This week saw the death of our local video store. The closure may have been inevitable, but the removal of yet another local business in our neighbourhood saddens me. We have also lost our local rice shop and Family Mart is now in my line of sight when I leave the house.
As Itaewon goes through another burst of redevelopment, I'm sure there will be many benefits, but I mourn the loss of local businesses and as more franchises and chains establish themselves around us, the feeling of community in this area diminishes little by little.
Here's hoping the little shop on our corner makes it through this year...
I've been drinking a lot of Korean tea for my upcoming feature in 10 Magazine and I feel this report from Stephen Colbert will give those living in Korea a taste of British tea culture (and the upcoming Royal Wedding).
I'm feeling as giggly as a schoolgirl today as I've spent a fair while flicking through the Jeonju International Film Festival Catalogue picking films to watch. Thanks to the delightful 10 Magazine, I'm the proud owner of a press pass for this year's festival and with any luck I'll be seeing the following films whilst I'm down in Jeonju...
First off - Anyang, Paradise City the first feature film from Park Chan-wook's brother Park Chan-kyong (fresh from winning the Golden Bear at Berlin for his and his brother's short iPhone film Night Fishing). An interesting mix of documentary and fiction as he looks at "disasters such as factory fire accident, flood, temple site excavation, folk tale religion, and native history". I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I'm excited to see what he's created.
Next - The True Taste Show from Kim Jae-hwan, a film dealing with reality tv's portrayal of restaurants and the reality that lies behind it.
My third film is something a little more famous - Inside Job, the Oscar winning documentary by Charles Ferguson dealing with the financial crisis of 2008. Narrated by Matt Damon, it has received rave reviews and promises to be an excellent watch.
Continuing on the documentary theme, number four is - Cave Of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog's 3D exploration of the Chauvet cave in southern France that contains some of the world's oldest art. Herzog has proved himself to be superb documentary maker over the years and I'm curious to see if he can make good use of 3D where so many others have failed.
Next up is the Anifest Shorts collection. One Japanese and four Korean animated films. Midori-ko, Interview, Demag, Camels and Running Egg. No idea what to expect.
Then onto another documentary, this time Planet of Snail, a Korean film, directed by Yi Seung-jun, dealing with the life of a deaf-blind man and his attempts to communicate with the outside world. The trailer below convinced me that I had to see this unusual tale.
Another animation, this time from Columbia - Little Voices, a 3D docu-animation using Columbian children's pictures to tell their stories about war torn life. Based on director Jairo Carrillo's 2003 short film, it promises to be a little different to your average kid's cartoon.
And finally I get the chance to see one of my favourite Korean films on the big screen - Nowhere to Hide. This 1999 thriller is Lee Myung-se's masterpiece and is a must see for anyone interested in Korean cinema.
If any of you, my dear readers, happen to be down in Jeonju for the festival at the end of this month then let me know, hopefully I'll see you there.
In the meantime I'll leave you with my favourite scene from Nowhere to Hide.
On our Worldwide Korea Bloggers trip last week there was one thing in the Cheongwadae Sarangchae museum that seemed a little off... Obviously they weren't using the spell check when writing the British Prime Minister's name. But hey, what's an "n" between friends.
There are some aspects of Korean food culture that not everyone who comes here gets to see. I happened to go to a Korean wake (sadly not my first and most definitely not my last) about a month ago and thought I would share just a few pictures of what was served.
When someone dies in Korea there is usually an area set aside in the hospital for friends and family to visit and pay their respects. Over a period of two or three days and nights, guests come and pray at an altar and then head to a dining area for a meal and perhaps a drink or two. The family of the bereaved will normally spend the whole time at the hospital greeting guests day and night.
Visitors will usually be given a bowl of soup, a bowl of rice and a variety of side dishes to snack on. There will almost always be some steamed meat, some pancakes, some rice cakes and a selection of fresh fruit.
There's beer and soju on hand for those who want to drink to the memory of the deceased, with the normal dried snacks you might see at bars across the country.
There's something quite comforting about this tradition, people come and go, chatting amongst themselves and paying their respects. Many visitors lend a helping hand with serving food and drink, and the three days give people coming from out of town enough time to visit.
Not the happiest of meals, but an important one nonetheless.
