The Wonderful Adventures of the Hemp-Berries » South Korea

Goodbye

The Hempberry — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:33:03 +0000

Goodbye South Korea. Goodbye kimchi. Goodbye adjummas and adjoshis. Goodbye students and teachers. Goodbye serviceu. Goodbye couple clothing. Goodbye dogs in makeup. Goodbye perms and sequins. Goodbye Mokpo, Suncheon, Gwangju, Naju, and Seoul. Goodbye Konglish. Goodbye KPop. Goodbye trucks selling random things. Goodbye delicious Korean food. Goodbye to everyone I’ve met during my time in Korea. I’ll miss it all.

Pink Car

The Hempberry — Sat, 14 May 2011 22:05:47 +0000

Want To Get Elected In South Korea?

The Hempberry — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:28:55 +0000

All you need is a truck blaring loud dance music, people in neon colored jackets, peple dancing, people clapping, and people bowing.

Raison’s Cigarette Packaging

The Hempberry — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:43:22 +0000

When you look at this box, what do you assume is inside? My first guess was candy. Nope. This youthful looking package contains only cigarettes. Raison, a Korean cigarette manufacturer, has changed the packaging of their cigarettes to look more “cool and hip” in an attempt to get more younger people smoking their product. This packaging on the Raison cigarettes reminded me of the cigarette ads on tv and other media formats that our parents grew up seeing that also appealed to them to light up a smoke.

Bears on Poles

The Hempberry — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 23:06:16 +0000

I went to Yeosu on Saturday to have dinner with some friends and to see the bears on poles. The bears on poles are actually old stuffed animals that some Koreans have stuck on poles and use them as scarecrows. I don’t know whether they are effective in scaring off vermin or not but they sure scare the hell out of me. My friend told me that before the farmland was cleaned up, there were more bears on poles and the area had a much creepier feel to it than it does now.

There were only three stuffed animals remaining, one on a pole, one in a ditch, and one tucked away beside a shed. This spot would be super creepy on a foggy or rainy day. I do hope to make it back on a foggy day to see and experience how eery it would be.

Jesus Model Academy

The Hempberry — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:25:07 +0000

Honestly, what can be said about this?

Just….AWESOME

The Hempberry — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:50:23 +0000

I went up to Seoul this past weekend for a wedding and stumbled across this on top of a love motel while finding a place for my friend to stay. I don’t know what else to say about it other than that it is fucking amazing! Seeing random things like this reaffirm my love for how random and quirky Korea can be.

Korean Promotions

The Hempberry — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 22:45:50 +0000

Koreans have some pretty awesome ways of promoting the opening of new restaurants, shops, or to promote sales. The most common promotion that I’ve seen are two girls, dressed in sexy clothing, dancing in front of the new business to Korean pop to help attract people to check out the new place. I find this annoying and keeps me from checking out whatever’s happening. Noise pollution sucks. The best promotion I’ve ever witnessed in Korea happened this past Tuesday.

I was on my way to the Suncheon bus terminal to meet Alex there. I could hear DMX music playing and someone speaking Korea, promoting whatever business just opened nearby. I turned the corner and saw a man on stilts, dressed up as a baker, dancing to DMX. He was doing this to promote a new Tous Les Jours bakery that just opened up near the bus terminal.

He was AMAZING! He did an amazing job of moving and dancing while being on stilts. I could only imagine how I’d fare if I ever tried doing that. He also was amazing for doing this on such a cold day. When Alex and I made our way back to the bus terminal 7 hours later, stilts man was still dancing! Amazing!

Lotteria’s Lady Burger

The Hempberry — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:23:27 +0000

I’ve recently noticed these burger ads around for Lotteria. The Lady Burger, a burger for the ladies. It’s made using Han Woo beef and is apparently only for ladies. Sorry boys!! If anyone has tried it, please let me know how it tastes. I’m tempted to try one but I’m not a lady.

Penis, Korean Taxis, and Possible Adjumma Porn

The Hempberry — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 11:34:59 +0000

A rock that resembled a penis was what started the most amazing, most awkward, and most unusual taxi ride I have ever taken in South Korea. It all started when my friend Alex came to Suncheon for the day. We hopped a bus to go to Suncheon Bay and drove past a landscape/stone business that had a phallic looking rock which he commented about. We wandered around Suncheon and decided to take a taxi back to town to avoid having to sit in the frigid cold weather any longer. We hopped in the only taxi that was around and so began the adventure.

We got mints! Glorious tasting mints! Score! It was a great start to the cab ride. It was at this moment that Alex made a mention of penis rock as the taxi drove by it. Apparently the cabbie understood enough to know what we were talking about and chuckled.

It was at this point that he started talking about gochu (slang for penis in Korean) and about the size of Western and Korean men. This included about twenty gestures to get his point across. He then commented on the size of mine and Alex’s penis. He said Korean penises are spicy and that Western men have long ones because he’s seen them in movies. He then made twenty more gestures. He was driving the whole time, slowing down so he could make more penis gestures and so that he could look at us while gesturing. Alex was translating everything he said in Korean to me so I’d understand. He also mentioned that penises fit ALL INSIDE THE WOMAN! And made even more gestures to get his point across to us. Wow. Wow. Wow. What a ride thus far. But just you wait…..

When he mentioned that he saw large Western penises, he would always motion to the cd case in his car. I asked him in broken Korean if he had porn in the car. Which led to more gestures and him fiddling with the cd case, trying to open what looked like a secret compartment. He did have one!! He brought out two burnt porno dvds and showed us. He started waving it around the cab, to which Alex responded that he didn’t want to see it. If Alex hadn’t had said anything, we could have potentiality been watching adjumma porn. After this, the ride returned to a somewhat normal state. Both Alex and I were in a state of awe over the events that just happened in the last five minutes of the cab ride.

We reached Shinea and got out of the cab, still in a state of awe. Maybe me more so than Alex. I’ve never had a cab ride experience like that in my life ever. It was amazing, awkward, and funny all at once. I hope that some other foreigners get in his car and have a similar adventure. Crazy things like this made Korea not so boring.