A young dancer’s naive dream of working in the Far East turns into a nightmare.She finds herself in a plethora of situations which she is ill-equipped to deal with. Dancing her way across South Korea with two friends, she is propositioned by the Mafia, turned away by the British Embassy, caught in a student riot, and taken to Korean brothels.At times both shocking and humorous, this is the story … humorous, this is the story of a timid young girl finding her voice and learning to stand up for herself in a male-orientated world of alcohol, sex and seedy nightclubs.
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The majority of my reading centers on fiction; however, autobiographical books enter the queue every so often. This week, I’m reading and reviewing ‘Fishnets In The Far East: A Dancer’s Diary in Korea’ by Michele E. Northwood. If there ever were a topic I knew nothing about, this would take the cake… so it’s quite the fun experience to relive someone else’s life when it’s completely new to me on every possible level. One thing is for sure, even if I couldn’t personally relate to the events Michele has gone through, she is a wonderful author who can clearly bring to the surface the emotions of a very complex period in her life.
With almost two decades of her life completed, a brave young woman sets forth to join a dance troupe that’s leaving for six months in Korea. She know little about the country or the people that will be in her close circle of acquaintances and possibly friends, and must somehow entertain an entirely different culture of people. Oh yeah, I forgot… this took place a few decades ago, so it’s not quite as modernized as many of us might know today. WOW! I give this woman credit for taking a huge risk, and while she’s here to tell the story, it’s clear to any reader who invested in this story, her life was not at all easy during that time period.
Without delving into cultural differences, I’ll make a bold statement and say: “Men sometimes are idiots.” What a bunch of crazed lunatics put Michele and her dance sisters through was absolutely ridiculous, but for us readers, it will bring lots of hilarious and yikes moments. Northwood cleverly shows us how she survived, not in any typical manner, as collecting one’s salary and getting from place to place might result in your unsuspecting death. Kudos to the author for being able to relive these absurd (only because of what her fellow dancers and the Koreans did to her) moments long enough to dazzle us. I kept thinking… “hmm… I might have been put in prison if someone tried that with me!” There’s a lesson here… and thankfully, Northwood survived to share it with us.
While the tale is written in chronological order, and not at all like journal entries, it easily felt like we had glimpses into key moments of that six-month experience: some were positive and powerful, others were heartfelt and worrisome. When Michele’s sister considers going to join the troupe, I might’ve tried to jump through the pages to stop her! Thanks for that moment, Northwood… you pulled me into your story and made me want to change reality.
What a great way to share your past! Not only entertaining but equally as eye-opening, this was a fascinating read. I’m excited to find out what happens in the next edition of the series… when Michele goes to Japan – a culture I know more about but at the same time wonder… might things get better or worse for her? Imagine knowing her in real life and seeing what your friend went through to become the strong and admirable person she is today? A definite recommend for a different style of book that might be a perfect summer read to broaden a reader’s horizons about life in the real world.
Although this story is based on the actual events that unfolded for the author, it read like a marvelous piece of fiction, full of intriguing characters, vibrant settings, and both colorful and sometimes shocking experiences. It wasn’t just a memoir, but a peek into another culture from the perspective of an ordinary person. So often other cultures are portrayed to us through actors, musicians, or politicians, who all experience those cultures as highly respected (sometimes!) and often privileged points of view. This story delves into the life of a young, female dancer with whom any reader can truly relate. She makes difficult decisions, she gets into a few unsavory situations, and she is treated quite differently than she may have expected, but she perseveres. Through her remarkable journey, she expands her understanding of the world around us. She finds herself not only facing situations she never imagined she’d face, but coming through them with a broader awareness and stronger spirit than when she began.
Exotic, scandalous, and often vexing, Fishnets is a captivating tale that will also open your eyes.
It’s hard to believe this is a true story, with all the twists and turns and funny moments. A writer needed a really good imagination to come up with this! Stranger than fiction indeed. This is the story of misadventures of three young female dancers in male-dominated South Korea in the 80s, with weird similarities to the current climate in the US. It’s amazing that the author (thankfully) survived her ordeals and now can tell us her story. Very funny and exceedingly entertaining, with relatable and real characters (dah!). Highly recommended.
Michele Northwood has quite the story to tell. This is truly a memoir like none I’ve ever read before. Most memoirs tell a tale overcoming obstacles in one way or another, many that I’ve read are stories by people who have gone through such events that are utterly shocking and heart wrenching. In this story of a young dancer in Korea in 1989-1990, when tension was high as the north and south countries were on extremely rocky grounds, the experiences are not quite what one would expect! Michele’s days as a traveling dancer are unique, and full of rich culture and history.
Michele, as a part of a trio dance group, was thrown into some dodgy places and circumstances, mainly by their not so professional and caring agent. Mr. Lee sounded mostly like a careless mess to me, sending them from one low class establishment to another, refusing pay, and aside from the occasional dining out, he could care less about the health of his dancers.
One thing I really enjoyed about this book is the comrederee of Louise and Sharon, the other two girls in Michele’s dancing group. Full of ups and downs; the laughs mixed in with fighting tooth and nail both with and at times against each other was very heartfelt. Louise is full of spitfire and grit, which undoubtedly kept them all alive and fed at times, but it also got her into quite the scary situations, even being beaten severely. Sharon, for the most part paved her own path, and went her own way more often than not. She had many boyfriends, and although she cared for both Michele and Louise, she wasn’t always attached at the hip to them. Michele’s point of view reads very smoothly and descriptively.
The trio never really knew when or where they were to dance, so they had to be ready and on their toes at all times. Sometimes they’d have several shows a night, being forced to change and prepare between sets in awful places and situations, and many times without pay. Sometimes they’d go days on end without a job, their cash supply dwindling to practically nothing. They modeled, they danced improv on podiums (which sounds awfully degrading, but based on much of the dancer’s lifestyles around them, it could have been so very much worse!), they were pursued, chased down, groped, and constantly looking over their shoulders.
At one point Michele lost a thousand dollar job, which was absolutely detrimental. At one point she and Louise had to visit a dentist, and after witnessing what Louise went through in this less than professional office, Michele decided to live with the pain and walk away.
Amidst the leaky roofs, abuse from crowds, and escaping the clutches of several potentially life altering situations from self-entitled men with no regard for women and their sexual independence, the trio also experienced beauty in Korea. They saw some beautiful places, met quite the variety of people, and they traveled to several cities. Michele’s sister also came to the country toward the tail end of Michele’s time there. Lucky, she was placed with a more credible manager, and her stay had much more potential for success right out the gate.
I really enjoyed this book, and my hat is off to Michele for her strength and fearless perseverance in a career that she clearly loved very much.
It’s memoir of a time not so long ago when three English women are sent to South Korea as a dancing troupe. Things do not go quite as planned. The housing isn’t good and before the tour is over, it is downright dangerous. South Korea is still a male dominated culture and there is no respect for nearly nude dancers. Their “shows” continue to appear in the lower class clubs and bars. Their agent often withholds their funds and hunger can be a problem at times. Somehow they manage to stay the distance and finish the tour. They even have time to do some touring. It is definitely an experience not to be forgotten, particularly the rat in the bedroom. They, however, braved it to the end.
Memoir of a Young Dancer
As a memoir, this story threw me back in time, not just to the early 1980s when this story takes place, but way back into my own youth. The times were carefree, more secure, and no one really worried about travel, especially to foreign countries. This writing recounts some of the history of a young dancer who travels to Korea. Dancing is her profession and she takes a chance of a lifetime opportunity to travel, doing what she loves. One had to wonder as the story moves along, if this young girl had fallen into the wrong hands and the offer to dance may have been a cover for something else a little sinister.
All countries are not as up-to-date and organized and offer the same opportunities as the country from which she originates. Hailing from England, this young girl and her two partners in the show do not give up. The three persist, despite Michele and Louise having to tolerate Sharon’s strange and self-centered behavior. They face many unexpected surprises during the six-month duration, including a talent or booking agent at whom I felt like screaming. The girls endure third-world accommodations and food, while dancers in other groups have it a lot better. Their agent is lackluster, seemed to have very little regard about the girls having food to eat and he seldom paid them on time. He placed them in clubs seemingly lacking in good talent; they are having no choice but to honor their contracts. Through the read, I wondered how these girls were able to endure the hardship this man caused. But then, I realized how much the girls loved to dance. That was the reason for taking advantage of such an opportunity, again, during a time when girls could travel far away from home.
I was surprised when Michele’s sister arrived in a dance troupe about the time Michele was to leave. And then at the end of the story, I was surprised to read about Michele seriously considering the next offer the travel and dance in yet another foreign country. But she had, in fact, matured greatly through this experience. The new offer was a lead into the next book, the next memoir. I hope to read the next experience is a better one, if only to show these girls had learned their lessons well, as you can see happening as the story moves along.
Throughout this read I had to keep reminding myself that it was a true story, the adventures of a British dancer, a world away from home. The prose is witty & detailed, as we follow three young ladies on their tour of Korea although there are highs & lows as with any trip overseas. The cultural differences are noteworthy, so blatantly different are the foods, customs & language that they endure on a daily basis. Along the way, I felt myself inwardly cheering the girls on but was ready to strangle their manager, Mr.Lee! I had so much sympathy for the author’s younger self but congratulate her on putting down her memoirs in a deliciously exciting and entrancing read.
I’m not a non-fiction reader, but this book reads almost like fiction. In fact, it proves the fact that real life can be stranger than fiction. I found the adventures of Michele and her two fellow dancers when they spent 6-months living and working in Korea to have all the elements of an intriguing story — part comedy, part drama with action, humor, and lots of insight into Korean culture. Michele related her experiences in a manner that made you feel like you were living them yourself. I cringed at the depiction of the hotel room with the rats and my heart beat fast at the parts where the women were warned about shootings in the area in which they were staying. I picked up some facts about Korean food and popular phrases such as Deep Joy. I can’t wait to read the author’s next tale taking place in Japan.
Fishnets In The Far East by Michele E. Northwood is a memoir of her experience at nineteen-years-old as a dancer in 1989 South Korea. This is a memorable, intriguing, eye-opening, and at times comical, and infuriating read of three young women experiencing the seedy side of the entertainment business in a male-dominated society.
Contracted for six months to dance at various clubs across South Korea, they find themselves after every performance fighting their dishonest agent Mr. Lee for their due pay, and living in rat-and roach-infested hotels, eating unhealthy fare to survive, and propositioned almost every night by unsavory men. The girls rarely see the nicer side of the country, but when they’re given the chance to do so, they realized they’ve been performing in the sleaziest sections of the city.
Michelle, Louise, and Sharon, members of the dance trio, never met before this trip to South Korea, and as Michele notes, different in every aspect.
“… we were hardly the epitome of the perfect dance trio. Sharon stood five foot four inches tall, rounded and plump, with long, straight, blond hair. Louise was five eight, buxom, with a mane of shoulder-length curly black hair and the most impressive pair of breasts I had ever seen! Then there was me; five foot seven, long ginger hair, built like a beanpole and totally flat-chested!”
The dance environments they’re asked to perform are less than professional, and the typical patrons, sordid men with no interest in their talents but body.
“After the audition, we were forced to sit at a table with the owner and Mr. Lee as they haggled over prices and drank whiskey. I felt like a piece of merchandise and no longer a member of the human race, as the owner of the club eyed the three of us up and down evaluating our worth.”
Through all the trials-disrespect, struggling to exist on a small pay in unhealthy environments, surviving a gas attack during a political uprising, Michele finds the strength within to stand up for herself and fight for the girls’ rights.
“If we have been given nine lives for this contract, then we must be down to about four now!”
Though this was not the experience she’d bargained for, Michele gained a valuable lesson, and a cultural experience she’ll never forget.
“…over the past six months, I had had to learn to stand up for myself I realized that the only way to survive in this male orientated world was to be confrontational. If not, the female sex would be constantly taken advantage of again and again; walked on; belittled and ignored.”
Fishnets In The Far East is a fast-paced read that captured my attention from the first page. I highly recommend Michele Northwood’s story.
Michele went to Korea for six months in the 90s. She was very young at the time, only twenty years old. She turned 21 in the trip. She went to dance with two other girls. They were very different in shapes and sizes, and that ended up being a little bit of a problem for her, which we know later on.
The other two girls were very distinctive. One was Rachel, who was young but had gone there before, so she became the head of the trio. She was a little bit of a narcissist. And there was Louise, who
was a don’t take s%#@t from anybody kind of woman. So Louise was a very important presence in Michele’s life.
Michele went there being very kind, very non-confrontational. Because of things that happened in the trip, and because of Louise’s presence, she learned to stand up for herself as she became her own woman.
So this is a really fascinating of the book.
Full review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHyqj34vIKY
Now this one is a resounding first. It’s a memoir! That’s right, I’m reading non-fiction!
Though I’ll admit the antics this author’s suffered in the hands of Korean chauvinistic men would make an excellent movie. It’s almost like fiction, the drama, misadventures, the humor – they all boil down to a fantastic, somewhat frightful, six months in Korea. I could never tell if the next scene would grip me with tension or laughter.
“Here,” said Louise throwing me an empty coffee jar, “Trap it under there, then we can slide some paper underneath it and throw it out of the window.” After a couple of failed attempts – because I lost my nerve whenever it moved – it was finally trapped inside the upturned coffee jar. I then began the process of sliding a folded piece of paper underneath. I was hoping that the cockroach would facilitate the procedure and oblige by stepping onto the stationary, but this one had other ideas. “Oh My God! It’s eating the paper!” I screamed. Sure enough a sizeable chunk had gone from the folded piece of stationary and we could actually hear it munching! This made the thought of actually picking it up decidedly more daunting! “I vote that we just leave it where it is for now!” I said. “We can think about moving it later!” It was unanimously agreed that the cockroach was going nowhere, so we kept it in our room, under the coffee jar and named him Clive. Even the cleaners seemed to respect his position on the carpet and hovered carefully around him. Maybe they thought that Europeans were decidedly weird to want to keep a cockroach as a pet, but they played along.”
Neither of the three dancers – Michelle and her two mates, spoke Korean, or were savvy enough to deal with the rudeness, forwardness, and all the declarations of love they received, but they learned, as the saying goes, by the seats of their pants.
I’m impressed Michelle didn’t break down and run back home. No, despite all the mistreatment she and her group endured, they went on, auditioning for the next dance, and the next and the next, enduring all the poor quality of the clubs they had to perform in – even in strip clubs!
And then they had their agent, Mr. Lee, so frugal, they had to haggle every time they wanted to get paid – and hunt him down too. I believe he was taking advantage of their ‘free audition’ too.
I had wondered at the end if Michelle had taken enough and if she’d ask to go home before the six month’s contract was over, but she held on and I could totally relate when she felt nostalgic leaving Korea at the end. It was a chapter of her life where she learned so much, despite not all being nice.
I can’t wait to read this author’s next book, currently at the making, somewhere in Japan.
Totally recommend this one!
The Ups and Downs of Young Dancer in the Dark Belly of South Korea.
A shady agent, Mister Lee, contracts a group of naïve English female dancers to perform many times a night in what turn out to be some of the worst possible venues in South Korea. Paid erratically, eating mostly the cheapest food, sleeping, if possible, in cramped and dirty hotels, some with tiny rooms rented by the hour, three young women survive character challenges that would have sent lesser mortals, including me, scurrying home. Such is the resilience of these women.
The author relates the true story of her six-month adventure/nightmare with engaging good humor despite her horrible work conditions and the cultural challenges. Korean men are not awarded medals for their drunken behaviour: groping the dancers, wanting to get in their dressing rooms as well as their pants, and generally treating them like loose women. Not all is rosy within her dance group either: six months is a long time to spend cooped up with an irritating companion.
Highly recommended for those who prefer a look at the darker side of adventure before they think of finding their own Mister Lee. I look forward to reading the author’s upcoming book based on wearing her fishnets in Japan. If she survived South Korea, she must be able to survive Japan.
I started this not knowing it was a real diary of events and situations undergone by the author as a dancer in Korean clubs for six months. At first it seemed like a comedic tale gone wrong, then I began to understand the author was telling her story. From that point on I enjoyed the tale immensely. From the rat infested hotels to the manager who never seemed to want to pay for the girls “shows,” to their nickname in Seoul (the Elephant Show–but not the author, only the other two girls), to the constant battle of sexes going on in Korea this was a great read. It amazed me to learn the extent of the male dominance in Korea because my only real connection to Korean women has been watching them play golf on television. If the number of propositions Michelle received had been translated into money she would have been set for life, but she maintained steadfastly through it all, refusing to become what the Korean men thought she was all the time. A really fun read, this one, and well worth the five stars.
The author grabs your attention and pulls you into the suspenseful story from the first page! The descriptions of the characters and the locations heighten the intensity and builds drama. Each stop in her travels through Asia had its own rules and customs. Northwood breaks the code with surprising, and often witty storytelling of a dancer on tour abroad.
The interaction of the characters while making sense of their new dance contract, temporary housing, and living in a strange land with people they just met carried a mother lode of emotions. You’ll find yourself flipping through the pages to see what happens next.
This is an exciting coming-of-age story brilliantly detailing the locations, cultural differences, and historical monuments traveled during her six month stay in the Far East. The traveling dance troop were often in harm’s way because of political tensions, bad information, youthful impulses, and an Asian agent bent upon self-preservation leaving the girls often in dire straits.
This novel is based on a true story from the diaries of Michele E. Northwood. She and two young ladies, Sharon and Louise, set off on an adventure in Asia. Their English agent secured a contract for the trio to dance in clubs. From the get-go, things went awry.
The agent in England sent a flier to their agent in Seoul with the wrong photos. When arriving, he expected the girls from an earlier response. Finding venues for this new dance troop with different physical characteristics provided an angry reaction from him and meager wages for the troop.
This is a page-turner with plenty of background info and noted hindsight from a youthful adventure. This is a must-read memoir for suspense lovers.
A Very Interesting True Story
At nineteen, the author was the youngest of a trio of British dancers who contracted to perform in South Korea for six months in 1989. It was certainly a memorable adventure but the ladies were not prepared for the negative experiences that were thrust upon them: dirty, rat infested rooms; drunken patrons in the Korean night clubs; assaults; threats; a sleazy Korean agent who refused to pay them much of the money they were due until they were boarding their plane for home, causing them to practically live in poverty most of the six months they were there; and much more. During the six months, the author matured and became a determined survivor by focusing on the good experiences and valiantly suppressing the negatives as best she could. Definitely an interesting read.
Fishnets in the Far East: A Dancer’s Diary in Korea offers an entertaining perspective, albeit shockingly eye-opening, on a dancer’s six-month Korean tour back in 1989. Young, and underprepared for an extremely disparate culture, she embarks on a tumultuous adventure that vastly accelerates her personal development.
The reader will not only be privy to this young woman’s escapades in a strongly male-oriented society, but also to the inner workings of her prefrontal cortex development as she meets the many challenges this trip has in store for her and her two dancing companions!
Meet Korea, 1989—not only the obviously tourism-oriented elegant haunts but also the rat-infested, bug-ridden, down-to-earth commoner’s digs, as well as some of the historical landmarks at that time.
As Michele and her companions find themselves, more often than not, keeping company with the down-to-earth common Koreans, with only occasional jaunts into the posh side of the country, the reader is graced with a more balanced view of Korea and its people in that time period. Beautiful scenery abounds in Korea, and Michele does not leave us hanging here either. Picnics, walks, and even a hair-raising motorbike ride provide the reader with the armchair travel experience of a lifetime. So, pull up that chair, put your feet up, and tour Korea—through a dancer’s eyes!
Note: There are typos, and other grammatical errors in this book; however, that does not detract from the beauty of the tale in any way. I have it from the author, that her book is currently in the hands of an editor, and a new edition will likely follow.