So, how great is your spec?

"Wow, what an impressive spec you have!"

The above is part of an advertisement from the Korea Student Aid Foundation and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The ad was promoting how both organizations could help students in obtaining the best "spec".
So what is spec? It's a Konglish word based on "specifications", basically meaning notable credentials that would show up on a resume/CV. Let's say you're hiring a new employee, for example. "What's the spec you're looking for?"is a question that you'd be asked.
The word is used even when you're asking info about a blind date. "What's his spec?"

But I'm not posting a language lesson here. That ad caught my eye because of what was written on the graduation cap, the main elements of the "impressive spec" of today's Korean society. From top to bottom the list goes:
TOEIC 900 (n.b. top score is 990)
University student honorary ambassador
Overseas language course
Overseas study tour member
Student reporter
Group internship
Idea contest
Overseas MBA
Powerblogging

WTF? When I reached the last item I literally laughed out loud, making the people around me stare. (The ad was on a metro platform.) Is that all what the kids today are striving for? I mean, really. POWERBLOGGING??? And since when did participating (and winning is implied there, too) in an "idea contest" become basic criteria? No wonder the kids are so stressed.
I know I'm old but when we graduated all you needed was a good education, a good attitude and it basically got you where you needed to be. Soooo glad I'm not of this generation; my brain would have exploded by now.

Besides the obvious, what would be considered a great spec in other countries? I'm curious. Anything as utterly ridiculous as powerblogging?

A ride along the Han

I didn't realize how large a river the Han was until I saw rivers in other countries. Like the first time I saw the Seine. 'That's a river????', I thought. It looked like what we Seoulites would call a brook or a stream. You could cross it on foot in 15 minutes or less, whereas I don't think anyone in their right mind would cross the Han by walking, as it'll probably take 40 minutes to an hour.
(I miss the Seine. Crossing a river on foot seems like a quaint luxury, now.)

The Han is flanked by highways on each bank, the 88 Olympic highway to the south and Gangbyeonbukro (literally, North Riverbank Highway) to the north. This clip was taken on Gangbyeonbukro from a bus on a cloudy day, traveling west to east.

Naengmyeon, Chinese style

Autumn is here but the summer heat is stubbornly hanging on, so I'm still consuming naengmyeon to my heart's content. Any sort of cold noodles are good. This time around it's the Chinese version, or to be more exact, the Koreanized Chinese version.

Unlike Korean naengmyeon, the noodles are made of wheat flour like the noodles of jjajangmyeon and jjampong, so if you like naengmyeon mostly because of the texture this dish might not satisfy. But if you're a noodle junkie like me, it's another delicious dish to add to the repertoire. Close up:

The broth is mostly a chicken based stock with lots of seafood thrown in; it varies according to recipes, but almost all have peanut sauce added for a sweet nutty kick. Added toppings also differ by restaurant. The one I went to had a selection of julienned veggies, sea cucumber, jellyfish, shrimp, and soft squid.

As usual, I had a plate of mandu before downing the cold dish. I prefer the small mulmandu (water dumplings, i.e. boiled dumplings) over the pan fried potstickers gunmandu for which Chinese restaurants are well-known.

Had the dish at an ordinary neighborhood Chinese restaurant. (The more fancy places would have higher quality ingredients in the dish.) The food is what you expect from a standard Chinese place in Seoul, not to die for but not bad either. The prices are reasonable and you get your money's worth.

The restaurant is actually a chain and have several stores within the city. (Check out their site seen on the shop sign). The one I went to is in Sinsa-dong but there's no need to haul yourself all the way over here - you can get Chinese naengmyeon at your neighborhood Chinese place.

I don't recommend the delivery-only Chinese places, though. Find a restaurant that has an actual sitting area to be on the safe side, because Chinese naengmyeon can really be a hit or a miss.