surf in the fog

My choice to stay in Busan for next year is certainly the right move. Yesterday I spent about 4hrs surfing in the ocean, riding powerful waves with new Korean friends and was deliriously happy. Fog moved in at about 5pm and we were called out of the water by life guards. By 6pm things were clearing up and although not "clear enough" according to the safety specialists, we were back in the ocean by 6:30pm as guards were off duty.

The staff at Seong Jeong Surf Club are really friendly and offer a place to shower if you rent with them. If you own your own board you can also arrange for storage there. People used to surfing on the west coast of North America may be disapppointed if they expect similar waves in South Korea. This is a great place to learn or at least keep your skills tuned for your next big trip to Bali!　
You can rent surf boards and wet suits for a combo price of ￦25,000 for the whole day. SJSC is located next to the new Angel in Us coffee shop on Sonjeong Beach.

Keep your ears open for the surf competition in Busan in early September!

How to get there:
Train from Bujeon Station directly to Seongjeong station. Schedule is limited. ￦2,400

Subway to Jangsan Station. Take bus 100, 100-1, 139, 142 →　to Seongjeong beach bus station, or grab a taxi ￦4,000. I ride my bike from Jangsan for more excercise :)

From Busan Station: Take Bus No.139, 140, 239, 302-1From Subway: Take subway line No.2 and get off at Haeundae Station (Exit no.7)→ Take Bus No. 100, 100-1, 139, 142 → Get off at Songjeong Station and walk 600 meters.

mother's day

Dear Mom,
This is what I'd say to you in person if I could.
xox matthew

this year past

What's Matthew up to? . . . I left Canada for Korea September 4, 2007 and moved from Ulsan to Busan at the end of August 2008. I haven't been in touch with many of you and hope to bring you up to speed with some brief stories and photos. I have been lucky enough to have been able to travel through part of Thailand and Japan since my arrival in central Asia. The trend of foreigners to live in Korea for only a year makes keeping friends here a challenge and short term friendships are more often the rule and not an exception. In August I accepted the offer to join a team at Busan National University of Education, a choice that has drastically improved my quality of life. I am responsible for 9 classes a week and am one of a 7 person team of native English speaking teachers of various experience. We are mostly Canadian and the dynamic in the office is really positive. I enjoy going to work and feel lucky that most of my energy goes towards teaching and not 97% discipline as it was until mid August. I spend some of my free time learning Taekwondo and have reached my brown belt, three away from Black. Learning how to speak Korean was a solution to the frustration felt living here and not being able to communicate enough with native Koreans. I'm learning slowly but steadily and already find my facility to make daily life more pleasant.

Photography on trips continues to capture memories and I was lucky to be part of a published magazine in Korea. It was rewarding to have people show interest by buying photo gift cards I made by hand for a small market in Ulsan. Although I did have a string quartet put together consisting of university students from my first city, this soon fell apart and my music took a bit of a break.

One of my promises was to spend more time with my viola this year and to book a solo recital which I am looking forward to. Sometimes Korean audiences can be quite rude to North American standards (cell phone use, flash photography, laughter) but I'm hoping that a performance may bring me the chance to teach privately. During the first week at BNUE, I introduced myself to some of the professors of the music faculty. One of the teachers was kind enough to put me in touch with a conductor in the city which led to my participation in two professional orchestra concerts followed by the chance to coach a string quintet at the university.

Trips to neighbouring cities have included visits to many Temples, Festivals such as Busan Film, Daegu Body Painting, Jinju Lantern and others. I have gone to Seoul for a handful of visits and plan to go back to take in an Orchestra concert more often this coming year. A DJ concert in Seoul was a highlight and camped near the venue with a handful of friends, although we didn't sleep a great deal! I miss some of my young students and enjoy volunteering at an orphanage where well behaved Korean children are likewise happy to see me. It was a pleasure to find that not all Korean children are spoiled and ill-behaved, yet sad to imagine such wonderful people without parents.

I am lucky to have such a supportive and loving family who I got to share much quality time with over the holidays after being away for over 15 months. For more than 8 years, all I had was often only two or three days at Christmas and Thanksgiving and felt grateful for the extended stay over this Christmas. I am thankful for friends who have taken the time to keep in touch with me despite busy and hectic lives and it was magic to re-visit them when not with my family in January.

click on the photos to view larger images

Christmas Party in Daejon with Sarah and Ben before Thailand.

December in Thailand

January dinner with co-workers
Ulsan, South Korea

February in Seoul for Budhha's Birthday

With Friends in a Makkoli bar in Ulsan

With the angels at the Busan Orphanage

Beoseong Tea Fields

Lanterns at a temple

during Buhddah's birthday

Visiting Matt in Japan during a short visit to Tokyo.

Delicious food in a trendy Tokyo establishment.

Christmas in Barrie with Rachael, Mom and Bear.

Christmas with

Dad and Rachael

in Newmarket.

Behind the Paint

The 2008 World Body Painting Festival, Daegu
Photos and story ©Matthew Golem

When I noticed a splashy television advertisement at a bus stop rest stop, I was shocked and perplexed by yet another contradiction to what I know about this country. Anyone who has visited Korea’s beaches has noticed that many native Koreans enjoy their time in the water with a bathing suit and T-shirt. In defense of harmful UV rays? Somehow I doubt it. Walking your favourite beaches in a bikini top may still be accompanied by looks of varying disapproval from some Koreans. Over the last few years, one may have noticed, however, a comfortable transition towards bikinis and daringly small bottoms. Following this festival it is more apparent that, to quote Bob Dylan, “…times, they are a changin.”

Nude models, paint, and music. What a perfect recipe! How could you not run screaming to such an exceptional event?

Originally conceived in the small town of Seeboden, Austria by artist and founder Alex Barendregt, hosting the 2008 World Body Painting Festival is an ambitious and surprising undertaking for Korea. This 12th international body painting event, never before held in Asia, is a dramatic step forward for culture and art in Korea and bridges between a diverse palette of cultures.

Events ranged from body painting workshops and classes, children’s face painting, daily live music, Polish Colour Ballet and of course the painting competition with evening stage shows showcasing the living art. One evening featured a Fantasy Ball consisting of costumes painted and created to mesmerize the party goers. The live music acts were both Korean and international artists including some big name Korean pop icons such as Peep Show, Jewely and Lee Seung Gi 이승기. The Daegu event company also got some Korean school girls all riled up about a Korean professional soccer playing heart throb expected to make a special appearance. Imagine waiting to meet the Beatles circa 1962; the energy was nearly identical.

The new Asian champions were awarded in different many categories including: brush and sponge, airbrush, special effects body painting, face painting and special effects make up. Sixty artist teams from fourteen nations with 18,000 visitors to the Daegu World Cup Stadium visited the festival over the three main days. On Day one and two, themes given to the artists were "Myths & Fairy Tales" and on the final day,
"Future World".

The healthy green grass of the stadium forced delicious smelling air into my body as I entered a simmering outdoor studio. Beautiful female and male models provided daring canvases for their artists to give Asia her first taste of European style modern fantasy and eroticism. Clothing guidelines for models were a minimum of a G-string so photographers were gurgling with anticipation. Some models were comfortable in only paint above the belly button, while others were more coy and chose to sport somewhat obtrusive breast stickers or cups to further conceal intimate personal regions.

Each day began with a mostly public view of the works in progress, often difficult to find a clear view past many curious visitors. It was fascinating to watch the transition from a recognizable person to a finished work of art and veiled identity. Following closing night, I was invited by model and teacher, Brandi Monsma, to celebrate with some of the creative team. I visited with many of the artists and brave models; many of whom I did not recognize until they described in detail how they appeared when I photographed them. It was one of the most unusual experiences I have enjoyed in Korea.

Tickets were reasonably priced at 20,000 KRW for single day and 50,000 KRW for three day passes. The Korean promoters likely knew the event would draw a crowd of avid photographers and charged 200,000KRW for a photo pass. This provided special photo privileges: access to a combination of delectable photographic subjects as well as a calm background. Included in this fee is a copy of a catalog of photographs submitted to the festival organizers afterwards.

The non-pass holding public came surprisingly prepared with not only high power zoom lenses but also aluminum step ladders to minimize their less than ideal sniper locations. This is the only country in which I have witnessed this. Once finished a walk along the path of coloured back drops, models were hurried away to safety, escorted by tight security. Amateur paparazzi did their best to capture the moving subjects who occasionally entertained the request to slowly approach a pesky barrier.


The limited advertising prior to the event and extremely confusing website were problems for the event. I met a surprisingly young Mr. Barendregt to personally thank him for inviting me to cover the festival. I asked him why I could not find details on the website about scheduling prior to the week. An English speaking organizer at the stadium shared helpful scheduling details I needed days before. Barendregt humbly informed me that two weeks before the event, his Daegu event company colleagues had not given even he and fellow Austrians vital information he needed to feel comfortable. Is why there weren’t more foreigners at this extraordinary display of talent and creativity? The lack of communication between cultures seemed not to have an effect on his enthusiasm for next year’s event in Asia.

The maps available on the event website fortunately did feature Korean text, which made transportation to and from the stadium less aggravating for this foreigner. For other events, English only map text, has made getting a taxi from a subway or train station much more frustrating.

Some of the artists make a living by painting bodies and walk away with as much as 3,000,000 KRW in prize money per category. Canadian Jinny Houle won first prize for the brush and sponge category. This was particularly impressive because her participation in the event was a surprise to her. She had originally been selected to be on the Jury for the event, not a participant on short notice. Without time to laboriously prepare sketches or stencils, she spontaneously created a winning concept right before show time!

To view more of the winners at this event, or to learn more information about the next display in Austria in July 2009: www.bodypainting-festival.com For those of us needing a change in career direction, or even something to spice up evening playtime, this might be a suitable, or more accurately, suitless art form for you!

A special thank you to the friendly and informative SongYi Choi who helped confirm some facts.