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 most part, Korea has treated me pretty well. So, what have I been up to? Well, everything and nothing. Life as usual happens and once settled into a place it’s pretty much the same as ... read more

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. It is one of the national symbols of Korea and I remember wanting to go see it when I was a kid. It's pretty short for an observatory - some trees are taller, but I ... read more

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 which is called Nonhyeongdong in the district of Gangnam, 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 over 50 restaurants are within a 10 minute walk of my apartment. The open-air market is around the corner from my house and there is so ... read more

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’t you know, of course, my camera battery died for the first time ever just before the Lantern Parade. The parade passed by with wave after wave of people in various traditional costumes and at least on lantern ... read more

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 outside Seoul with not much to do. The job sucked and I worked lots of hours (51 hours a week by contract) with a bunch of unfriendly people. There were a few things that were ... read more