A Happy Ending: Tour Les Jours
By 10 Media on April 30, 2013 | 8:00 am | 0 Comments
Words by Maggie Devlin, Illustration by Pat Volz I am single. In a country with a dating obsession to best even the most lovelorn teenager from a John Hughes film I feel even more single. It’s a riot. Like most single friends of mine, I indulge in the usual banter of the lonesome soul: “I mean, it’s not like I don’t get dates.” Or, “Seems like a pain in
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A Happy Ending: Happy Fleet
By 10 Media on March 31, 2013 | 4:28 pm | 0 Comments
Words by Maggie Devlin, Illustration by Pat Volz My brother is terrified of flying; so scared, in fact, that he’s become perversely obsessed with all things aeronautical. (He has a stunning collection of model planes. Perfectly normal, no?) By contrast, I’ve loved flying since my first, stomach-lurching tip upwards into the sky. I always felt sorry for my
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A Happy Ending – A Guide to Korean Insects
By 10 Media on February 28, 2013 | 8:00 am | 1 Comment
Words by Andrew Barbour, Illustration by Pat Volz Anopheles sinensis (모기; Mosquito). A. sinensis are spontaneously generated in threes when you close a screen window, plug in an electric mosquito repellent, or kill one. They thrive at temperatures between cold enough to kill you and hot enough to kill you. They enjoy feeding upon my daughter’s face, and I
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A Happy Ending: Kidentity Crisis
By 10 Media on January 31, 2013 | 8:00 am | 1 Comment
Words by Andrew Barbour, illustration by Pat Volz My biracial children likely face the problem of resolving their national and ethnic identities when they get older. My wife and I are comfortable with our own identities as Korean and American, respectively, and we won’t be surprised or offended if the kids choose one of those over the other. Thankfully, those
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Happy Ending: Cold Snap
By 10 Media on December 31, 2012 | 8:00 am | 3 Comments
Words by Andrew Barbour, Illustration by Pat Volz With December upon us, our kids are one-quarter through their four-month long game of ping-ponging various cold and flu viruses between them. My son Danny and I were doing a jigsaw puzzle the other day when a dramatic sneeze produced a wet, beige gummy worm hanging from his nose. “Danny, don’t move buddy, let
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A Happy Ending: The Pit and the Pabulum
By 10 Media on November 30, 2012 | 8:01 am | 1 Comment
Words by Andrew Barbour, Illustration by Pat Volz My wife and I aim to spend our days off doting on the kids (nutritious meals, mental stimulation, fresh air, etc.), but sometimes our plans are scuttled by uncooperative weather. Or sometimes it’s just Sunday and to hell with everything. On Sundays, they can spend a whole Pixar movie’s-worth of time in front of
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A Happy Ending: Granny’s Snails
By 10 Media on October 31, 2012 | 8:45 am | 2 Comments
Words by Andrew Barbour, Illustration by Pat Volz Our next-door Halmoni is rather plump and a bit leathery from whatever she did outdoors in her younger years. She walks with a flower-print cane and has a broad dimply smile. Her eyes look just like the ^^ emoticon, and she has small, thick hands at the end of substantial arms that she wraps around kids, pulling
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A Happy Ending: Your Kid is Ugly
By 10 Media on September 30, 2012 | 8:42 am | 2 Comments
Words by Andrew Barbour Illustration by Pat Volz “어머나, 진짜 인형 같다!” (Wow, she looks just like a doll!) I hear that a bunch, since my daughter Junie here is really pretty. I’m a proud dad, and yeah, I could be biased, but when we’re out in public it seems it’s only a matter of time before some halmoni fawns over her or some squealing
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A Happy Ending: Great Extraordinary Missed Opportunities in Korea, as Seen Through Thought Experiments
By 10 Media on August 31, 2012 | 8:45 am | 1 Comment
Words by Neil Armstrong, Illustration by Pat Volz It’s a given that a traditional British fish and chip shop would be a profit cruise liner in South Korea. Hell, it would probably go great guns in the North. Within hours of opening, you would be wading through a sea of discarded grease papers stained with the crumbs of battered cod, fritters, beef and onion pies, and
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A Happy Ending: One Hell of a Day
By 10 Media on July 31, 2012 | 9:00 am | 1 Comment
Words by Jacob Roy, Illustration by James C. Greer Jr My first day in Korea was pretty rough. The recruiter who was supposed to pick me up at the airport sent his assistant instead. Johnny Incompetent showed up 3 hours late, couldn’t speak English, and chain-smoked in the car from the Incheon Airport to Jamsil. Mr. Marlboro did however perfectly time our
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