there’s a cool, brooklyn based-mag called theme that explores global asian culture. i had wanted to write for them but felt like my clips n tears books wasn’t in order yet (that’s “tears” as in rhymes with “pears” not “peers.” damn homonyms.)

but jesus sensed my sloth so lo and behold i get an email from their editor who was in search of someone to interview and write an article about the very lovely choi hyun-mi (최현미). her family escaped from north korea in 2004, and three years later (at 17) she became the world boxing association’s women’s featherweight champion.

she’s polite and confident, charming and socially agile. talking with her can feel like sparring. she’s unafraid of eye contact and physically leans forward while filling silences with verbal jabs. during our interview, as i regained my wits she’d retreat with a playful compliment and a sweet smile.

anyhow, she’s a perfect example of someone you want to succeed. it probably ain’t kosher to post the article until it’s published. but until theme’s april/may issue comes out, here’s a link to an nyt profile of her from last fall.

i realize i’ve been playing favorites with the south korean armed forces. two years running i’ve posted the army mens frolicking in the snow (here and here). but soko has a diverse array of defense personnel, so today i’d like to honor my special man friends in the korean navy. despite spying a coupla flabby tummies up front (look who’s talking these days), i’m really feeling the navy’s navy short shorts.

paris was stop #1 on my exodus from oriental jesusland holiday travel retinue. per brian’s request, some (not awesome) snapshots.

clichés can be pretty, too.

my friend’s friend ky invited me to a recording of her arts program on france culture (radio).

the view from the 2nd level of the tour d’eiffel (click here for larger).

the korean cultural center was awfully disappointing.

some marbles in the tulieres, near the louvre.

gayville (marais). 

i like paris.

hey lovers,

by now you should know that koreans use two calendars, one that’s solar and the another that’s lunar. so while koko celebrated the near year on jan 1 with much of the rest of the world, today was day 1 for the year o’ the ox.

samchon puts the final touches for the jaesa ceremony.

this special day is called seollal (설날), and it, along with chuseok (추석), are the two most important holidays. along with an estimated 28 million others, i made my way to the family’s hometown in daegu to see the fam. per usual, lots of yummy food, and me straining to understand what’s being said made for a pleasant time with family.

a quick pit stop on the way from daegu to seoul.

i couldn’t land a train ticket back to seoul this afternoon so i bussed it. given snow forecasts and epic traffic, i was surprised the ride took only approx. 5 hours. anyhow, aloha. what follows are a few more blurry pix from the past 24 hours.

새해 복 많이 받으세요! (happy new year!)

g-cash still going strong after 93 years.

sumo skimming the top of the ddeokguk, the traditional seollal soup.

sumo and hyeong cooking up the jun.

(click here for last year’s brief seollal post)

since i would be in occidental jesusland for 6 weeks i thought it a nice and mostly harmless gesture to offer my apartment to a fellow homo half-breed ko-am whose lease was expiring a month before his return to the usa. i did the same thing last year and my friend appreciated the respite from his parents’ marriage inquiries. sure, he neglected my tree to death, but lots of people kill plants.

but on this go around, something felt amiss when i didn’t receive correspondence from my temp-tenant. no “hi, i’ve arrived!” email, no “kaching! found your japanese porn stash while snooping on your computer, sicko!” memo. more remarkable was seeing the words “back in the usa” next to his name on msn messenger on jan. 2. nope, i never got a “thanks. i left your key (specify location).”

upon my return, what i did receive reminded me of a dirty person’s home just prior to a modern pompeii. massive calamity… no time to clean… must escape! or, perhaps i should view what remained as prizes.

a top 10 list of my free goodies:

#10. a dvd player. shockingly useful!
#9. two big dirty blankets i get to dispose of!
#8. wall-to-wall tumble weed-esque dust bunnies!
#7. a box of heating pads for muscle pain!
#6. new grey bathroom tiles and pink grout. oh wait, that’s just bacteria in bloom!
#5. butter!
#4. one pair of dirty superman underwear!
#3. a full load of wet laundry left marinating for 2 weeks!
#2. a piece of toilet paper stuck to toilet seat with a little brown sumthin sumthin!

and, my favorite:

#1. a loofa, because i can’t wait to combine my dead skin cells with yours!

had i offered my place to a testicled dog, there may have been musty crotch spray marking strategic corners. but at least dogs don’t use loofas or washing machines. furthermore, i find it hard to believe that even a golden retriever in mid-molt could have shed more pubic hair on my floor. i guess that’s not fair. i don’t think dogs have bonafide pubic hair.

although it’s the “global edition of the new york times” it’s hardly as satisfying. that said, each edition also includes an 8-page korean news insert from the english language paper, the joongang daily. the “best of both worlds” marketing pitch hooked me in. 

now, while i could rail about the absurdity of the joongang op-eds (and the nyt, for that matter), i’d rather bring attention to what holly wong, age 9, wrote to president obama (and reprinted among several other children’s letters) in a recent edition:

dear president/mr. obama,

the best thing about living in the white house would be running around like a maniac. the thing i would like least is the work.

~holly wong, age 9, san francisco

like job offers!

some of y’all will no doubt recognize the new blog’s precursor- yup, it was nice day’s very own “field trip” posts. so if you liked the soko travel shiz, head o’er yonder cuz from here on out, my nice day is out with the travel content in pursuit of full-time campy ramblin’.

good lawd, indeed!

after a 6-week exodus from oriental jesusland (koko), daddy came back to seoul last friday and promptly fell ill. traveling is hard!