Progress Report 24.2
Anyong hasseyo, cowboy.
How's things? Yeah? Grr-rr-eat!
Now lookee here - this isn't a proper update but rather a fun quiz, just because it's Friday. It'll brighten your day and lighten your mood, no doubt, but I'm making you no guarantees.
The rules are plain simple: There follows ten concise and succint statements and each one figuring to detail an actuality from the daily lot of the Korean. Thing is, some of them are TRUE, and some of them (and may God forgive it) are FALSE. Your task, should you choose to accept it and take it unto your heart, is to sift the fine dust of this truth from the heathen stream of falsity.
You ready to ride? Well then saddle 'er up, pardner, and let's get to going!
1) Thunder and lightening may be a tedious meteorological fact of life to the most of us, but to Koreans they're something more sacred. In fact, thunderstorms are of such spiritual importance on this peninsula that every time one starts up over Seoul, the four major broadcasters (KBS, OCN, MBC and EBS) immediately cancel normal programming and switch to a special camera mounted on the Namsan broadcasting tower. This shows all the thunderstorm action live and as it happens and continues to do so until either the first patch of blue sky appears or no thunder has sounded for a full fifteen minutes. TRUE or FALSE?
2) According to ancient mythology, the kingdom of Korea was founded by the son of a woman who had once been a bear. This woman bore her son after being impregnated by a god-turned-mortal called Hwanung. Hwanung had to step in to seed her belly because no human was willing to do the job. No human was willing to do the job because she had once been a bear. TRUE or FALSE?
3) There have been many disputes arising from long-standing animosity between Korea and Japan. One of the pettiest among them is the accusation that Japan deliberately changed the transliteration of the country's name from Corea to Korea so that Japan's name would appear first whenever they were listed alphabetically. This came to a head when the two nations co-hosted the World Cup in 2002, with Japan renaming the competition '2002 World Cup' on all official literature, choosing to remove the names of the host nations rather than accept FIFA's ruling that 'Korea' should appear ahead of 'Japan'. TRUE or FALSE?
4) It is illegal to hold on to the prescription drugs of a deceased relative in Korea. To prevent this happening, once a month, collectors walk the hallways of all residential apartment blocks chanting 'sae'ttang' in a distinctive low voice. This roughly translates as 'bring out the discarded prescription drugs of your now-deceased relatives'. TRUE or FALSE?
5) In accordance with Confucian beliefs about maintaining good fortune when travelling, the main circular line on Seoul's subway system only operates in a clockwise direction. TRUE or FALSE?
6) When Kellogs introduced cereal to Korea in 1996, it had to take into account both the fact that Koreans don't distinguish between breakfast and dinner foods, and that they normally eat from the same bowl when dining together. With this in mind, they opened a cereal restaurant in Seoul's fashionable Myeongdong district where groups of young people and students could eat Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies from a large communal bowl that was sunk into the centre of each table. Although open 24-hours, the restaurant - named 'Deliciousy Breakfast Time' - was most popular during the evenings. TRUE or FALSE?
7) During the 1980s, a man having long hair or a tattoo was considered a clear indicator of criminality or subversion and so both were an arrestable offence. TRUE or FALSE?
8) Demand across Asia for Korean soap operas is now at such a high that the studios are having a hard time keeping up. To compensate, new actors joining any of the main soaps are required to legally change their name to that of the character that they play, allow cameras into their homes to watch them sleep and dress and involve real-life friends and family in storylines as required. TRUE or FALSE?
9) The island to the south of Korea - Jejudo - is floating away from the peninsula at a rate of 5 metres a year, in a south-southeasterly direction. At present, it is predicted to become part of Japanese sovereign territory in 2170. TRUE or FALSE?
10) Finally, the Korean language writing system hangul is renowned worldwide for its simplicity and ingeniousness. It was thought to have been created by revered Korean monarch King Sejeong (1397-1450). His other main claim to fame is that he played the saxophone on Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street'. TRUE or FALSE?
Well? What do you reckon? A little tough, eh?
Get your answers into email format and send them to me at Stevie.bee.123@gmail.com. The first correct answer will win a dried squid. How about that?
That's all for now. I'll see you a little further along the trail.
Anyonghi kasseyo,
S
How's things? Yeah? Grr-rr-eat!
Now lookee here - this isn't a proper update but rather a fun quiz, just because it's Friday. It'll brighten your day and lighten your mood, no doubt, but I'm making you no guarantees.
The rules are plain simple: There follows ten concise and succint statements and each one figuring to detail an actuality from the daily lot of the Korean. Thing is, some of them are TRUE, and some of them (and may God forgive it) are FALSE. Your task, should you choose to accept it and take it unto your heart, is to sift the fine dust of this truth from the heathen stream of falsity.
You ready to ride? Well then saddle 'er up, pardner, and let's get to going!
1) Thunder and lightening may be a tedious meteorological fact of life to the most of us, but to Koreans they're something more sacred. In fact, thunderstorms are of such spiritual importance on this peninsula that every time one starts up over Seoul, the four major broadcasters (KBS, OCN, MBC and EBS) immediately cancel normal programming and switch to a special camera mounted on the Namsan broadcasting tower. This shows all the thunderstorm action live and as it happens and continues to do so until either the first patch of blue sky appears or no thunder has sounded for a full fifteen minutes. TRUE or FALSE?
2) According to ancient mythology, the kingdom of Korea was founded by the son of a woman who had once been a bear. This woman bore her son after being impregnated by a god-turned-mortal called Hwanung. Hwanung had to step in to seed her belly because no human was willing to do the job. No human was willing to do the job because she had once been a bear. TRUE or FALSE?
3) There have been many disputes arising from long-standing animosity between Korea and Japan. One of the pettiest among them is the accusation that Japan deliberately changed the transliteration of the country's name from Corea to Korea so that Japan's name would appear first whenever they were listed alphabetically. This came to a head when the two nations co-hosted the World Cup in 2002, with Japan renaming the competition '2002 World Cup' on all official literature, choosing to remove the names of the host nations rather than accept FIFA's ruling that 'Korea' should appear ahead of 'Japan'. TRUE or FALSE?
4) It is illegal to hold on to the prescription drugs of a deceased relative in Korea. To prevent this happening, once a month, collectors walk the hallways of all residential apartment blocks chanting 'sae'ttang' in a distinctive low voice. This roughly translates as 'bring out the discarded prescription drugs of your now-deceased relatives'. TRUE or FALSE?
5) In accordance with Confucian beliefs about maintaining good fortune when travelling, the main circular line on Seoul's subway system only operates in a clockwise direction. TRUE or FALSE?
6) When Kellogs introduced cereal to Korea in 1996, it had to take into account both the fact that Koreans don't distinguish between breakfast and dinner foods, and that they normally eat from the same bowl when dining together. With this in mind, they opened a cereal restaurant in Seoul's fashionable Myeongdong district where groups of young people and students could eat Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies from a large communal bowl that was sunk into the centre of each table. Although open 24-hours, the restaurant - named 'Deliciousy Breakfast Time' - was most popular during the evenings. TRUE or FALSE?
7) During the 1980s, a man having long hair or a tattoo was considered a clear indicator of criminality or subversion and so both were an arrestable offence. TRUE or FALSE?
8) Demand across Asia for Korean soap operas is now at such a high that the studios are having a hard time keeping up. To compensate, new actors joining any of the main soaps are required to legally change their name to that of the character that they play, allow cameras into their homes to watch them sleep and dress and involve real-life friends and family in storylines as required. TRUE or FALSE?
9) The island to the south of Korea - Jejudo - is floating away from the peninsula at a rate of 5 metres a year, in a south-southeasterly direction. At present, it is predicted to become part of Japanese sovereign territory in 2170. TRUE or FALSE?
10) Finally, the Korean language writing system hangul is renowned worldwide for its simplicity and ingeniousness. It was thought to have been created by revered Korean monarch King Sejeong (1397-1450). His other main claim to fame is that he played the saxophone on Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street'. TRUE or FALSE?
Well? What do you reckon? A little tough, eh?
Get your answers into email format and send them to me at Stevie.bee.123@gmail.com. The first correct answer will win a dried squid. How about that?
That's all for now. I'll see you a little further along the trail.
Anyonghi kasseyo,
S
posted by Stephen Beckett at 4:51 PM
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