Three Lazy Hikes Along the West Sea
By Isaiah Winters I hate the West Sea. It’s shallow and muddy with a color palette usually ranging from some metallic sludge to full-on dirty dishwater. In last year’s August … Read More
Author: Gwangju News
Come an’ Getcha KIIP – The Korean Immigration Integration Program
By Clare Rawsterne Anyone familiar with England, might know that the headline is a salute to the proverbial market stall owners of London, who call out over the crowds to … Read More
The Korean Diaspora of the Americas and the Provisional ROK Government
By Kim Jaegi The Beginnings The history of the Korean diaspora in the Americas begins with the immigrant laborers to Hawaii in 1903. Two years later, approximately 7,400 Koreans had … Read More
Bus Mart: Gwangju’s Expat-Friendly Market on Wheels
Everyone has heard about mobile food trucks, but have you ever witnessed a food mart on wheels? Yes, it is true. I was also surprised when I first learned about this grocery market through my friends. So, I decided to introduce you all to Mr. Park Jong-kyu, who runs the popular Bus Mart.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words!
The title of this article is a maxim, which many of history’s great role models lived by. Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, and Captain Cook, for example, did just that.
Marco Polo (circa 1254–1324) spent nearly two decades traveling and exploring in a wide swathe of the Orient. Over much of this period, he lived in the Yuan court under the tutelage of Emperor Kublai Khan (1216–1294). He was afforded many privileges as the Khan’s favorite courtier, one of which was working as his imperial envoy to the neighboring kingdoms. Done with his long Oriental sojourn, he returned home to Venice and published a memoir of his encounter with the cultural diversity of the East. This tome served to help open Europe’s eyes to the cultural riches of the vast Asian continent.
Marco Polo was followed by another Italian explorer just as great: Christopher Columbus (1446–1508). Under the auspices of Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain, Columbus embarked on a transoceanic voyage to open a sea route to the East Indies or East Asia. The region was a mythic land of plenty in the popular Western imagination of the day. Columbus ended up by discovering a huge land mass on the far end of the Atlantic. This continent is known today as Latin America and comprises Central and South America. Serendipitous and wide of the mark as it was, this find proved to be more than enough of a payoff for Columbus and his sponsors.
When the Rain Hits
When I see dark clouds roll in, I feel an eminent sense of dread as the thick clouds become denser with water. The humidity that arises makes it feel as if droplets are tensely suspended in the air and are waiting for gravity to plunge them into an adventure to the ground. The gray atmosphere creates a sense of laziness and gloominess that lingers throughout the day, as if each activity is taking a physical toll.
Some of my friends absolutely adore the rain. They could spend hours reenacting Gene Kelly’s iconic dance scene from Singin’ in the Rain with a beaming smile underneath a ferocious downpour. My friends would shrug at the idea of carrying around an umbrella, and instead, fully embraced the potential of being drenched on their walk back home. They welcomed rain so warmly and optimistically – I thought they were crazy.
Not in My Backyard: How I Learned to Start Worrying and Hate the Bombers
Those in the world of Korean education have likely encountered the national rule about not having military training in the air during special examination periods. The practice reflects a community spirit to national education, true, but it reflects other facts, too. Air force bases are a “thing” in South Korea, and few people enjoy being around military aircraft.
The siting of air force personnel and equipment as well as the staging of drills seemingly form the classic “NIMBY” (not in my backyard) problem. As a society, we need garbage dumps, crematoriums, prisons, and military bases, but no one wants to have such blights too close to them. Everyone wants the benefits of such facilities but simultaneously without the negatives.
You Can’t Spell “An Autopsy Hub” Without “Autobahn”
We have a winner!!! 2023 so far has been an incredible year for terrible initiatives, and there was some stiff competition for the 2023 William Urbanski Most Reckless (and Brainless) Idea Award (WUMRBIA). And even though it is only July, we are shutting down the polling and declaring this year’s contest a wrap because there is no possible thing, no conceivable notion that could be more reckless (and brainless) than the recently announced and completely cockamamie scheme to build a no -speed -limit “Autobahn” -style highway between Gwangju and Yeongam.