Light at the End of the Tunnel

I think we’re finally nearing the end of the apartment quest. We went to look at five places yesterday in our primary location and were pleasantly surprised. None were like the apartment I looked at over the weekend which seemed perfect but was too expensive (and I think someone else signed on it… if I understood the agent correctly) but I think we’ve found one that we can call home.

The first four were all in Gunja-dong in between Gunja Station and Children’s Grand Park Station. They were all great location-wise, being within a 5 to 10 minute walk to my roommate’s university, the park (for walking the dog) and the subway station for my commute. However, they weren’t quite right in regards to quality and size. They were all two-rooms, but either the living room wasn’t the right size or shape or one of the rooms wasn’t big enough, or the washing machine was in the bathroom or the inside was just old and couldn’t be touched up. But pricing had a good range from cheap to slightly over our limit.

By the time we were pulling up to the last building, we had decided that while we didn’t like any of the apartments enough to sign a lease, we did like our agent and felt she was working very hard for us. And then we noticed the building we had pulled up to. The first thing we noticed about the last apartment was that it was a bit farther away. It’s located in Junggok-dong, which is a little north of Gunja Station, almost closer to Junggok Station. Still, it’s only about a 10 or so minute walk to Gunja subway station, 15-20 minute walk from the university and park, and there are several buses that pick up just down the street that run to the university and to subway Line 2 (Konkuk University where I live now).

The building is fairly new with a clothing store on the first floor. The apartment was on the fourth floor and had one of those nifty camera/doorbell combos. The door to the building also had a keypad entry. When we stepped into the apartment, the first thing we noticed was light. Lots of light. There were two big windows in the kitchen/living room area and each bedroom had a giant window. There were no buildings tall enough to obstruct the view, so one side of the apartment has a gorgeous look of Acha Mountain and sunlight fills the entire apartment. And it’s new. Completely new. No one has lived there new. We loved the windows and the layout, especially that the washing machine has its own little cubby hole. The bathroom is a good size with room for us to put up a partition between the shower and sink. And both bedrooms are large enough for queen beds, our clothing racks and a desk.

We loved it. The location wasn’t perfect, but we’ve been looking so long, that we both decided it would be worth it to live a little farther out if we could have a new apartment, for less money, with a quiet neighborhood.

We’re negotiating to see if we can get the deposit lowered for a higher rent. My roommate’s boyfriend should be taking care of that, so for now, I can just sit back and wait. It’s kind of nice to just focus on packing and such without having to run off to real estate appointments every morning. Hopefully things get worked out soon. I’d like to get a move-in day settled as soon as possible. At least before someone takes this apartment, too.

Why Work is Frustrating

I came to the sudden and unsuspected realization yesterday that I actually really care about my job.

I say unexpected because I've always told myself that while I take my job seriously, it is not something that I want to do forever. In fact, it's more like what I do now just to get experience in broadcasting and pay the bills. I've always tried to do well, but I didn't really care to really excel in copy-editing.

But I've noticed that over the past few months, I've become more vocal. Instead of just quietly editing things and not making too many changes to articles, I've begun tearing chunks apart, rewriting and really fact-checking.

On the one hand, I feel like I'm really doing something to improve the quality of the news that goes out on air. On the other hand, work is a bit more tiring and stressful. I spend about 10 to 15 minutes per story on average, if it's a story that has a familiar background or if it's relatively well written. However, a few reporters seem to have gotten a little bit, shall we say, lazy over the summer. And we've been getting into arguments a lot the last few months over facts, grammar, leads and story angles.

Some of the reporters that I've previously had great working relationships with seem to doubt me when I say that I think something is wrong with what they wrote. Half the time, I'm just asking them to double check something because I think it sounds wrong, but I can't read the Korean sources. The other half of the time, I know it's wrong because it's a story/grammar rule/AP style rule that I'm familiar with.

I hate arguing with my co-workers over things like why crazy pastor wanted to set Qurans on fire or whether Joe Lieberman is a Democrat or an Independent. I hate confronting reporters who have been writing for years over unintelligible articles. But at the same time, I don't want low quality stuff going out on air. I want our watchers to understand. And it would be nice if foreigners in Korea would turn to our news program for all the latest news.

I know most of my expat friends make fun of the TV channel I work for. At times, I've made fun of it. Heck, pretty much all of my co-workers and I have talked about much of a joke it is at one point in time over the last year I've worked here. But recently, a good chunk of us have actually starting caring enough about it to try and make some positive changes in quality. I know we can't become CNN overnight. But, hey, as long as we try as least we'll be satisfied with the work we do, right?

A Rainy Day in Seoul

What's going on in Seoul, you ask? Here is my answer...

Apartment:

So, unfortunately my new roommate ended up canceling our adventures in real estate land without a translator. I ended up going out with my current roommate as a translator for about an hour, but didn’t find anything. All the 2BR apartments in the Kondae area were too small and overpriced. One place that I looked at might have worked size-wise, but it was 2.8 million won per month, which is way out of our price range. Plus, it was old.

But there is a silver lining. New Roommate is going back to the first area we looked, Gunja, today with her boyfriend to check out apartments. And I’m planning to look around Children’s Grand Park this week as well. We figured that if we split up and then passed on the apartments we like to the other, we’ll get more ground covered and have a better idea of the apartments in the area. I’m confident we’ll find something soon and get settled in. I’m already starting to mentally plan how I want to decorate my room. (Crazy, I know. Me decorating… insane…)

Visa Renewal:

I’m FINALLY getting the documents for my visa. After another week of my boss telling me, “Oh, right. We’ll talk about that later,” I finally navigated through the Korean version of the web site explaining how to renew an E7 visa. I printed it off and highlighted the documents the secretary needed to get and handed it to her, motioning at her so that she understand that she needed to get those documents and give them to me. There are a couple of documents that I’ll get, but once she hands over her documents (which should take one maybe two days tops to gather) I’m off to immigration for a 30-minute appointment to get my ARC stamped and hand over my passport for a couple weeks. During which time, my new visa will be stamped in and my passport will be returned and I’m good for one more year in Korea.

Work (or Overwork):

I am currently in the eighth day of a (hopefully) 12-day run at work. I was told on Monday that someone would be starting next Monday to fill the open editor position and I’m hoping this is correct. Otherwise, I’m not sure how many days in a row I’ll be working. It’s more money, yes, but it’s hard to stay positive and sharp when you have no day off to look forward to. Not to mention I’ve been filling up the hours before work with real estate appointments and lunch dates and not sleeping well at night. Oi… I seriously need sleep… and some time to spend getting a few drinks with my friends. Life is too tense right now and I need some relaxation.

Fun Interviews:

Sadly, I’m not sure if I’m still getting my band interviews that I was promised. Band Friend with all the contacts had a falling out with my other friend and now I have no way to contact Band Friend since Other Friend was my link (I don't have Band Friend's phone number). Not to mention, Other Friend was going to be the translator for the interviews and Band Friend now wants to have nothing to do with her. I still don’t understand what the conflict was, but I’m sad that this means no interview with Guckkasten at the moment, and that our nights of hanging in Hongdae are over. I suppose this means I’ll have to start focusing my efforts on infiltrating YG’s PR department and get on some sort of press list. We’re hoping to cover Tae-yang’s upcoming solo concert at the end of September, but we’re at a loss as to how to get on a press list and get press privileges. So, it is now my job to figure this out, since I’m currently the only writer located in Seoul.

I’m not quite that confident in my skills, but we’ll see how this goes down. I’m just hoping that showing up YG headquarters dressed professionally will be enough to get me a meeting with a press contact (that speaks English, preferably). Though, personal contacts are better… I should sweep through my personal network and see if anyone I know can help me first…

Oi… I seriously wish I could take a nap… it’s only been one hour at work so far and I’m fading fast… stupid eight days of working in a row…

Nothing Much Goin' On

I should probably write a thorough report on Jisan, but I don't really have the patience right now. But I promise you, there will be a report. I guess this will just be a preview of some fun stuff that should be coming up soon...

1.) The Apartment Hunt Continues:

My roommate and I are starting up the hunt again tomorrow (FINALLY!). This time we are attempting to go out by ourselves, with no English agent or translator. She is convinced that as long as we write down our perimeters (aka 2-3 BR, spacious living room/kitchen, monthly rent, etc.) on a piece of paper in Korean, we should be okay. And if we find something we like, we can then call in someone to translate and negotiate for us. She seems positive, so I'm going to try and follow her lead. At this point, I'm so ready to get out of my current place that I'll probably agree to anything she likes as longs as it's less than 1.2 million won per month. (Especially since she's pickier than me.)

But this whole experience reeks of funny, have-to-write-it-down-and-share. There will probably be a blog... or a book... about tomorrow very soon. Perhaps I should get a friend to follow us around with a video camera and get everything on tape...

2.) Guckkasten and Filmstar Interviews:

I've been told, nay, promised that I could have interviews with these two bands in the near future. I'm friends with someone in Filmstar who said he would talk to his band and get them to sit down for a video interview for my web site (www.maypang-amin.com). He is also friends with the guitarist in Guckkasten and is planning to ask them if I can interview them as well. Hongdae Friend has said she would translate and another friend has agreed to video and edit the film for the web site, so everything's good. We just need to set up a date and get it done.

3.) HOME!:

So far, everything is go for my trip home for Thanksgiving. I'm currently waiting for the new copy-editor to get hired so I can talk over the schedule with them before informing my boss that I'll be gone for about 12-13 days at the end of November. I'm super excited since it will be two years since I've seen any of my family. And, I get to eat Mom and Gramma's famous Thanksgiving Dinner and see some friends from college and high school that I haven't seen in 3-6 years.

4.) New camera:

I'm in the process of looking for a new digital camera. At first I thought I would get a cheap, used one that I could use until I saved up for a nicer, new one, but I accidentally looked at a really awesome Samsung camera today that I really want. The guy is selling it for 340,000 won (he bought it two weeks ago for about 400,000 or 450,000 won, I think) which is most definitely out of my price range right now, but that hasn't stopped me from seriously considering it. I have about 900,000 won in my moving fund and it's really tempting to pull that out and replace it next month (since I'm working crazy hours the rest of this month) but I'm trying to refrain. There is a possibility he might still have it in 2 weeks when I get paid, but I doubt it. So, I'm just going to have to force myself to be patient and wait just a little bit longer... It will pay off in the end... Besides, my friend is selling her DSLR soon and perhaps I might be able to save up enough and buy that instead...

Anyway, I suppose that's about it for updates/previews/whatever. Hopefully I can get a post up with more meat next time...

My Issues With Fangirls

I live in Korea. Koreans pretty much wrote the book on fangirlism and all the craziness that entails. For the most part, my friends and I make fun of them and have a good laugh. It provides a lot of entertainment on occasion. But sometimes they really annoy me.

Especially when they are older fangirls. As in, adult fangirls. Women who are my age or around my age. And occasionally older than me.

Now, I can understand that people who follow music groups or actors or whatever for years can become quite attached to said celebrities. I'm a huge fan of Relient K and have been for about 10 years now. However, I do not have all their names memorized (mostly because they keep changing drummers and bassists). I do not know where they currently live or what their favorite movies or ice cream are. I do, however, watch for when their new albums are coming out so I can buy them. I occasionally read articles about them because I find it interesting to hear what their inspiration was behind certain songs and whatnot. If I'm in the States, I buy tickets to their shows.

I do not daydream about marrying Matt Theissen (the lead singer). I do not cover my walls with their posters. I do not write a million and a half blog posts about them. And should they ever break up, yes, I will be sad, but I will not be upset and lose my will to live. My life will not turn upside down. I will not start petitions to keep them together.

Because no band or music group stays together forever. It's a natural part of life. Even the Beatles didn't stay together and no one thus far is bigger than them. And just because they break up, doesn't mean we have to stop listening to their music. There is no reason to get all torn up about music groups breaking up or one member deciding to leave. It's THEIR choice. Not the fans. Because, now pay attention because this is radical stuff, they are HUMAN. Wow, what a concept! They aren't owned by the fans?

And I think that behavior like that is best left for a bunch of junior high and high school girls. Not adults (aka people over the age of 18). Thus why it annoys me to hear of people I know who are 20 or 24 who are actually getting depressed about some obscure Asian group breaking up that they've followed for years. They write long blog posts about it... and then get even more upset when people tell them to get over it, and say things like, 'no one understands me!' Well, yea, because you're 20-something and you're acting like a 15-year-old...

This might be considered harsh, but I think back to when I was in my 20s. I was working two to three jobs to get through school. I worried about things like car payments and how I was going to pay for my school's volunteer trip to Northern Ireland. Things like what I wanted to do after I graduated and finding jobs kept me up at night. Yes, I did like a few of these Asian groups, but they didn't rule my life. I wasn't learning Japanese because I dreamed of someday meeting them or running off to Japan. It was just a phase. I still had my daily life/future career plan issues that took presence over my hobbies. Because focusing on studying and choosing a career seemed more important in the long run than some group of Asian boys that dance around and sing.

So... in conclusion, I no longer have any patience for people who are over the age of 18 who are obsessed to an unhealthy level with music groups. Seriously. Grow up. Get a life. Focus on what you are planning to do with your life and not some group of celebrities. Because in the big scheme of things... It doesn't matter.

And, those celebrities that you're falling all over yourself to love and support... they most likely don't even give a shit about you. They are going to do what they want to do. This is a business and they are in it to make money and be famous. It's a job. Think about that the next time you want to bawl your eyes out because Hot Boy A has decided to leave his group to pursue something else that may or may not make him more money or fame.

(And just to be fair, I do know there are exceptions to the rule... Some celebrities do care... but probably not many...)

The Apartment Hunt

My new roommate and I have officially started our apartment hunt today. We initially wanted something in the Children's Grand Park area, since that's where my roommate attends university and it's still not that far of a commute for me. Unfortunately, our real estate agent told us that for the key money we have, there isn't much in the way of two bedroom apartments in that or the Kondae area, but he was still able to pull through for us and we looked at three apartments near Gunja Station.

A quick note on the key money (security deposit) thing before I continue, since it's something that I myself didn't know, even after living in Korea for nearly 3 years. While living somewhere other than Gangnam might be cheaper in rent, areas outside of the main foreigner hot spots (Itaewon, Gangnam, Haebongcheon, etc.) or towards the outskirts of Seoul, tend to have higher key money. The real estate agent said this is partially because they aren't use to dealing with foreigners and don't really know/understand that we're use to lower deposit prices and are still used to the jeonse system, and mostly because while monthly rent is completely negotiable, it's the key money that's most important because they can make a decent amount off the interest that they keep when they give you the deposit back. Thus, while you can get a brand new, 3 bedroom apartment for maybe 1.2 million a month, key money could run you about 20 million won.

Anyway, so we looked at three apartments today in the Gunja area. At first I thought it would be far from work, it's actually not that bad. It's on the 7 line and only two stops from line 2 and Kondae, so I'm still technically in the same area. I walked it today, and it was maybe a 20-30 minute walk from one area to the other. And it was a nice walk. Clean sidewalks, a bit of construction, but altogether really pleasant. The main difference is the area is much nicer and mostly new. It's more families than college students and the air feels cleaner. Plus, it's near Children's Grand Park, which is a huge park that has tons of fun things to do. (I could see a ferris wheel from one of the apartments.)

Apartment #1:

It was definitely the biggest of the three, but it was also a bit older. The living room area/kitchen was spacious and there was a lot of counter space. Also, it had a good size enclosed balcony where we could put the washing machine and store things. The bathroom was also large, though we would probably replace the shower head. The down side was the wallpaper (which we would negotiate to replace) and the bedrooms. One bedroom was a decent size, but the other two were really small and even smaller. Both of us have queen-size beds, so we were really unsure about whether we could fit the bed in there. If we could, it would take up the entire room and we would have to turn the third bedroom into a study/closet.

Other than that, it wasn't bad. I would have to bring my stove over from my current apartment and we would have to purchase an air conditioner, but other than that, we have everything. They didn't tell us a price, but we assume it was within our perimeters. It had a car park for Mac's car and there was a key pad to get into the building which we both liked. And it was a 2-3 minute walk from the subway station.

Apartment #2 and #3:

The last two were actually in the same building, which was brand new and had just been completed. There were only 9 apartments in the building and so far about 5 of them have been filled. The building was really nice, had an underground car park, security pad for the entrance and was literally a 2-minute walk from the North Gate Entrance to Children's Grand Park. It was only about 4 stories high and the apartments were on floor 2 and 3, plus there was roof access. The roof was spacious and had a great view of the park and the area. It's perfect for having BBQs and cook outs and we were told we could use whenever we wanted. Plus it was a 5-6 minute walk from the subway station.

Apartment #2 had a decent sized living area and we liked the lay-out of the kitchen. Lots of counter space and plenty of room for a table. The decor was very Korean, but it still looked nice. I liked the light fixtures. The bathroom was small, but it had a waterfall shower head, and a fancy toilet with bidet and other options. There was a small laundry room and three bedrooms. But this one had the same problem as the first one. One bedroom was great, but the other two were matchboxes. Both were too small for a queen-sized bed. However, the price was great. They negotiated the key money down for us to 15 million won and the monthly rent was below what we initially asked for.

We really liked Apartment #3. The lay-out was similar to Apartment #2, but the second bedroom could fit a queen bed in it. It was a little weird though, because a sliding door separated it into two halves, and we didn't really understand why they did that. The local real estate agent said it was intended to be some sort of storage closet or dressing room, but it was almost the same size the the room in the front. We looked at it and we think you could fit a queen bed in the back room (which would basically fill the entire the room) and then put the closet and such in the front. If it's my room, there is plenty of space for my TV and closet, plus some drawers. And the agent said we could take the sliding doors out if we wanted, which would open up the room a bit more.

The kitchen lay-out was different and not so space efficient and the bathroom was a bit smaller (but had the same fixtures), however, what sold us was the laundry room and patio. The laundry room had full windows on two sides and was very spacious. We could definitely fit the washing machine and a table out there. I have to admit, it's a nice view to have when you're eating. And there was a small patio off the laundry room that could fit a small, 2-person chair. Again, the view was nice. And the third, pocket-sized bedroom could be turned into our study and had plenty of space for our desks. It was a little more expensive than Apartment #2, but still in our range.

We both really liked it, but wanted to think about it and maybe check out another area. I really wanted to just sign the lease today, but it's a good thing Mac was there, because she asks all the right questions and is a bit more level-headed than I am. I get caught up in liking some place, that I often don't stop and think about everything. For example, is living in that building worth giving up the kitchen layout that we want or a bigger bathroom or more evenly sized bedrooms? (At this point, I say yes, but I could change my mind after some careful thought.)

So that was our first day in apartment hunting. Hopefully we'll go out again next weekend and maybe decide on something soon. I don't want to lose Apartment #3 and get stuck with something that's not quite what we want...

Cheonan Blasts Off? Say What?!

For awhile now I've contemplated a blog about some of the things I deal with as a copy-editor at an English news program in Seoul. A majority of the writers are fairly good and do decent work, but every so often, I get a few bloopers that either have me laughing or scratching my head.

Not to mention, sometimes they get a little bit lazy and forget to check and re-check their sources, something that especially needs to be done if they translate from Korean sources, since a lot of Korean reporters are lazy when it comes to source checking. So I've decided that this post will be devoted to some of the mess ups I've caught so far.

World Cup:

According to one of our reporters... 180 million people were planning to take to the streets on the night of the Uruguay-Korea game to cheer for the national team. I suppose Korea planned to import football fans from other countries since the current population stands at 48 million... (She actually meant 1.8 million.)

Obama's Visit:

Awhile back, Obama came to visit Seoul and was going to speak at one of the military bases. For an entire day, we announced that he would go to Yongsan base, since that was the location told to the reporter by some obscure source. It wasn't until I spoke with my then-boyfriend who was in the Air Force that afternoon, that we discovered he was actually speaking at Osan Air Force Base.

G20 in Canada:

One of our reporters wrote a piece introducing the G20 summit in Toronto. She wrote that the summit was taking place the first week of June... It actually took place the last weekend of June. A fact that was recorded in every major news source at the time the article was written.

Cheonan Huh?:

We have one reporter who covered most of the Cheonan incident. She's nice, but not a native English speaker and definitely kept us entertained while covering such a dark topic. Here's a few gems.

"... the military plans to start lift off the bow as early as Saturday..."

"... the soldiers that sank off the Cheonan..."

"... the dead soldiers were found in their underwears..."

The President Regrets What?

One reporter recently covered the Sejong City revision bill that was voted down at the National Assembly. Really, the entire article was riddled with mistakes. Instead of quoting the ruling GNP parliamentary speaker Park Hee-tae, he quoted parlimentary speaker Park Hee-tak, and then blamed it on bad copy from Yonhap, a major English/Korean newswire here. (Honestly... I'm a foreigner, he's Korean and I knew the guy's real name and title...)

He then quotes President Lee Myung-bak as saying that he "deeply regrets the decision." What the President actually said, was that while he respects the decision, he finds it deeply regrettable.

The Korean War

The same reporter who entertained us during the Cheonan incident, also provided some fun during the anniversary of the Korean War...

"It has been 60 years since the broke out of the Korean War."

"... many soldiers shared blood during the Korean War." (Meant to say 'shed'.)

Miscellaneous:

Senator Joe Lieberman magically became a Democrat again... and that actually went on air before I came on shift and noticed it. (He's been an Independent Democrat since 2006, which is not the same party.) This wouldn't have been that bad, since the parties sound similar, except the reporter proceeded to argue with me, saying that AFP called him a Democrat, so it must be correct. He even asked if I checked AFP to make sure... I just stared at him and reminded him that I'm American... and thorough copy-editor.

A ferry wreck had 50 missing passengers for half of our bulletins one day, when all of the foreign reports that came out before our reporter even wrote the story said there were only 11.

And of course, there are many, many more mistakes that make me scratch my head or think that some of my co-workers have temporary spans of idiocy, however, these are the ones I remembered or wrote down so I wouldn't forget.

Some of them I put on my very own personal "Wall of Shame" at my desk. All the reporters must walk by my desk at some point during the day, so it acts as a reminder that they should double check their stuff before sending it to me... or else blatantly obvious, silly, or stupid mistakes will be posted for all to see.

Every day brings more news... and more mistakes...