pictures from the past few weeks

hike to namsam tower while the cherry blossoms were blooming.









view of dongmyo where imo lives.


dong dae mun aka east gate.





on the right, ancient eastern fortress meets modern western worship.


across from the east gate is a huge neon mall.


this is solid proof that zombies are in us all.


a couple of times i've broken the rules and eaten galbi, either barbecue pork or beef. pork here.



the start of a single day.
my coworker minjung's wedding in suwon.




followed by an engagement party in gangnam, where i paid 22,000 won for all you could drink (beer and wine) and eat. nice. but single coffee not included, 14,300 won!



followed by a late night trip to j.j. mahoney's at the hyatt in itaewon. cover charge, 30,000 won. one beer, 25,000. i wasn't paying at this place, it's good that imo is rich.








the day ends looking quite......


flowers behind work.


chang-kyung-gung aka old palace in daehak-lo.


sha bu sha bu in daehak-lo.



soft serve plain, unsweetened frozen yogurt. didn't like it, but it was nice to see something not made of garbage.


the restaurant was making their own wine.


panda bears climbing up the side of the restaurant.


random ajoshi (uncle) sleeping on me for an hour on the train.


went to gwanghwa-mun to see hyunkyung play haegum at sejong-munhwa-hwaegwan (theater). i could only understand a couple words, but i was brought to tears.






a couple paek namjun pieces at the theater.


on the left, concept models for the road in front of the theater commemorating king sejong, the one that invented hangeul.


stopped by guklip-geukjang, or national theater, where sangil is the main character in a traditional musical play.



view from the national theater of namsan tower.

the only phrase you need to know

i've learned how to read hongeul, but i don't know what any of it says. i've also learned how to use a little bit of practical korean like greetings, reading a menu, ordering food, asking where/what/how much something is, money, time, etc. but the best phrase i've added to my vocabulary is:
냄새. 너 방구꼈지?
naem-sae. nuh bang-gu ggyuht-jee?
stinks. you must have farted?

the living and the dead

this time it hurt

went and got another massage, but this time i had the full package. an hour and a half of the same process from four months ago. it's called 부황 (buhwang). it was painful. you can see the hickey/bruises in the middle of my back already showing up in the second picture.



once again another trip to 명동 (myeong-dong). added 남대문 (namdaemun) this time. namdaemun is similar to the cheap mall/market areas of shanghai. walking around myeong-dong saw that little lady cooking 빈대떡 (bindaetteok) through the window, decided it was time to eat. these were a different variation on what i'm used to eating, but i think this is the more authentic recipe for said name. major difference, this was made with mung beans.
맛있어 (mashissuh=delicious).

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.