happy birthday

Happy Birthday Andy!!

soon we'll be living in cities called "Wal-martville" or "McDonald'ston"

Since when did the brand become bigger than the place? Naomi Klein would break down and cry if she came to Korea..
I tell the children I teach that I'm going to see a baseball game between the Giants and the Tigers. The look at me with blank faces. "I'm going to see the Busan Giants, you know, the baseball team?" Still with the blank faces. One of the kids quietly says "Lotte?", and then the others catch on what I was trying to say to them. "Ohhh, LO-tte!"
The sports teams out here are named after their sponsors - they are known ONLY by their sponsors. The basketball team is the "KTF (cell phone company) Magicwings", the soccer team is know as "Ipark" (I think it's a similar company to green park, or some other building company), and then the "Lotte Giants".

Should I be bothered by this?... mm yes. I think so. Over here, this is normal - no one would question it, or even think of it being weird. But i cant help but think of this brand worshiping crossing over the pacific, and reaching Canadian shores. Has it already happened? We go to watch hockey games at the "Air Canada Center", and while we cheer on the Leafs, we still watch them skate around the advertisement haven, skating over the Reebok owned blue lines.

Pretty soon will we be cheering on the Tim Horton's Leafs? Will we be rooting for the Microsoft Jays, and the Nike Raptors? Little kids will be screaming "GOO NIKEEE!!" and chanting the brand (just like here).

We should know better. We are losing our teams, our buildings, and all of our sacred space to the corporate names. We need to get back to the good old days where these giants are still thought of the heartless corporations that run local business under, rather than these iconic sports teams that portray superhero-like attributes.

Some things i dont get..

Just outside my school, about once a week, the community center fogs the streets to help contain the outbreak of mosquitoes. I'm not sure why, but whenever mosquitoes are around, the Korean people are instantly aware of their presence. There seems to be a fear of them, like others might fear killer bees. There are tons of different methods to get rid of the pests, my favorite being the 'electric tennis racket'. This device is exactly as it sounds: a tennis racket sized frame with an electric mesh that shocks its prey with 1.5 volts of power (it feels like more though..).
Anyways, It always amazes me how the parents just stand by and watch their kids running through the insecticides when they fog here. The sprayers move from doorway to alley way, even to food stalls, spraying their killer gas. I've asked my co-teachers and they swear it's safe, and even endorse the school kids going out to play in it. Being kind of new to this tactic of getting rid of mosquitoes, I'm a little shocked. Do they do this in Canada or the States? And if they do, do kids treat the insecticide like a sprinkler?

I guess it's just another one of those things that I don't get, and probably wont get.