Cafe Seoul: Expat Life In Korea

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Synopsis

Café Seoul is an award-winning podcast for and by expats living in Korea.Join Rob, Eugene and friends as they discuss many issues and experiences in the country they now call home.On news of the weird with Eugene, our resident newsman brings up of the strange or funny news items that have been trending since we last saw him.Then, the Café Seoul crew answer YOUR submitted questions about life in Korea. Wanna ask something? Give us a shout at cafeseoulpodcast@gmail.comRoboseyo is on the pulse, interviewing interesting people living in Korea, or leading a discussion that's been trending in the blogosphere, the twittersphere, or any other sphere there might be.What started off as a bi-weekly comedy podcast has now morphed into a talk show format that discusses issues and current events in Korea, while still keeping a tiny bit of comedic flair.In the days where we were a snl ripoff, there is a lot of background music in the podcast and most of it is provided by Dan-O at DanoSongs.com

Episodes

  • Café Seoul Signoff

    28/06/2021 Duration: 04min

    Rob and Eugene started season 6 of Café Seoul discussing time travel films, but decided to rebrand as the Time Travel Forensics podcast. So Café Seoul needed a proper sendoff.

  • Cafe Seoul 2019 04 12 514 The end? (Or is it?)

    12/04/2019 Duration: 03h17min

    Review of Game of Thrones -  Most satisfying deaths, predictions, retrospective of the series so far, etc etc. It wouldn't be Café Seoul without nerding it up.The Best Goodbyes - Rob finds goodbyes from books, movies, songs and other forms of pop culture. Eugene has to guess where they come from.On the Pulse: Exit Interview - Rob and Eugene reflect on the past 10 years in Korea. Rob asks Eugene to make top three lists on various expat in Korea related topics while introducing some of his own. Rob also reads a sad sappy (heartfelt) letter to inflate Eugene's ego (but really really appreciated).

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 09 07 513 Blackface Supplement - The Bigger Picture

    05/05/2018 Duration: 50min

    This is a supplement to the blackface episode (season 5 episode 2), featuring Fatimaah-Joso Menefee, who penned us a critical email regarding our content in that episode. We invited her to have her via audio clips, and we responded.

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 08 25 512 Out in Korea

    13/02/2018 Duration: 01h35min

    Wow, this episode is like 6 months late. Apologies to our guest Hyunsoo Kim, who was kind enough to visit with us in August of 2017 to discuss being "Out" in Korea. Out meaning... LGBTQ. News of the Weird:-Chinese Restaurant gives discounts based on bra size-Ariana Grande creates problem during first concert in Korea, showing favoritism towards Japan-NY Times calls bubble tea a new trendOn the Pulse: Discussion with Hyunsoo Kim of what it is like to be LGBTQ in Korea, compared to other places that she has lived.

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 08 04 511 Cut for the Very First Time

    11/11/2017 Duration: 01h32min

    After a long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long long period of being very very very very very busy, Eugene has actually finally found time to edit this episode.  Rydia is back and our subject today is plastic surgery.But rather than criticize all the people in Korea getting it, we are discussing why Rydia made the decision to get it in the first place. During the initial banter of this episode we got some letters from Dave and from Kathleen. Dave's letter sparked a discussion on Western remakes of Asian films. Kathleen's letter caused us to discuss foreigner privilege in Korean settings.News of the Weird:-(Korea Herald) Rural village in Korea exposed to nudist resort-(Huffington Post) - Blogger Praises K-Beauty While Calling Asians ‘Ching Chongs’ In ‘Funny Clothes’-(BBC) - TV host's race jokes spark Brazil-Korea online warRydia Kim was once a co-host on Café Seoul, and she's r

  • Café Seoul 2017 07 21 510 There's a HYPHEN!

    12/09/2017 Duration: 02h28min

    Nerdy friends rejoice! This is the Spider-Man Homecoming Special episode!Teen Hero Popularity Contest - Similarly to what we did in the Wonder Woman episode, we talk about some of our favorite teen characters from movies and TV (and books), then make them face off against each other in a 1:1 battle royale to find out which one would hypothetically kick the ass of the others.Spider-Man Orientation - Discussion of the Spider-Man character, and how we came to know him, as well as some of our favorite storylines, and ranking the movies he's appeared in so far.Spider-Man Homecoming - In depth discussion of the most recent film, Spider-Man Homecoming.Special thanks to Emma Kalka for stalking us and using the dark side of the force to trick us into inviting her to appear in this episode.

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 07 13 509 Traditionally Speaking

    05/08/2017 Duration: 01h19min

    Café Seoul is back! Korea's traditional culture is the topic of this episode, and we have one of the most knowledgable academics on hand to discuss the role that traditional culture, specifically performance art plays in modern Korean society.Special Guest: Dr. CedarBough T. Saeji, Korea Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Korean StudiesNews of the Weird: -'Creative Korea' slogan abolished-Active X to be removed from public websites-Scrapping HIV test for native English teachers 'unacceptable'On the Pulse:How relevant to modern Korean society is Korean traditional culture? Many people who observe Korea suggest that Korea's traditional culture is somewhat removed from its modern one, but is that really the case? In this episode we have the benefit of an academic expert to delve into this topic and find out exactly what role traditional culture, specifically performance art plays in Korea today. In addition to the overlying theme, we discuss some initial access points for Korean traditional culture and how one ca

  • 2017 07 07 508 No, It's not Painless

    02/08/2017 Duration: 01h33min

    We're behind in the editing, but better late than never. This episode is about Korea's suicide crisis, so it is a little heavy. Special Guest: Shaun Webb of Shaun on SiteNews of the Weird-Korean scientists try to engineer the smell out of Kimchi-People named Park Geun Hye changing name at accelerated rates-Male cop dresses as woman to lure and catch criminals-Commentary from Korea Times suggests that a wave of anti-Koreanism in the US will begin soonOn the Pulse: Korea has a suicide problem, and we've invited Shaun Webb on the podcast to discuss his own attempted suicide and to discuss the very serious situation in Korea.

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 06 22 507 Nostalgic for the Unfamiliar

    08/07/2017 Duration: 02h28min

    Disclaimer: This is is absolutely the longest episode we have ever recorded... Ever. But you know what? It's a podcast and you can listen to it at your own pace and even skip around or skip past parts you find boring.Dr. Stephen Suh is is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Women's and Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs.  He is currently doing a research project about Korean-American returnees, that is, Korean-Americans who have for one reason or another moved to Korea as adults. We at Café Seoul became aware of this project when we came across a post in the facebook group "Critical Korean Studies"  where Stephen was looking for participants to interview. So this episode not only features an interview of Stephen for the podcast, but it also contains Stephen doing real live research as he interviews Eugene!News of the Weird: -American retailer bottles and sells kimchi juice for $17-North Korea criticizes US for withdrawal from Paris climate deal-Former Japanese Ambassador to Ko

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 06 15 506 - Wonder Woman Spectacular

    26/06/2017 Duration: 02h22min

    Well, we ended up nerding out again. How could we resist when the DC Cinematic Universe finally actually made a good film....? Emma Kalka and Dr. Michael Hurt also appeared in this episode to help us nerd it up a bit. So we do away with the traditional format. No news of the weird, no on the pulse... instead we have these special segments:Amazons of the Past - we discuss some of our favorite badass female characters from movies and TV, then hold a hypothetical single elimination tournament to find out which of these badass women reign supreme!Everyone's favorite Amazon - about an hour in, we finally start talking about Wonder Woman... and here we all explain how we came to encounter the character and some of our memories about her.Amazons of the Present - Discussing and reviewing the 2017 Wonder Woman film.Amazons of the Future - What impact this film will have on the trajectory of the DCU and super hero films in general 

  • Café Seoul 2017 05 25 505 What 'is' K-Pop?

    17/06/2017 Duration: 01h57min

    After a very popular article published on the Ask a Korean blog, it appears that the definition of the term "K-Pop" is under dispute. So in the second half of this episode Rob and Eugene try to hash it out and come to a more solid definition, but still end up not totally agreeing on it. Oh well!News of the Weird-People love President Moon's Dokdo-themed necktie-Video of "no look pass" from politician  goes viral-People who can find North Korea on a map prefer diplomacyOn the Pulse: So here is where we dive right in and get down to try to define K-Pop. After about 20-30 minutes of discussing it, we decide to make a scoring test to see if your group of choice is or is not K-Pop.

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 05 11 504 Moon River

    29/05/2017 Duration: 01h35min

    The theme of this episode is the outcome of the recent Korean presidential election, and the title is an admittedly terrible pun.News of the Weird-7up publishes kimchi recipe-Softbank CEO says Korea was part of China-Anonymous warns against WW3 breaking out in North KoreaOn the Pulse - We discuss what we expect a Moon presidency to mean for Korea, what challenges he will face, and which promises he can keep.

  • 2017 04 27 503 Blackface Again?

    20/05/2017 Duration: 01h19min

    News of the Weird-Apparently Westerners have shorter intestines than Koreans, says one domestic digestive powder producer-Korea to begin coinless society feasibility trials-Trump says Korea used to be a part of China, receives well deserved backlash.On the Pulse – In this episode you can hear two guys who aren't black discuss blackface in Korea. As we try to keep their privilege in check, we acknowledge it's a huge problem even today, and it keeps happening and it frankly makes us angry.

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 04 13 502 - What, Me Worry?

    08/05/2017 Duration: 01h24min

    North Korea Acting Up Again?News of the Weird: -Questionable Journalism skills alert: Lawmaker proposes plan to include migrant families in the definition of multicultural so that they can also get government support, meanwhile he expects special treatment from police regarding his breaking of traffic laws-Airbnb host bans host who refused Asian guest-Doctor dragged off United flight has questionable past On the Pulse Why does nobody in South Korea care when North Korea starts acting up? We have a long discussion about this question, but it meanders so much in the beginning because we're actually itching to talk about Star Trek, but we bring it back and actually have a decent discussion about it in the end. Long story short, it's because North Korea is threatening just for show, as a means of projecting itself as powerful to their own people. But now with Trump in office, can they continue the same strategies as always?

  • Cafe Seoul 2017 04 06 501 News and Fisting

    29/04/2017 Duration: 01h37min

    Oh my gosh! Rob and Eugene are back after such a long long long long long long break! Yes! Season 5 is now underway, and as of this writing (on April 29th) there are actually 2 more episodes in the pipeline to be edited. So fear not, there is lots of Café Seoul headed your way so you can get your fix.As we were planning the show, we decided that we'd do an entire episode of News of the Weird, and skip On the Pulse. because we'd been away so long. That WAS the plan, but in the first half of the show, we actually ended up having a very long discussion about whitewashing in western media and specifically about Marvel's Iron Fist... so we'll call that On the Pulse for this episodeNews of the WeirdSeoul offers free driving lessons for "expats"Manager at UK firm loses job for refusing to bow to Korean bossEgypt to export stray dogs to KoreaPyeongchang unveils new sloganKorea makes 'fertile women map' in effort to increase birth rate Is this menu racist?American flags at pro-Park RallySamsung ends top down corporate

  • Cafe Seoul 2016 11 24 425 Make America Never Say Never Again

    25/11/2016 Duration: 01h14min

    We DID say that episode 24 was going to be our last of season 4, but with Donald Trump winning the presidential election in the US, we had no choice but to have an emergency final final episode. We thought he'd never win the presidency, but this election has taught us to never say never again. Wow, just wow America! WTF!News of the Weird-(Korea Times) Viagra found in Presidential Office-(Angry Asian Man) Nordstrom Rack Pulls Rape of Nanking Hoodie From Stores-(New York Times) Korean Adoptee to be Deported from US Almost 40 Years LaterWTF (On the Pulse) - What does a Trump presidency mean for Korea, US-Korean relations, Korean Americans, Expats in Korea, East Asian geopolitics and the world in general? Rob and Eugene were beyond shocked at the results of the 2016 election and we probably will be for some time. We try to go as deep as we possibly can to discuss the implications of this latest WTF moment of 2016.

  • Café Seoul 2016 11 03 424 - Storm the Gates

    17/11/2016 Duration: 01h27min

    At last, we are at the finale of season 4 on Café Seoul. This show is all about gates, but not about the kind of gates you're thinking of. No, we're talking about scandals, especially two very recent ones that have severe political and economic ramifications for Korea.News of the Weird -Reviewing an opinion piece regarding batterygate, Samsung's exploding battery scandal.Ask Rob & Eugene-Gatey McGateface asks why there's no Bukdaemun, when there's a Namdaemun, Dongdaemun, and there used to be a Seodaemun.On the Pulse-A long drawn out discussion of Choi Soon-sil gate... the scandal involving President Park's close friend, who has allegedly been manipulating her from behind the scenes. Special thanks to Peter Daley for contributing to this episode!

  • Cafe Seoul 2016 09 29 423 Studying in Korea

    15/11/2016 Duration: 01h01min

    Café Seoul is back and in this episode we focus on coming to Korea to study with American millenial exchange students Sarah and Lizzie from the University of Maryland.News of the Weird-Seoul named happiest city in the world-North Korea revealed to have only 28 websites-Jeju citizens call for reversal of visa waiver for ChineseOn the Pulse - Sarah Eppley and Lizzie Drake join Eugene and Rob as the foursome discuss their experiences of Korean universities. Keep in mind that the ladies are here temporarily on study abroad and are relatively new to Korea (less than one year). Eugene and Rob are long timers, so that might account for some of the disconnect.

  • Cafe Seoul 2016 09 22 422 K-Redpill v K-Radfem

    30/09/2016 Duration: 01h16min

    Guest: Hyunsu Kim (The only Goth in Korea)News of the Weird: -Man wins lottery, family protests to get their share -Air China in-flight magazine contains racist copy-Seoul to crowdsource editing bad English on signsAsk Rob & Eugene: Why do Koreans walk backwards for exercize?On the Pulse: Discussing online men's rights group Ilbe vs. its radical feminist counterpart Megalia.

  • Cafe Seoul 2016 08 12 421 Reverse Reverse Culture Shock

    31/08/2016 Duration: 01h15min

    This episode features Joe Mondello who used to live in Korea long-term, but went back to his home in the United States. We caught him on a visit back to Korea.News of the weird-Koreans no longer xenophobic.-American monk to leave South Korea, saying foreigners just “decoration”-North Face under fire for printing 'Sea of Japan' on jacketOn the Pulse - Joe talks about his reactions to Korea as someone who once lived here but has returned on a visit, hence not culture shock, not reverse culture shock, but reverse reverse culture shock.

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