Comments for The Grand Narrative

Comment on A Sense of Korean Atmosphere…? by 3D Artwork of Women by Soa Lee « The Grand Narrative

3D Artwork of Women by Soa Lee « The Grand Narrative — Thu, 15 May 2008 03:32:47 +0000

[...] of the realm of Oneiros in my favorite computer game Undying, which I talk about in part three of this extremely long and meandering early post of mine. Unfortunately, since I copied it from Soa [...]

Comment on Did Anybody Else Feel the Earthquake? by James Turnbull

James Turnbull — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:20:42 +0000

No, like I said, it was virtually imperceptible, and 99% of Koreans wouldn’t have felt a thing. I only noticed it at all because I was sitting down on an office chair at the time, and no-one else else in my building noticed anything at all.

Comment on Did Anybody Else Feel the Earthquake? by sandra chine

sandra chine — Thu, 15 May 2008 02:17:50 +0000

Did the earthquake affect Korea at all? If so, would it be shacking buildings down, im curious because i have exchange students, and 2 of them went to Korea to see there family.

Comment on Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition by 3D Artwork of Women by Soa Lee « The Grand Narrative

3D Artwork of Women by Soa Lee « The Grand Narrative — Thu, 15 May 2008 01:52:38 +0000

[...] I did say recently that I wasn’t going to confine my newfound interest in Korean art only to examples actually [...]

Comment on The Korean education system and its consequences for adults: Part 1. by Sung-Jin Lim

Sung-Jin Lim — Wed, 14 May 2008 18:39:01 +0000

Many people that have not seen what the Korean Education system is first hand simply do not know what they are talking about. As you can see from my name i am a Korean however, i have lived in South Africa for much of my childhood and know the stark contrasts between the Western Education System and the Korean Education System [i do not know the other asian countries' education system so i will not comment on those].

What the Korean students experience during their secondary schooling years is nothing to what we, who have experienced western education systems, have gone through. I have also had sleepless nights studying, doing homework etc etc. HOWEVER, try doing that for the next three years of your life just to get into university. I am currently a tertiary institute in Korea called Seoul National University. Most foreigners will not know what sort of extreme sacrifices many of these students have placed to get into this university and they are the lucky ones. If you wanna make a comment on this education system, talk to a person who has experienced it OR experience yourself. then we’ll see who’s talking. The current blogger here has a very good grasp of Korean culture. I applaud you on actually making an effort to understand this country and its complicated heritage.

I have many friends that have gone to US Ivy League schools and one has gone to Oxford, but the efforts i know they put in high school is nothing compared to the efforts Koreans put into in order to get into the SKY unversities [Seoul,Korea,Yonsei University].

Comment on Japanese Women Like Being Told What to do… by James Turnbull

James Turnbull — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:57:28 +0000

James, when you say “They say Korea is East meets West but in reality it is strongly East with a skin deep Western gloss” you make a good point, and that’s a very good way of putting it. You may be interested in this comment of GordSellar’s too, who makes the same point but in a different way.

Comment on Japanese Women Still Like Being Told What to do… by Palabea and False Individuality in East Asia « Shooting Words

Palabea and False Individuality in East Asia « Shooting Words — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:46:11 +0000

[...] Departing hugely from this last topic now and onto something mostly unrelated to the Korean language I’ve recently been keenly reading the writings of James Turnbull on his blog The Grand Narrative on his discussion of East Asian, and particularly Japanese women on their submissiveness to voices of authority reminiscent of their school days. In two articles, the first of which has the instantly attention-grabbing title of ‘Japanese women like being told what to do’ he discusses the peculiar tone of Japanese women’s magazines which basically order Japanese women what to do. Rather than me trying to elaborate further on this you’d be better off reading the articles first hand (part 2 is here) [...]

Comment on Japanese Women Like Being Told What to do… by Palabea and False Individuality in East Asia « Shooting Words

Palabea and False Individuality in East Asia « Shooting Words — Wed, 14 May 2008 12:44:06 +0000

[...] school days. In two articles, the first of which has the instantly attention-grabbing title of ‘Japanese women like being told what to do’ he discusses the peculiar tone of Japanese women’s magazines which basically order Japanese [...]

Comment on Japanese Women Like Being Told What to do… by James

James — Wed, 14 May 2008 07:50:55 +0000

What you have said here and in previous articles about the real (or perhaps ‘fake’) meaning of individuality in Korean culture is the exact conclusion I’ve come to after living here for 8 years. I even put it to my Korean girlfriend in somewhat simple terms (her english isn’t great and my Korean isn’t either) and she completely agreed with everything I said. They say Korea is East meets West but in reality it is strongly East with a skin deep Western gloss. The thing that really clicked it for me was the tendency for all Koreans to embrace the same fashions and fads (the ‘tell me’ wondergirls phenomenon for instance) in a way totally unlike the way they happen in the West. I’d like to read that book.

Comment on Korean Women, Part 3 (final): A Caucasian Ideal? by Japanese Women Still Like Being Told What to do… « The Grand Narrative

Tue, 13 May 2008 16:08:16 +0000

[...] thrilled to find this news article via the notes to the photo too, especially after I wrote this, but unfortunately it’s no longer [...]

Comment on Japanese Women Like Being Told What to do… by Japanese Women Still Like Being Told What to do… « The Grand Narrative

Tue, 13 May 2008 15:02:13 +0000

[...] requested (and no, that wasn’t really me), here is the second part of my examination of Keiko [...]

Comment on Did Anybody Else Feel the Earthquake? by James Turnbull

James Turnbull — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:35:23 +0000

I did, on both counts. As for the former, I think that if I hadn’t been sitting on an office chair, with its…er…lubricated central shaft that I think amplified the vibrations, then I wouldn’t have felt anything at all. At the time I just dismissed it, but later I realised that it simply couldn’t have been coincidence that I felt something so similar to the last earthquake on the same day that there was such a big one in China.

On a positive note, it does look like the Chinese government is resonding pretty quickly and professionally.