화성 (hwaseong fortress)

i received a couple packages from florida. cookies, coffee, licorice, shaving cream, among other things. also got an easter bunny.

i don't like the flash. i do like the moose hat.

thanks mom and daniel.
thought this bumper sticker i saw the other day was fitting.

went to hyunjoo's aunt's dental office and had my teeth cleaned for a discounted rate of 30,000 won (at the current exchange rate that's about $20), then went to 화성 (hwaseong fortress). the fortress used to serve as the wall surrounding suwon, now the city goes well beyond it. hwaseong has a few different meanings, but here it means 'fire wall'. looks like there was a fire outside the wall that day.








this is about 1/3 of the soybean/kimchi/red pepper paste pots that were in the back of a temple. the giant golden buddha seen earlier from another part of the fortress wall is at this temple. many of the pots seen here are big enough for me to stand in.

목 말라요? mok mallayo? thirsty?

요가 = yoga

last week we started yoga. with no experience jumped right into a hot yoga session on tuesday. 38 degrees celsius. it was tough. showed up friday thinking we were going to an abdominal yoga class, but instead of yoga it was aerobics. needless to say, it kicked my ass. the only things that i understand when it comes to vocal instructions are counting, left and right, so it's all from observation and attempts at mimicking. a few times in the classes we turn where i can't see the teacher or anyone else and i'm left doing the wrong thing. and of course there's no blending in, i'm the only foreigner, only guy, taller than everyone else, doing everything wrong, i'm sure they all have a good laugh when i leave. i think that mostly applies to aerobics. which, by the way, started out with a warm up that consisted of some hip-moving/booty-shaking that i was nowhere close to getting right. i was laughing out loud at seeing myself in the mirror. heading to hot yoga again in the morning and i'll probably keep going to aerobics, but they offer pilates and other types of yoga, probably give those a try at some point too.