I think I'm turning Japanese (Korean). I think I'm turning Japanese (Korean). I really think so. 12 signs that you might be turning Korean.

Remember the song, "Turning Japanese" with the lyrics: "I'm turning Japanese. I think I'm turning Japanese. I really think so"? It is a song by the English band, The Vapours, and has been explained by the band members as an angst ridden song about a boy continuously staring at a picture of his lost girlfriend and, as a result, he starts to turn into something unexpected, in this case Japanese. As unbelievably catchy as the tune is (try getting it out of your head now) the song is not as helpful as one might have first expected given its title. Upon closer inspection of the lyrics, and with the objectivity that comes with not, currently, being a love-angsty teenager (sad, as those were good days), "Turning Japanese" fails to explain exactly what signs to look out for should you think you are becoming Japanese, or in my case, Korean. So, I have developed my own list of what the tell-tale signs are (12) that might indicate you may be in fact turning Korean. 

I will be confident that I am turning Korean when: 

• I attack (with a certain firm kindness) random babies/small children and proceed to adjust their hats, coats, socks etc., pull their chubby cheeks and then barrage their mum with information on the status of their baby, i.e. your baby is cold, hungry, wet, tired, and is a boy  even though she is clearly a girl! 
• I happily pay well over five dollars for a cup of coffee and then spend the rest of the day in the warmth of the cafe that has free, fast wi-fi, heating, music and no-one questioning me after five hours or so whether I have somewhere else to go or need to order something else. 
• I meticulously rearrange my food/drink at said cafe (even if it is just a cup of coffee or slice of cake) and proceed to take a few photos of it before beginning to consume.

this morning's cup of coffee

• I have no hesitation in joining the metro stampede onto the train so as to bag that one empty seat and I do this while never raising my head from my mobile phone and continuing to text frantically. 
• I have no need for personal space in public places.

this is not peak hour

• I bow my head upon entering and leaving anywhere, including especially at car park attendants.
• I carry out my weekly food shop at at least four different places one of which includes fruit off the back of a truck down a secret alley-way.

• I know never to be the first to embark upon crossing the road when the little man turns green (sometimes this can lead to an awkward stand-off between people as everyone waits for someone else to sacrifice themselves). 
• I am unbelievably generous to complete strangers and will happily hand out candy, biscuits, umbrellas, camping mats, and advice on which train is best to take. I will return found mobile phones that day and am perfectly comfortable with leaving my bag, wallet, phone, computer on the communal cafe table as I step out to the make-up shop, order coffee, run to bathroom etc., safe in the knowledge it will all be there when I return. Because it will be.

• When I get older I will wear fluorescent hiking gear for a quick walk to the shops.
• I always look fabulous, like always (seriously how is this possible?), even if it means some re-doing of hair, make-up, or clothing adjustments while on train/bus/in front of shop window (see point 5). 
• I willingly love match with my partner. What is a better expression of one's love and devotion than identical jeans? Perhaps only topped by a sweater that clearly states fidelity!

super

same sweater from the front (if only she took her jacket off)

Soul to Seoul: Almost one year in and I have a long way to go before I turn Korean (11 and 12 in particular are proving hard to accomplish and I am beginning to get really strange looks as I carry my laptop to the bathroom with me). 

The sculptures of Seoul

One of my (many) recurring daydreams is that I get to erect a massive sculpture in the newly renovated (dream) front yard (dream) of my home (also a dream). It is colourful. It is made entirely out of recycled materials. It is big. I am not sure yet whether it is animal like or just simply shapes and colour but it is cool. And it has involved numerous cans of spray paint (who doesn't love a bit of spray paint action) and scraps of plywood as well as the odd bicycle wheel. Being in Seoul has only added to my vision. I am now thinking big. Really, really big. Gold would be good. Garish, gaudy and glittery will be my guiding themes and any plausible links to the house behind the sculpture or to the surrounds will not be necessary. A fancy name on a brass plate will be also be required. I take my inspiration from the streets of Seoul: the city of sculpture! 

Seoul's sculpture craze might have existed well before 1988 but it went into overdrive that Olympic hosting year thanks to the national government passing the Art Decoration Law, requiring owners of a new buildings to commission artworks for public view worth 1% of the total construction costs of the building. In 1988, population of Seoul was already huge, standing at 10, 286, 503 people. Today, the Seoul Capital Area (a true mega-city and, according to Wikipedia, the largest city proper in the developed world and the world's second largest metropolitan area) has a population of over 25.6 million people and is home to over half of the total population of South Korea. All these people have to live, work and shop somewhere so the number of buildings in Seoul has also dramatically increased over the past 25 years. This means that the Art Decoration Law has had a profound effect on city's  landscape. The Korea Times calculates that between 1995 and 2008 10,684 public art works were erected (I can't locate more up to date statistics). Even for a mega metropolis such as Seoul, that means a lot of public art work has been constructed!

Is it good? I'm not an art critic (and if you could see some of the things I like (think fluro and a lot of it) that is probably a good thing) but I think most of the sculptures around town are really, really good. If nothing else, a splash of gold in front of an otherwise boring urban square, a giant whale skeleton in amidst concrete office buildings, a bubble of coloured beads placed out the front of a innocuous cream apartment building, upside umbrellas strung out between office buildings or a random rock formation perched in front of a gleaming mirrored tower, juxtaposed between Seoul's five royal palaces from the Chosun Dynasty (some 500 years ago), just adds to the new versus old versions of Seoul that crazily co-exist. 

Some of my favourites so far (not all have name plaques)...

The Man who holds the Light

Greeting Man. He stands out the front of a bank and is roped off, just in case you wanted to get closer!!

Spring: the sculpture that looks like a conch shell, located at the start of the Cheonggyecheon Stream in central Seoul

Who doesn't like a piano as a sculpture?

Umbrellas as sculptures

Every office building needs a whale skeleton out the front!

    My photographic skills are not good enough to capture the true size of the Hammering Man. He is huge.
    A normal size person might just make it up the the ankle of the man.

The Light of Hope

The Berlin Wall in Seoul (it really is)