Wally Nes’ Blog

In Korea, the risks part I I told you of Kimchi.

I am pleased to report that should I for some reason be overcome by my revulsion of the stuff, if I can no longer stand it on the breath of everyone I interact with, if the woman I love’s kiss becomes shear terror through the consumption of the stuff there is now a way out.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8530836.stm

South Korea has opened what officials say is the world’s first purpose-built prison for foreign convicts.

The prison offers Western food and satellite TV programmes in English, Chinese, Russian and Arabic.
The number of foreigners in South Korean jails has more than doubled in the past four years to about 1,500.

The prison’s director said the inmates would still be able to pursue the “Korean dream” that had led them to the country in the first place.

The prison is about 100km (62 miles) south of the capital, Seoul, in Cheonan.
Inmates are given classes in Korean culture but can also view satellite TV from around the world and eat non-Korean meals.

Sweet, sweet release will never be outside of my reach.

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Row! You incomprehensible, horizontal-eyed, Western trouser-wearers! Eurgh! You all look the same to me! How I despise your lack of subtlety and your joined-up writing! You, who have never committed ritual suicide in your lives! SILENCE! Unceremonious rice-pudding eaters! How I abominate your milk-drinking and your lack of ancestor-worship and your failure to eat your lunch out of little boxes!

- Tsutomu Sekine

When I went to Kenya I was urged by several people within my field of friends and family to reconsider. Kenya was a most dangerous place indeed. I would certainly get mugged, raped, eaten and converted to some heathen religion (not in that order). I expect the same people would be mortified with my move to South Korea.
Not because of the mugging or raping, most people will realize a 1.95m tall white guy in a country of 1.65m short asians isn’t prime target for that. No, it’s the neighbours. South Korea is next to North Korea and they’ve been huffing, and puffing and mostly just blowing steam for well . . . 5 decades now? They make the front page a couple of times of several newspapers every month with nuclear something, firing somethingother, launching whatchamecallits and mostly aggressive other stuff. I’m basically not worried about it much. Partly because of how the western media portraits the North Koreans and partly because nothing military is going to happen anytime soon. America is still very on their toes regarding the state of this peninsula, Japan isn’t NK friendly and China recently basically told them they didn’t have their back unconditionally.

So, what will I worry about.

THE FOOD.

Korea’s most notable contribution to world cuisine is Kimchi. Health Magazine has named it one of the world’s most healthy foods because it is loaded with vitamins A, B, and C, but its biggest benefit may be in its “healthy bacteria” called lactobacilli, found in fermented foods like kimchi and yogurt. This good bacteria helps with digestion, plus it seems to help stop and even prevent yeast infections. Best news of all though: Some studies show fermented cabbage has compounds that may prevent the growth of cancer.
Now, call me a skeptic, but I like to review my sources. Currently, I fill my days checking sources and whatever for my final thesis so the first thing I did was try and track down some of these sources.
Thin. Very thin.

What I did find was this: Kimchi and soybean pastes are risk factors of gastric cancer, by Hong-Mei Nan et.al.

Hell, if you google Kimchi cancer you will get a lot of links to either side of the arguement. Some of them indicate it being the cabbage that is responsible to the anti-cancer properties, others the pickling. And then others indicate the pickling is directly related to gastric cancer.
All in all it’s a hotly debated topic it seems and whichever side of the arguement I believe it’s not likely to affect me for years of regular use anyway.

But, here’s my stance on Kimchi.
To introduce and conclude: Kimchi, is a pickled dish made of cabbage, some other vegetables and various seasonings.

It’s pickled cabbage.

PICKLED CABBAGE.

I like neither pickled foods nor cabbage. Case closed. It could give me superpowers and I’ll politely pick at it during official functions and ignore the hell out of it during the rest of my stay there. But considering it’s served with every bloody meal and aelle seems to actually like it (I knew I should’ve questioned her tastes when she fell for me) I’m sure I’ll have enough exposure to it and so: Worry about it, I shall.

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Being a parent is wanting to hug and strangle your kid at the same time

- Bill Watterson

I started this blog some time ago when I was prepping to go to Japan. Covering some of the things I had to go through to get there, some cultural oddities and the like. Then, in Japan, I continued covering what was happening, to me, to others, to Japanese society covering more cultural oddities, TV weirdness, cultural conversions and you continued to read.

Now I’ve been back in Europe for over a year and a half and this just hasn’t been too much fun to read. Let’s face it, posts like this, this and this just haven’t been as funny as this, as amusing a read as this and as interesting a read as this. And I haven’t said much at all about Japanese Cultural stuff in a long while.

Well . . . that’s about to change(Well, not the Japanese bit, but KOREA!). With all my coursework handed in(though not passed yet, who knows what headaches that will bring yet) I can now focus on my final thesis. And my final thesis will include moving to South Korea. So I can now seriously start prepping for it. Starting to read up on what life is like there at different places in the blogosphere (I read scientific papers full-time now, I’m not going to actually read something like that about the South Korea sociological-somethingorother, dear lord, are you kidding?) and getting my first glimps of Cultural oddities.

It’s odd that because Korea actually is a lot like Japan in a lot of aspects not everything strikes me as odd as it would some of my readers.

BUT

Let me start you off with . . . .

Dun

Dun

DUUUUUUUUUUUUN

FAN OF  DEATH

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“Pffft, English. Who needs that? I’m never going to England.”

- Homer Simpson

As some of you may know I’m looking to move to South Korea. Things are still a bit tricky as Raphaelle’s Visa issues need to get worked out and I don’t currently know where in South Korea I am trying to go to.

In the midst of all the tension between North and South Korea one can see how I keep up with current affairs. Mostly it’s been within my acceptable parameters, but something happened this week which makes me reconsider. I’ll get back to you how that goes.

Original article (Dutch)

Elephant charged with Assault

An elephant in South Korea is charged by a woman of public assault. The women charged the animal after he allegedly threw a rock at her

The elephant was said to have lifted a rock with its truck and threw it at the woman. The woman said the animal consciously aimed at her head.

South Korean Police is looking into the charges. Sources say it can not just be assumed the elephant is guilty.

A spokesperson said: “No cameras or passers-by witnessed the incident.”

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I know life isn’t fair, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor

- Calvin (Bill Watterson)