intermission

Korea hasn't changed to a point that would take me aback,

but there definitely have been small changes that made life more comfortable.

I definitely forgot how clean the subways were--

I don't know how I'm going to receive the New York subways once I get back.

things feel more accessible,

and there's so much to see.

definitely too much to see in 2 weeks time.

in the whole "5/10 years down the road" thought,

I don't want this place out of the equation.



ps. I like these radio stations that read out people's stories. very sweet to listen to.

day 7 - grandma

ate brunch with the brother and girlfriend at a park,

and got on a bus to jinju.

the bus was pretty packed due to it being Chuseok season.

[picture of scenery through bus]

went to grandma's place once we arrived.

on the way there,

I was able to recognize a lot of the surrounding areas.

haven't changed much.

grandma greeted us with gladness

and a lot of fried eel,

something she's always done.

took a walk around town at night.

[picture of brother and grandma walking at night]

I guess I'm achieving my goal for coming to Korea--

spending time with relatives.

got tired after the walk,

so slept relatively early.

day 6 - brother

still having issues with the pictures, but I'll write on.


finally got myself a cellphone number in the morning.

after making some final preparations at home,

went to eat soondaegook with my cousin.

he told me he knew a good place, so I followed his lead

[picture of a savory bowl of soondaegook]

after lunch, went to Yongsan station to board a train bound for Daejeon.

[picture of Yongsan station's departure area]

the KTX-class trains were sold out,

so I had to get on a Moogoonghwa-class train.

the views were still relaxing.

[picture of the scenery from the train, if any of them were good]

it was a bummer that they stopped having the snack cart service,

which the PA said was replaced by the snack train car.

[picture of the snack train car that replaced the poor snack carts]

when the train arrived in Daejeon,

I was greeted by my brother as soon as I got out of the train car.

we first went to get my haircut,

and as I finished,

I was able to meet my brother's girlfriend for the first time.

[one of the many pictures that my brother took with my camera]

the three of us ate dinner and went to a park and walked around.

we also went to the KAIST campus and looked around there also.

[picture(s) of KAIST at night]

good times with my brother.

day 5 - rest

(I'm having issues getting my pictures into my computer-- I'll be attaching pictures in the near future)


woke up late,

got a notice that my passport will be delivered in the afternoon,

so I just waited at home,

spending time organizing my situation--

calling parents,

making travel plans to Daejeon,

internet (really haven't had time to use it since I came here).

went out on a walk with my aunt and cousin in the evening.

talked about my times in school,

and listened to what my cousins have been doing lately.

spent the rest of the night resting,

and packing up for Daejeon.

day 4 - friend

ate some street food with my cousin for lunch.

left for Gangnam in the afternoon to meet my friend since elementary.

he had a car so we moved locations at will.

so, what would two guys who met after 3 or so years do:

didn't really take much pictures after this.

anyways, 

talk over food,

talk while walking around,

talk over a couple of drinks,

talk while playing darts--

just kept talking. 

all night. 

it was good to see that he was doing well,

ambitious as always,

and confident.

day 3: jeongjadong then home

met a nuna I knew from Saipan in Jeongjadong.

nothing really notable about the area itself, 

just talked in a place that had this view.

took a bus from Gangnam back home,

and it wasn't pretty:

nevertheless, 

I was back home eventually.

day 3 - samcheongdong and bukchon

all that stuff I wrote for day 3, and it's only beginning.

Samcheongdong was right beside Gyeongbokgoong,

so walked there.

I got the idea that I was there when I saw a starbucks sign written in Korean.

began my trek through the winding streets,

my eyes enjoying the view that only Korea is able to offer.

classic treats

inside some old book store/print shop

shop in an angled slope

got really thirsty,

grabbed an iced americano from a small coffee place in a corner.

nice little waiting area

"커피 방앗간"

kept walking around,

until I found a cafe that was recommended to me when I left for Korea.

"slow garden"

the interior was very relaxing,

and I really needed a good sit-down time,

because my feet were killing me.

got myself a waffle dish.

as I waited, I organized myself,

recalling the things I did so far.

having no internet or cell service,

I had to rely on the time-tested, classic method of paper maps.

waffles were great,

and I was refreshed to start walking again.

--------------------------------------------------------

starting walking towards the Bukchon area.

started with some nice path of stairs.

thinking about it now,

they weren't hard to walk up at all,

or at least they were really enjoyable to walk up with.

just thought it was pretty

as I walk past a couple of streets,

a hanok (한옥, traditional Korean housing unit) residence area appeared.

the old with the new in the background

everyone seems to have come as friends, couples, families

after some walking, ended up in a area called Gaedong (계동),

another street filled with old-style shops and other views.

got myself some rice cakes as they looked so delicious.

I saw this in a blog about Bukchon before coming to Korea. somewhat gave me confirmation that I was in the right place

I was soon back where I started,

but that was not the end of the day.

next stop was some place called Jeongjadong,

which I now know is pretty far from home.

day 3 - gyeongbokgoong

now off to my own ventures.

first stop, the most visible landmark in the embassy area --

Gwanghwamoon (광화문, Gwang Hwa Gate) and Gyeongbokgoong (경복궁, Gyeong Bok Palace).



Gwanghwamoon

I was just going to take a quick glimpse,

but as I came in, they began to do a "gate guard exchange ceremony."

after that,

just decided to take a look at the whole palace,

since I never did take a tour before.




aww, kindergarten kids on a field trip

  palace was nice.

had my dress shoes on so my feet weren't too happy,

but this was just the beginning,

so I told it to man up and walked around.

next stop,

Samcheongdong.

day 3 - visa stuff and quest for cell service

visa appointment was at 10,

so started the day around 8:30.

the us embassy is in front of Gwanghwamoon, so off I go.

the statue of King Sejong the Great is a new addition to my eyes,

but it's already showing signs of age.

went to the embassy to find out that my ID picture is too old (~1 year),

and I had forgotten to print one paper that they required.

I did know that the ID picture was too old, but I hoped to slip by.

the fact that the same picture was in my year-old passport didn't help.

getting a new picture taken was no problem--there were a bunch of shops in front of the embassy for people like me.

got a picture hastily taken.

I don't think I'll be using the other 5 copies.

now, printing was more pain than I imaged.

last time I came to Korea, the place was filled with PC rooms.

it seems that's not the case anymore,

with every kid in the block having internet-connected smartphones.

had to walk around everywhere and finally found a bookstore that had a printing service.

anyways, got myself back to the embassy.

interview was a breeze.

----------------------------------------------

once that was done, began to try getting some cell service.

I noticed a "olleh square" (something like an apple store for kt) on my way to the embassy,

so headed there.

tried to get a prepaid sim card,

then landed on a problem--

they needed identification, and my passport,

which currently is my only form of official identification in Korea,

was just handed to the US embassy for visa stamping.

I tried to give them my national identification card,

but apparently that doesn't work because the number was invalidated.

so cell service today.

and until I get my passport back..

day 2 - college church people and the han river

off to meet people I met in church during college.

they're all living in Korea right now--

either started working in Korea or transferred to a Korean college.

went to Apgujeong.

went to this place that made some awesome "hot pepper poppers" (filled with beef!)

then walked to the han river,

where I achieved one of my wishes to drink a can of beer while looking at the river.

I was pretty impressed with how there's a seven eleven every couple hundred meters.

pretty awesome.

anyways, headed back home before the trains stopped.

gotta get my visa things done the next day, so off to bed asap.

day 2 - lazy morning

woke up at 8 am.

it might be too early to call it,

but I think I am over the jet lag [knock on wood].

there was a Michigan game today,

so I dug around the internet to get access to a live stream.

was able to watch it,

but we lost..

anyways,

church afterwards.

on my way to church,

walked past a wall with children's work on their family motto.

some seem to have been written by their parents,

some even given a slightly artistic approach,

and some probably were written during the day it was due..

that last one's a winner.

there was one that was close to our family motto:

it says "Truth, Diligence, Happiness," while ours is "Truth, Diligence."

I'm going to suppose that our family took Happiness as a given.

back from church,

and I'll be meeting people from my church during college in the latter half of the day.

arrival

arrived in Korea without much incident.

being the seasoned traveler, 

zipped past immigration before a line formed.

I guess the immigration officer pulled up my pretty empty travel record in the past few years

and asked me when was the last time I visited.

4 years.

as I headed towards the baggage claims area,

a familiar sight:

remember seeing this fountain every time I came to Korea.

I'm going to make this short to get some rest.

another familiar sight, on my way to my aunt's place. 

something about the trains made the place feel homely..

food! 

on to Korea

previously tried to write something,

but it got messed up,

so here's a shortened version:

started packing late,

but got it done.

made an omlete with he remaining food in the fridge:

(picture)

but it only looked good in the frying pan.

smooth ride to jfk,

and currently in sf,

about to board the flight to Korea.

next stop, the motherland.

trip

didn't really start packing yet,

but I'll get it done.

I'm going to try to document this as much as I can. 

hand

from elementary to high school,

there were friends who I,

or at least for Mom,

viewed as "rivals."

we were always figuratively butting heads for the silent bragging rights amongst the ones who fed us.


we haven't been able to see each other much after we all left our nests,

but now that everyone is about to graduate,

we start crossing paths again.


this time though,

there'll be no shoving and pushing to the top,

but raising and tugging.

today's shuffle song

shuffling through random songs,

listened to the Black Skirts for the first time since graduating.

lyrics in the realm of 10cm--

feelings of the adolescent adult.

healer

thank You,

my health is in Your hands.

asking for it to happen

my friend used to tell me in high school

that he knew he was going to get sick the next day,

and I thought he was joking.

today, I think I'm getting that feeling,

but I have to be outside until night.

weakness of the muscles,

slight dizziness.

on a hard and dizzy day

if a song could

so here it is,

here it goes--

I could try it rock n' roll,

a change-your-life-forever tune

if a song could get me you.


I could make it high or low,

sing it on the radio

if that is what I need to do--

if a song could get me you.

Psalm 34:17-20

the righteous cry out,

and the Lord hears them;

He delivers them from all their troubles.


the Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirt.


the righteous person may have troubles,

but the Lord delivers him from them all;


He protects all his bones,

not one of them will be broken.

vista

after reading a little about networking programming--

the structure of sending packets and what it can do--

I can somewhat understand what was on the minds of the Microsoft developers

with their infamous UACs in Windows Vista.


their intentions were noble,

but this was an example where the developers gave the users too much control,

control that made the users uncomfortable.

60%ish

my "liberal arts" self, a residue of high school times, normally writes these posts,

but as I write, 

my "engineer" self normally crashes the session before I finish it.

this guy thinks what I write is a bunch of non-sense,

nothing logical,

nothing informative--

nothing useful.

ten lines become three,

some that had been posted are reverted to an unposted status,

and some unfortunate posts that were stymied by the "engineer" with less than half of its intended content completes are just wiped out. 

of course, this is the "liberal arts" part of me sneaking a rant in after the "engineer" just decided to get rid of another post. 

strength

the Lord has been kind so far to give me strength

despite my lack of sleep,

but I really should start becoming more responsible with my body and health.

I believe He will carry me on no matter what,

but I'm starting to cross the line

from trusting His power

to challenging it.

first win of the season

we were supposed to win by a big point margin,

but it was an uncomfortably close game.

but nevertheless, a win is a win.

Michigan 31 - 25 Air Force (Academy)

went to one of our alumni bars and bumped into friends who were in the KSA board with me while I was in Michigan.

good to see familiar faces.

saturday

got to make "breakfast"

and brew my coffee.

I get to go watch us play against Air Force.

awesome.

free day

for the first time in a long time,

I am 100% available on a saturday.

feels great--

happiness in the small things, I guess.

a cappella

listening to recordings of my first concert with the GMen while working,

ah, it brings back memories..

I'll be what I'm needed to be.

student

buying groceries,

and the cashier asks

"so how was your first day?"

I'm starting to reach the point where it feels good to be mistaken for a student.

retreat

attended our church retreat over the long weekend.

I have to admit it was physically tiring,

but it was definitely a good time to get closer to God.

a photo album for the retreat had a picture of me, 

answering a question:

got some good points for our 조 on this one.

break

to love is to become vulnerable to hurt,

and we should not be afraid to be hurt

because we have a God who is able to get us back to our feet every time.