Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 342

I went on a Temple Stay with Younglim, her friend, and Sue. We went to Daejon, which is about an hour and a half away by bus. On Saturday, we went on a walk with the monk, went to a ceremony, and then to a lecture on Buddhism. On Sunday, there was a ceremony at 5 am, breakfast at 6:30, and another ceremony at 10. I never bowed so much in my life. ... read more

..is what I saw on a childs t-shirt today. I've also seen 'Juicy Bunny Slope' and 'When Girl and Boy fall in Love- Little Doggy'. Another winner was 'There is nothing funny about a one eyed doggy'- which immediatley makes you think there IS something funny about a one eyed doggy (apologies to all visually impaired dogs- no offence intended) Add to that a committed Christian wearing a t-shirt that had on the back of it every kind of drug known to man and we're onto a winner! Who thinks this stuff up!... read more

Ok so not last week but the week before (really must update this more regularly!) it was Chuseok which is basically the Korean Thanksgiving. What with being British n all that I wasn't exactly sure what Thanksgiving was (ok so being British AND being and idiot) but apparently it's when you give thanks to the harvest for being prosperous. So Koreans get a holiday that lasts about four days depending upon when it falls (I think our equivalent is Harvest Festival- from what I remember this is when 7 year olds in school uniform roam the streets on mass and force tinned goods onto biddies- kind of like what I did last Christmas too...altho I wasn't seven....anyway..) Initially I was pretty worried about Chu-seok as I didn't know what I'd do to fill the time and ... read more

Hi Everybody! Sorry that I haven't been able to write. We have been very busy and when I have tried, the computers have gone down. We are thoroughly enjoying our trip and are making do when there are language problems. We have met many new friends, especially in Korea. We stayed on base in an exceptionally nice 300 room hotel with health club, Starbucks, several restaurants, etc. The Asians serve you many dishes with a meal. It is fun to try new foods. If I like it I eat it, often not knowing what it is. So far, we haven't gotten sick. Walt has probably eaten about half a pack of Pepto Bismol tablets trying to be careful. I found Seoul to be beautiful at night. The Han River runs through the town and is about ... read more

Greetings from the recently rated number one e-government friendly nation on earth where nothing remains unblighted by technology. Imprinted in bold white letters right under the name of my school on its 50-year old brick surface is the following: seouldorim.es.kr, which I assume is not a porn site. In spite of all that, I don't have Internet access. They wanted the entire year's payment in advance (that would have broken the bank several times over) because apparently they were afraid I was going to flee the country momentarily. Truly, I have thought about defecting to the North due to my well-established love for communist countries (if not the leaders who run them), but I had misgivings mostly concerning whether I would ever be able to see my family again. Mom, you can stop panicking now! Anyway, ... read more