Hui's JOMC221 Journal

WEEK EIGHT ASSIGNMENT: Summarization

• Reduce an article to half its original word length. The original 1358-word article is HERE. The 612-word, Summary A is below.

• Cut the article in half again, making at least four sections with headings for each section. See Summary B below.

• Break up each section into text chunks, using bulleted lists where appropriate.

• Indicate what you would hyperlink to supporting material and sites, and identify the sites and sources to which you would link (at least generally; no need for specific URLs).

• Offer suggestions on how to improve the content even further to make it a more useful Web experience and space (Flash, interactive graphics, multimedia clips, etc.).

Summary A

It is 2:00 a.m. at night in Seoul’s Dongdaemun Market. Outside are kids mostly, 15 to 25, jamming together at a rap concert. Behind the performers is a six-storey high, neon sign of the Migliore Fashion Mall. The bass sounds resonate as the young crowd flows out from the side streets. Dongdaemun Market has many food stalls selling noodles, chijimi and bulgogi, but this young crowd is there for the clothes and, tonight, the music.

The Dongdaemun neighborhood has 30000 retailers and 50000 manufacturers of all kinds. Customer requests and new ideas drive this dynamic market. The trade amounts to a shopping rave, but it was not always this way.

Corea was once called the “Hermit Kingdom” so all this commercial hyperactivity is surprising. For example, Seoul was once so insular that it opened in the morning and closed at night to the sound of a large bell. Seoul has reinvented itself from civil-war rubble to the bustling present-day metropolis. Corea was heading for bankruptcy in 1997 but bounced back from that, too. Through all of this, Coreans have recently developed the first real bubbling of individualism, and the world is just discovering it.

Indeed, growing numbers of tourists now find Corea has become decidedly extroverted. A diverse bar culture is developing. Business people, homosexuals, military personnel, foreigners, ravers and the university crowd among others all have bars and districts for themselves. Moreover, these nightspots seem even more modern being adjacent to traditional ones. They are springing up because things move quickly in Corea. Yesterday was a long time ago.

All this change is counter-balanced by the Coreans’ sense of self. History centers Coreans just as the famous Yin and Yang symbol centers their national flag. Through the unstoppable energy of the city, one feels a comfortable jumble of the old and the new. Seoul still has a chaotic tangle of narrow streets with low buildings and the old way of life spills into the alleys.

Outside the restaurants, fish are grilling on barbeques; men are sitting on upturned buckets sipping the milky rice liquor makkeolli and snacking on crispy dried anchovies. The smell of kimchi and bulgogi fills the air. Jwipo, a sweet dried fish cake barbequed on stones and sold off street carts is a messy food to eat. The casualness of the food, stalls and patrons says something about the Coreans that has not changed for centuries.

Corea is host to a steady stream of visitors who taste the food and lifestyle. Many foreigners stay for a year or two and serve as language instructors. As they leave they are replaced by others. They take a little bit of Seoul with them. It seems that more and more people will experience Corea as it will be one focus of attention for the 2002 World Cup of Football. So expect the influence of Seoul style to grow. Already, Tokyo has a market fashioned after Dongdaemun. In New York, bars are replicating the Seoul bar scene down to the whiskey bottles placed on each table and, coming soon to a bar near you, ten types of hard soju liquor.

Back at the rap concert, the set is finishing, but the city is still open and teeming with people. Ex-pat journalists are playing darts. Transsexuals at the Q Bar are lip-syncing tunes. Youth with glow sticks and nunchuks are now forgetting the time in techno clubs. Sinchon, Itaewon and other districts are still hopping. The city is open for business. That is one part of tradition that did not survive, but the actual bell, at the ancient Bosingak Belfry, still does.

Get further Seoul info at these sites:

(Annotated list of links)

Summary B (338 words)

Links to real-time, live Web cameras #1, #2 & #3

Links to informational Web sites A (Tourist board), B (History) & C (Food and drink site)

A Seoul Night Market

It is 2:00 a.m. at night in Seoul’s Dongdaemun Market (#1). Outside are kids mostly, 15 to 25, jamming together at a rap concert. The young crowd flows out from the side streets. Dongdaemun Market has many food stalls, but this crowd is there for the clothes and, tonight, the music. The neighborhood has busy stores driven by customer requests and new ideas.

Something Old and Something New

Corea was once called the “Hermit Kingdom” (A) so all this commercial hyperactivity is surprising. For example, Seoul was once so insular that it opened and closed its gates to the sound of a large bell. Through it all, Coreans have recently developed the first real bubbling of individualism. This change is counter-balanced by the Coreans’ sense of self. History (B) centers Coreans. Seoul has a chaotic tangle of narrow streets with low buildings and still exudes a traditional way of life.

Seoul’s New Casual

Growing numbers of tourists now find Corea has become decidedly open as well as traditional. A diverse bar culture is developing. There are bars and districts for every crowd. These nightspots seem even more modern being adjacent to traditional ones. Corea’s visitors taste the food and lifestyle and return home with a little bit of Seoul in them. Tokyo now has a market fashioned after Dongdaemun. New York bars replicate the Seoul bar scene down to the whiskey bottles placed on each table and the ten types of hard soju liquor.

Back at the Night Market

Outside the restaurants (C), fish are grilling on barbeques; men are sitting on upturned buckets sipping the milky rice liquor makkeolli and snacking on crispy dried anchovies. The casualness of the dishes, stalls and patrons says something about the Coreans that has not changed for centuries. Meanwhile, back at the rap concert, the set is finishing, but the city is still teeming with people. Sinchon (#2), Itaewon (#3) and other districts are still hopping. The city is open for business.

Get further Seoul info at these sites:

(Here is the bulleted list of annotated links, just like in the original article.)

The article is a personal account of Seoul mixed with a mini tour guide. I would have included more photos, or very short video clips, than the original site did. The six links I chose would be the most popular for readers. I could have linked a long article about IMF loans to Corea, but I did not because it seems too serious a topic. Corea should be shown in a good way with attractive links.

I liked the use of the present progressive tense, but it seemed out of place after I shortened the text by taking out the personal references. So, I switched to the present tense in summary B.

// posted by Hui Liu @ 3/06/2005 06:00:00 AM