http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs Fearless. Thoughtful. Witty. Canadian. And Opinionated. Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:27:23 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Olympics are a cesspool of hypocrisy and cold, slimy greed JEJU-DO, SOUTH KOREA—I've read that the Olympics are producing some thrilling moments this year. I wouldn’t know. During the lead up to the Games, when China blocked journalists from accessing websites such as Amnesty International and the BBC, there was a ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/08/14/the-invisible-olympics/ JEJU-DO—For many, a big part of the expat experience involves drinking, and especially drinking in bars. Be they mysterious, seedy, elegant or anarchic, watering holes for wanderers have a certain romanticism attached to them, a fuzzy, seductive corona of myth that frames them as hubs of intrigue, sex and adventure. In ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/08/07/behind-bars/ JEJU-DO—The sun is broiling, the humidex is high, and in Korea that means it’s time for a nice, hot bowl of chicken soup. Just as people in the West associate certain foods with holidays, so do Korean people enjoy special meals during particular seasons. July 19 in Korea was Chobok, ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/07/20/chicken-soup-for-the-seoul/ Just a quick note to point anyone who's interested to a piece I wrote for Culture+Travel, a magazine that covers some cool, off-the-radar stories from travel destinations around the globe. This one's about haenyeo, Jeju's famous women divers, who free-dive — that means no air tanks — for seafood off ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/07/11/surfacing/ You have to marvel at a country that, when looking for a way to show its commitment to peace, chooses to blow something up. That’s North Korea, which this week detonated the cooling tower at its controversial Yongbyon nuclear reactor as a way of saying, hey, we’re laying off the ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/07/02/two-explosions/ JEJU-DO—Coincident with the US beef kerfuffle sizzling in South Korean politics right now, I’ve been learning a lot about barbecue, through marathon grill-out sessions with my American friend Mark, his trusty portable Weber and his copy of grill maestro Stephen Raichlen’s fat BBQ bible, How to Grill. According to Raichlen, when ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/06/16/lee-myung-bak-over-the-coals/ JEJU-DO—Restrictions on importing American beef into South Korea were set to be lifted this week—as of my writing this post, the government has delayed lifting the restrictions, but given no details on how long the delay will last—and from the shitstorm the move has caused, you’d think they were about ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/06/02/heres-the-beef/ JEJU-DO—History usually gives Gutenberg the credit, but some sources say Korea invented movable metal type. Good old Johannes didn’t start pouring his molds until about 1450, but in 1234, during Korea’s Goryeo period (from which the country’s present name derives), a guy named Choe Yun-ui is said to have used ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/05/26/found-in-translation-hangu/ JEJU-DO—I've been meaning to respond to a reader of my post on weird Korean stuff, who suggested that I should have included kimchi. There’s a good reason I didn’t. For every item on that list, I’m sure you could find at least a few Koreans to vouch for its weirdness—someone ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/05/13/korea-kimchi/ Behind the toilet isn't usually the best place to look for treasure. But at the Kimnyong Maze Park, a “symbolic hedge maze" located just outside the fishing village of Kimnyong on Jeju’s northeast coast, that’s where you’ll find it. It comes in the form of one Frederic H. Dustin, the ... http://www.walrusmagazine.com/blogs/2008/04/27/the-guru-of-kimnyong/