[KS] TRAVELLERS' TALES (FEER) Humor of sorts

[Frank Tedesco]

>Subject: TRAVELLERS' TALES from the Far Eastern Economic Review
>
>>                                By Nury Vittachi
>>            -------------------------------------------------
>>                              July 16, 1998
>> 
>>            WHINING AND DINING: They say that apologizing is
>>            a deadly serious matter in Japan. It's no joke.
>>            A tribunal discovered that a tour guide whose
>>            clients continually complained made the ultimate
>>            act of self-flagellation--he killed himself.
>> 
>>            The man, a married civil servant in Nagareyama,
>>            was assigned to take city-council members on a
>>            junket to Switzerland. First, he was blamed for
>>            the design of the aircraft, which did not allow
>>            all members of the group to see the in-flight
>>            movie. Then he was berated because a connecting
>>            bus did not leave soon enough. When they arrived
>>            in Geneva, he had to inform the officials that
>>            dinner would be served 30 minutes later than
>>            announced on the schedule. "The city official
>>            was seen kneeling on the ground to apologize to
>>            each council member," a report by investigators
>>            said.
>> 
>>            The travellers were still not mollified. So he
>>            hanged himself in his hotel room. "Whining drove
>>            man to suicide," was the headline in the Asahi
>>            Evening News. You can imagine how members of the
>>            tour group felt, can't you? Irritated enough to
>>            redouble their complaints, probably.
>> 
>>            -------------------------------------------------
>> 
>>            BELOW THE BELT: A South Korean man has found
>>            that his private parts have become the talk of
>>            the country. The problem was a love triangle.
>>            The three participants were named Kim, Lee and
>>            Park (but then you could probably have guessed
>>            that). Kim, a woman of 31, had an affair with
>>            Lee, a 41-year-old male whom she met at a
>>            noraebang, or karaoke room, in northern Seoul. I
>>            heard this from reader Frank Tedesco. But Kim
>>            was married to Park, who took the adulterous
>>            lovers to court. Lee strenuously denied the
>>            charges and said the woman was making it all up.
>> 
>>            The hearing took a sensational turn when Kim
>>            described to the Seoul District Court one or
>>            more unique factors about Lee's private parts.
>>            His nether regions were officially inspected and
>>            the case against him speedily proven.
>> 
>>            The Seoul public have not been provided with
>>            details, so their imaginations have been left to
>>            run. Lee is in the rare position of being a male
>>            who finds his private parts exciting widespread
>>            interest--and is not enjoying a moment of it.
>> 
>>            -------------------------------------------------
>> 
>>            A TELLING COMMENT: Passengers on three Garuda
>>            Indonesia Airways flights remained calm despite
>>            bomb threats, Indonesian airport official
>>            Sularjo told Antara news agency. "He said
>>            passengers did not panic since they were not
>>            informed of the bomb threat," the Jakarta Post
>>            said on June 28.
>> 
>>            -------------------------------------------------
>> 
>>            THAT'S THE SPIRIT: A ghost has been raising
>>            havoc at a house in Sanchaung township, on the
>>            outskirts of Rangoon. It allegedly throws
>>            stones, smashes cups and glasses, and causes
>>            light bulbs to explode. The owner of the
>>            apartment has fled. The ghost's activities are
>>            taking place at the intersection where, 10 years
>>            earlier, anti-government protests descended into
>>            violence and bloodshed. Recently, hundreds of
>>            people have been gathering at the spot to see if
>>            they can sight supernatural activity, Associated
>>            Press reports.
>> 
>>            This raises an interesting challenge for the
>>            tough-guy Burmese rulers: How do you silence a
>>            noisy and disruptive protester who is already
>>            dead?
>> 
>>            -------------------------------------------------
>> 
>>            HEADCOUNT: A new father got some complicated
>>            news from nurses at a hospital in Hanoi. It's
>>            twins . . . well, at least the top bit is. His
>>            new baby (or babies), it transpired, had two
>>            heads and two hearts but only one body.
>> 
>>            The lower parts were female, so it was assumed
>>            that at least one of the heads would be, too. As
>>            for the other, tests might have to be done to
>>            find out what sex it is. Presumably they can
>>            wait until she/they grow(s) up and see whether
>>            head No. 2 will stop the car and ask for
>>            directions.
>> 
>>            The nurse told the Vietnamese press that the
>>            father had ordered them not to tell the
>>            27-year-old mother about the new arrival's
>>            defects. Of course, it is not impossible that
>>            she may notice the extra head all by herself,
>>            particularly if she looks at the pictures in a
>>            baby-care book. "Hey! This isn't supposed to be
>>            here."
>>            -------------------------------------------------
>http://www.feer.com/Restricted/98july_16/tales.html



Frank Tedesco, Ph.D.
Occasional lecturer, University of Maryland
Assistant Professor
Sejong University
98 Kunjadong, Kwangjin-gu
Seoul 143-747 KOREA
Tel/fax: 82-2-997-3954
E-mail: tedesco at uriel.net

"Life is a terminal disease, and it's sexually transmitted."
John Cleese, the Buddhist.



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