I know, it's been several months. I have lots of photos to put up, but stealing internet from some distant unknown source makes uploading a pretty laborious process.
I recently purchased a mini-diana analog camera from the Lomography store in seoul, but something was wrong with the wheel that advances the film, and so I had to return it for repairs. That was like two months ago though, and there's been so many situations where the point-and-clickiness of a film camera would be better than a digital, so I hope I get it back soon. Once I do, this blog will be get a lot more action
okay so here's all the trips outside of Seoul I've been on, starting with the earliest to most recent:
Japan:
In July, I decided to take a chance and leave the school I was working at. I was getting seriously underpaid and under-compensated in comparison to most people I talked to, and I was stressed out all of the time. I quit my job in Anyang and moved to Guri, which ended up being a really good decision. The switch however, was expensive and difficult. Part of it was getting my visa renewed in Japan, so I went to Fukuoka for two days. It's taken me this long to put up the photos because Fukuoka wasn't particularly interesting to look at. Kinda looked like Miami:
I had a good time though. Met a teacher from Baltimore and a French model who were also on a visa run, and we spent most of our time at the beach. We went out to some bars one night, and in my very brief experience I found Japanese people to be more friendly and open to talking to strangers than Koreans. I would definitely spend some time teaching there, except it's easily the most expensive place I've ever been. I spent about 245USD in two days... And I ate out of convenience stores for the most part. I didn't take the one photo that would have been worthwhile, because I felt like I was being rude. I was in a convenience store, and there were around 8-10 businessmen in basically the same suit all standing around the manga rack reading. Some dudes were even waiting in line, not even to buy, just to look at them. It's funny to think about, considering my own obsession with comics. Now I'm finally in a part of the world where comics are accepted and loved by mainstream culture, but i can't read any of them... Anyway this was probably the most unsettling part of the trip:
this giant arcade that actually seemed more like a casino for kids. You could make bets on mechanical horses, play slot machines, virtual card games, etc. I'm not really sure how this sort of thing flies... i guess it's because they use tokens to bet instead of money (but you have to pay for the tokens so...) here's my favorite prize, a knock-off minnie mouse:
I watched the teacher from Baltimore spend close to 25USD for like 3 pieces of candy. Once he got it, he put it in his pocket and said, "This is going t be the best candy I have ever eaten", but then I think he lost it that night at the bar.
Donggureung:
Donggureung (The East Nine Tombs) is located just east of the Seoul Metropolitan area. It was the burial ground of some of the Joseon (Chosôn) dynasty (1392-1910) kings and queens. Although there are nine mounds visible, there are actually six kings, nine queens, and a posthumously declared king and queen buried here. The earliest tomb was constructed here in 1403 and the latest in 1848. One historical highlight is the tomb of the dynastic founder King Taejo (Yi Seonggye).
All of the tombs are constructed in the same general style, with a three-part sequence that includes a ceremonial gate at the front, a T-shaped sacrificial hall at the center, and a large mound in the rear, the top of which is covered with smaller mounds and stonework.
Donggureung is such a beautiful meditative place because although it's right in the middle of Guri city, they've preserved enough land around the place that you can't hear the highway or smell any trash. It feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. What's really great about this place is it's basically a fifteen minute walk from where I live now. It's a pretty cool feeling to be so close to this really important place in Korea's history. I've yet to see the entirety of it- I'm sort of saving the best stuff for later. As the blurb mentions, there are these mounds with statues behind each sacrificial hall:
This picture is as close as I've been to one yet. The ones closest to the entrance are fenced off to avoid damage from contact with the large numbers of people who come through. However, if you walk for awhile there apparently some burial mounds that you can walk up to. hopefully pictures of that later...
a view from inside one of the sacrificial halls:
oh yeah and the place was filled with huge friendly dragonflies:
Seoraksan:
Seoraksan is the third highest mountain in South Korea. The
Daechongbong Peak (대청봉) of Seoraksan reaches 1,708 metres (5,603 feet). The Taebaek mountain chain is often considered the backbone of the Korean peninsula
place totally looked like Mordor:
This hike took a total of 12 hours for me. It was the most physically straining thing I can remember doing. We started the hike at 2am so that we could be near the top by dawn:
the only problem I had with the trip was that half of Korea was on the mountain that day because they were all trying to see the foliage:
There was giant Buddha waiting for us at the bottom:
The next day we went to a beach, and I wandered off to this abandoned military outpost:
there were signs everywhere that read "restricted area: keep away, military is watching". here's some graffiti from inside the building:
These giant concrete jacks are used to keep the ocean from destroying stuff:
Daejeon:
Went to a show in this city. Pretty sure it's the... 5th largest city in the country? Anyway it had a really nice old feel to it. Everything was just a little bit more run down and aged than in Seoul, which made it feel homier. I went to a show that several of my friends were performing in. mostly experimental music. I was asked to bring some art, so I made some zines to hand out. I planned to take pictures of all the performances, but I was having such a good time that this was the only picture I took:
more in 5 months...
Most of these were taken at a Halloween party if you couldn't tell. This kid has a pretty interesting T-shirt (not the one in this picture- he stopped wearing it after I made such a big deal about it...) It has a picture of a really angry looking mario bro, And it says "CHECK MARIO: as the son of a black father and a white mother, I often get called zebra and oreo cookie at school". It totally confuses me because most hilarious Korean t-shirts in English are funny because the translation is so poor that it doesn't make any sense. but this one is spot-on... anyway the kicker is that this kid chose the name "Mario" for himself.
Dick and John wearing masks that I made for the halloween party. well, I made the drawing, they colored them.
Cherry, our most talented artist drawing a really cool one-legged dog.
Mario again, "yo what happened to peace?"
Christina and Jennie
Allie, who is camera shy. I promised her candy to get this shot
My main guy lookin so fly, Allen
Alex being a "jombie" (Korean kids have a lotta trouble with "z") and Violess in the background
