The end of October

Smells of ripe Persimmon mix with sewage and spoiled kimchi as the wind hastens itself in preperation for winter.

Had a Persimmon feast for dinner a few nights after walking across the city on an impromtu self dare.

You find what you need when you aren't looking.

On my ipod-accompanied journey I stumbled into many great stores, including an Art supply store and a second-hand store.

I gathered some discount acrylics and successfully bartered for the only coat that had sleeves that went past my wrists.

Sports Day at Yeonmu!

Once or twice a year public schools have a Sports Day. Students wear bright t-shirts that they designed as a class to show their spirit. Energy is high as students, teachers and parents enjoy this day, dedicated to a wide variety of physical activities. There is something for everyone: Traditional Korean wrestling, tug of war, strength competitions, chicken fighting, soccer, 3-legged races, running, funny costumes, basketball and handball. Obviously, with all these activities, you have to have a halftime show... complete with suggestive dancers and bouncy cheerleaders. Whatever the activity, today is all about school spirit, building community and getting the competitive juices flowing.

Mi Casa

Finally some photo's of my place to give you an idea of where I hibernate.

I actually cooked today, so you can imagine my apartment smelling fantastic!.... I made curried chicken with tons of garlic and red pepper. I cooked with the aromatic and rich sesame oil, throwing in some spinach, onions, mushrooms and peppers which I bought at the market. For me, cooking is a rarity, although I love to cook, a lot of the foods I love are ridiculously expensive. I typically I survive on cereal, fruit, tuna and ramen. In Korea, it is expensive to cook and when you look at my kitchen you will see that I don't have a lot of space to chop and stir.

I've actually noticed that it is just as cheap, often cheaper to eat at a restaurant than to buy ingredients and cook for yourself at home.

Class trip to Grand Park

~my attempts to take a picture where everyone is looking at the camera~



We swapped desks, books and uniforms for a day out in Seoul.
The weather was fantastic and the students were given freedom to choose their own adventure.

Fireworks on the Han

There were literally millions of people there and the subway was a rock concert mosh pit experience!!! Surprisingly, I didn't lose the 3 people I went with and of course, met new people along the way... it is humbling to have a conversation with a stranger when your noses are 3 centimeters away and you forgot to put on antiperspirant that day. The fireworks were exceptional and the "Ooooh's" and "Ahhhhh's" of the well-behaved crowd were like music.
Taking pictures of fireworks is tricky, their firey personality makes them prone to movement, they can't sit still but at least they never forget to smile.

Korean Fork Village

I thrive on the many entertaining uses of English that I come across... from the Korean McDonalds 'Hot for You' slogan to signs that advertise 'Korean Fork Village'. I have had the opportunity to spend a day at Korean Folk Village in Yongin.
A Korean wishing tree~ I wished for good health for my family.

Eun Joo & I

Taerye- Korean Wedding Ceremony

In Korea a wedding represents more than the joining of two individuals, it is the bonding of two families.
Taerye (a Korean Wedding ceremony) is often an elaborate ordeal with many bows, gestures and rituals. Steeped in Confucian values, the ceremonies included plenty of food, music and dancing.

The Korean wedding has four main principals...

The first is the physical relationship between the man and woman, that it be monogamous and fruitful.

Second, that the couple respect each other with love and endure each other in all sufferings.

Thirdly, they have a common social life which is called a household. The household of the newly wed couple is the beginning of their own background in social community. They bear children and bring them up in a comfortable environment. There are a lot of responsibilities in a marriage... especially for the woman!

Finally, the wedding follows one organization. The organization is a synthetical rule like a custom, morality or law.
The wedding values act as a principle which guides the couples behaviour through to achieve standardized goals.

Ttok

Using a few high quality ingredients which we acquired from the markets, I was taught how to make Traditional Korean Rice cakes for Cheu sok! Using a special rice flour, you add water to make dough and let it rise slightly. Much like pizza dough, the rice flour dough must be carefully kneaded until it is ready to be used. Then you use your hands to roll it into shape, fill it with brown sugar or black beans and carefully fold over the top.

We also made green and purple Ttok by adding grapes and spinach to the dough.

After all the dough has been used the Ttok are brushed with water and sesame oil, then steamed on a bed of pine needles.

Namdaemun Market (Seoul)

A candy maker spends her days on the street expertly melting sugar to create delicious treats.


Roulette for kids!... Choose your numbers then throw the dart at the spinning wheel to win giant sugar scultpures!

Making rice cookies in the street

Delicious performance art!


Put the crabs in the bucket... if you can catch them! These guys were wildly alive, I laughed hysterically at them crawling all over the sidewalk!


A longshot- It wasn't a busy day at Namdaemun so we were lucky.


I learned how to make these traditional Korean rice cakes.

In the centre of the city exists a must-see traditional Korean market.
The vendors, cooks, artists and tourists make Namdaemun market a Seoulful place to visit.

Grab a cup of Korean sweet iced tea and experience culture in action.

Buddhist Temple

About Buddha

Every living being has the same basic wish - to be happy and to avoid suffering. Even newborn babies, animals, and insects have this wish. It has been our main wish since beginningless time and it is with us all the time, even during our sleep. We spend our whole life working hard to fulfil this wish.

Since this world evolved, human beings have spent much time and energy improving external conditions in their search for happiness and a solution to their many problems. What has been the result? Instead of their wishes being fulfilled, human suffering has continued to increase while the experience of happiness and peace is decreasing. This clearly shows that we need to find a true method for gaining pure happiness and freedom from misery.

When things go wrong in our life and we encounter difficult situations we tend to regard the situation itself as the problem, but in reality whatever problems we experience come from the side of the mind. If we were to respond to difficult situations with a positive or peaceful mind they would not be problems for us; indeed we may even come to regard them as challenges or opportunities for growth and development. Problems arise only if we respond to difficulties with a negative state of mind. Therefore, if we want to be free from problems we must learn to control our mind.