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This past week was PIFF, Pusan International Film Festival. When I saw that it was billed as the "Hub of Asian Cinema", I knew I had to go to a show.
I had a half day on Wednesday so I hopped down to the theater district and see what was showing. I first went to "Zero", a Polish film about something or other... made me miss Brno. Right after that I went and saw "Accident" which was a Hong Kong movie about assassins who kill people by setting up elaborate "accidents" to kill their victims. After a donut break I made it to the film I really wanted to see, "City of Life and Death". It is about the Nanjing massacre during World War II. It was the Chinese Shindler's List. I highly recommend seeing this.
I have been exploring a bit more and finally tried this outdoor eating area. It is basically old women sitting on little chairs cooking noodles and offering kimbap. There are about 20 of these women sitting in a row all selling the same thing.
Yum!! And all for only 2000won ($1.50)
I bought an oven that does rotisserie chicken in 20 minutes!!!!!
I was waiting for the bus at a place I normally don't catch it. I was standing by the sign for some time along with a Korean man. We both stood waiting and watching loads of other buses pass us by, but none for our stop. After some time I noticed him read some very small not stuck to the bus stop. He then walked up to me, started to speak English, then stopped and asked in Korean if I spoke Korean. This made my day.
Most people here just assume that you can't understand anything in Korea (which they are mostly right in my case) and it gets annoying. I know numbers, so when I am buying something, just tell me the price. But 95% of the time, the shop keeper will just punch the numbers into a calculator and hold it up for me to read, which I then repeat to them in Korean but they don't even pay attention.
Another guy (this time a foreigner) came up to me last night and the first thing he did was ask "Do you speak English?" Thanks for asking!
Another thing is the Koreans pointing and shouting "MIGOOK-IN!!!" which means Beautiful country person, or American. They say this just because I am white. Though they are correct, it is annoying. I have also heard Koreans talking bad about a certain foreigner doing something stupid, like being loud and drunk in a bar (not that a Korean would ever get drunk in public, just be sure to step over all those piles of vomit and passes out Koreans all over the sidewalks every monring), and call them Americans even though it is obvious (to me) that they are Russian or Canadian.
2 comments:
Hey Little Bro,
Glad to see you are having a good time and out exploring. Was the Nanjing Massacre movie in Chinese? A couple have come out recently, and in my opinion, the one all in Chinese (besides when the foreigners speaks) is the best.
Yep, being lumped into one category can be pretty frustrated, get it all the time here. Did have an old lady in the countryside once ask, 'Are you a foreigner?' Never saw one before.
So how do you spot a Canadian? If they don't speak (no 'Aye' or a-boot) or maple leaf tattooed to their forehead, backpack, etc, how do you do it? To me Russians looked chiseled, like angry rock people and cheap hookers - than again, my experiences were walking through Texas street - so that explains that.
Keep enjoying yourself!
Kevin
The movie was Chinese made, but a lot of it was in Japanese. It was black and white.
I can tell Canadians by their accent usually, or the flag if they happen to be wearing a backpack.
Not sure how to describe the Russians, but a lot of it is just what they wear. Same goes for the Brits, though you can usually tell since they have the big bald heads and are red faced from boozing.
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