18 THURSDAY

MAY 22, 2008 COMMUNITY

What The Book’s
English bestsellers

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Fiction Bestsellers
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns
(1)
Khaled Hosseini
Hard cover $25.95

2. Nineteen Minutes (4)

Jodi Picoult
Trade paper $15.00

3. The Kite Runner (3)

Khaled Hosseini
Trade paper $15.00

4. The Other Boleyn Girl (2)

Philippa Gregory
Trade paper $16.00

5. The Gathering (4)

Anne Enright
Trade paper $14.00

6. The Friday Night Knitting

Suwon turns into a Club (7)

Kate Jacobs
Trade paper $14.00

7. The Road (6)

Cormac McCarthy

true global village Trade paper $14.95

8. The Yiddish Policeman’s

By Eoghan Ryan
SUWON — A collaboration of
local organizations and the ex-
pat community in Yontong,
Suwon, celebrated Internation-
al Day with a Carnival Day in a
local park last weekend. While
the local government ran its of-
ficial proceedings around the
Fortress Wall, the Yongtong
Carnival Day was an altogether
more grass roots affair.
The YMCA supplemented
their monthly flea market with
the support of the Suwon
Women’s Association and the lo-
cal international community.
While parents browsed the flea
and ant markets, scores of chil-
dren were entertained with face
painting, carnival games, and
arts and crafts, hosted by a group
of international volunteers.
As is the case with the month-
ly flea market, all proceeds from
the day went to support under
privileged families and orphans
in the city.
Lee Sang-myung, director of
the Suwon YMCA, stressed that
with Suwon now having in ex-
cess of 15,000 non-national resi-
dents, it is already an example of
the global village we all live in,
and that all present were citizens
of this global village. He added
that initiatives such as the
Yongtong Carnival Day served to
“bring civil society together.”
He also stressed that the inter-
national residents were “already
citizens” of Korea and should feel
and be treated as such.
Lee was also responsible for
last year’s Asian Youth
Initiative, which brought to-
gether teenagers from different
Asian countries with the aim of
improving perceptions and par-
ticularly exposing Korean youth
to neighboring cultures.
Kim Ki-jung of the Suwon City
Council said that the carnival of-
fered the chance for “every na-
tion to become one.” He went on
to add that with the ever grow-
ing international community in
Suwon, and in particular the rise
The greatest obstacle to true integration
remains the language barrier for many people.
in cross culture marriages, the
challenge was to make immi-
grants feel they weren’t entering
an exclusive society.
Local mother of two, Jun Il-
joo, said: “It was a great oppor-
tunity to meet people,” and that,
her children DJ and Yung-ji
were particularly impressed
with the games.
She went on to endorse the
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle ethos
behind the games, arts and
crafts.
“Korean children are used to
playing with toys bought from
stores, so it’s great to see them
playing with basic things.”
For Ryan Phillips, from
Texas, who coordinated the
International Contingent’s par-
ticipation and organized the
Union (10)
Michael Chabon
Trade paper $15.95
carnival activities, the day was
particularly poignant. 9. Water for Elephants (8)
Phillips father, Kim, was born Sara Gruen
in Seoul, but was adopted by an Trade paper $13.95
American family as a 2-year-old.
10. No Country for Old Men
Phillips Sr. returned to Korea (9)
for the first time in fifty years Cormac McCarthy
last summer to visit his son. Intl paperback ed. $7.99
Of his son’s recent work, Kim
Phillips said that he felt, “very What The Book ships anywhere in Korea.
See its website at www.whatthebook.com
proud and excited for him, but
not totally surprised.” He ap-
plauded his son’s “desire to
learn and embrace the culture,
language and customs of so
Top Events
for this week
Participants take part in Friday
International Day in Suwon. At
Yontong park, hundreds of Watts on Tap in Sinchon is host-
Koreans and expats browse ing the Drinking World Cup.
flea markets, while children Compete with other expats to
many countries and peoples.” are entertained by face paint- see who has the most drinking
ing, carnival games, and arts stamina. See Watts on Tap’s
While the greatest obstacle to
Facebook page for more infor-
true integration remains the and crafts, all hosted by a
mation.
language barrier for many peo- group of international volun-
ple, Lee’s observation that the teers. All photos by Dean Morgan Saturday
young children, “don’t care
about language” struck a chord The 4th Annual Expat Beautiful
on the day, and pointed to the Garage Sale will be held from
potential benefits from invest- noon to 4 p.m. in the Duksung
ment in English language ac- High School gym. Go to Anguk
quisition from a young age. Subway Station and follow the
Yongtong has one of the high- signs. Twenty tables of bargains
est proportions of international will be available, the perfect
residents in Suwon and getting sale for those expats moving on
or for passing on spring-
the English speaking communi- cleaned treasures, and a per-
ty out in such force in support of fect place to buy for everyone
local charities and integration else. Sellers keep their rev-
will surely help inter-communi- enues, and everything not sold
ty relations and serve to en- on the day is donated to The
hance the reputation of expats Beautiful Store, a Korean non-
in the area. profit organization that works
(ryan.eoghan@gmail.com) with the poor. For more informa-
tion on the store see
bstore.org/eng_new/index.asp.
For more information on the

‘Kid Millionaire’ spins in Seoul garage sale e-mail Susan at

suseric@hotmail.com.

The Rocky Mountain Tavern in

There is much buzz surrounding
Steve Aoki, aka, Kid Millionaire, his
companies, and his celebrity lifestyle.
Was I going to meet someone who is
caught up in the glitz of it all — or was
I going to meet someone who is suc-
cessful in his own right, but is also a
nice person to talk to?
He turned out to be a nice guy.
I spoke to Aoki just a couple of hours
before he was scheduled to DJ at
Gayagum Hall at the Sheraton
Grande Hotel in Walkerhill. He had
flown in from Osaka, Japan where he
had a DJ gig the evening before.
“I feel like I’m in the Grateful Dead.
I just never stop touring. Like, last
year I flew over 300 flights. This year
it’s ... five or six days of the week I’m
flying,” Aoki said. It showed. He was
clearly exhausted when we spoke. At
that point in the short interview, I had
the feeling that he was a genuinely
nice guy.
I suggested interviewing him the
next day if he was going to stay in
Seoul. It was a gamble, but I had done
my research and knew his next ap-
pearance was not until May 16th in
Bangkok. He took me up on my offer.
He seemed to appreciate the gesture
Regina Walton’s
Expat Interviews
because I got a message the next day
asking me if I had time to interview
him.
“I’ve been so excited to come to
Korea ... almost more than any city. I
don’t know why. Honestly, I don’t
know what it is but I was so excited to
come here. I think it was because I
never thought I’d come here. But then
I get these messages on MySpace from
kids in Korea who are super excited. I
didn’t think anyone here knew who I
was,” he said.
Apparently, that is definitely not
true. I was just excited as was the
young Korean crowd. He started his
set with tracks from his debut CD,
“Pillowface” and “His Airplane
Chronicles” and zigzagged through
high-intensity pop, hip-hop and rock.
The next day when we resumed the
interview, my first question was his
impression of the crowd in Seoul.
“They were raging,” Aoki said with no
hesitation. When I pressed him more,
he explained how excited he was to
see the crowd having so much fun
dancing. He went on to say that “the
crowd, especially the girls, had so
much energy.”
Aoki is a music lover and began
throwing parties where he would DJ
and host bands when he was a stu-
dent at the University of California at
Santa Barbara. He realized he was on
to something and has made his love of
music his career.
When asked about both the love
and the hate he gets from people, Aoki
said he lets the criticism roll off his
back. I told him that a young man
pulled me aside and told me that Aoki
was not a “real” DJ.
Aoki summed it up nicely when he
said “you can’t please everyone. There
are things I like and things I hate too.
Why would someone who doesn’t
think I’m a real DJ pay 55,000 won to
come and see me?”
He added, “I only care if criticism is
coming from someone close to me like
family or friends.”
We then moved on to the adoration
and love he gets from his fans. Again,
Aoki summed it up nicely: “It’s easy to
accept love. The music is the way I
connect to the crowd. The music dri-
ves the feeling. Even if it’s just for a
few seconds, I feel a connection with
the crowd every show I do.”
I also had a chance to ask him about
his multifaceted company, Dim Mak,
which means “death touch.” Dim Mak
has a record company which has
signed hot bands like The Bloody
Beetroots and over 50 other music
acts. Dim Mak is also a management
company that manages the appear-
ances for DJs including Aoki, the leg-
endary DJ Jazzy Jeff, other celebrity
DJs like Joel Madden and special ap-
pearances for his sister, Devon Aoki,
who is a model and actress.
Dim Mak also has a clothing line —
the Dim Mak Collection. When asked
where he gets his energy from to keep up
such a hectic touring schedule and being
a CEO, Aoki explained, “I’m always
working even when I’m on vacation. I
like being able to have a Blackberry and
be plugged in wherever I go.
“I just stress out when I’m away.”
He also emphasized that he does not
do it alone. “I surround myself with
people that I trust. I want people who
are loyal and who are committed to
the Dim Mak brand.”
He went on to explain that “you can
learn new skills,” but emphasized he
gets most of his employees from in-
terns that he has gotten to know and
trusts.
In addition to coming to Seoul to
DJ, Aoki does have other things going.
He only had a day to spend in Seoul
and he said he would like to spend
time “eating Korean barbeque and
checking out stores.”
However, he said he also wanted
to find a store to sell his line of cloth-
ing. He describes the Dim Mak
Collection as a line that “people buy
because they want to be part of Dim
Mak.”
He added that he’s already design-
ing the 2009 line and that his sister,
Devon, has been working on pieces for
the collection too. I’ll let you in on a se-
cret. He did manage to find a suitable
store here in Seoul, for more informa-
tion on that go to the
FeetManSeoul.com website.
To find out more about Steve Aoki,
go to steveaoki.com and to find out
more about Dim Mak go to
dimmak.com
Regina can be reached through her
blog at expatjane.blogspot.com — Ed.
Itaewon is hosting a fundraiser-
concert for the Daegeon 150 — a
shelter for dogs that need homes
and medicine. The night kicks off
at 8 p.m. Live music starts at
9:15 p.m. from The Forty Days,
UR Seoul, Seth Martin, Zee and
Dave Gwyther. One hundred per-
cent of the 10,000 won cover
goes to the dog shelter. There will
also be raffle prizes. See
www.rockymountaintavern.com
for more information.
Sunday
Take an Odaesan National Park
Tour. Enjoy the beauty of a park
without throngs of people.
Buddhists consider it one of
Korea’s most important moun-
tains.
See raskb.com for more informa-
tion.
Monday
Check out the National Museum
of Korea’s Joseon Kingdom doc-
uments and publications exhibi-
tion. Go to Ichon Subway
Station, Line 4, Exit 2. The mu-
seum is free to foreigners until
May 26.

“The International Hub of Podcasting” — SeoulPodcast, sponsored by Expat Living — not your grandfather’s internet radio show. See SeoulPodcast.com