While some of Korea’s legendary 14ths make some sense, this one doesn’t seem to be rooted in much of a sense of tradition. Today, Korean couples everywhere will confess their loving feelings to one another and kiss each other passionately.
But my question is, shouldn’t that kind of happen between lovers anyway? And if it is forced by tradition, are any of the “feelings” actually exchanged really genuine?
My guess is that it’s just another excuse to make out in public, which typically is a bit more taboo in Korea.
That this weekend is Memorial Day tells us that summer is approaching. For many, this is a good thing. For others, it means you are never quite safe from the mystery drip.
Anyone who has experienced a New York City summer knows the mystery drip, unfortunately. One of the most unclean, disgusting, inhumane phenomena on the planet, the mystery drip occurs when one is peacefully going about one’s business on a sunny day and is suddenly intruded upon by a splash of water from above. A glance upwards reveals that it is not raining, so what could it be?
Ah, the mystery drip. Yes, so I am exaggerating slightly, and the mystery drip is in fact no longer any mystery at all. I quickly learned that the mysterious drops of water that so often fall on your nose while walking about New York City on a hot day are in fact the products of window air conditioning units. Completely harmless (we presume).
But for months when I first lived here, I would always feel disgusted when I got hit with one of these drops—was someone spitting on me? What someone discarding their most vile fluidic waste onto innocent old me walking below? My imagination always seemed to somehow come up with the worst possible explanation.
It is all settled now—those little unpleasant intruders are the innocent enough offspring of another summertime NYC staple—air conditioning. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to keep walking right next to the building…I’ll take the curbside lane, thank you.
Yet again, we’ve reached the 14th of the month…and if you have a significant other, today is the day on which you must exchange roses. If you’re in Korea, anyway.
Have you fear if you don’t have that significant other, however. Korean tradition hasn’t forgotten you this time. Indeed, if you find yourself in that situation, today is the day you are supposed to gather together with other singletons out there and stuff your face with curry!
Oh, and single or not, you’ll see a lot of Koreans dressed in yellow today…
Tuesday is Queens Day (koninginnedag), one of the Netherlands’ most important national holidays. People will flood the streets of every city in the country, dressed in orange, all in celebration of the Queen’s Mother.
The celebrations will actually begin on the night of the 29th—with public concerts and street parties. In many cases, especially in Amsterdam, these parties will last until the sun rises and the real Queen’s Day festivities begin! After all, nobody has to work today (other than those who choose to hawk their wares—more on this later—and schools are all closed).
We have gathered a few bits of knowledge to help you blend in with your Dutch neighbors on this exciting day.
8 Tidbits for Understanding Queen’s Day
See all of those people selling things? That’s because Queen’s Day is the only day of the year that vendors without licenses can sell products on the street.
That song you keep hearing? It is called “Het Wilhelmus”, and it is a poem that was written in 1574 about the life of William of Orange and his fight for the Dutch people, in a first-person narrative as though he is introducing himself to the people. Radios are playing it, people are singing it…and you should be too.
Those people everyone is waving at? That’s the royal family…you should wave too.
You may not be able to count on the store you want being open, but public transportation will be. Use it. Around large gatherings though, routes may be altered, so make sure you check ahead of time.
Don’t worry too much about crime, but watch your pockets and don’t cringe too bad if you see someone peeing in public.
Why is everyone wearing orange? Because the royal family is named “House of Orange Nassau.” In honor of them, you should wear orange too.
And what are they drinking? That’s most likely oranje bitter, a strong alcoholic drink made by soaking the peel of bitter oranges in gin. You’ll probably see plenty of orange cakes and other orange foods as well.
Why is the celebration today? Good question, and kind of a convoluted one. In case you want to impress your non-Dutch friends, see this link for the story.
On August 31, 1880, Princess Wilhelmina was born in The Hague. She was the last child of King William III and the only child to outlive him. On August 31, 1885, and on the same date each year after that public birthday celebrations were held for her. The occasion was originally known as Princesses Day (Prinsessedag) and became known as Queen’s Day in 1890 after Wilhelmina became Queen following the death of her father. On August 31, 1902, people in the Netherlands heard that Queen Wilhelmina had recovered from typhus and Queen’s Day became a true public celebration.
On September 6, 1948, Wilhelmina’s daughter, Juliana became queen and from 1949, the Queen’s Day celebrations were moved to April 30, her birthday. On April 30, 1980, Beatrix, Juliana’s daughter, became queen. Her birthday is on January 31, but the date of Queen’s Day remained the same as a way of honoring Juliana. Hence, Queen’s Day is the Queen’s official birthday and the anniversary of her coronation.
It’s yet another 14th of the month, and that may not mean anything to you, but it certainly means something in Korea! Now that we’re in April, the 14th is “Black Day”—time to have your very own, personal pity party!
Yes, that’s right. Those of you who weren’t lucky enough to give to or receive from someone special on Valentine’s Day and White Day, this is your day to shine. Well, that is, if your definition of “shine” is to bury your sorrows in ja jang myun (black noodle soup), or other black foods.
I can’t say I’m sure how this would help one feel better, but who’s to argue with Korean tradition?
We’ve given you some examples of it before in this space, talking about its Public Isolation Project and longstanding Saturday Market, but Portland is truly a unique place. And what makes it unique is that people don’t just accept culture as something that descends upon them. Instead, they choose to take a first-hand role in creating their culture from the ground up, organically (this is perhaps the most definitive single word in Portland’s cultural scene, in so many ways), and the world has started to take notice.
Portlandia is a sketch comedy show that satirizes the hands-on culture that makes Portland special. So special, in fact, that Portland has both attracted new residents to this sleepy industrial outpost in the rainy Pacific Northwest and also inspired a hipster movement across the country (Austin, anyone?). I highly recommend the show to learn more about this city, as well as for a great laugh, and I wanted to share with you a great article I found from the end of 2010, just before Portlandia was to debut.
Oh, and if you don’t believe me about Portland’s cultural influence, the city was the focus of a recent Simpsons episode, which mocked the city’s quirky ways (ironically enough, guest-starring Portlandia’s two main characters, Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein).
The following article was written by John Rambow for Fast Company’s Co.Design…enjoy! I am including one video clip that I found that is available to my audiences outside the USA (most of them were blocked outside of the US), however, if this doesn’t work, just exercise your creative web sleuthing skills and do what you do to find a few Portlandia clips. You will learn about Portland, and you won’t be disappointed.
Creative Destinations: Portland’s Artisan Culture Is in Full Bloom
BEER, COFFEE, HOTELS, AND NOW TV — EVERYTHING’S WITHIN BOUNDS FOR THE ROSE CITY’S CRAFTY CURATORS.
Whether it’s due to the weather, the wealth of natural beauty, or just a self-fulfilling prophecy, Portland’s DIY ethos continues to define the city.
In Brews to Bikes, published this past fall, author Charles Heying, an associate professor of Urban Studies and Planning at Portland State University, makes the case for Portland exceptionalism. He lays out the ways in which a longstanding culture of “localism without parochialism” has been expressed through boutiques, craft stores, microbreweries and custom shops of all sorts.
And come January, even TV won’t be safe: that’s when IFC’s Portlandiapremieres. The sketch show, written and starring Fred Amisen (formerly of Saturday Night Live) and Carrie Brownstein (of Sleater-Kinney) is a satiric look at the foibles and obsessions of Portland’s most earnest of citizens — foibles and obsession that are starting to look a lot more universal every day.
At least in Brooklyn and Austin, perhaps the most envied facet of Portland life is its bike culture. The number of Portlanders who commute to work via bike is about 17,000 — over 6 percent of its workers. This is the highest rate for any of the 50 most populated cities in the U.S. Forget getting takeout by bike — in Portland, you can even get your Christmas tree delivered that way.
And all the Portland cyclists who were unsatisfied with the usual mass-market brands have helped make Portland a center for bespoke bike shops that will craft high-end models from the ground up — Renovo Bicycles, for instance, will make you one out of wood and bamboo, while cycle maestro Sacha White gets rock-star attention for his Vanilla Bicycles.
In one bike-filled part of town, the Northeast’s Alberta Arts District, galleries vie with restaurants and bars to attract the pedaling masses. One popular place for recharging is the unprepossessing Tin Shed, a spot that’s as famous for its brunch as it is for its high tolerance for dogs (they’re allowed on the patio, and several menu items are meant for them).
Of course, Portland’s microbreweries make its locavore food culture seem like a Johnny-come-lately. Suds culture extends back at least to the 1980s, when it was launched through the help of two enterprising brothers, Mike and Brian McMenamin. It was then that they started putting together what’s now a hotel, restaurant, and bar empire of over 50 properties in Oregon and Washington.
By using rundown or defunct buildings for their businesses, the McMenamins have also become facto preservationists, finding new uses for structures once used as a retirement home for Masons, a poor farm, a mission house, or a brothel.
One of the company’s standouts, also in the Alberta area, is McMenamins Kennedy School, a former elementary school from 1915 that’s now a hotel. Each of the 35 rooms are in a former classroom, where the chalkboards remain in place. By adding academically themed art and treating the space creatively (turning the school’s boiler room into a bar, for instance), the hotel manages to be more than just a clever repurposing — it also honors the building’s history.
Those who want to do a little repurposing of their own can head to Hand-Eye Supply, which opened this summer in Old Town. Begun by the same people behind the design sourcebook Core 77, Hand-Eye stocks gifty items that wouldn’t look out of place in an art museum gift shop. That said, its main focus is on things to help you make other things: safety glasses, work aprons, and bicycle tools are all laid out here like a boutique’s wares. Many of the items, such as the line of Klein bags, walk the thin line between flash and substance.
It’s hard to see Portland’s love for heavily curated coffee, hand-rubbed bicycles, and backyard cuisine going away anytime soon. If anything, it’s spreading beyond the city’s borders; the Ace Hotel, example, has expanded from its hometown into Seattle, New York, and Palm Springs. The only thing Portland needs is an anthem: Today, the city feels like more that just a place. It’s a bona fide state of mind.
We spend a lot of time in this space talking about the differences between the East Coast and the West Coast, which are very different culturally in so many ways. However, by grouping the East Coast together as one, that’s not to say that Miami is the same as DC is the same as New York is the same as Boston. So in an effort to begin to shed some light on the differences found within the East Coast, we wanted to share with you a quote from none other than Mark Twain, when writing a memoir about Boston:
In New York they ask “how much money does he have?” In Philadelphia, they ask, “who were his parents?” In Boston they ask, “how much does he know?”
Boston indeed boasts a highly intellectual culture, as renowned universities are an integral part of the city’s fabric. Besides Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which are known around the world, 54 other universities call the city home.
If you’ve ever so much as hung out with a Korean person, you know that they can match drinks with anyone. I didn’t even have to go to Korea to first learn this, as I got plenty of education even in the U.S. on what the phrase “Johnnie Black” means to Koreans. We gave you some advice for drinking with the Chinese, and since each culture in Asia has its own strict drinking rules, we thought we’d do the same in case you find yourself drinking with Koreans.
Without further adieu, here are your five steps to drinking with Koreans:
Never, ever, under any circumstances pour your own drink: Just as you are supposed to be looking out for those around you to make sure their glasses are never empty (please, re-fill them if they are), they will be doing the same thing for you. Play along.
Use two hands: When someone does pour your drink, hold your cup with both hands. This rule actually applies to anything given to you in Korea, and while you will probably be given a pass if you don’t do this out of unintentional ignorance, better to impress your hosts.
Turn your back: I’m not sure that I agree with it, but Korea is still an incredibly hierarchical society. When drinking with someone who is considered a superior—a boss, older person, etc.—you should drink while turning your back from them when you take your sip.
Eat when you can: Very rarely do Koreans drink with only one type of alcohol, and it can be considered rude to turn down a drink (also not sure I agree with this). Generally speaking, a night out will involve the traditional Korean vodka-like beverage of soju with dinner, beer with tasty Korean snacks like fried chicken at the next stop (hint: this is where you may want to load up—on food), a stop at another place for more beer, a trip to a karaoke place where you may end up drinking anything, and finally a trip to a club, where you also may be drinking anything. Food won’t be available everywhere, so to soak up your mixed liquor, eat when you can, even if this requires a quick stop by one of the delicious street food vendors selling tasty treats like ddokpoki in between venues.
Selective amnesia: Depending how many people you’re out with, someone is going to drink too much. On a good day, this will just mean that he or she passes out at the table you are drinking at, in which case you will just see to it that he or she gets into a taxi safely. On a bad day, this will turn into a meaningless fight for no reason at all. Either way, this isn’t necessarily considered shameful in Korea, since it is expected to happen to the best of them at times, and simply means you’re making a noble effort to keep your drinking skills up. But when it does, a true gentleman will never mention it again. You’ll hope someone extends you the same courtesy when it’s you who is sprawled out on the floor of a Korean bar.
I’ve been lucky to eat at some amazing restaurants. From New York to London to Hong Kong, I have found myself in an occasional work situation that warrants a free meal at an iconic place, and I’ve made sure to take full advantage each time.
Still, I’ve never seen attention to detail quite like I’ve seen in Japan. Here, culinary preparation and consumption are essentially an art form. Mastering the art of making soba noodles, something most non-Japanese would look at as routine, is said to take a lifetime in Japan. You think your training was too slow before you had a chance to get out and actually do something in your job? Try being a sushi chef—here in Japan, it is common that a new chef will not even touch a fish for two or three years, instead taking that amount of time to simply master the art of forming the rice for sushi.
Don’t come to a nice restaurant in Japan with a “get in, get out” mentality, because you will fail to see and experience what makes the food here so amazing to begin with. Art takes time to develop and master, and that is the attitude taken on by virtually every chef in this country.
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