Goes to TwelveMark S. Lee
Posts Tagged ‘korea’
Nationalism is a funny thing.
Say what you will about Koreans and their parochialism; they sure know how to come together as a country: Korean soccer fans in Seoul, South Korea. Source: New York Times World Cup Coverage
Putting the BAM in Obama
President Obama shows off his Taekwondo skills with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak:
This is messed up
Cultural relativism be damned. Yet another article about South Korea’s notorious education culture has appeared in the New York Times, and it’s just sad. Read it for yourself–no commentary necessary.
My Family, in Korea and the US, 1984-1990
Continuing a series of retrospectives on the life of my grandmother, who passed away recently at the age of 76. Below are two pictures I found from a family trip to Korea in 1984 (incidentally, the only time my dad returned to his homeland since leaving in 1976 before finally returning on the recent trip [...]
It’s Not About The Beef
Remember what I said earlier about the shared inferiority complex among Koreans? It’s rearing its ugly head again in the uproar over the Korean government’s attempt to resume imports of American beef. According to the NY Times: This is a small country in a strategic location with a deep sense of grievance about being manipulated [...]
Bonus Korea Post: Architecture in the Land of the Highrise
I thought I was done with posting about Korea, but an article in today’s New York Times Magazine on the almost overnight births of new metropoli Shenzen and Dubai reminded me of a truly mindboggling architectural find from my time in Korea (April 23-May 8). The article deals mostly with the massive highrise developments in [...]
Korea: final thoughts
(It’s me: a tourist, away from home) Here’s the final itinerary. I realized that the dates are off by about a day or so in previous posts, so this should be correct: Seoul (April 24-27) Kunsan, via Daejeon (April 27-30) Back to Daejeon (April 30-May 2) Seoul sightseeing (May 3) Ganghwado island sightseeing (May 4) [...]
They teach *in* English *in* Korea
(Class, this is not where we are now.) Seoul (April 24-26) Kunsan, via Daejeon (April 26-29) Back to Daejeon (April 29-May 1) Seoul sightseeing (May 2) Ganghwado island sightseeing (May 3) Golf (May 4) Visit to the International School (May 5) “My friends don’t teach English, they teach in English. That is, they teach English [...]
Golf in Korea: the carts drive themselves. I am not making this up
(Ancient Korean golf club? No, it’s a little bell that a golfer can ring if he (usually a he) wants to signal to other players that he’s doubling down the bet when gambling.) The timeline, once again: Seoul (April 24-26) Kunsan, via Daejeon (April 26-29) Back to Daejeon (April 29-May 1) Seoul sightseeing (May 2) [...]
Ganghwado: Korea vs the World
Back to the chronological progress of the Korea trip: Seoul (April 24-26) Kunsan, via Daejeon (April 26-29) Back to Daejeon (April 29-May 1) Seoul sightseeing (May 2) Ganghwado island sightseeing (May 3) Ganghwado is a small island due west of Seoul and notable for at least 2 things: 1) a heavy Korean marines presence due [...]
Gyeongbokgung – Palace photos
Sorry for the delay in getting more Korea pictures up; real life reared its ugly head and diverted my attention. Thankfully, it’s a long weekend, so updates are back on track. Anyone who’s ever traveled to Seoul could readily identify Gyeongbokgung Palace as one of the main tourist attractions in the city and country. It [...]
Sinchon, Before & After
Continuing with the trip progress: Seoul (April 24-26) Kunsan, via Daejeon (April 26-29) Back to Daejeon (April 29-May 1) Seoul sightseeing (May 2) I pretty much had the day to myself to explore places in Seoul. First stop, Sinchon, the neighborhood near Yonsei University, where I lived during my 3 months in Korea back in [...]
Daejeon – Happy Birthday Buddha!
I’m turning the clock back to the Daejeon portion of our trip to fill in the photographic record. For those of you following along at home, this is where we are in the trip’s itinerary: Seoul (April 24-26) Kunsan, via Daejeon (April 26-29) Back to Daejeon (April 29-May 1) The only real sightseeing we did [...]
Back in Amerrrica
It’s good to be home after a long trip. Pictures coming soon–there are way too many good ones, so I’ll just do one quick upload and call it a day.
(Probably ) Last Post from Seoul
Time’s running short, and I never got around to figuring out a way to get pictures off the camera, so I’ll have to wait till I get back to do the expanded photo-essays that my travels really deserve. For now, a quick point by point recap of the last days in Seoul: Day trip to [...]
Daejeon Update
We’d left Daejeon a few days ago already, but I just wanted to file the quick update. I got some great postcard-quality shots at an old Buddhist temple in the mountains outside of Daejeon, but unfortunately it looks like additional pictures will have to wait till I get back to the States. The main takeaway [...]
Back to Seoul for the final leg
We’re back in Seoul, or should I say Incheon, which is the town next to the international airport and next to Seoul (hotels are cheaper out here, but it’s a real schlep to get back into the city). The first day back we visited my great uncle in the hospital, where, from his hospital bed [...]
Return to the Family Farm
After leaving Seoul, we made a brief stop in Daejeon on our way to Kunsan, the ancestral home base and my dad’s hometown. Some of you may remember my shock on my last visit four years to discover the tiny traditional Korean house in which my dad grew up and the accompanying family farm plot [...]
Koreans may think the US is going down the crapper…
…but they still desparately want to get into our best schools. An article in the NYTimes looks at two elite prep schools in Korea designed to get the brightest Korean students into Ivy League and other selective US schools. The Korean education system is notorious for slave driving kids and demanding unceasing studying, but these [...]
Come with me if you want to live (and drink beer).
Found in Daejeon, South Korea. Yes, that’s a mug of beer below the “Terminator” sign, which clearly indicates that this is a bar named after the action movies we all know and love. James Cameron should get his lawyer on the phone. On second thought, no, he should bring Arnold here to have a beer. [...]
Pictures, Part 1: Seoul
I’ve already broken the chronological order of events in this blog, so I figured I might as well rewind even further now that I’ve figured out how to get my camera to work on this hotel computer. (If you’re reading this on Facebook and the pictures aren’t coming through, try viewing directly on the blog: [...]
Filling in the gaps: Seoul Family Reunion(s)
After 3 days in Kunsan, my dad’s hometown, we’re now in Daejeon, my stepmom’s hometown, where the hotel room we’re in conveniently has a computer, which is why I’m able to fill in the gaps from previous experiences now. Seoul Family Reunion(s) I plan on writing more later about the general theme of families split [...]
America: the view from the other side
Quick update: I’ve heard the following views on America from Koreans over the last few days: They think the country is falling apart due to the subprime mortgage crisis. They think the entire country is crime ridden, dangerous, and full of gun toting…minorities. When I asked a 6th grade by what he knew about New [...]
Mama Mia, that’s a big familla – Family Reunion Part 2
Last night was a really freaking big family reunion. All 3 long lost cousins and a bazillion aunts, uncles, second cousins, etc. etc. My Korean picked up some steam after a while and I was able to tell tales of wonder from Yale, New York, etc. Off to the “shi-gol” (countryside) for a few days, [...]