More on the "Immigrant from South Korea"

LET IT BE SOME OTHER ASIAN
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=e3b9c4941f9d849f9358ddb3dbbbe5a3

Oh dammit, it's one of ours.

Yes, I should be focusing on Disney and British broadcasting since those are my term paper topics, but this whole situation has become a major distraction to me.

And may I note, I like this picture:

A lot better than this one:

Although I still find it questionable...are these of the same guy? Are we sure that it's not just some other Asian guy who decided to jump on the media circus and release the video. Cause I mean, as sad as it is to admit, we do all look alike.

Although, now the media has connected that photo with the South Korean movie Old Boy.

But seriously, doesn't the fact that he actually emulated that movie just say more about his psychotic state? I mean, that movie was DISGUSTING. I judge anyone who liked that movie. (That means you people at the Cannes Film Festival where the movie took home the second-place prize.) And note that in Old Boy, the guy doesn't go out and shoot 32 people. He just has sex with his daughter and cuts out his own tongue. So we can't blame Korean films, folks.

Although South Korea has already convicted themselves.

SOUTH KOREA'S COLLECTIVE GUILT
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1611964,00.html

Uhm...you guys? I'd like to point out that the guy spent the two-thirds of his life leading up to this atrocious act OUTSIDE your country and you really have nothing to do with this situation. Please don't be dramatic Koreans and jump out a window because of the shame brought to your country. So Mr. Ambassador Dude, please just eat your kimchi and don't allow the imperialist nation of America to place this blame on you. If any country should apologize for Seung-hui Cho (and no country really should be apologizing for the act of one demented person), shouldn't it be America?

But here's who really is to fault for the events at Virginia Tech: 1. Seung-hui Cho, 2. the psychiatric community that didn't diagnose him properly and allowed this psycho to roam free prescribed on their bullshit medication, 3. the NRA and the government that allowed this freak to buy guns legally, 4. the VT campus police and other law enforcement that didn't respond after the first shooting and even gave Seung-hui the time to make a video before the next mass shooting.

No where in this list is South Korea, the Korean film industry or even those rich, spoiled Americans that Seung-hui himself blames for his actions.

I'm still waiting for them to somehow connect Seung-hui Cho to Kim Jong-il and North Korea. Com'on, American media! You can do it! I mean, they figured out a way to use 9-11 to declare war on Afghanistan.

Also, I stand corrected on the name situation. Apparently, the guy's name is Cho Seung Hui or 조승회. Although "Sueng-ho" was the name on the little fishie on his dorm room door. And I love the CBS reporter who takes the time to pronounce his name "Jo Seung Hweh" in that "Soo Chin Pak" way, further foreignizing him. Why couldn't this guy's name be Bob or something. I'd love to see them foreignize that.

Another thought...how come school killers are always boys? How come girls don't get crazy on antidepression medication and go out and shoot their classmates in cold blood? Doesn't this just prove the fact that we are the better sex?

Okay, now back to my term papers, although the stress of these deadlines are making me want to grab a hammer and....or is that joke not funny yet?

NOTE: I would not want to take away from the victims of Seung-hui Cho or their families. I, appropriately since I am part of the Korean-American community and a passport-carrying American, apologize for the part our society has played in the missocialization of Seung-hui Cho and am extremely sorry for their loss. HOWEVER, this media circus just infuriates me because it's part of a deeper and more dangerous problem with America. And to the FBI or CIA that's probably been watching me for awhile now under the guise of the PATRIOT Act, I am not going to kill anyone under the stress of term papers because the UK, unlike America, is smart enough to not sell guns to crazy people.

R.I.P. Seung-Hui Cho

A Korean-American guy went crazy and shot up 32 people so I guess I have to comment. Even though I'm living in London now, I still identify myself first and foremost as a Korean-American. And the fact that the shooter was one of us just really makes this whole incident hit close to home.

1. The media is calling him Seung-Hui Cho, but that's not a Korean name. From what I've read, it appears his name is actually Seung-Ho...that was the name on his dorm room door. I don't know how the media came up with Seung-Hui. It sounds Chinese.

2. I find it sad that they keep referring to him as the "man from South Korea" or "the Korean." The guy immigrated here when he was 8-years-old, goddammit. The media is trying to make him a foreigner so they can make this an Us Against Them issue. He grew up a 20-hour flight away from Korea. What society should we blame for the kind of person he grew up to become? The place where he spent the first 8 years of his life or the place where he spent the next 15 that led up to him running around an American campus shooting innocent students?

3. The first thing I thought when I read it was a Korean-American shooter, was oh fuck, they're going to start rounding us up now. And that's not the thing that scares me most, but the fact that I thought like that scares me more. That's what America's become. A place where if someone you aren't related to but is of your race or type commits a mass murder, you are somehow implicated as well. I read Korean-Americans at VT are withdrawing from school right now because they fear for the racial tension.

From the New York Times:

Asian-American students at Virginia Tech reacted to news about the gunman’s identity with shock and some anxiety about a possible backlash.

“My parents are actually worried about retaliation against Asians,” said Lyu Boaz, a third-year accounting student who was born in South Korea and became an American citizen a year ago. “After 9/11, a lot of Arabs were attacked for that reason.”

Mr. Boaz, a resident adviser at Pritchard Hall, said many Korean-American students left campus immediately. Parents of other Korean-American students were preparing to pick up their children this afternoon and take them home.

Why does the race of the shooter matter so much here? After Columbine, everyone didn't make a huge issue about the fact that the shooters were white.

4. Once again, we see how fear has become the dominant state of America. We now add the list of people we are afraid of...Arabs, Muslims, terrorists, guys who wear trench coats, and now, Asian nerds who don't socialize. It's really sad. Don't fall into it. Really, this situation has very little to do with his race. He was a disturbed, depressed, isolated young man with anti-social tendencies medicated by the U.S. pyschiatric system. It could have happened to anyone. You can't be afraid of a certain group of people, because if history as taught us anything, fear does not protect us. So while you're sitting there staring at the Muslim guy and the Korean nerd, the unremarkable person sitting behind you is probably just as likely to be dangerous. So unless you want to be scared of everything, just give up and realize fear and precaution really don't do much good.

Back in London

So I'm getting complaints again because my blog is not updated. Sorry ya'll, but I went back to California for two weeks, and as it usually is in the OC, it was a pretty uneventful two weeks. Life in California is as idyllic as it looks on the telly. It's just sunshine and palm trees. And nothing ever happens!

But now, I'm back in London where it's gloomy and sometimes, stuff happens. I've been jetlagged. Usually, I'm not, but this time I am. Perhaps it's because I have this pile of crap to go through:


I have two papers due next week and I swear I have ADD. Where's my Ritalin?!

So I spent two weeks in the OC. It's amazing how quickly I can fall back into my life at home of doing...not much. Of course I did the important stuff like lunch at The Ivy.


The Ivy Restaurant in Beverly Hills. And no, I didn't take this picture, I found it on the Internet, because taking a camera to the Ivy...that's just so not cool. Only papparazzi take cameras to the Ivy and cause Lindsay Lohan to get in a car accident on Robertson. So no...cameras are not cool at the Ivy. And no, I didn't see any famous people this time. Usually there's a familiar face or two when you lunch at the Ivy. Still, I love the Ivy...it's one of those places that are pretensious in a way only LA can be where even little 5-year-old girls carry real LV bags and everyone eats with their sunglasses on. Of course no one really eats the food, just orders overpriced salads and pick at them...

Also did my share of shopping, but kept it limited to cheap crap this time because I realized I'm going to have to throw away 75% of my possessions in a few months to travel the globe. So I bought a lot of junk at Target, which is the best place in the world. Also ate a shitload of Mexican food. I love burritos.

I spent most of my time with my cousin Michelle. She picked me up from my mom's one day and just didn't take me home for about a week. She lives about 10 minutes away though, so I didn't go very far. It was nice since I really missed her and she refuses to get on a plane so I won't be seeing her for awhile.

Anyhow, here are some pictures I took with my camera phone when me, Shelly and Christine went to norebang.


Shelly with "imported" beer. Hahaha...I still think it's hilarious Coors Light is imported beer in London.


Christine Lee wanted to get on my blog so I took her picture.


But Christine doesn't know how to go on the Internet.

We were at norebang and you know how they have those random images when you sing American songs? Well, I actually knew some of the places now because a lot of it is from Prague since it's cheap to film there. I was singing and I was like, hey, I had coffee there! (Note to John: The cafe in front of the Astronomical Clock.) Yeah, just really random.

Also, I finally purchased my Round the World ticket. I now have plane tickets to: Istanbul, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Mumbai (Bombay), Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Syndney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Honolulu, and San Francisco. I will literally be going AROUND the globe. So if you're along this path, hope to see you soon! I have a year to complete it.

So yeah, I'm back in London now...back to my real life of writing papers and looking for an internship so I can finish my MA and continue on my trip around the world. I've been here 7 months now...and strangely, it is home now.

I won't be blogging for awhile since nothing's probably happening for awhile. It's just paper time. But on the 23rd, I'll be going to Graz with my friend Cathy to see our friend Sonja! Then my cousin Julie is coming out to visit me!!! and we're going to Paris and Nice. YAY!

Life is fantastic. And I am fabulous.