#6. Happy Holidaze with Cafe Seoul!

Cafe Seoul Episode #6: Holidaze

3 months since the first episode of Cafe Seoul and this time they tackle the many unique holidays in Korea. By the way, when I say many, I literally mean many. 100th day of everything... Valentine's Day... Black Day... White Day... (insert occasion) Day. When I was in high school, I used to have a Korean classmate who was more excited than I was when it was the 100th day between my then boyfriend and I. I didn't get it then (and still don't now) but I'm sure there are Singaporean events that she doesn't get either. Remember in my previous post about Cafe Seoul, I mentioned that they tell you about the cultures and stuff... So... SEEEEE!! Case in point! You don't need to want to go the Korea to tune in too. Let's just say you date a beautiful, radiant young Korean lady and you forget the 200th day since the first time you kissed her - she might rear her furious ugly head at you. By the way I just went to google a few holidays that are unique to Korea and found some rather... amusingly interesting ones.

August 14th - Green Day South Korean couples dress in green and take time to visit Mother Nature on Green Day. They go hiking, take a leisurely walk in a park or engage in other activities related to nature. For those who do not have a significant other, this is the day when partner-less single men and women drown their sorrows at being loveless by drinking soju, a drink that comes in a green bottle. That just sounds like an excuse to drink more than usual.

Confession Day - 17 September So guys use this day to confess to girls and vice versa and if you two actually get together, your 100th day would be Christmas which instantly makes it more romantic. Well, to begin with, Christmas is romantic anyway.

Movie Day – November 14 Couples are encouraged to go out and see a movie together on this day. But since there are no rules to this celebration, catching a flick at home is probably acceptable, too. In my life, probably every day is movie day. I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT MOVIES AND TV SHOWS. Woop!!

Cafe Seoul tells us more about the other days that are rather um... (for the lack of a better word) bizarre. Like Samgyeopsal Day, Pepero Day, Yellow Day, Kiss Day, Silver Day, Peaches Day and.... Left Shoe Day...? Tune in to find out more!


Ok, but anyway it's alot more fun to join in and celebrate such occasions (if you're invited to celebrate it) than trying to understand it. So... if you're in Seoul, just go ahead and enjoy yourself! Of course, not leaving out the rest of the Cafe Seoul crew featured in this episode; Over-thinking Jeff, Babara Oh, the staff of the Korean Board of Tourism (BOKT), the teachers from the hagwon and Idea Man makes an appearance in place he's not supposed to at! You can listen to them from the iBlug website here and also subscribe to their podcast on iTunes here!

We've got the Californian Surfer and the Georgia Peach

We're from all over and we're here to teach

We've got the Aussie from the Down Under and the Happy Canuck

But the job sometimes makes you wanna say f............

#5. Back to School!

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!!!


That's right! Winter break is over people - time to get back to school and study, study, study! This episode of Cafe Seoul has its cup runneth over with enthusiasm of studying and getting as many lessons at the hagwon as possible. After, no parent wants to lose out and have their kid rank first.... from the bottom. Someone also gets hot for teacher at the hagwon, ahem. Some words come with dual meanings, so check it before you use it!

Also this week! Kimchi Kim and The Spicy Trinity continue on their journey to save the curvy Mandu Mandy from evil Sushi Suzuki. What will become of this chivalrous piece of goodness? Tune in to find out!

Okay one thing about this episode, is about the "removal" of multi-racial Koreans, into a school.

(Disclaimer: this is no way to offend anyone, it's just what I think and you're welcome to disagree.)

Some Koreans are really quite racist, just because I'm not Korean, it means that I am lesser. And it's pretty obvious that I'm being treated as a lesser being. I remember last August, I was in a chicken and beer shop in Anam and the ajjuma that served us at the chicken shop was a total meanie! When she served us food, she was sliding stuff across the table to us - well, that I can live with. And because we ordered A LOT of chicken (it was really quite good, plus the cheese sticks were dope) so we stayed on for quite some time. Once it hit 11pm, she chased us out, saying that she wanted to close despite us not done with our food! So okay, fine, we paid up and left. Went back to the KU dorm, did last minute packing, hung around by the time we left it was pushing 2am. Walked to the main road AND WHUT THE CHICKEN SHOP STILL OPEN DUDE. AND IT WAS ALL FILLED WITH KOREANS. Like what the heck, we wanted to stay and eat our chicken! I experienced such different treatment in a few other eateries and shops around Seoul and it was just clear how much I was frowned upon because I'm a foreigner. I was also denied from buying a dress I liked. But okay ajjuma, whatever that floats yo' boat.

Confused + puzzled = Confuzzled

It's a whole mix of factors to why it is the way it is. Proud of your heritage and wanting to keep it pure - yeah sure but I just wish that they would be more open to other cultures and stuff. Being open and receptive to other cultures DOES NOT mean you have to lose your own. Don't get me wrong, I'm Asian too but I'm not too big on the "listen to me if not shut up because I'm your boss and I'm always right" thing. I hate it. But I guess that is just essentially Asian and it's not gonna change anytime soon, even though society is (somewhat, kinda, I hope) opening up a little.

This episode struck some chords with me when hagwon classes were discussed. Trust me, it's probably an Asian parent thing. It's so competitive in Korea, and the same in Singapore where I'm from. When I was younger, getting the top three in class just wasn't gonna cut it. Either you top your class, or you top your class. I had tuition classes every weekend, and when it was nearing exam period, I spent a good part of my day doing endless past year papers from other schools. Like a kid of a typical Asian parent, they wanted me to grow up to be a lawyer or a doctor - neither of which I am now, unfortunately. I would have very much liked to pursue a career in radio or journalism but it was just not my parents' plan for me. IT'S TOUGH BEING AN ASIAN KID. If you have faced the same situation, or think otherwise, feel free to email us at cafeseoulpodcast@gmail.com and share with us your experience and/or thoughts! If not, feedback for our betterment is always welcome! ^^

THIS is wut I'm talkin' bout y'all

P.S.: I think the Cafe Seoul crew are really getting better at this aren't they! Delivery is smoother now, topics have more bite... However, I still feel that it's kinda rushed in the arrangement of segments. It's a little overwhelming sometimes, feels like too much talking going on. There needs to be like a pause in between segments so I have some time to digest what I just heard. Apart from that, I think we're going down the right path! :)