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Website name	{{{websitename}}}
Type of site	Blog
Owner	Joel Browning
Created by	Joel Browning

As a reader of expat blogs in Korea, one can seldom overlook Joel Browning's popular blog at AboutJoel. As a teacher having lived all throughout the nooks and crannies of this country, Joel's take on things musn't be missed.

Some recent QA that we had with Joel:

• GJ:How long have you been in Korea for?

• • Joel: I first came to Korea in March of 2000 and stayed until June of 2001. I came back again after graduating from University in January of 2004 and stayed until the academy I was at went out of business in November of 2004. Then I came back again in March of 2005 and have been here until the present. My combined time comes to about 3 years and 2 months.

• GJ:What do you do over here?

• • Joel: Right now I am working at an academy and studying in my personal time. I hope to quit and enter a postgraduate program as a student in Seoul this fall.

• GJ: What makes you want to stay?

• • Joel: There are a lot of reasons I stay in Korea. I stayed initially because of my girlfriend. But I also enjoy studying Korean and living in a place that affords me a measure of exotic living. Korea is also conveniently located for travel to other countries, although I've only had the luxury to visit three of them in my time here, and the food is great.

• GJ: Which cities have you lived in over here? Any fond memories to any city or neighborhood in particular?

• • Joel: I have lived in several cities while I have been in Korea. In my first stint here I lived in 대전, 선화동 (Daejeon, Seonhwa-dong), 여수, 신기동 (Yeosu, Shingi-dong), 천안, 구성동 (Cheonahn, Guseong-dong), 군산, 동흥남동 (Gunsan, Dongheungnam-dong), 홍성군, 홍성읍 (Hongseong-gun, Hongseong-eub). In my second stint I lived in 군산, 경암동 (Gunsan, Gyeongam-dong). Then in my third stint I lived in 군산, 산북동 (Gunsan, Sanbuk-dong).

I have spent the majority of my time in Gunsan and for some reason I will always feel like that is my home in Korea. There is a sort of love hate relationship I have with Gunsan, but that sort of stuff seems to happen when it comes to homes and families. I loved my time in Yeosu and Hongseong. They are beautiful cities. I am more suited to the country living in Korea.

• GJ: You seem to be quite savvy with Korean. What has helped you pick it up that might work for others?

• • Joel: Studying at home and then going out and using what I have learned in taxis, restaurants, stores, or with random strangers on the bus. Inevitably you will hit this point where you can't communicate with the person you have started talking to. Have them write down their question or the vocabulary you don't understand in a notebook or something. Go home, learn the expressions and vocabulary and then go out and do it again. Application and review are important. Most basic conversations in Korean with foreigners follow the same course and soon you will be able to handle all basic communication. Then the trick is to breaking into deep meaningful conversation.

• GJ: Is there any past blog post that you've put up that you're quite proud of or attracted a lot of attention to your site?

• • Joel: I used to rant a lot and that seemed to get me a lot of attention. But I'm trying to be maintain more control in my life so I won't provide links to any of those posts.

My photos from Korea (in spite of a lack of photographic talent on my part) are a hit with my family and friends back home.

Girl Monday, something I've only been doing for the past few months, seems to be a big hit with the expat community in Korea.

• GJ: Is there any part of your Korean experience that you've absorbed or experienced that the avg expat might not be privy to?

• • Joel: My first stint in Korea was as a missionary. There are quite a few expats who've had that experience, but it is definitely a completely different experience than teaching English at a private academy.

• GJ: Who do you read most often and why, blog-wise?

• • Joel: BigHominid's Hairy Chasms - Kevin makes me laugh and think. Unfortunately a lot of his posts about religion go right over my head. But his posts about scat hit me right in the face. In a good way that is.

Gdimension - A great photoblog based out of Cheju Island. His photos are great and hence make mine look like crap. He also occasionally shares folk tales or Korean dialect from his neck of the woods that I find quite interesting.

Liminality - Charles writes well thought out essays about a wide variety of topics. Occasionally those topics are things I am highly interested in like Korean, Korean culture, or translation, but even when he writes about topics in which I have little or no interest the way he writes about it makes me interested and drags me in.

Lost Nomad - Nomad reminds me of my uncles back home. He's old, he smokes (well he said he quit, but how do we know for sure?), he fishes, and he has terrible taste in music. And just like my uncles you can't help but love him. He's a genuinely nice guy who presents a lot of news and interesting topics about Korea.

The Marmot. You can't not read the Marmot. He provides a lot of Korean news, issues, and my personal favorite Korean tabloid crap. I enjoy his commentary, insights, and translations. Just avoid the comments section.

PartyPooper - If Scott posted more he could be my favorite blog in Korea. He posts everything that is fit to be pooped on. He also hails from (at least one of his past residences anyway) the same state as me.

Ruminations in Korea- Jeff, a lawyer in Pusan, has a great sarcastic sense of humor. He posts a lot of things that have gotten him labelled as a "Korea hater," but if you read deeper you can see what he's really saying. He also hails from the same state as myself.

山村訓長但知覓 The Sanchon Hunjang posts a lot of photo and language intensive posts about Korean culture and Korean language. His pet-posts are about Korean/Chinese poetry. His knowledge of Chinese characters leaves my head spinning, but I enjoy his posts all the same. I always leave feeling like I've learned something. Although since he changed jobs I haven't seen or heard much from him lately. He is another blogger who I know that hails from the same state as myself.

Oranckay I enjoy reading for a difference of opinion from other Korea Blogs and for his wealth of experience. He has lived in Korea for a long time and attended university and protests here during a time when that could get you seriously hurt. He always has a good deal of insight into his posts about politics, language, and culture.

I've only met 4 of the above bloggers in person, but I hope to someday meet them all. I read a bunch of other blogs that are all worthwhile (you can find them on my sidebar), but these are the ones I have been reading for the longest time or to me seem to stick out from all the others.

• GJ: Any restaurant/bar/business/hole-the-wall/pojangmacha/hof/etc that you'd like to give a special plug for?

• • Joel: Well I live in Gunsan so I don't know how much use this will be for anyone, but let me give it a whirl.

I enjoy the steamed crab (꽃게찜) at 계곡가든 (Gyegok Garden) just outside of Gunsan. They specialize in everything crab, but the steamed is my favorite.

I try to hit up 군산목살집 (Gunsan Moksal Restaurant) in 나운동 (Naun-dong) at least a couple of times a month. You can't beat it for the price (4,500 won per person for Moksal) and its 된장국수 (Dwoinjang Guksu) is fabulous.

If you like 곱창 (Gobchang) or even if you don't a good place to go is the 곱창 street behind the 삼성생명 (Samsung Life Insurance) building. There used to be 5 or 6 restaurants there, but now there are only three or so. Go into the second one that's open and that's the best. If you don't like Gobchang then you should consider trying their smoked spicy Moksal. It's great.

Gunsan has a couple of specialties. One of them is called 잡탕 (Jabtang). The best place for this is 두줄 downtown. Take your appetite and some tissue cause the portions are large and the stuff is spicy.