Buhay sa Korea

Choi Yeo Jin is one of the most searched celebrities in internet portals today. She attended yesterday’s 2008 Baeksang Awards in a long printed gown with a halter neckline that barely covered her breasts. On some pictures, part of her right nipple is visible and what seems to be a scar under her breast caught a lot of attention.

Choi Yeo Jin debuted on SBS’ Supermodel Search in 2001. She was also in Seo Ji Sub’s highly popular drama, I’m Sorry I Love You (미안하다 사랑한다). Here she is at the Baeksang Awards yesterday:

One of the biggest news in Korea right now is the hacking of a shopping website (AUCTION). It is my favorite online shopping portal since you can find the cheapest items there. Information such as names, ID numbers and address have been stolen from 10 million members. I really hope that credit card numbers have not been accessed as claimed by the authorities. I remember buying some thing from the website last week. I might avoid the website for now until there is assurance of better information security. I need a shower stool for my toddler since he had outgrown his old bath tub.

About a week ago, a video of two men kissing and having oral sex in a car on subway line 5 spread on the internet. It was one of the most popular searches last week. News portals showed blurred captures. The title of the scandalous video is ´지하철 5호선, 남자 둘´. It has been circulating on peer-to-peer networks. The police said that it was staged, like 100% fake (although the act is so real) and that the guys were paid actors. They also said that the video is about two or three years old but only became famous now.

The video is really lewd. I think it’s really staged or the guys are just exhibitionists and narcissistic. They could’ve done it in the restroom (every subway station here has restrooms) or why not rent a motel? It would just cost them 20,000 won!

I watched the 9 o’clock MBC News tonight on our very old HD incapabale television set — we have HDMI cables but no set to hook it up too (while preparing several side dishes for my parents-in-law who’ll come to visit us tomorrow and stay with us until my husband comes back from his business trip in India and Saudi Arabia next week - which means I won’t be able to use the computer as much as I’d like to). Of course I was waited for the results of yesterday’s election (I didn’t watch the news last night and was busy the whole day today).

Judith Alegre Fernandez (or is it Hernandez?) didn’t get a seat at the National Assembly. Only two of her party-mates were elected as Proportional Representatives. She’s ranked seventh on the list. Even if she didn’t win, the fact remains that she’s the first foreigner (having no Korean blood) to run for office in South Korea. I hope that alone will open more doors for foreigners

This is one of the most widely searched stories on Daum today. A man attacked a 10-yr old girl in an elevator. He hit her repeatedly in the head and dragged her by the hair outside the elevator. Luckily, a woman living on the first floor heard the girl’s screams and rushed to help her. The man immediately fled the area, removing his cap (how stupid could he get!) and exposing his face to the CCTVs. This happened on the 26th of March in the district of Ilsan, city of Goyang in the province of Gyeonggi. It has been said that the police didn’t respond immediately. Good thing the media picked this story up!

I think this may be a good news for Filipino workers in general. I’m just not confident it will be a good thing for Filipino English teachers. Gyeonggi-do is the province encircling the city of Seoul. Their education office is planning to hire Indian and Filipino English-speakers to work at the school cafeterias and stores to encourage students to use the language. I have seen job ads here targeting Filipino English-speakers for non-teaching jobs at private schools (hagwon). The salary being offered (600,000 won) is less than what a Filipino could earn in a factory.

“We will encourage schools to hire Indians and Filipinos for English zones and school stores to give students opportunities to use English during lunch and break times,’’ it said in a statement. It expects schools to hire them at relatively lower costs than native English speakers. About 50 schools in the province will initially test run the scheme.

Frankly, I don’t want to see Filipino English teachers working here as cafeteria or store sellers. I hope that government officials back home would not allow that to happen. I’d rather they promote the Philippines as a tourism/ESL destination for Korean students. It would be like hitting two birds with one stone. Sending Filipino teachers here to work at school cafeterias or stores is not that different from sending our licensed teachers to work in Hongkong as domestic helpers. The only difference is the setting. They still wouldn’t be able to practice their profession.

“Cheap doesn’t mean low quality. We have many high-quality English teachers in the Philippines,’’ said Jed Dayang, spokesman of the Philippine Embassy to Seoul.

A source from Indian embassy also said that Indians will not come to Korea to work at stores at schools, mentioning that there are many high-quality English teachers working in the U.S., Japan and China.

Read the full story here.

Lee Dong Gun returns to Korea. He flew from Sydney and arrived at 6PM. He was carrying his brother’s ashes in an urn wrapped in white silk. Witnesses have noted the tears in his eyes. They will bring the ashes directly to Samsung Seoul Hospital Mortuary in Gangnam-gu. The funeral will be held on Monday, the 31st.

UPDATE:

I’ve been following this story because I’m a fan.

March 29, 12:37 AM UPDATE: After the taping of Han Ji Hye’s KBS drama, she went to the funeral at 11:30 PM. She wore a black sweater and used the back door, evading the media. She met and condoled Lee Dong Gun.

UPDATE: More videos of the funeral.
UPDATE March 31: News and pictures of the funeral in Korea(n).