२९ नोव्हेंबर, २०२१
"As South Koreans enter the living-with-corona phase of the pandemic, some are easing back into social life by visiting public spaces where they can be alone and do very little."
"Nothing is the new something in South Korea as people desperately seek refuge from the pressures of living as functioning adults in a global pandemic in a high-stress and fast-paced society with soaring real estate prices and often-grueling work schedules. At a Space Out Competition this year, competitors sought to achieve the lowest heart rate possible while sitting in a 'healing forest' on the southern island of Jeju....Spacing out is known in Korean as 'hitting mung,' a slang usage of the word 'mung' to describe a state of being totally zoned out.... With the weather change this fall, now popular are the terms 'forest mung' and 'foliage mung,' meaning spacing out while looking at trees or foliage. There’s 'fire mung,' or spacing out while watching logs burn, and 'water mung,' being meditative near bodies of water.... On Ganghwa Island, off South Korea’s west coast, a cafe named Mung Hit also offers no-activity relaxation areas. In one section is a single chair facing a mirror for anyone who wants to sit and stare. There are nooks for meditating, reading, sitting by a pond or the garden, or enjoying mountain views. No pets or children are allowed.... '"Hitting mung" is a concept of emptying your heart and your brain so that you can fill them with new ideas and thoughts. We opened because we wanted to create a space for people to do just that'...."
Tags:
coronavirus,
Korea,
nothing,
solitude,
unsaid things
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२२ टिप्पण्या:
I like the concept, nation-wide, of hitting mung. I think millions of us did a mutated version of that on Thanksgiving weekend. Food mung. Football mung. Staring mindlessly while our bodies tried to digest large amounts of food and wine, staring at yet another football game. And it looked like 100,000 people in Ann Arbor achieved perfect group mung- if such a thing exists- in unison as they chanted along with The Killers.
Mr. Brightside
Why weren't they doing this all along? Nothing going on now makes sitting quietly by yourself newly possible.
That sounds nice. We are a country full of people who do this and quiet contemplation takes many forms as well. Generally this used to have catchy American patois to describe it: “taking in the scenery,” “quiet time,” “chilling out,” etc. More recently technology has creeped in so that we expect people out in nature to be listening to their own sound track while “taking it in” and chilling is more often associated with the commercial command to “Netflix and chill,” which isn’t suggestive of contemplation or quiet.
Interesting. The wife and I escaped pandemic life 15 months ago when we moved to Florida.
The WAPO wants the peasants to know what they should be happy with.
Forget that vacation. Get ready to stare at some trees peasants. Or a mirror. Contemplate your peasantness and don't you dare ask why the elites are thriving during these "lockdowns."
My iPhone says “mung hit” might be impersonating a website. Whatever that means.
At a Space Out Competition this year
How can you totally space out in a serious competition? Sort of like boasting that you're the most modest person in the world.
An activity about nothing. It is the Seinfeld show plot writ large across an entire society.
I like the early attempts by the competition organizers and the coffee shop to monetize sitting quietly, doing nothing. Get payment up front, of course, because the clients may feel no need to pay up afterwards for doing nothing.
My impression is that news reporting in the US about pandemic measures abroad has been hugely misleading, possibly in a vain effort to shore up support for domestic pandemic measures. I was in Korea for a week in September/October, and everything was open. I visited colleagues in their offices, ate at restaurants, visited tourist sites, etc. This was towards the start of their current surge (the worst, both in terms of cases and deaths, since the start of the pandemic) so restrictions may have tightened somewhat in the last two months, but my experience is probably not that dissimilar from the current situation.
Korea has extremely rigorous anti-pandemic measures. For example, there's a 14 day quarantine requirement upon entry (unless, like me, you qualify for and are granted a quarantine exemption). If you quarantine with family, they have to quarantine too. Even with an exemption, there are post-arrival testing and daily health reporting obligations, which are policed rigorously by government agents. I didn't experience this, but they made a surprise inspection of some relatives during their post arrival at-home quarantine; the inspectors said over the phone that they were ten minutes away when in fact they were lying in wait right by the gate, presumably hoping to catch people racing home. Anywhere you go, they ask you to scan a QR code or call a number to register your phone for possible contact tracing purposes. Everyone wears masks.
But if you're a Korean starved for social contact, just go meet some friends at the local coffee shop. Go into the office and see your colleagues. There's no lockdown. Other than on a highly localised basis, there hasn't been a lockdown at all! There's no "easing back" into social life in Korea because social life wasn't interrupted for any long stretch of time. Sure there's stress from the pandemic measures, but it's nothing compared to what Americans (and Europeans) have been through these past 20 months.
Wanting to enjoy plants and silence is, if anything, a normal reaction to the frenetic activity and noise of Seoul, one of the largest cities in the world. I like "forest bathing" (森林浴) myself.
Coronavirus has little to do with its popularity.
Just another "Oh, those crazy Asians" story from the Wapo/NYTs. I know people from Japan/Taiwan/Korea and they always find the stories in the Regime Media ridiculous and overdrawn.
BTW, Scandanivia didn't lock down that much, they took their losses, and are now having less CV-19 then most countries that did lock down. Do we ever hear about them? Not really.
jaydub said...
Interesting. The wife and I escaped pandemic life 15 months ago when we moved to Florida.
I got kicked out of the local Costco several months ago in somewhat of a spectacle. They dropped the mask mandate shortly after.
Since then there are still some people around wearing their face diapers, But otherwise there is no COVID here. Some stupid stickers on the floor and a bunch of plexiglass stupidity hangs on.
The dumbest people in the country must live in New York City because that is where they decided to test the Omicron lock downs.
I think Achilles is a perfect example as to why getting out into the real outdoor world and relaxing is so important to mental health.
Obviously our esteemed hostess has figured this out with her morning ritual.
Sounds good. Is there an app for this?
Apologies to Tommy James…
Hittin’ the Mung
Makin' a livin' the old hard way
Stress is just buildin’ up day by day
I like to space and zone out in the bright sunshine
Hittin' the Mung (hittin' the Mung)
My dog Sam eats purple flowers
He tastes good cooked sweet and sour
Just clean ‘em good, understood, don’t forget the dung
Hittin' the Mung (hittin' the Mung)
Hittin' the Mung (hittin' the Mung)
Bell got rung, thinkin’ my song was sung
All of my poop got flung
I'm tappin' dat sweet Wang Chung
Hittin' the Mung (Hittin' the Mung)
Hittin' the Mung (Hittin' the Mung)
On Instapundit there is speculation that the Democrats are going to use Omicron to push for more mail-in ballots and therefore head off the expected bloodbath at the polls. Putting on my shocked face, I rear back and ask in outrage: would Democrats really do THAT???!! Just because you have a political philosophy based on legalized theft and an increasingly Soviet style attitude of "No Truth but the Party's truth" is no reason to suspect the Democrats of wanting to steal elections.
I'm reading this while I'm the bathroom. I call it dung mung.
Losing is the new winning.
People can convince themselves of anything.
Is this mung related to mung beans?
Those goofy Koreans with their oddball ways.
Re: Leora:
Is this mung related to mung beans?
I don't believe so. This mung comes from 멍하다 (mung hada), which is to be dazed or spaced out. Mung beans aren't called "mung" in Korean but nokdu (I had to look this up because I think I've only ever had mung as sprouts, which are called sukju instead).
The "hitting mung" phrase referenced in the article is, I think, 멍때리기 (mund ddaerigi).
China syndrome? The virus formerly known as the Wuhan variant, formally known as SARS-CoV-2, that was sociopolitically elevated beyond its risk grade (planned parent/hood excepted), and above all other corona viruses before and coincident, is now endemic and probably has been since before the pathogen's spike protein was observed, replicated, and offered equity through silent spreader.
Hitting mung? I used to call that "going to work"
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