Wednesday, January 11, 2006

KOREAN RACIAL SUPERIORITY - GERMS!

Two things remain from Korea....

First is illness. I have missed two days at work and the POSSLQ came home from work today because she is also ill. There has never been a flu in the states which has had this kind of cumulative impact on the homestead. If you are a germ? Cultural homogeneity rocks!

Second is I learnt what the "Happy Beer Pia" was. As I sat in the wanna-be English Pub near the Hoeggi Station in Seoul I often gazed wistfully out the window and saw a pretty average animated figure with the motto "Happy Beer Pia" and I could never figure out what it meant. Today, listening to the truly excellent podcast from the "Ruminations in Korea" web page and he's discussing the truly odd things that happen when Koreans try to make phrases out of English words. Between amputation of word bits and Korean pronunciation of English, bizarre outcomes arise. And 'Pia" is one of them. It is intended to mean "Utopia."

Armend with this knowledge I would happily return to Seoul and visit the place. But on my last, stomach-wrenching, trip to the wanna-be western bar ("Quesadilla" pronounced with two "l's" and full of bizarre Korean hot stuff) I noted that the pia had gone out of business.

Alas...

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