The Obligatory Gangnam Style Post

Dear Korean,

We've all heard it and we all love it, but what exactly is Gangnam Style and what makes it so popular in your opinion?

Chris

The Korean tried. He really tried to avoid the fad. He thought this was going to blow over in a few days, and everyone will feel a bit silly afterward. But no . . .

Gangnam Style just kept coming on -- 273 million views and counting, appearances on network televisions shows, continuous climb up the charts and numerous homages to the original. (The latest one: from the Ohio University marching band.) Questions about Gangnam Style just kept coming also, even though the Korean has been slower with blog updates.

So, FINE. Let's discuss Gangnam Style. First, what exactly is "Gangnam Style"? "Gangnam" literally means "south of the river." But generally, Gangnam refers to a specific area in Seoul located south of the Han River that bisects the city. The area generally encompasses the northern half of (confusing name alert) Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu, covering neighborhoods like Apgujeong, Sinsa and (confusing name alert, again) Gangnam. It is an area with posh malls, expensive dining and swanky clubs. People who populate those areas are rich, stylish and beautiful, carrying all the appropriate status symbols like imported cars and fancy handbags. They are often celebrities or heirs of Korea's magnates.

The Korean was raised in Apgujeong, so he is the original Gangnam man. And it has been a little bit funny to see his old home described breathlessly as some place that "has no real equivalent in the United States. The closest approximation would be Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Beverly Hills, Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and Miami Beach all rolled into one[,]" according to the Wall Street Journal (quoting this clueless blogger.) Finding the U.S. equivalent of Gangnam is quite easy: it's West Hollywood / Beverly Hills. It has celebrities, style, money, and nice homes and good schools just behind those flashing lights.

(Aside:  This "no equivalent in U.S." trope is really overused, and in this instance, the comparison is clearly hyperbolic and incorrect. Gangnam is obviously not a Silicon Valley, since there is no huge concentration of tech companies in Gangnam. Nor is it Wall Street -- that would be Gwanghwamun / City Hall area, north of the river, where all the major banks have their headquarters. Gangnam is not Upper East Side either, since Gangnam is decidedly nouveau riche. The old money of the kind that occupies the Upper East Side of New York is found in Yeonhee-dong of Seoul, north of the river. The Miami Beach comparison is too dumb to address.)

So when PSY speaks of "Gangnam Style," he means to invoke the trendy, stylish image. But of course, what PSY ends up doing in the music video is a parody of such image. He is wearing a ridiculous suit and dances a ridiculous dance. He appears in decidedly un-Gangnam areas:  children's playground, on a paddle boat, riverside park, a bus with a disco ball, etc. A couple of times, PSY does encounter what might be fairly close to a Gangnam-type occasion -- a man driving a fancy car (a cameo appearance by the legendary comedian Yoo Jae-seok,) and a beautiful woman (cameo by Hyuna from the girl group 4Minute) flirting. But those moments quickly dissolve into another round of ridiculous dancing.

(Aside:  If you immediately understood the relevance of the bus with a disco ball, you have a black belt in Korean culture. The "party" bus is usually for older Korean men and women, who would like to dance away from the public view. To release their urges to shake it, they would charter these buses with total strangers and have a mobile dancing session. By the way, those old Korean folks dance about as well as your parents. It is probably the most un-hip mobile party in the world -- which fits perfectly with Gangnam Style's aesthetics.)

Having said that, what made Gangnam Style so popular?

(More after the jump)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Open Question Post: Traveling in Korea

One type of questions that the Korean receives frequently is questions about traveling in Korea. The Korean's standard answer is -- go buy a travel book. Most travel books about Korea do a fairly good job about introducing the country and giving the basics of how to get around. And unless you are planning to stay in Korea for several months, there is very little chance that you would exhaust the sights and destinations given in a travel book. And if a travel book does not work for you, there are many, many websites and blogs that are run by people who do this stuff for a living.

But just because the Korean has been receiving so many of these questions, he figured he should have a post about traveling in Korea. The Korean will make this post an "open question post" -- that is, he will accept questions from the comments section below, and update the post with answers. He will also post good answers and recommendations from the comments.

To start off, here are some basic stuff about traveling in Korea.

Where should I stay in Seoul?
Most tourist attractions are clustered around the center of the city, but a hotel room in the central city can get pricey. If you are budget-conscious, feel free to stay toward the outer edges of the city, as Seoul is covered with excellent public transportation. But be mindful that Seoul is a very large city area-wise -- you could easily travel an hour and a half on a subway, and still remain in Seoul.

Are there any dangerous areas in Seoul or Korea?
Korea is safer than the U.S. and Europe in terms of crime, but it is hardly crime-free. In Korea, as are in everywhere else in the world, tourists are an easy target. There are certainly bad areas in Seoul or any Korean city, but if you are an ordinary tourist looking for sights, there is no reason for you to be there either. Use your ordinary precautions.

What is the best way to exchange money?
You can actually get the best rate from ATM machines that accept foreign cards. The easiest one to identify is a Citibank ATM, which is fairly common in large cities.

What happens if I get lost? Do Koreans speak English?
Most Koreans speak decent enough English to give directions. When in doubt, ask professional-looking people or students, who are more likely to speak English.

Where is the Korean's favorite place in Seoul?

Bukchon. It looks like this.

(source)

More questions will be answered as they come in, after the jump.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

The Mosquito Truck

Dear Korean,

What chemicals are used in the mosquito fogging trucks and are they harmful to people? If so, why are they so accepted by Korean society?

James M.

If you don't know what James M. is talking about, this is the mosquito fogging truck that can be seen in Korea from time to time:

The fog is mostly made up of kerosene, mixed in with a small amount of pesticide. (The ratio is around 300:1 kerosene to pesticide.) The petroleum-based "carrier" is heated into a fog, which carries the pesticide particles that would eventually kill mosquitoes.

Why do this? This is a great example of how little distance there is between the poorer-than-sub-Saharan-Africa Korea of the 1960s and the modern-wealthy-and-technologically-advanced Korea of the 2010s. In the bad old days of Korea, mosquitoes were one of the greatest threats to public health. As recently as 1982, Japanese Encephalitis -- only one of the many diseases carried by mosquitoes -- infected nearly 1200 people every year, killing more than 50 of them. And the most efficient way to kill the mosquitoes was the fog truck, spraying pesticide in a large area. (This practice actually was instituted by the U.S. military, as they occupied South Korea at the end of World War II.) Although mosquito-borne diseases are less of a threat today, anyone who spent a summer in Korea can tell you that the incessant mosquito attacks are quite a nuisance.

Obviously, the fog is harmful to people -- pesticide is meant to kill living things. But the amount of pesticide involved is actually very small. For an hour's worth of spraying, less than 30 ml of pesticide (= 1.5 tablespoon) is used. The bigger problem of the fog, in fact, is the kerosene, which is carcinogenic and causes air pollution. Because of the health and environmental concerns, many of Korea's municipalities have banned the use of the fog truck, opting instead for water- or vegetable oil-based sprays.

But then again, the poor country habits die hard. Kerosene-based pesticide fogging is cheaper, and it is a nice demonstration that the local government is doing something -- it just seems so effective. So a lot of smaller cities continue to use the truck, and it is not uncommon for a group of residents in a city to hire a pest control company to fog the neighborhood.

(N.B. One of the Korean's fondest memories of his childhood is Korea was to run after the fogging trucks. When you were a kid growing up in Korea, it was a thing to do -- the "fart truck" came through the neighborhood, you chase it while screaming at the top of your lung. It was a lot of fun. Generations of Koreans grew up chasing the fog truck, and we all turned out fine.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.