Reviews

Today we are going to look at a personal blog that chronicles the life of a Canadian student studying in South Korea. Have a look at Almost Urban: Canadian Student Living in South Korea at where you will not only get to meet Henry Finn, but learn a little bit about South Korean culture as you read his personal blog. Henry Finn is a third-year or junior student from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada who majors in economics and minors in East Asian studies. He is currently on exchange with Soon Chun Hyang University in Asan, South Korea. Henry intends on not just blogging about his experiences, but will be publishing his blog through Blurb to make a book that chronicles his life as an exchange student. Henry’s blog contains a little bit of everything, and you can get a true taste for his experiences from some of the most recent bloggeries: City Hall Hip-Hop/Pop Concert in Seoul Video Collection, McDonald’s McCafe Drinks Menu in Hong Kong, Myanmar Embassy in Seoul, Hotel Reservations Online, TVNGEL Girls on the KTX High Speed Train, Haeundae Beach in Pusan, Night out in Pusan, Short Trip to Daegu, English Paradise Camp Talent Show Finalists, and Car Angel Christian Charity.

You will find navigation on this blog very simple. Posts are left marginalized with black text on white background and links highlighted in a bright blue color. Many of the bloggeries come with relevant pictures appropriate to the post. In the right navigation bar you will find Henry Finn’s profile page, subscription links, an About Page, Recent Posts Menu, and various menus for travel or favorite links. You will also find archives dating back to when Henry first became an exchange student in June 2006, as well as a blidget for one of his companion blogs the Hallyu Technology Blog that contains quality Korean technology news. I did not see a categories menu in this blog, though I do note there are some labels attached to each post.

I will give this blog a 3.4/5 It is a fairly straightforward personal blog, but it could use some readership. I think the niche is interesting enough that it could attract a healthy following which would enhance its chances of publication if it went into a book. The navigation and appearance scores are standard which is typical for a personal journal style blog. The content was well written and would get additional points if the posting was done on a daily basis. Overall I found this to be a very interesting read and think others will as well. I think discovering those little things about other cultures are just fascinating and I know I am not alone in that thought process. I definitely give this blog a thumbs up to anyone that is considering a trip to South Korea.

-Chrissie

It is always fun to have a look at what other towns are doing and how their cultures are as unique as the individuals that contain them. The blog located at  is worthy of a look for just this purpose. This blog is called Exit 153 Holdingford Today and is written by one of the town’s councilmen Mike Odden. The blog posts updates and activities, news, events, and happenings in and around the town of Holdingford, MN. A look at any of the recent bloggeries will give you a good feel for the little Holdingford, with the most recent post a greeting from the New Emergency Siren in town. The blogger has attached a sound clip that most resembles this siren, and it adds a unique effect to the blog. Other bloggeries you will find interesting are The New Water Fountain, Holdingford Express Region 8C Champion, New Skateboarding Park, Lioness New Park Project, and the Francis Schroden in the National Leadership Conference of Business Professionals of America.

The blog is very easy to navigate and opens up to an unconventional white text on black background which really makes the pictures it offers stand out to the readers. Posts are left marginalized with a right navigation bar. In the right navigation bar you will find the Profile page, archives menu with recent posts available by links, blogroll, AdSense, and a categories menu. If there is something specific you are looking for in regards to Holdingford, you may find it in any of the comprehensive categories offered here: Business, City Project, Education, Event, Fireman, HIP, History, Petals to Pedals Garden Club, and so much more. You will also find that each bloggerie contains relevant pictures attached that add dimension to the blog as well as to the town it features.

I will give this blog a 2.5/5 overall and think with a few tweaks it could really make a presence for its town. The blog does well with appearance and uniqueness scores even given its choice of backgrounds. Sometimes the black background does not work in blogs but here I think it allows for the pictures to stand out and give meaning to the blog. I think if the blogger added the siren to the header, or somewhere as a main facet of the blog instead of simply in one post that it would be a unique addition to the blog. This is just a fun suggestion to add some depth to the blog, and the lack of the siren’s placement on a main section of the blog does not hinder the overall mark in any way. I think this blog loses most of its marks through content, and only because the blog only covers about 1/3 of each month at this point. I think the blogger could add a fun weekly headline, or perhaps a funny citizen story weekly, or even engage the town to submit their own headlines to add content to this blog. For appearance I would also suggest the blogger move the AdSense at the top of the right navigation bar to further down so that the blog ‘meat’ is the first thing the reader views as opposed to advertising. I do like however how effectively the AdSense has been formatted to blend with the background. Overall, I found this to be an interesting read, and I think if promoted well within the town, the blog could sustain a fun and engaged readership.

-Chrissie

When you are looking for a little bit of everything blog, you may want to take a minute to look at a blog called Current Affairs . The blog is written by Samundra and is written with the objective to bring to you breaking world news and current affairs that would ‘freak your brains’. Samundra writes on quite an eclectic group of topics which you can see in any of his recent bloggeries: Hypnosis coach; Bomb attack in India; Great time in Australia; JayZ, Hip Hop Cash King; No interest credit card; Looking for a bike rack; Indian Idol 3; Fun Time; Sanjaya dutta got the bail; and Velvet Clothes Shopping. You can see the eclectic mix of “Current Affairs” stems from Samundra’s affiliation with Pay Per Post which he is very forthright about in a disclaimer located in the right navigation bar. That being said, this blogger could never be short of topics to write about simply due to its eclectic mix.

Navigation with this blog is very straightforward, which is simply due to the simplicity of the blog as there is not much blog meat here other than bloggeries content. Posts here are left marginalized and there is a right navigation bar. Bloggeries are black text on white background with a pale green border and a blue header. In the right navigation bar you will find a links menu, subscription information, an impressive 252 reader feed burner, archives menu, and his PPP disclaimer. The blog has very few pictures within the posts from what I can see, and there is no categories menu or about page attached to this blog.

I am going with a 2.4/5 for this blog as simply, there was very little to appeal to me with this blog other than its content. I do give credit to this dedicated blogger who is currently blogging at a daily pace, however, this blog is simply a skeleton that could use some meat and original content. To connect more with current and future readers this blog would do well with an about page or profile page so the readership can get a feel for where the writer is coming from. I also think a categories menu would do this blog a world of good given the wide topic range within the blog. I personally did not quite understand what the blog was actually about until I spent some time with it which could hurt potential readership. Further, the blog has some spelling errors that need to be looked at, the most obvious one being in the header, which I think could prevent attracting new readers. So I think spellcheck during posting would definitely benefit the content. Many people that stumble across it may not spend the time simply to get to know the blogger. So I do recommend that some meat get added to this blog to make it stand out a little bit.

-Chrissie