Pictures but no text

Seoul.
Namsan Tower.
Locks that couples in love hang on the Namsan Tower fence. Eternal love!


Buddha B-day May 12. Yogyesa Temple.


Seoul by night from Namsan Tower.
Namsan Tower.
A Korean guy jumps into the water to save his shoes that a group of girls had thrown in....they were giggling Korean style...
Overview of Chongyechon.


Candles from Yogyesa.
Pictures from Seoul South Korea.
//m

Happy Birthday Buddha..

Buddha's birthday was May 12.
A big chunk of Korea stood still that day...even I had the day off. I took the opportunity to walk around Seoul and get some more Korean culture in me....visited a temple, a famous park, drank 5-taste-tea, went up in Namsan tower at night to get a pretty view... All in all it was a great day. I did all that walking around with a coworker, his girlfriend, and some of his friends visiting from the States.

Here are some quotes from a newly arrived expat J who has never been in Asia before:
1. We were drinking tea in a traditional Korean tea house. I asked expat J what he wanted as I was holding the tea menu in front of him (meaning what kind of tea) when he responded "well, I guess I'll have tea".
2. Expat J got his tea and I asked him if he liked it (he was drinking 5-taste-tea which I absolutely love) and he responded "it kinda' tastes like Gatorade".
Pictures coming soon.....

Tea, Kneebones and Prunes......all in the name of Korea

Above: Myeong-Dong. Had dinner there one night. This was the view from the table.
Above: Dinner in Myeong-Dong.
Above: One of the many parks in Seoul.
Above: Korean menu...kneebone for dinner anyone????
Above: A cup of 5-taste-tea.
Above: Strangest, and most humorous, gift to me from a student: a container of prunes. NO, I had NOT hinted that I had a certain problem....HAHAHA
Above: "Crime in Korea is down"...cops on the phone...
Above: Korean snack...not my kind of snack...
Above: Street performers in Hongdae.
Above: Myoen-Dong. Had dinner there one eve. This was the view from the table.

These are some random Seoul pictures. Hope this give you all a clue of what my life is like.
//m

Catchlight, Hongdae, Seoul, South Korea

I did a small freelance shoot for Catchlight, a club in Korea. Here are a few of the pictures from that night.
//m

Sverige o Svenskarna

Hej.

Detta inlagg blir pa svenska...fast utan prickar pa de sista tre bokstaverna...detta inlagg ar for Jin, Patrik, Tobias o alla andra som forstar ett ord av vad jag sager.

Sa jag fick till sist i alla fall tummer ur roven o gjorde en liten turist trevlig tur till Namsan Tower/Seoul Tower. Ni trodde val jag skulle saga att gjort en liten resa till Pusan eller JejeuDo och sa kommer jag med Namsan Tower....jo, men sa blev det. Men det var faktiskt vart det...tummer ur roven alltsa. Jag akte inte upp i tornet...hade inte lust att betala 80 spann for att titta pa utsikten genom ett fonster...i stallet gick jag runt uppe pa marken som ocksa hade utsikts deck, frisk luft, solnedgang...etc.
Uppe pa utsikts platsen fanns hundratals las...sana man anvander for att halla snorungar borta fran kallare forradet...i alla fall sa har de last fast de pa stangslet som skyddar fran att nan ska hoppa o do. Lasena ar alla vackert inristade med namn..eller bra skrivna pa med en sharpie...karleken ar evig on man skriver sitt o sin davarande pojkvans namn pa ett las o laser fast det pa Namsan Tower...det visste ni val?!?!?
Naturligtvis lar man ocksa kla sig i matchande fula T-shirts nar man aker till Namsan...inte snygga T-shirts atminstonde, utan extra fula. Detta var naturligtvis natt jag lade marke till...

Forutom detta har jag ocksa visiterat, ocksa denna gang tog det kraft att pa tummen ur..., ett slott (??) i Suwon. Jag, tva koreaner o en polack...var dar.

Satter upp blider nar jag far tummen ur igen...fast det kanske tar ett tag....man kan ju inte ta ur den for ofta....

Ha det sa bra.
//m

Starting May 2008 with a few misc. pics from da Seoully

This is Danny and one of the kids at the orphanage.
A girl at the orphanage.
One of the Korean volunteers at the orphanage with one of the many kids there.
A boy at the orphanage.
A view from some tall building that I ended up in when I was randomly dragged to some Korean kid's 100-day party. Turning 100 days old is a big deal here.
A nice day along 하ㄴ강.

Subway entertainment.
A boy at the orphanage.
The hand of a boy at the orphanage. This kid was amazing at drawing!! Here, he was teaching me Korean. I learned HEAD, SHOULDER, KNEE, EYES, MOUTH, NOSE, EARS, NECK and to his joyful laughter BUTT. The paper he wrote on is now taped up on my wall in my room.

안영
The kids at the orphanage are NOT actual orphans. They are kids from broken homes. Sometimes they see their parents. Most of the times, they are at the orphanage. I was told that none of them will be sold...I mean adopted.

OTHER THAN THAT:
I am well. The sun is warm. The flowers are blooming. I have met some really nice people. I am learning the culture still - and loving it. I AM SOOO HAPPY!!!

Spring in Korea with Humpty-Dumpty and and and and and PRIDE!!!

It's been a while since I blogged...I've been busy with work and stuff. Let me explain... Life in Korea is more time consuming than you might think...texting on the phone takes time, walking to the subway takes time, enjoying the moments takes a lot of time. OK, those are really bad excuses, but truthfully I've been very absorbed in living in the moment...AND I'M LOVING IT!

Korea is a beautiful place and I feel a sense of belonging that I've never felt before...not in this way anyhow. I have truly learned (and am still learning) to live in the moment and to appreciate the small things. Small things make me smile. Small things are sometimes very meaningful.

Let me give you an example. This morning I woke up from a random text from someone that had obviously texted the wrong number. The message was in Korean. I didn't know who it was from and since I have friends that speak Korean I wasn't sure if this was from a friend...so I texted back "who is this?" Well, the conversation went something like this:
Stranger: bla bla bla (in Korean)
Marie: Who is this? (in English)
Stranger: Go home yankee (in English)
Marie: I am at home
Stranger: you humpty dumpty (meaning white on the outside, but feeling Korean on the inside)
Marie: I am Korean and I'm proud of it.
Stranger: You make me laugh.
End of Conversation.

Mainpoint: It's the first time I've said "I am Korean and I'm proud of it." WHAT A BREAK THROUGH HUH!?!?

Gotta go...my students are waiting...that would be Scott, Andy, Theo and Jihwan...