright enamel shoes are expected to attract many customers with the change of season.”
Be [...]

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Hey you guys, it’s “hump day”

Some things just don’t translate well at first. 
Take for example the expression “hump day,” which is sometimes used when greeting people—such as in “have a happy hump day’—on Wednesdays back in the States (or anywhere else people have a five-day work week). A few years ago that expression would be hard to explain to a class [...]

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Hey you guys, it’s "hump day"

Some things just don’t translate well at first.
Take for example the expression “hump day,” which is sometimes used when greeting people—such as in “have a happy hump day’—on Wednesdays back in the States (or anywhere else people have a five-day work week).
A few years ago that expression would be hard to explain to a class [...]

Read Full Post »

Hey you guys, it’s "hump day"

Some things just don’t translate well at first.
Take for example the expression “hump day,” which is sometimes used when greeting people—such as in “have a happy hump day’—on Wednesdays back in the States (or anywhere else people have a five-day work week).
A few years ago that expression would be hard to explain to a class [...]

Read Full Post »