Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 357

This weekend, the Korean Fulbright office treated our group to a trip to Songni-san, a national park in the heart of Korea ("san" means mountain, so it's obviously a great place to hike and has several trails). It was a fabulous visit, replete with plenty of relaxation, hiking, and good food. We left early on Friday, and it was about a three-hour bus ride. When we got there, Mrs. Shim, Korea Fulbright's executive director, took us all to lunch at a local restaurant. We all sat on the floor, cross-legged and shared all the little dishes that were placed on our tables (the traditional way of eating in Korea-- you get your own rice bowl, sometimes soup bowl, and then you share all the different dishes on the table). That afternoon, Nika (another Fulbrighter) and I ... read more

It is nearly lunch break, and I have just spent two hours in the studio. Korean man sings dramatically, jokingly, then quickly and abruptly explains the jist of whatever theme we are discussing in that unit. Joke. Joke. Explanation. All in Korean. Turns to me, makes small talk in decent, but still broken English, and then says - Brie? And I say my line in English. "The shark in the movie was swimming around in the seawater." "The shark in the movie was swimming around in the seawater." Always twice, and always with an attempt to act out each word in the sentence. Back to the main camera, as the Korean guy goes on with his long-winded explanations. It's silly, but actually well done, with subtitles and computer generated graphics added later. I feel as though ... read more

Will a blog really work out? Is my small life here in South Korea reallly worth a "travel blog" attempt? As much as I occasionally feel like shrugging off my foreigner persona, I know that I will look back on this year in Asia as a sparkling moment, or a test of bravery and self-discipline. To write self discipline feels a bit militant, or stoic, but living out of context...much on my own, I realize how easy it is to slip into a negligent lifestyle. How many foreigners here began with the same enthusiasm - attempting to learn Korean, absorb the cultural idiosyncrasies *many phrases I use might not make sense, admittedly flaky with my wording* and find themselves stuck on the wall. Drunk with other foreigners, nonchalant with traveling. This, of course, is simply ... read more

So we left off after just arriving at Chris's in Korea. We stayed with Chris the first night (there was only one bed so he ended up sleeping on the floor....the appartment is just one room) and then his friend Tim gave us his appartment for the rest of the week and stayed with his girlfriend Becky. They're the coolest people, Tim once spent a couple months following the Greatful Dead on tour. The past 4 days we've seen some of the sights in Korea and a lot of the bars. During the days we went to the business district and all there was to do was play in a fountain of water! We also found a market with cheap clothes and the most disgusting smells, which we partly attributed to the dried octopus they sell ... read more

I removed the photos in this page because I learned that Googlers can find their pictures...and I am not so comfortable with that. ... read more