Sunday 23 October 2011

Watching a Korean movie in Dublin

Great! Especially if you are a Korean.  So far away from home, it's good to see a Korean movie in a cinema once or twice year. That time has now arrived and you too can look into Korea from as near as Dublin.
 

The Yellow Sea
Synopsis:
On the Chinese side of the China-Russia-North Korea border, there is a region called Yanbian, Korean Autonomous Prefecture. This film tells the story of a man from this region, who embarks on an assassination mission to South Korea in order to pay off his mounting debts. He is only given $500 in advance and takes the job without knowing much about his target. However, before long a series of conspiracies and betrayals bring him to the realization that he has been tricked into entering a dangerous trap.


The Yellow Sea plays in the IFI until 27th of October

Friday 14 October 2011

Smoking Ban

What a great country! I love the Irish to ban smocking from public houses. No more bad smell of cold and stuffy smoke in my hair, cloth and pillows following a night out with friends. Social life rotates around an Irish pub as much as a tornado around its eye and it seemed unlikely to lift the smoke that surrounds the stories and its tellers for long. But persistence trumps and the smoking ban is here to stay for the better. Long live the Irish!

Sunday 9 October 2011

Beer lovers

First time I went to a concert in Dublin I saw a bar that had the width of a football pitch and the rails that lead up to it appeared as if they expected to channel herds.

Sunday 2 October 2011

How to get on the bus in Dublin

5 years ago I arrived in Dublin to study English. When I was standing at the bus station, to catch a bus to school, I saw a bus approaching, got ready, but the bus just passed me by. More puzzled, about what was going on, I got when the next bus passed me by as well. Luckily I didn't have to stand at the bus stop on my own for to long, and for some reason now the bus did stop, and people, including me, got on.

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to school on time. During my first break, I walked up to my teacher, apologized for my lateness, and said that I didn't know why buses hadn't stopped for me. The teacher asked: "Did you stick out your arm?" and just I replied: "No, why?" And so my teacher said, if I didn't wave my hand bus drivers would not stop, because they think I would not want to take their bus. It was a bit unusual, but fair enough it was not my hometown either.

The following day I got upset when I stuck out my hand and the buses still wouldn't stop for me. I waved my arm , but no change at all, the buses would just fly by. Eventually I got on, and of course I ran late for class again. During my break I told the teacher that I had done exactly as he had told me, but non of the buses had stopped. He said the buses must all have been full.

It seemed weird, because I would not have to push even a little bit to get on to the bus in Dublin. There was enough space.  If you want to see a busy bus, come to Seoul.