I have been following you through Google Reader. I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for chiming in, nosaj100. If this goes the way I hope, you'll be the first of many.

I didn't have a chance to go through your entire blog, but I like the pictures you have up, especially the ones of Myŏngdong (I never spell it Myeongdong — blech!).

I am looking forward to getting back in Korea this summer with my new Nikon D60 to take pictures with a better camera than what I've had. (I haven't had a "professional" camera since some 외국인 yahoo stole my Minolta X-700 way back when — and left a note telling me he'd taken it!).

I've enjoyed your blogging from year back John and it is good to see you return. All of the other educated K-bloggers have retired.

Thanks for chiming in, emily. Are you in Korea? Do you have a blog you'd like to plug?

Anyway, I think there are some good "educated" bloggers out there. Marmot has outsourced much of the writing for his blog, but he himself still writes a good number of posts in the same informative and objective style as before.

And a couple of his "guest bloggers" are pretty good. Sonagi and Wangkon come to mind, but some of the others have some good stuff. Matt at "Gusts of Popular Feeling" is still going strong. The others I have in the pop-up list (in no particular order) are all pretty good: Ask a Korean, Korea Beat, Grand Narrative, Korea Pop Wars and Brian in Chŏllanam-do.

It doesn't look like Oranckay is coming back anytime soon, but who knows? Once my new life and new problems reached some sort of equilibrium, I came back online.

I'll agree Matt's (Gusts, not the white pride one) site is Ok, and I don't want to sound like an arrogant bitch, but the noob-in-Korea schtik of the other bloggers you mentioned would only be bearable if their ignorance wasnt broadcast over the internet.
Yes, I do live in Korea and have enjoyed blogging on a Korea-themed blog for a number of years, however for my own reasons I do not want to have it publicized here. I will let you know its address by email if you can promise to keep it secret. Its very different, but I think it would be your cup of tea.
BTW, you have yet to answer my question that i left in the "ask Kushibo" column. I would like to know that plus a few other things so if you are not happy to answer it publicly for any reason feel free to email me. You do see my email, don't you?
Anyway, I'm glad if you are recieving more hits and less comments. Look at the Marmot, he could do much better with less comments.

emily wrote:
I'll agree Matt's (Gusts, not the white pride one) site is Ok, and I don't want to sound like an arrogant bitch, but the noob-in-Korea schtik of the other bloggers you mentioned would only be bearable if their ignorance wasnt broadcast over the internet.

I'm not sure how long Turnbull at "Grand Narrative" or Brian in Chŏllanam-do have been here, but I think they're a bit past the newbie stage. Migukin, which seems to be down now, was totally noob.

Mark at Korea Pop Wars has been here for quite a long time and he knows the entertainment industry very well, and he doesn't have any particular axe to grind with Korea or some chip on his shoulder, so his criticism and praise both come from the same objective place.

Ask a Korean is outside Korea, but has been in Korea for a while, I think, but at least grew up in a Korean home, I think, so I wouldn't count him as a newbie. Ditto with Korea Beat.

Yes, I do live in Korea and have enjoyed blogging on a Korea-themed blog for a number of years, however for my own reasons I do not want to have it publicized here. I will let you know its address by email if you can promise to keep it secret. Its very different, but I think it would be your cup of tea.

Please do.

BTW, you have yet to answer my question that i left in the "ask Kushibo" column. I would like to know that plus a few other things so if you are not happy to answer it publicly for any reason feel free to email me. You do see my email, don't you?

Aye, there were a few that were left during busy periods when I was neglecting my comments a bit, but I didn't see one from "emily." Did you post it under a different username?

Anyway, I'm glad if you are recieving more hits and less comments. Look at the Marmot, he could do much better with less comments.

Well, without wholesale comment moderation, there's not much he can do about that. His blog has become — for better or for worse — the de facto go-to blog, and that's what everyone does. He has some good commenters with some very interesting insight, so it's still worth it to sift through the silliness to get to the good stuff. I just wish he's blog more than he has been lately.

Thanks for answering my question. I am interested in your hiatus from blogging following your move to Hawaii and the nora/kushibo scandal. Why does the Marmot delete reference to you on his blog? Do you comment there as colontos or mizar5, or are you the elusive swlee?

Well, I have dealt with my retirement and hiatus elsewhere, but I'm not sure what you mean by Marmot deleting reference to me on his blog. In fact, he pointed out a couple weeks ago that he knows me in real life. I don't think he likes it when people pretend they're me when they're not.

People can have all the fun they want trying to figure out who is me, but I do not participate on Marmot's Hole, mostly because of time constraints and annoyance, and I wouldn't go on there without Marmot's knowledge anyway.

Frankly, it's a bit odd that people who think I am using socks will use socks in order to demonstrate that I am using socks.

I suppose I will take accept your affirmations at face value, however that Misuda (SWLee) character in the link sure sounds and looks like you. Just wandering is all.

I suppose I will take accept your affirmations at face value, however that Misuda (SWLee) character in the link sure sounds and looks like you. Just wandering is all.

No, swlee sounds nothing like me, especially his mocking of The Marmot. That sounds more like some other commenters, only less subtle.

As for looking like me, it is obvious that "mesuda" (whom Marmot says is swlee) deliberately snagged my avatar for that purpose.

Anyway, I don't intend to sully this post with any more of this talk, which is ultimately about nonsense. If you have any more questions or comments, emily, feel free to email me instead.

Dude.

hardyandtiny wrote:
Dude.It's hardyandtiny!

And judging by that monosyllabic response, I conclude that he's in or from California.

just saying hello...I'm in Maryland

Boy, was I off.

But in all fairness, I didn't have a lot to work with. :)

And speaking of people fake-kushibo posting, I was wondering why I was getting hits from Driven By Boredom about hipster/grifter nudes.

that's funny

chime!!

do i have to do a dingdong-ing sound or will the chime suffice? =)

i like your latest articles... i find it interesting to read.

have a nice day!
reijene

Welcome, Reijene with the cute hands (cute married hands — d'oh!).

Chiming in is enough. People can follow your profile to your blog if they feel like.

G'day Kushibo,

I'm bingbing. Long story how that ridiculous handle came about. Yes, I live in Korea. Have done so for about five years. Usually blog and post on blogs that connect me to political life back in Oz/the West, but as time in Korea continues, have been checking out the Korean blogs a bit more often, lately.

You know, life here was so much more peaceful before I started checking out the Korean blogs. It was just eat, shit, sleep, drink soju, and work... with a girlfriend thrown in for good measure. No problem. But anyhow, I'm a sucker for punishment, and will probably continue to check the Kblogs.

I'm one one the authors here at www.tizona.wordpress.com although the content isn't really relevant to the daily goings on in Korea.

Anyway, hi.

BTW, dontcha think Brian looks like Kevin Bacon? I could never remember his name and just called him Kevin. He might connect the dots. He actually met me a few times over a year ago when I used to take the bus before I got a car. I promise if I bump into him again, I'll "out" myself. And he's the quietest guy in real life. You'd never know.

Hey Kushibo,
I found your blog through the comments that you left on other sites. You make some pretty good comments.

I liked the froot loops story .. My mom was a major food nazi, when I wanted things I tried to hide them in the food cart, as I was young I didn't realize that those things would eventually have to come out of the cart to be scanned. I returned many food items to the shelf in my day.

Hi there!
I'm a South African, currently living in a small Korean village called Seoshin (West Coast, close to Jebu-do), and found you via links from gypsy scholar's site.
I've been in Korea just over two years now and will probably stay for another two before moving on to other pastures.
I enjoy some of your comments and your ascerbic wit.

Aloha, Teacher Leo!

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for dropping by. South Africa is a place I've always been interested in visiting... apparently we in California have a similar climate, and a lot of South Africans have settled in Orange County (or so it seemed). I don't see too many in Hawaii, though. Sometimes.

bingbing, sorry for not responding earlier. I was moving out at about that time.

I think Brian in Chŏllanam-do looks a lot like Gary Cole, the actor who played the second VP on "West Wing" and Bill Lumbergh in Office Space.

Nice blog, by the way.

strayblog, thank you also for chiming in. You, too, left a comment when I was about to leave Hawaii.

Children raised by food nazis make good writers. I firmly believe that.

Anyway, good luck with your new life outside of Korea!

Kushibo,

Do you know which blog posted recently on the new labor law that was recently passed, making companies change temporary and part-time workers into permanent fulltime workers if they've completed 2 years.

I thought it was at Brian's or at Korea Beat, but can't seem to track the link down. I'm pretty sure I recall you making a comment about the law not affecting foreigners unless they were on an F5.

Do you know which article post I'm talking about?

ROK Hound, how recently are you talking about?

I honestly don't recall making such a comment and I'm not sure if it's true. It sounds like it might be true: F5's are "permanent residents," vouched for and integrated to a large degree, which is quite different from the year-to-year contracts E2's and others might have, which would place them outside the system.

Then again, there are fake kushibos out there making fake kushibo comments, so who knows what all has been said under my moniker.

The article/post was in the last month, certainly; maybe 6 weeks on the outside. I've searched all my usual haunts: Brian, KB, Sparkle, Marmot... nothing.

I know it exists because I posted a comment as well. After "you" said the law to change two-year employees to permanent fulltime workers only affected foreigners on an F5, I made a snide comment about how this law affects F-visa holders far more than anything ATEK has ever done, and wondering when the character assassination campaign will begin on the congressmen who voted for it.

Damn my Alzheimer's!

Hi..Kushibo, love ur writing so I visit once in a while..thnx keep going :)

Hi, I found your website while looking for information on wildgeese/gireogi fathers. And I must say I fell in love with the humorous tone of your posts.
Cheers