An expat 10s rugby union league in Korea is set to kick off its 2012 season on March 10.Expat rugby was first played in Korea by Seoul Wanderers in 1972. In 1978, U.S. military rugby teams formed and the Wanderers were reborn as Seoul Survivors. Despite the relatively long history of amateur rugby in Korea, as well as the long establishment of the Korea Rugby Union, it wasn’t until last year that eight amateur teams consisting of U.S. military and expat clubs began playing a league competition.C

Expat comedy club Stand-up Seoul is celebrating its third-anniversary Thursday, having quickly gained a reputation both in the expat community and among traveling comics. Stand-up Seoul was the first English comedy club in the city and has evolved from a small group of friends into an expat hot spot. “I remember the first ever Stand-up Seoul show. There was a group of about 10 people just friends of friends and now our show packs the room every month with up to 80 people,” spokesp

After being contacted “by a mysterious envoy with a briefcase full of unmarked currency,” comedian James Adomian was reluctant to accept an invitation to perform in Seoul. After the deal was sweetened with an offer for a hotel, he eventually agreed and is set to perform at the amateur comedy club Stand-up Seoul at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon on Friday and Saturday. Adomian follows in the footsteps of fellow L.A. comedy scene regular, Kyle Kinane who recommended him to Stand-u

Korea International Students Support Association will host a forum on policy development for international students Tuesday.The forum will invite specialists on international student policies who will present studies, point out policy weaknesses and recommend solutions. International students will also speak on issues that affect them and discuss ways to assist students and universities.There has been an abrupt increase in the number of international students at universities, with around 90,000

An essay that used barley as a central theme to highlight the experiences of Ireland and Korea has won the Irish-Korean Essay contest.Ro Seong-ja wrote the essay that got the top-prize in the competition run by the Irish Association of Korea and supported by the Irish Embassy and the Dublin-based Emerald Cultural Institute.“‘Barley -- A story of Resilience’ is a piece of evocative, imaginative and informative writing,” the association said in a release. “It weaves a tale of the personal and the

Culture Ministry announces plans to eradicate tourist rip-offs, increase number of licensed tour guidesA Japanese tourist who took a call van from Dongdaemun to Chungmuro, both in central Seoul, was taken aback when the driver demanded 330,000 won for the 2 km ride. The driver even locked up the protesting tourist in the car for five minutes. Another group of Japanese tourists was told to pay 50,000 won for one kimchijeon (a Korean-style pancake made with kimchi) and two bottles of beer at a cov

Women are more likely than men to delete friends from their online social networks and tend to choose more restrictive privacy settings, according to a study published on Friday.The study by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project also found that men were nearly twice as likely

MIAMI BEACH, Florida (AP) ― The foul-mouthed, self-proclaimed wild girls of the food world are making no apologies for their success.Alex Guarnaschelli, Gabrielle Hamilton, Debi Mazar and Nadia G have all become big names in culinary circles thanks, in no small part, to their naughty-yet-nice personalities. And on Saturday they used their loud-and-proud voices to vent during a panel discussion at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival.Being a woman in an industry dominated by men is not easy, th

MILAN (AP) ― Miuccia Prada never met her designing compatriot Elsa Schiaparelli in life but the two are being united in an exhibit on the sidelines of Milan Fashion Week.The Metropolitan Museum of Art has paired designs by the two female Italian stylists from decidedly different eras in what it calls “an impossible conversation” ― impossible because it never happened.Prada, 62, expressed surprise when asked if she had ever met Schiaparelli ― only to be reminded that she had died in 1973 at age 8

BORDEAUX (AFP) ― The world’s largest producer of alcohol from goji berries and an elusive tycoon have become the latest super rich Chinese investors to invest in Bordeaux wine estates.Already a prized investment for the increasingly wine-savvy Chinese, five more chateaux in the heart of France’s most renowned wine country have been snapped up in the past few weeks.Zhang Jinshan, 48, founder of the Ningxia Hong group based in northwestern China, bought Chateau du Grand Moueys from its German owne