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But here are a couple of pics I took at one of Yena’s art exhibitions
This weekend, but I forgot to tell you about the first time I left Seoul and traveled to another city in Korea. It was sadly 7 and a half months after I had been here, but better late than never.
Busan is a beach town kinda like San Francisco to Seoul’s NY… which means they’re not at all similar. But I went with Yena and my friends Woody and Kat, who are friends I have made through an online foreigner site in Korea.
Anyway, we didn’t have any plans for a hotel when we got there, but Kat had typed up a list of nearby hotels and we called the one that looked the most interesting: The Galaxy. Which turned out to be a “love motel” as they call them here, a place for lovers to go since everybody who’s young in Korea lives with their parents. It had a very 70s Vegas feel (from what I imagine 70s Vegas must have been like), or rather, a very cheap 70s Vegas… round bed that sadly didn’t revolve, painted stars on the ceilings, a very diverse and free video selection…. classy is all I can say.
That day we went to an aquarium, walked along the beach, shopped a bit, and just had a good time.
Hopefully I’ll have some more pics soon, this time of Andong, a traditional village about 4 hours away from Seoul. Until then…
of Korea’s democracy. The history goes something like this: Before 1987, Korea was ruled by a dictatorship. When college students protested and a couple were killed by police, the Korean people overthrew the government and it became a democracy.
I’m not sure about details, but the festival was very very cool. The woman in white on stage listed off names of the dead in a very emotional throaty growl, and then performed a traditional Korean dance.
The girl in the photos is my friend, Kim.
You’ve never met my girlfriend?
Or her Rabbit, Poachie?
is a little creek that runs through my neighborhood. It was built two years ago by the mayor of Seoul who wanted to clean up this part of town since it used to be dirty and full of homeless people. It’s about as nature as you can get in my neck of the woods, but it serves its purpose. It’s amazing how just a little grass and some running water is enough to remind you of the natural beauty of things….
I went strolling with one of my favorite students, Miya, and took some photos.
The last entry: Tokyo.
We were so tired by the time we got to Tokyo that we didn’t do anything the first night except eat some sushi (after a 30 minute search) and go to sleep.
The next day we took a tour bus around the city which went until 2. We saw many impressive temples and parks, once again, and our tour guide was very entertaining. Again, exhausted, we returned to our hotel, the New Otani (very fancy), and slept until 6:30 when we got a phone call from Dr. Ishimura, the last of our Japanese guides.
He took us to his favorite restaurant in Tokyo, and wow, it was the best meal we had eaten during the entire trip. Basically, it’s an unlimited course meal: You sit down at the bar and they give you a different fried vegetable or piece of meat every 5 minutes or so… First it was pork, and then zucchini, and then shitake mushroom, and then shrimp, and then squid, and then… you get the idea. Each piece was fried to perfection and melted in your mouth as soon as you bit down. The flavors! oh, the Flavors! Dad and I ate some pretty good food during those 10 days, but that last meal took the honor of most delicious.
And with that, we went home to catch some sleep before our flight the next day. All in all, it was a great week and a half, and a nice sampler of a country I will have to explore further in the future.
Sayonora Japan, and Arrigato.
We left the Ryokan knowing that we would probably not see her again– at least, not in this life time. So it goes…
On to the next city, Kyoto, my favorite of the 5 cities that we visited. Kyoto is a city I will see again in this lifetime, probably in a couple of years when I go to Japan to teach. It is the perfect city for me: urban life sprinkled with temples , nice parks, and tons of green trees everywhere. Very bike friendly as well, and now that I think about it, Kyoto is like the Austin, Texas of Japan– for me, anyway.
When planning the trip, I had come across a festival that is celebrated every May 15th in Kyoto: the Aoi festival, where tons of people gather to watch a traditional parade, complete with horses, old carriages, shrine ceremonies, and ancient styles of dress. I realized that we would be in Kyoto on that same day, so Dad and I made sure to check out the parade.
We also visited some ancient temples and parks, most notable of which were Kinkakuji, the Golden temple, and Ryoanji, a park that has been preserved for 1500 years! The care that the Japanese people have put into preserving their ancient buildings and parks is simply marvelous, and I was constantly wonder-struck by such a richly historical and cultural place, one that has been around for more than 4000 years! America is just a baby…
