Spring is generally my favorite season and it is in full force here in Seoul. We are finally coming out of the cold days of grey skies and uncomfortable wind. We haven't gotten to the rainy, sultry days of summer. The sun is shinning and last week the whole city was white with cherry blossoms. At times, it looked like it was snowing cherry blossom petals. Absolutely lovely! I took a hike in Suwon (a town just south of Seoul). There is an old fortress there built in the 1700’s that has a lovely walking course on the walls. There is [View Full Entry]

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I haven’t written a blog in a while, but I moved to Seoul a year ago in February and thought it might be time for an update. Life here has been good. For the most part my job is fairly low stress and the money is good. There is no way I could afford this lifestyle in a city this large in the U.S. and save more than half my paycheck like I am here. I’m not exactly living it large here, but I do get out from time to time. There are things to do and see and, for the [View Full Entry]

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Korea’s biggest holiday, Chusok, has just passed a few days ago. It’s like our American Thanksgiving in that it’s a harvest festival. Everyone takes three days and goes home to visit their family and remember the traditions of their culture. I think the similarity ends there. On Chusok, everyone goes to honor their ancestors, wears Hanbok (traditional clothes), eats traditional foods and plays traditional games. Employers give large gift sets of such things as bottles of liquor, packs of canned Spam (yes, Spam), or packs of seaweed for Sushi. My school gave gift packs [View Full Entry]

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After the temple stay I spent the day touring around and saw Girimsa Temple in the lovely little city of Gyeoung-ju. Girimsa is temple with a lot of buildings and land. If it's not a regular set for some of the historical dramas they make here, then I would be surprised. Gyeong-ju is one of those areas with a huge amount of ancient historical sites and landmarks within a short distance. I took a day and walked around the city with all sorts of interesting sites. My favorite was Cheomseongdae , which is the oldest astrological observatory in the Far East. [View Full Entry]

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Recently, I got a chance to go on my summer vacation. Some of my coworkers took the opportunity to go to Bali or Thailand, but I figured that I’d stay a little closer to home and see what’s in Korea. A program here called Temple Stay allows people to stay at Buddhist temples to see what life is like to there. A few temples in Korea make accommodations for English speaking visitors. Figureing that they are mostly the same, I just picked a temple and went. I decided on Gogulsa Temple near Gyeonju about a four-hour train ride from Seoul. [View Full Entry]

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Things Have Settled Down... ...and the rhythm of daily life is setting in. I've moved into Seoul, gone back to the US and come back again Now life is more about discovering my neighborhood, getting settled at work, and getting into a more regular routine. Compared to my life in Pyeongchon, my current neighborhood is like a video game that takes a long time to shut down. There's life and people and things to do within a short walk from my home. On the corner down the street, there must be five restaurants all spilling onto the street. I would estimate [View Full Entry]

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You can click on the pictures to see a larger view or a slide show. I'm back in Korea already, but I went to the States to see my little sister's wedding. The photos and videos are mostly of interest to my family. The blog is my side of things as a family member coming from Korea. The wedding was beautiful and Lori and Arif seemed so happy. Of course, I cried, because weddings do that to me. Everything was a whirlwind of activity pretty much from the time I got there... people arriving, parties, and gatherings. There were a few [View Full Entry]

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This is a catch-up blog. Since I wrote this, I've been to the States and back for my sister Lori's wedding... which is a different blog entry. I went to the Lotus Lantern Festival the Saturday before I left for the wedding. What fun! There were booths and interesting things to see… especially for someone who recently arrived in Korea. There was wonderful street food, arts and crafts booths, and processions of people in traditional dress and a sampling of Buddhism from other countries in the international booths from places like Thailand, India, Tibet, Taiwan and so forth. Wouldn&rsq [View Full Entry]

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Israel in Seoul and Free hugs Shalom Y'all from Korea In an effort to meet new people, I decided to go to a get together with the Jewish community from the Yongsan military post. I found out about this event through the Israeli people I met a few weeks ago. (See previous post) They were having a potluck at the top of a high rise building. On my way there from Pyeongchon, I bumped into another English teacher I met in my yoga class and invited her along. Wouldn't you know I must have bumped into the only Jew in Pyeongchon [View Full Entry]

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I moved last week. There are times in my life when I think I'll never be satisfied with anything and that I might as well put up with life as it is. Of course, this is total B.S. in the worst form and a good way to waste a life. I had become bored and dissatisfied in Austin, so I moved to Korea to shake things up a bit. In other words, I dragged my butt here to get out of a rut. Then I arrived in Pyeongchon, Korea and life wasn't exactly wonderful there either. It's a polluted satellite city [View Full Entry]

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