What the ... placebo?!?!?

I wasn't going to chime in on the subject of the Korean government deciding to not require HIV tests for "entertainers" while still require it for E-2 Visa holders, aka English teachers. What could I add that hasn't been said? Tharp42 said it best when he called them 'fuckwitts'. I might have dared the ire of the morons and said ricetards but other than that what else could be added?

Then I read this post on Extra! Korea about a 19 year old Korean girl (19 Western or Korean I don't know.) who had unprotected sex with 20 KOREAN men even though she KNEW she is HIV positive. Why unprotected sex? Because the men DID NOT want to use condoms! What the kimchi?

I can't recall how many times I have heard this about Korean men. They don't like to use condoms and will INSIST on not using them when asked. Whether by girls friends or hookers. I have heard it from men and women. Whether in Korea or on sex junkets to other countries. It still boggles my mind. (Mind you when you have Korean doctors saying kimchi prevents STD's you know where some of the stupidity is coming from.)

Then I read another post by Extra! Korea. It talked about a survery by the Women's Human Rights Commission of Korea that showed that nearly 1/3 of Korean teenagers (female) asked would consider exchanging sex for money.

“Wonjo kyoje” more commonly known in English as compensated dating is how most of these girls find their "John's". or should I say "Kim's"? The girls use the internet to find "clients", usually in chat rooms or internet dating sites. This is a problem in both Korea and Japan, and has been in the news off and on as long as I was in Korea.

Guess how the HIV positive girl mentioned above found her 20 "Kim's"? You got it, through these sites.

The Korean government will focus on E-2 Visa holders as being problem, perpetuating the vilification that is going on in the Korean "media", in the name of placating parents while the REAL problem goes ignored. How do we know it is meant as a placebo? Some fucktard from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology said;

"The continuation does not mean the government regards foreign teachers to be HIV positive or have the potential of transmission ― it is just intended to assure the parents."

We don't think the foreign teachers are a problem but we are doing it anyway to keep the parents happy? It isn't the foreign teachers that are cruising the internet picking up your daughters to fuck for money. It isn't the foreign teachers who are giving or contracting HIV from your daughters. It is KOREAN men! MinGuk please! Wake the fuck up!

Somehow Tharp42 saying "Can Kim Jong-il just go ahead and nuke this place once and for all?" doesn't seem as harsh as it first did.

Mmmmmmmmmm Cigar.

A lazy Sunday afternoon. The weather is absolutely gorgeous, like the Korean hotties strutting past Flint and myself, lounging at the Dunkins patio.
After a lunch of Popeye's chicken, it's time for a cigar. Today it's a Partagas series D.
I have never been affected by a cigar quite like this one. I hope my description does it justice. It's been a couple of hours, and I am still buzzing.
Inspired by Winston Churchill, we've taken to punching a hole in the cap with a matchstick rather than using a conventional cutter.
I wasn't sure about the draw at first. It was almost too much work, and I was debating about using the cutter anyway. I'm glad I didn't.
I was drinking a strawberry Coolata, which wasn't really a good match with the cigar. Flint asked me why I didn'y get a coffee flavoured one, and I had to take my cap off to smack myself on the head.
D'oh!
And then, it was like something popped inside the cigar. The draw was everything I could have asked for.
It was about 1/3 of the way into the cigar when this wave just washed over me. It was an instant high. As I said, I've never experienced such an intense reaction before. I've had some pretty good buzzes while smoking, but this was just so much more.
My whole body was tingling, and my head was floating away on a cloud. Alizee's "J'ai En Marre" was running through my brain, adding to langourous effects of the buzz.
It was the kind of feeling you have after a really, really good sexual experience.
This went on for the rest of the time I was smoking. I was feeling very mellow, just enjoying the great weather and the scenery rolling past.
The cigar went out with about a quarter left to go, and I couldn't get it relit. It didn't matter, as I was feeling so good, I don't know if I could have handled anymore.
The walk home was more of a stroll, and the day co-operated with me.
Well, mostly. I did have to elbow a mook who figured he could walk through instead of around me.
But the air was fresh-smelling, with the green growing of new grass and leaves. I trailed along behind a Korean hottie, enjoying her perfume and the slow sway of her hips.
Now I'm relaxing at home with Alizee's Moscow concert playing on the computer.
She's singing Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds Of Silence."
Mmmmmmmmmm.

Year 1 - Still drinking the kool-aid

Hi

I am getting used to going around more on my own, and slowly learning Korean.

I can go into a restaurant and order what I like in Korean. Same goes for bars. I can say hello, goodbye, thank you, cold, I am cold, and a few other phrases. All in what 2 and a half weeks?

One thing I have noticed in my sojourns is entertainment. A lot of corner stores, and EVERY arcade have a couple of games that seem to be very popular. The first is a kicking/punching bag game. The object is to hit it as hard as you can and get the highest power rating. They will spend HOURS hitting these things, especially while drinking. I have seen more than a few hobbling away from the kicking machines.

The other "game" I have noticed a lot of people playing is called "Happy Crane". Remember those games you used to see at the airport or bowling alley? The one that you pumped money into, used a crane, and tried to grab a prize? Well, they are ALL over the place here. People pump money into these two games faster than a video gambling machine back in Dartmouth.

One of the things I really miss about home is bath tubs. There are none in the apartments here. I have been tempted to rent a hotel room for a night just so I can soak in a hot tub of water.

The World Cup of Football will be here in 2002. A few of us are going to try and get tickets and see at least one of the games that will take place in Chongju.

One thing I haven't talked about yet is the underworld of Chongju, the sex industry. I don't think I will email this part to mom. ;)

Korea is a very conservative country compared to other Asian countries. Sex is easier to get in say Japan or China. The people of Korea tends to be more moralistic, and steeped in family tradition.

However, that doesn't mean that there aren't any outlets for them. One of my classes, in a discussion on differences between Korea and Japan, educated me on a few interesting subjects.

First there are Coffee Girls. You will see them EVERYWHERE driving their motor scooters. They don't lean over the handlebars. They sit with perfect posture while driving, and are always dressed to the 9's.

You can call a number and they will bring coffee and snacks to your apartment. They serve you coffe and food, drink and eat with you, and chat. For most of them, they will have sex with you IF they like you. Some are out and out prostitutes, but most aren't, and choose whether or not to have sex.

Then there are Parlor Rooms and Parlor Girls. They are basically the same as Coffee Girls, but you have to go to them. You are served dinner, drinks, etc. Then you may get to go into a back room for a ride.

They also have your regular type of whores. Them you take to a sex hotel. Sex hotels are easily noticed, they all look like castle towers. You rent the rooms by the hour. There are even a few Russian whores from Vladivostok. The Oriental men LOVE blonde women. Especially tall ones. "Bagging" one is seen as a bit of a status symbol.

Something else my class enlightened me on was sex trips. Business men from Japan will come to Korea for "special" business trips. Which basically means they come to get their ashes hauled by the locals. Koreans feel that this is just another example of how the Japanese look down on them, and see them as objects they own and can use at will. Mind you they don't see Korean men using Coffee Girls or Parlor Girls in the same light.

It was an interesting class.

One thing I have noticed is that crime, as we think of it, isn't that prevalent. A lot of people will go out and leave their doors unlocked.

Something I haven't done, and I doubt I would get used too. There are a LOT of police and army around at any time. When you reach 18 National Service is mandatory. You can either go into the Army or the Police. They take their law and order seriously here.

That is all for now.

****

I have to laugh now when I read myself saying Korea is conservative. Might be the subject of a good post. Exactly how is Korea conservative?

My male (adult) students were always eager to talk about the sex industry and the evils of Japan. They left out the sex junkets Korean men go on.

I was new and slurping up the kool-aid.

I was also still confused about the name of the city I was living in. Chongju, Cheongju, Jeonju. There were NO World Cup games in Cheongju. There were just too many ways to anglicize Korean and too many cities with similar names. And I am a tad stupid. ;)