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Sat, September 23, 2023 | 19:25

They 'censored' you up, your mum and dad

They 'censored' you up, your mum and dad

The opening line of “This Be The Verse”, Philip Larkin's famous poem on parenthood, is far too vulgar for the delicate sensibilities of a reader of The Korea Times, so I won't repeat it here. But as those well-read in British poetry know, the central claim of Larkin's poem is that your parents mess you up. Here's the rest of the first stanza:

2022-08-27 11:44

Have we ever had it so good?

Have we ever had it so good?

In 1957 British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan gave a speech where he famously said that most Britons had “never had it so good.”

2022-07-16 10:16

Phone-free Fridays

Phone-free Fridays

On my way to work this morning I peered around in a quasi-somnolent state at my fellow commuters, probably over a hundred of them, all crammed into a carriage of the Seoul Subway, and I pondered. How did people cope with long commutes before we all had mobile phones? With the exception of a fair few sleeping passengers, almost everyone on the carriage, including me, was engag...

2022-06-11 12:05

566 Days Later

It's been a little over two weeks since the requirement to wear masks outdoors was lifted, but a visitor to Seoul would be forgiven for thinking that the rule is still in place. The majority of the population still seems keen to keep their noses and mouths firmly covered by the thin swatches of fabric we've come to associate so closely with the pandemic.

2022-05-21 09:00

Self-help?

Once when I was walking out of the British Library, I saw a woman outside on the floor having some kind of fit or seizure. It was a wintery evening - it may even have been snowy if I remember correctly - and the library was just closing, so there were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people all leaving through the main entrance, hurrying to beat the rush-hour traffic. And althoug...

2022-04-16 11:50

White House Easter Egg Roll returns after 2-year hiatus

Ukraine needs Korea's support

Ukraine needs Korea's support

Time goes past so quickly. Dear reader, you may not remember, but last month everyone was fixated on the Beijing Olympics. Look, she's wearing a hanbok! Hey, the referees are biased! Let's boycott the Games! It all feels like another age, an innocent time of relative peace when no world leaders were ominously hinting at nuclear war.

2022-03-12 09:33

Hanbok stealing?

Hanbok stealing?

Nearly everyone in Korea is furious, it seems, because a Chinese national woman in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony wore the traditional Korean dress, hanbok. Numerous editorials and opinions have been published in condemnation, calling it another item in the long list of China's aggressions toward Korea. Last year it was kimchi, the argument goes; this year ...

2022-02-12 11:46

Behind China-Korea skating row, a deeper cultural rift

Stop giving us unnecessary drugs

Stop giving us unnecessary drugs

Almost immediately after moving to Korea, I developed pretty unpleasant stomach problems, probably related to the stress of migrating to the other side of the world. Although it did not seem serious, it certainly wiped me out for a while.

2022-01-15 09:30

Korea's strict asylum policies and unkind officials

Korea's strict asylum policies and unkind officials

I once flew in an Airbus A380. It's a big plane, so big that it actually has two decks; in fact, it's the largest passenger plane in the world.

2021-12-12 13:24

Reform 'Suneung'

Reform 'Suneung'

Last week saw Korea's yearly university admissions exam take place, accompanied as usual by an autumnal flurry of headlines. Given the world's current obsession with Korea, it's hardly a surprise that the test made international headlines. The test's English name is the College Scholastic Ability Test, or CSAT, but it is known more commonly as the “Suneung.” The news often hi...

2021-11-27 14:44

Expert criticizes Korea's college entrance exam for being too difficult

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