Global Community

Itaewon Pool League Offers Amusement, Midweek Break

By Alan Green Contributing Writer Blaise Pascal wrote, ``Thus so wretched is man that he would weary even without any cause for weariness... and so frivolous is he that, though full of a thousand reasons for weariness, the least thing, such as playing billiards or hitting a ball, is sufficient enough to amuse him.'' The Itaewon Pool League offers just such amusement and for many has become a Wednesday night ritual ― a mid-week break to forget about work for a few hours while ``shooting some stick.'' The league began with just eight teams back in June 2000. But over the years it has grown considerably. The last season saw 18 venues host 30 teams. Almost every bar in Itaewon, and in recent years Haebangcheon too, with a pool table has at least one team. Each team is made up of a minimum of six players. Currently each season consists of a 20 week regular schedule followed by playoffs to determine the overall champion. The top 16 teams battle it out for the League Championship, won last season by the Nashville Sharks. The remaining teams play for the Best-of-the-Rest trophy,

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Call for Help: Lend a Hand to Struggling Mothers

By Choi Jin-young Picture this: a mother of 14 spends an entire day weaving and selling rugs in order to make a living and provide for her family. Each rug is sold for less than $1, and the woman is only able to weave five a day. Do you think you would you be able to do it? This is the grim reality Choi Jin-young, a Korean student studying public policy at the National University of Singapore, was confronted with while volunteering in a small village in Paranaque near Manila, the Philippines. As far as Choi was concerned, making rugs using a manually laborious and financially inefficient process for a living was not the ideal situation for those wishing a better future for their children. To worsen the bleak outlook, she later learned that a local clothing manufacturer ― who had provided ``waste'' material for free ― had started charging for the scrap fabrics used to make the rugs, further eroding the meagre incomes the mothers were earning. Unable to sit back and watch while others' lives fell into despair, Choi began brainstorming ideas on how to help the hard-wor

New Year’s Eve Festivities in Seoul

By Alan Green Contributing Writer Seoul’s international area will be in festive mood as 2009 draws to a close. On and around Itaewon’s main strip restaurants, bars and clubs will be offering a variety of ways to usher in 2010. If you want to treat your taste buds this New Year’s Eve, La Cigale Montmartre is offering a host of delicacies on its four course menu. A starter of foie gras terrine with porcini mushrooms is followed by scallops and oysters in a short broth. The main course is beef tenderloin with Sichuan pepper and brandy, and to finish a dessert platter featuring four mouthwatering sweets, including cakes and creme brulee. This feast costs 80,000 won excluding tax. As well as their signature steaks, Hollywood Grill has added pizzas to their menu in time for the year’s end with toppings, including feta cheese, rocket, sausage and bacon. For drinkers, house spirits cost 4,000 won or double up for just 6,000 won. To cap the festivities, guests will get a free glass of bubbly for the New Year’s countdown. For warm hospitality, Bless U will welcome you with drinks

Brief Introduction to Korean New Year’s

Korea’s biggest holiday is New Year’s Day ― and residents here get to celebrate it twice. The first celebration takes place on the westernfriendly Jan. 1, following the traditions of the Gregorian calendar. The second celebration, however, follows the lunar calendar (as the Chinese New Year does) and is noted as a time to be spent with family. The upcoming lunar New Year will fall on Feb. 14. The Korean word for New Year is “seollal,” which is used for both the solar and lunar celebration, although the two separate days can be differentiated by called the latter “gujeong.” The lunar holiday is a three-day celebration, with families gathering to play folk games and eat a traditional meal of tteokguk, or soup with rice cakes. The most notable activity of the New Year is “sebae,” the practice of bowing deeply to ones parents or elders and wishing them good fortune in the New Year. seninim@gmail.com

Rumors and Truth Abound Online

By Stacey Fox Contributing Writer The Internet has been ablaze with arguments and counter claims by members of both the expat community and Korean netizens of injustices perpetrated by one side against the other. From claims of sexual abuse to minors, to death threats against English teacher union organizers, the anonymity of the Internet stands head and shoulders above any medium as the gossip mongering weapon of choice. A great many accusations leveled at intended targets appear to be based on hearsay, rumor and stereotyping, brought in part by ignorance and, in some cases, people with too much time on their hands. The growth of foreign blogs in Korea is a warning that with the rise in angry postings on both side of the racial divide, one could start to see this conflict take place at street level. Korea has always been considered a safe country, with the exception of the nuclear threat north of the 38th parallel. The streets of Seoul, especially have always been considered safe for foreigners. With this in mind, the foreign community was stunned by allegation

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Peeling Back the History of Jeju

By Andrei Lankov For centuries, Jeju Island, the ``Korean Hawaii'' was associated not with luxurious resorts and honeymooning couples, but with something different ― poverty and remoteness. Indeed, stormy seas made regular trade with Korea proper difficult, and the population of the large island had to survive on its own resources. The poor soil of the island made agriculture difficult, and for centuries its population had to look to additional sources of income or, rather, calories. Men went fishing while women dived for abalone and seaweed (the famous female divers, known as ``haenyeo'' have long been a part of Jeju legend). In later eras, men often migrated to Korea and Japan. And then things changed, somewhat of a sudden. The long suffering land did not become rich overnight, but its fortunes began to improve fast. This small-scale economic miracle was brought about by two new factors: mandarins and tourists. Indeed, the economy of Jeju relies heavily on mandarins, a sweet-sour citrus fruit related to but different from the orange. In the last few decades it