By Jack Dashwood

So one of the first things I noticed upon settling here was that I had cable television in my room with a rather intimidating amount of local channels on it. Although this didn’t come as a surprise, I must admit I did stick to my tried-and-trusted BBC/CNN/Discovery channel combo that seems to be the ubiquitous trio for English language cable programming in foreign countries. Only after a couple of weeks here did I venture into the exciting world of Korean television. Having heard about the “Korean Wave”—the recent surge of popular film, television and music spreading across Asia—I was eager to see what it was all about.

By 3WM Editors

When the Three Wise Monkeys decided to run The Monkey in the Room: Obnoxa on March 15, we did so with the awareness that there would likely be repsonses— some good, some not so good. We made sure to verify the general consensus of the story and tried—albeit errantly and then belatedly—to get a comment from the proprietor. The piece was posted with a bit of ambivalence as the editors had differing experiences at another establishment run by the same individual. The only regret afterwards was not having had more of the owner’s response initially before the fireworks started.

For personal reasons the author wishes to remain anonymous

Being inside Dahnhak center with my Korean friend we immediately feel otherworldly. An enormous, striking mural covered one wall—a sunlit North Korean mountain range depicting the birthplace of the Korean founder Dangun. Community members smile and continuously act friendly to, a complete stranger. Their white hanbok(white is the symbol of purity) mysteriously bear the number 4335 in the center, which I later found out is from the Dahnhak calendar.

By Ian Presnell

{Ian explicative to Kathy explicative
show details Oct 7:
I cannot believe how many emails we sent each other. I have a word file that’s over 137 pages of emails. It’s so strange too when I just move to some random spot I can’t tell whether or not it’s me or you. Just looking randomly there was a email that Sam sent you. It was so strange until I realized that it was Sam and not me or you. Like these emails I’m sending you. I’m reading Susan Fauldi again. About the desperate broken sense of masculinity in America. Does it even matter if you know about it or not? I mean does that knowledge really count for anything?

By Iwazaru

An indelible part of the expat experience anywhere is dealing with the red tape of Immigration. You are, first and above all else, a foreigner in a foreign land; a guest in someone else’s house (it is a privilege). And there are a lot of different houses, in different places with different rules and regulations. The Korea Immigration Service is the patriarchal powerhouse in the Land of the Morning Calm and it wields a heavy club to deal with anyone whom steps outside of a labyrinthine list of edicts. One does not want to stir the ire of the master of the house.

By Scoop McDougal

Greetings, fellow seekers of truth, beauty and public trash receptacles. It’s time again for the news. As we all know, last month’s tragic sinking of the Cheonan which claimed 46 lives has shocked the nation. I have nothing to report on this — partly because everybody has already formed an opinion, partly because only the people who were there know what actually happened, and they’re not talking,

Photos by K McGregor

By Ian Taylor Presnell

Everything was unbelievably clean and neat. In the bathroom all soaps and shampoos and brushes and toiletries were arranged from biggest to smallest. The toilet was almost humming it was so shiny, even the tiny spaces in between the tiles of the floor were clean. It was if nothing in the bathroom had ever been wet, more than that…never even used. She stepped inside and picked up [...]

A Video by James Topple

Infiltrating Warhol, 2010

By Mizaru

First off, Roofers in central Seoul’s foreigner borough of Itaewon is a very accommodating place for anyone. It’s a substantial space with a mixed décor of a black and white checkerboard floor and 10-foot ceilings. The small wooden shoe-shine red colored square bar and open window kitchen are fundamentally set up out of the way of the main floor and it all combines to give the place the hip look of a Chicago supper club of the 1940’s.

By John Kay

The man with the mike and the boy with the bike looked like they were out of a photograph from an old copy of National Geographic magazine. The man’s eyes were droopy but malevolent, as he held the mike close to his chest. The boy tanned a coffee colour by the sun. His bike an adult’s, the style that of an old country postman. The boy wasn’t riding the bike then but walking carefully beside it.

I’d just finished teaching a class; it was a private in one of the students’ apartments. His mom was there,