And speaking of maps, OSM is looking for contributors.

My old street in Gwangju, from Daum's road view feature.

In response to a post last week about TripleFantastic.com, a reader emailed me about the Open Street Map Project, "a free editable map of the whole world." He writes:

I am sure that triplefantastic.com is splendid, but I wanted to
mention the OpenStreetMap project (OSM). Google, Daum and Naver are fine, but indeed they are not in English, and furthermore they are not free (as in speech). It's also possible that triplefantastic will fall foul of one or other of its constituent services' terms and conditions by linking them
together.

OSM (www.osm.org) is a worldwide volunteer project to make a free map of the world. Volunteers, such as myself, are drawing roads and adding POIs (points
of interest) like shops, bus stations, cafes, etc., and anyone is free to extract and use the data. There are companies such as MapQuest and CloudMade who are producing nice maps from the data, and I have also had a go with NavIt, a free SatNav driving assistant and route planner using the free OSM
data.

Oooh, it has Gangjin county covered, too.

Gangjin's "Heart Strawberries."

The heart-shaped strawberries (하트딸기) they grow in Gangjin county's Gudong-myeon make the news every once in a while---and made this blog in June 2009---this time because of White Day on March 15th. You can order yours from the official Naver cafe "하트딸기카페" (http://cafe.naver.com/icigo), with a url for some reason containing the Japanese word for strawberry.


From 2009.

They call it *smack* the "Love Very," and a box of six costs 25,000 won.

People still care about Twinkies?

The exchange program between sister cities Gangjin and Snoqualmie, Washington, has gotten a relatively good bit of press the past couple years. This month a Gangjin middle schooler's trip over winter break made the local paper, the SnoValley Star.

Fresh off the airplane after a grueling trip from Korea, teenager Eun Seong confessed to one big objective for his monthlong trip to Snoqualmie.

“I want to eat a Twinkie,” he said during a reception at Mount Si High School in Snoqualmie, sister city of Seong’s hometown of Gangjin.

Photographs by Suncheon professor on display at Drexel University.

Drexel University's Rincliffe Gallery, in Philadelphia, is hosting an exhibition of photographs of traditional Korean architecture by Lee Dong-hee of Suncheon National University's School of Architecture.

“We hope that these photographs will provide a spiritually enriching experience,” said Jacqueline DeGroff, curator of the Drexel Collection.

About 20 photographs of Korean temples, shrines, palaces and private houses are featured in the exhibition. Traditional Korean architecture was created based on a deep-rooted interest in spirituality. The love the Korean people have for religion and philosophy is represented in each work. Buddhism and Confucianism were introduced to Korea very early in its history. Both religions blossomed there, and influenced the developing architectural style of the culture.

The essence of traditional Korean architecture is the harmony found between people and nature. Korean architects sought not to overwhelm their environment, but rather to complement it and to bring those using the buildings closer to it.

Also see the write-up in The Triangle. The exhibition runs through February 25th.

"Stricter drug screening" for E-2 visa holders, applicants starting February 1st.

So writes the Dong-a Ilbo anyway:

Foreigners who want to teach English in Korea will face stricter drug screening by the government, the Justice Ministry said Tuesday.

The ministry will announce a revised law on immigration control that requires those suspected of drug use to undergo two tests before employment as English teachers on the E-2 visa. The law will take effect from Feb. 1.

Under the revised law, a would-be teacher should get tested for immunity with a drug diagnosis reagent authorized by the Korea Food and Drug Administration. If the test is positive, he or she must undergo another test using a mass spectrometer.

The ministry will test for methamphetamine, cocaine, opium and marijuana. If the second test is positive, issuance or extension of a visa will be denied.

A Justice Ministry official said, “A number of English instructors took drugs while teaching, and we wanted to prevent this in advance.”

The image of foreign English teachers stoned in the classroom is a common one among xenophobes, though I suspect what gets garbled in translation is that "a number" of teachers are caught each year taking drugs while under contract, not necessarily while teaching. Drugs are bad, mmmkay, though it's still discriminatory to focus on E-2 visa holders and applicants while ignoring foreign English teachers on other visas, especially considering how relatively often it is we're reading about gyopo offenders among these drug-taking foreigners.

American teacher's organ donation saves three lives.

The Korea Times reports, via Yonhap, on Linda Freel,

a teacher at the International Christian School in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, and wife of school director Rex Freel, donated her liver, kidneys, corneas and skin tissue, after she passed away Saturday.

This is the first case for a Westerner donating their organs to Koreans, according to the hospital.

``While 35 patients among 1 million donate their organs in the United States, only five out of 1 million donate in Korea. Freel’s organ donation will be an opportunity to share her noble philosophy in sharing life,’’ said Yang Cheol-woo, director of the organ transplantation department at the hospital.

From an email her husband circulated after her death:

I have been told that 5 peoples lives have been saved and that about 100 burn victims will benifit from skin graphs. The Korean people are amazed that someone would do this for them when the majority of Koreans would not think about doing this themselves. The Minister of Health stopped by to pay his respects. They Mayor of Uijongbu (Pop. 500,000) sent flowers. The Democratic Party sent flowers (My secretary assured me they were conservative :) Several hundred people stopped by to pay their respects. It was a great day. Very exhausting, but it was definitely a day of ministry.

From 연합.

Triplefantastic.com: maps in Korean and English.

I'm always interested to hear from readers in Korea from southwestern Pennsylvania---I've met and exchanged emails with quite a few, actually---and a few days ago I received an email from one sharing a site he made, Triplefantastic.com. By linking to Daum, Naver, Google Korea and Google in English, allows you to pull up maps with, among other things, hotels, yoga classes, dentists, parks, and PC방 in scores of cities and neighborhoods.


Pizza in Suncheon, from Google Maps in Korean.

1,000,000th hit.

Sitemeter tells me a few hours ago the blog got its 1,000,000th hit since I started keeping track on January 29, 2008. Thank you for your readership and your continued visits, and thank you for your interest in the live-burial of livestock, love motels, the cancellation of Naked News Korea and, um, a picture of the Wonder Girls, all among my most-viewed pages the past month.


Source.

FMD means Koreans urged not to travel (or travel to Jeollanam-do) for Lunar New Year.

The Korea Times writes about local governments' efforts to discourage Koreans from travelling around the country this Seollal in order to prevent further spread of foot-and-mouth disease.

Many Koreans who work and live in Seoul and other urban areas were born and raised in the provinces. It is a decades-old tradition that they visit their hometowns to see their parents, relatives and friends at least twice a year ― the Lunar New Year (or Seollal) and Chuseok holidays.

But this biannual ritual may not materialize during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday from Feb. 2 to 6 as the mass migration could cause the spread of foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease and bird flu to uninfected areas.

Since the first FMD outbreak was reported in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, on Nov. 29, the deadly virus has spread to nearly all parts of the country, except for the southern regions ― South Gyeongsang Province, North Jeolla Province, South Jeolla Province and Jeju Island.

. . .

In a desperate attempt to stop the devastating epidemic, scores of provincial governments have launched a campaign to prevent people from traveling to other areas during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Among others, South Jeolla Province, which has seen not a single case of FMD, is asking those who plan to visit there during the five-day holiday not to do so in a bid to stop the spread of the highly infectious virus.

The provincial government has asked dozens of organizations made up of individuals born in the country’s southwestern province not to visit their hometowns.

``If we can prevent FMD from spreading to our area during the upcoming holiday, we are positive that South Jeolla Province will remain FMD-free. It is not easy to say this but we desperately need people who have family members here not to come this time,’’ said Lee Ki-ho, director of the livestock quarantine department at the South Jeolla Provincial Government.

The other 362 days out of the year you couldn't convince many Koreans, or expats for that matter, to visit Jeollanam-do, but as The Waygook Effect says given how little vacation time Koreans take it's unlikely that local officials will discourage Koreans from driving cross-country for one of its biggest holidays.

Choi Jung-hyun junk art show in Gwangju through February 27th.

shared by Gwangju Blog brings us word of a real neat exhibition.



The Usquare Cultural Center---on the second floor of Gwangju's Usquare Bus Terminal---is hosting a junk art show featuring the work of Choi Jung-hyun through February 27th. Titled "반쪽이의 고물 자연사박물관," it's held in the Kumho Gallery next to the Burger King. Hours are 10:30 through 19:00, and admission is 4,000 won.


Choi's snake made from recycled computer parts made him internet famous in 2008.

Don't hit your students, make them do run or do push-ups instead.

The JoongAng Daily writes about new forms of physical punishment that will replace smacking students with "love sticks."

Teachers in Seoul may no longer be able to slap misbehaving students, but they will be able to order them to do push-ups or run laps.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology yesterday released official guidelines on how teachers can discipline students now that corporal punishment has been banned in Seoul and is on its way out in other regions.

The ministry was responding to widespread complaints from teachers that students were running riot since corporal punishment was banned in Seoul in November. Teachers argued that physical punishments were widely considered an effective means of disciplining students in schools.

. . .

“To minimize confusion in classrooms after corporal punishment was banned in some regions, the ministry came up with the guidelines after collecting various opinions regarding the issue from experts,” said Education Minister Lee Ju-ho yesterday. Lee said the guideline will be enforced starting in March with the spring semester.

Under the guidelines, teachers are permitted to discipline students by ordering them to do push-ups, stand in the back of the classroom, or run or walk a few laps around the school playground. Teachers will be permitted to suspend students from school for up to ten days, with a maximum suspension of 30 days a year. Suspended students will receive counseling from education experts. If a student keeps misbehaving after 30 days of suspension, the ministry will allow teachers to summon parents to school for counseling.

I guess on the list of things most disruptive to a classroom, "making students do push-ups in the back of the class" was an acceptable distance behind "hitting students with your broom." The Korea Times has more on what is also a political issue:

The plan states that physical punishment that directly inflicts any type of pain to the body is prohibited, but indirect punishment such as running laps and push-ups, can be used as a means to discipline students.

The specific aspects of the allowable punishment methods will be decided by the schools individually, based on suggestions from students, teachers and parents, Lee said.

The latest ministry steps mean it will not accept the reform drives led by Kwak No-hyun, the progressive superintendent of the Seoul education office.

McDonald's Korea to double number of restaurants by 2015.

The JoongAng Daily has information on McDonald's plans to grow in South Korea.

McDonald’s Korea announced yesterday that it will invest 500 billion won ($449 million) in the local market and double its number of restaurants here over the next five years.

The plan includes opening 243 new restaurants in Korea by 2015, most of which will be franchised locations, Sean Newton, the chief executive officer of McDonald’s local unit, said yesterday during at press conference in Myeong-dong, central Seoul. About 80 percent of the new restaurants will also feature drive-through windows, Newton added.

The move comes as the local unit of U.S.-based McDonald’s shifts from streamlining internal systems and services to expanding its footprint in Korea.

In outlining the goal of having a total of 500 restaurants in Korea by 2015, Newton stressed the importance of the local market to McDonald’s overall growth.

The article says the chain's presence in Korea is still far behind Lotteria, which has 890 stores. McDonald's Korea's CEO closes the article with

“[O]ur goal is not to be bigger than Lotteria but to develop a successful McDonald’s market . . . We will grow not by stealing market share, but by growing the market.”

The Chosun Ilbo and Korea Times have articles on this as well. In a post last week on fast food restaurants in Seoul we looked at the geographical distribution of several Western chains and the idea that more expensive menu options are favored in the city's trendier areas.

Also in the news today is the "McDonald's Grandmother" (맥도날드 할머니), a woman spending her days at a Seoul McDonald's, and the subject of a recent SBS documentary. From 깜뉴스:

맥도날드 할머니는 매일 밤 9시만 되면 패스트푸드점 맥도날드에 나타나 새벽 4시까지 새우잠을 자다 사라졌다. 마땅한 거처도 없이 하루의 대부분을 맥도날드와 교회, 스타벅스를 오가며 불편하게 보내고 있었다.

더 충격적인 사실은 할머니가 24시간 동안 한 번도 눕지 않고 커피 한 잔으로만 끼니를 때우며 10년 째 생활하고 있다는 점. 특히 그녀가 유명대학교 불문과를 졸업했으며, 외무부에서 근무한 엘리트였다는 사실이 알려져 충격과 호기심을 불러 일으켰다.

And more 신기해 still, she reads an English newspaper every day! *cough* See also this post on McRefugees in Korea.

Some readers don't care for the Chosun Ilbo's cartoons.

A Dave's ESL Cafe poster started a thread with a complaint letter he sent to the Chosun Ilbo regarding a cartoon accompanying a recent article on the Chevrolet Volt.

Although I usually enjoy reading the Chosun Ilbo in English, it has a reputation among Western expats in Korea as being biased or unreliable. Generally, I don't mind, since I love the pictures of the day and I like the wide variety of news you provide. However, the cartoon accompanying the article "Volt's Car of the Year" (seen here: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/01/17/2011011700756.html) is incredibly racist and offensive. How would you feel if an American newspaper wrote an article insulting a Korean car and drew a racist cartoon of Korean people? Americans do not have noses like that - it is a racist depiction, reducing us to features that Koreans perceive as 'different' - and we are not all white with blonde hair, either, which is something Korean media seems to ignore.

The cartoon was pulled from the English-language translation but is still found on the Korean-language original.

Don't let your pipes freeze.

Roboseyo reminds readers to be careful in this very cold weather lest the pipes in their apartments freeze overnight.

Until it gets a little less frigid, don't forget to run your taps for a while, and flush your toilets once or twice, at night before you go to bed, so your water pipes don't freeze and explode overnight. The older and smaller the building you live in, the more this applies to you.

If they take these precautions, though, they won't get their apartment in the newspaper, like these folks in Gwangju's Hwajeong-dong.



(1, 2)

Mandatory training class on the way for Koreans importing Asian brides.

The Korea Times reports of a mandatory three-hour education class for Korean men interested in marrying and importing brides from seven Asian countries.

Those marrying foreigners, mainly from other Asian countries, will be obliged to take a mandatory three-hour class on the culture of the would-be spouses’ countries, according to the Ministry of Justice, Monday.

This is part of measures to lessen problems in interracial marriage resulting from a lack of understanding of each other’s background. Civic groups, however, say the three-hour education will not be particularly effective, calling for a more comprehensive solution.

According to the revised regulations taking effect at the end of the month or early February, Koreans who are to marry foreigners must take the class on the culture and customs of the future spouses’ countries.

The affected countries are Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Cambodia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Thailand.

. . .

If the Korean partner does not take the obligatory education, the authorities will not issue an F-2 residence visa to the immigrant spouse.

There is an exception: If a Korean stays in a foreign country for over 45 days, dates a native there and decides to marry him or her, the Korean will not have to take the program. Also, if a foreigner stays here for over 90 days, dates a Korean and decides to tie the knot, the Korean is also exempted from the mandatory education.

. . .

Civic groups for migrant women are skeptical of the program, doubting how many Korean men will take the education seriously and sincerely.

. . .

“The nation should change the interracial marriage system by monitoring matchmaking firms and cracking down on companies that commit illegal acts. The government should also come up with comprehensive measures, as even 30 hours of education is not enough,”Kim [Jun-gu at the Daejeon Migrant Women Rights Center]said.

South Korea has been using young women from poorer Southeast Asian countries to repopulate its countryside---and Arirang says the number is as high as 40% of couples in rural areas---with the resultant abuse, neglect, and unhappiness being well-documented in the media. Last March Cambodia put a halt to the bride trade with South Korea by temporarily banning marriages between Cambodian women and South Korean men. The ban was lifted a month later, though officials and ordinary people both in South Korea and overseas are obviously aware of the nefarious nature of some of these matchmaking services.

On Saturday the Dong-a Ilbo wrote of other measures that will affect international couples and their children.

Permanent resident status will go to foreign nationals married to Koreans before the former apply for Korean citizenship to prevent abuse of marriage immigration and allow such immigrants to comfortably settle in Korea.

. . .

Foreign nationals married to Koreans can apply for citizenship if they reside in Korea for two years under the F-2 spousal visa. Because two to three years of residence is required to obtain Korean citizenship after applying for naturalization, foreign nationals need four to five years to get citizenship after tying the knot with Koreans.

The Justice Ministry plans to grant permanent residency under the F-5 visa to foreign spouses instead of eliminating the F-2 residency status or reducing the period to about a year. The revision will be introduced to the National Assembly in March.

. . .

Permanent residents are entitled to the same welfare benefits as citizens but are limited in suffrage. Around 130,000 marriage immigrants live in Korea with the F-2 visa.


The government from this year will also cover all kindergarten fees for some 28,000 children from multicultural families. Assistance for living expenses and education fees will also be raised for marriage immigrants who raise young children but have yet to acquire Korean citizenship.


Marriage immigrants in farming areas will be eligible for agricultural training.

And according to a National Human Rights Commission of Korea ruling last week,

street banners advertizing marriage to women from other countries treated them as merchandise and was a violation of their human rights.

It demanded the mayor of Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, remove the banners immediately from the city-managed advertizing zone. The commission also advised it to come up with measures to prevent such advertisements from being put up in public again and give supervising civil servants courses on human rights.

In July last year, a 45-year-old man, identified only by his surname Jang, filed a petition with the commission, complaining that about 30 street banners set up by a marriage agency across the city discriminated against foreign women on grounds of gender and race.

The banner read: “Blowout sale for 9.8 million won for men wanting to marry Vietnamese women on the commemoration of Korea’s advance into the second round of the World Cup.”

“The banners contain “money-for-marriage” expressions that anyone with money can marry Vietnamese women. They imply that women with certain nationalities can be bought and sold as merchandise. This may create racial prejudice against these women in our society,” the commission said.

A sign in Jeonju saying Vietnamese women won't run away.

Browse the "International marriage" label for more links and information.

2011 Bugok Hawaii Ice Sculpture Festival through January 30th.

The Bugok Hawaii (부곡하와이) resort and theme park in Gyeongsangnam-do's Changnyeong county is hosting the third annual Ice Sculpture Festival (부곡하와이 얼음나라 얼음조각축제) through January 30th.




(1, 2, 3)

A photograph from the festival, which started on December 24th, was one of the JoongAng Daily's photos of the day for January 17th. Buses run regularly from Busan, Daegu, Masan, and Gimhae, and four times a day from Seoul.

Night market for foreigners planned in Gwangju.

From GFN 98.7 FM, translating a Korean-language Chosun Ilbo article:

A night bazaar allowing only foreign tourists to shop will open in Yang-dong Market this year.

According to the city, it is consulting with the market’s merchant association to have clothing and food shops in the market open during the night for foreign tourists who want to shop.

The city expects the market to receive a fervent response from Chinese tourists who have strong buying power.

In the long-term, the city is considering designating certain part of Yang-dong Market as a foreigner only shopping center.

Billings gets Korean English teacher from Gwangju.

Billings, Montana has been a curious intersection for English education in South Korea and English immersion programs for its teachers for a while---see here and here---and The Billings Gazette had an article last week about the latest batch of Korean English teachers to train in the US.

On her first day in class, Ji Jeong Ha, an exchange English teacher from South Korea, was asked by a Lewis and Clark Middle School eighth-grader if they had televisions where she comes from.

"I asked them, 'How many of you have LG or Samsung cell phones?'" she said. "About two-thirds of the class raised their hands. 'We make those,' I told them."

Ha — the students call her Jenny — is one of 28 Korean teachers visiting Billings School District 2 as part of an exchange program with South Korea's Ministry of Education. The goal is to immerse the teachers in American culture to help them better learn English.

"You guys speak so fast," Ha said with a laugh.

Ha comes from Guang Ju where she teaches middle school English. She arrived in the U.S. in August, and she and her 27 counterparts joined real college English classes in Powell and Cody, Wyo.

The comment section is, um, interesting, too:

"Do you have TV's in South Korea?"

"Um...as a matter of fact, we do you. Better, ones than you have here in the US, and we manufacture them ourselves. Our broadband speed is four times faster than your tiny little backwater of a town has as well. Also, based on the underlying cultural ignorance made apparent by your ill-informed question, it's safe to assume that us South Koreans have a far better educational system too. Sorry kid, the truth hurts. South Korea is looking at the US from its rear-view mirror. We have passed you by."

lol

Conspicuous (burger) consumption in Gangnam?

I don't care much about the trend the 파이낸셜뉴스, and the Korea Times in English, is trying to note, but I was interested to learn a few facts about the fastfood industry in Seoul. From the Korea Times:

Lotteria operates the largest number of franchised stores in Seoul among the home-grown and foreign fast food chains, but the U.S.-based Burger King, which offers pricier selections, has more outlets in affluent southern Seoul districts such as Seocho, Gangnam and Songpa, the Center for Freedom of Information said Wednesday.

The center said there are currently a total of 327 fast food restaurants operating across the nation’s capital, with Lotteria owning the largest number at 130, followed by McDonald’s at 62, Burger King at 60, KFC at 43 and Popeyes at 32.

The basis for the title "Pricey Burger King popular in Gangnam" comes from comparing the most-popular items on the menus of Lotteria and Burger King. Lotteria's Hanwhoo Bulgogi Burger set costs 5,100 won, while Burger King's Double Whopper Set costs 8,600. It's worth noting that Lotteria's 한우불고기"세트" is only a burger and a small drink, while Burger King's has the more familiar medium fry and medium soda.

mk뉴스 tells us how many of each fast food chain are in Gangnam, the most affluent ward of Seoul:

강남구는 버거킹 11곳, KFC 7곳, 맥도날드 6곳, 롯데리아 3곳 순이었다. 서초구도 버거킹 10곳, 맥도날드 6곳, 롯데리아 5곳 순이었고 송파구는 버거킹 9곳, KFC 8곳, 맥도날드 3곳, 롯데리아 2곳 순이었다.

While Yonhap provides this neat map showing the geographic distribution of fast food chains Lotteria (blue), McDonald's (purple), Burger King (red), KFC (yellow), and Popeye's (green) in each ward throughout the capital.



For the sake of comparison, the whole of Jeollanam-do---not including Gwangju---has 42 Lotteria, 3 McDonald's, 0 Burger King, 0 KFC, and 2 Popeye's.

Bird flu spreads throughout Jeollanam-do.

Arirang reports:

A state of emergency has been declared on Tuesday here in Korea as avian influenza continues to spread.
According to the agriculture ministry, the flu is spreading rapidly throughout South Jeolla and Gyeonggi provinces.
As preventive measures, chicken and ducks within a three-kilometer radius of the affected farms will be put down, and the sale of these animals will be banned in traditional markets starting Thursday lasting until the 27th of January.

While the Dong-a Ilbo writes:

Six duck farms in Naju and Yeongam County, South Jeolla Province, were found Tuesday to be affected by highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza.

. . .

With 13 farms affected by bird flu in the province, the number of birds culled surpassed 800,000 Tuesday. A quarantine official said, “We are making every effort to prevent the virus that has already affected South Jeolla Province from spreading to other regions.”

The first case of bird flu in Jeollanam-do was reported in Yeongam county on January 6th. That's still three-and-a-half times fewer birds killed than the last time bird flu hit South Korea big, in 2008. An additional casualty then was KFC's "Zinger Burger," temporarily dropped from the menu because of the high cost of chicken at the time, making me wonder if the now-discontinued 5,000 won bucket from Lotte would have lasted very long anyway.

The robots, you're using them wrong.

One benefit of the daily "breaking news! Korea to use robot English teachers!" threads on Dave's ESL Cafe is sharing the occassional new article or video, like this one from Masan's 합포초등학교:



Defeating the purpose of having an English-speaking white face in the classroom---whether from an actual foreign English teacher or drawn to cover-up the Filipino teacher's voice on the robot---is translating its conversations and directions into Korean. The video could be unrepresentative of the robot English teacher experience in that it's only a few minutes with four children---although all of the propoganda we've read about them have come after short sessions in reduced-size after-school classes---but the long adjustment period and the potential for overusing Korean reminds us of an additional drawback to replacing foreign teachers with the classrooms with these wheeled walkie-talkies.

To say nothing of the awkward, stilted English that sound as if English education just got knocked back 15 years.

2011 marathons in Jeollanam-do.

The 11th 518 Marathon will be held in Gwangju on May 21st.

A quick and early look at some of the marathons and runs coming up in Jeollanam-do, for the benefit of those who made "get into, or back into, running" one of their New Year's resolutions.

* Haenam Land's Edge Marathon (해남땅끝마라톤대회), February 13th. Full, half, 10km, and 5km runs. Registration through January 22nd.

* Jeongnamjin Jangheung Marathon (정남진장흥전국마라톤), February 27th. Full, half, 10km, and 5km runs. Registration through February 6th.

* March 1st International Marathon (3.1절국제마라톤대회), March 1st. Full, half, and 5km runs. Registration through February 7th.

* Honam International Marathon (호남국제마라톤대회), April 17th. Full, half, 10km, and 5km runs. Registration through March 18th.

* Boseong Green Tea Marathon (보성녹차밭마라톤), May 1st. Registration from February 1st through April 15th.

* 518 Marathon (518마라톤), May 21st. Half, 5km, and a "518 run" that follows a 5.18km course to mark the city's commemoration of the Gwangju Massacre. Registration from February 14th through April 20th.

Others that take place each spring in Jangseong, Hampyeong, Yeonggwang, and Naju haven't yet announced their dates.

See similar posts in January 2009 and 2010 for more comments and links. It's worth sharing here the Seoul Flyers---an expat running group in Seoul---and the Gwangju Running Club for people who would like some inspiration, camaraderie, and practice.

"40 Years of Gangnam" at the Seoul Museum of History.

An exhibition on the dramatic growth of Gangnam the past 40 years is at the Seoul Museum of History through February 27th.

Forty years have passed since radical changes began in Gangnam area. It was then called "Yeongdong", indicating the cabbage fields and pear orchards to the east of Yeongdeungpo area. This exhibition is a visual representation of the process of its creation, its profile seen from above and also on the streets. It is not only a part of our urban history but a significant part of history of our generation.

The museum is open from 9 to 9 during the week and to 6 on the weekends, and is accessible by Gwanghwamun and Seodaemun subway stations.

Ban on cell phones at school violates human rights, NHRCK says.

From Yonhap, via kushibo's blog:

Banning young students from using cell phones during non-class hours, like lunch break, infringes upon their human rights, the state rights watchdog said Wednesday, disapproving moves by local schools and teachers' organizations to closely regulate students' on-campus wireless communications.

A 17-year-old girl, whose name was withheld, filed a petition with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in May of last year, claiming that her boarding school's excessive cell phone restriction violates her human rights. She said her school collects phones from students and allows them access to their phones only between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., after all regular classes end and before self-study hour begins.

"It is excessive and beyond the limit that (schools) ban cell phones for study purposes or times other than regular class hours, self-study hours and sleeping time," the NHRC said.

Story and video report in Korean via YTN.

Congratulations, Campbell 샘.

The Korea Times writes of an award ceremony held last month for top native speaker English teachers in public schools.

Atlanta native Stephen Campbell has been awarded the Native Speaking English Teacher (NSET) award for 2010 by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) last December.

The short profile covers some of his approach and attitude.

Teaching English Conversation has proved to be a bit of a challenge as Campbell has confronted many obstacles, especially student interactions.

“The subject I teach is English Conversation. My classes are 36 to 40 students, which provides a challenge in itself, never mind the fact that students are quite shy about practicing their spoken English. So having a lot of open-ended conversation exercises, the kind of thing you'll find in so many resources, like ‘Discuss three current news events with your partner,’ or ‘With your partner, choose and describe three favorite foods in your country,’ ― that kind of thing is hopeless.

“So I try to use activities that are task-based, where students must use English with each other in order to accomplish some other task. Having groups compete works nicely, sometimes; but I don't give out candy to high school students! I tell them their reward is the respect and admiration of their peers; when that stops being funny, I tell them it's the satisfaction of a job well done. I do sometimes take photos of the winning teams, and post them on my bulletin board. The photo gallery is a popular feature of my classroom.”

. . .

“One week during the year, students come to class only to find it transformed into a crime scene ― there's crime scene tape and body outline in the hallway right outside. In pairs, they are a famous consulting detective and his friend, and they have to solve the crime rather like those choose-your-own-adventure books. After you get information from one station, you have to choose where to go next.”

Nice to see not only the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education recognizing the extraordinary efforts of some of its foreign English teachers, but also an article praising an award-winning one in a newspaper that frequently disparages and underminese them. I refer to the teachers in the plural because, in spite of finding no more details on the ceremony after several searches, a poster on Dave's ESL Cafe writes:

The article was a bit misleading, however, as more than fifty teachers received the exact same award from the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (minimum two teachers per district with twenty-five districts).

It was nice to be acknowledged, but it's not quite as exclusive as I first thought.

Holiday Inn, Ecograd open in Jeollanam-do.

From the Chosun Ilbo. A search hasn't yet brought up photographs of the hotel's exterior.

Not breaking news for people living in Suncheon, but I just read that Suncheon's classy hotel opened on December 15th. The Ecograd Hotel (에코그라드 호텔) is an 18-floor, 93-meter building in Jorye-dong with six restaurants, two bars, banquet and wedding facilities, a "Roman bath," and twelve types of suites and rooms. It was built to accommodate guests for the 2012 Yeosu Expo nearby and the 2013 World Garden Expo at Suncheon Bay.


From this Naver cafe.


Construction site, July 2009.

From a 경황신문 piece last month I learned that Gwangju opened a Holiday Inn on December 10th, giving the Honam region three first-class hotels, in the article's estimation: Gwangju's Ramada rounds out the trio.


Gwangju's Holiday Inn (홀리데이인 광주) in Chipyeong-dong, from the Chosun Ilbo.

Wando winter swim cancelled.

The Wando winter swim (건강의 섬 완도 겨울바다 수영 대회) I mentioned last week has, like many other rural festivals this time of year, has been cancelled due to concerns over foot-and-mouth disease.

전남 완도군은 30일 "구제역 확산을 막기 위해 해맞이 축제를 취소한데 이어 다음 달 7일 예정된 '2011년 완도 겨울바다 돌핀 수영대회'도 취소한다"고 밝혔다.

It was scheduled for January 7th at Myeongsashimni Beach.

24th Polar Bear Swim (북극곰수영대회) at Haeundae Beach: January 23, 2011.

The 24th Polar Bear Swim (북극곰수영대회) will be held at Busan's Haeundae Beach on January 23rd, with registration open from January 4th through 13th.



There is an English-language (and Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) registration page, with the 20,000 won entry fee being wired to a Hana Bank account.

Big snow means everyone in Gangjin pitches in. From a series of photographs from the Gangjin Ilbo after a foot of snow through the 31st.