Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 367

I was slightly skeptical about wandering around this city alone today, being completely illiterate, but I found it a lot easier than expected. Jennifer had to work all day so I ventured out on a solo mission to hike the Inwangsan Shamanist Hillside. It is Seoul’s most famous shamanist shrine with Buddhist Temples, interesting rock formations (Zen rocks), natural springs and a fortress wall bordering it. I was very surprised by the amount of garbage left everywhere, I assume by visitors and shamanists themselves. It was everywhere. I was also surprised by these 2 little brat dogs that came running out of one of the temple homes while I was heading up the hillside. There were smaller than a cat, dressed in pretty little sweaters and one actually nipped at me; I was shocked. The ... read more

Yesterday the 18th of March I finally landed in the buzzing city of Seoul, South Korea. I was met by a familiar face and a great big hug. And after a quick money exchange we were off. It took about an hour to get into the city and to Jennifer’s apartment by bus and subway. It flew by as Jen and I filled each other in on the events of lives in the past year. When I arrived it was 3am my time and only 6pm here. So to try and make my jet lag minimal I took a shower and we headed out for a few cold ones. Jens boyfriend Jason, a world traveler from England, joined us and we drank beer, ate interesting things on a stick and had informative conversation till around ... read more

So when is the magical when I get up and everything just seems normal? It always feels like it is right around the corner...I have confidence moving around and stumbling my way through conversations, I know enough people here that I am now woven into the tapestry that is Bundang. And yet, something is still unsettled. Maybe that is a good thing. Maybe on the inside I don't want to be settled. It is refreshing to, for once, be shaken up- for life to be unpredictable, and for my identity to be a little blurry. It makes for an easier transition- easier growth. It is strange to me that I have not gone out of my way to develop in depth relationships with the people I live with yet. I like the flexibility of staying on ... read more

Week 1 of Christine's Visit: We were pretty damn happy to have someone from home. It was so fun to show someone around our new home...with all its craziness. We packed a lot of sight seeing and touring into those two weeks. Here is a quick low down on week 1. - Dmz tour. This was a pretty interesting day. The whole day had this certain uneasiness to it. To think that we tourists were having a good'ol time, metres from North Korea...where the only things we hear about are atrocities of some sort. We were told when to take photos, and when not to. We would look over to N. Korea, but were not allowed to point or make any gestures as we were certainly under surveillance. Walking around the compound (shown in the photos), ... read more

Sorry to keep doing this to you all... but we really must share our doings or we'll go insane with the company of only ourselves :P. I know it's been a while since we spat our vile doings your direction, and for that we apologise, but this will be a really big hock for you all... one of those real throat clearers... anyways... enough of that. We've been all around the place seeing and doing various things. In short, I also went to the DMZ, it was pretty cool. We had to sign a piece of paper saying we agreed that the Korean goverment wasn't responisible for our lives... not too shabby. We've been out and sang songs and stuff as usual... there's been a few class parties and games of pool to be had. We've ... read more