over-the-top with amusement parks? 08:38

In the next five years, we should see four new, large-scale amusement parks operating in Korea. I wonder though if this is sustainable, as there are already two amusement parks in existence in a country with only 48 million people. Koreans must love amusement parks!

The first amusement park in the works is the "Paramount Movie Park Korea" which is scheduled to open in 2011 in Incheon. Themes from the movie Titanic, Tomb Raiders, and Mission Impossible are to be included in the park. The second is an MGM theme park also in Incheon. This will be MGM's first ever amusement park. Can't think of exactly what movies they made at the moment but I'm sure they'll have rides themed after them. Universal Studios will open their fourth park in 2012 after Hollywood, Florida, and Osaka, Japan. The fourth will be a Marvel Superheroes theme park in Busan, Korea. This one, I'm actually excited for. I would actually visit this one since I was and still am a huge fan of Marvel.

taeglish 07:22

Koreans are now learning Taekwondo and English at the same time. I think I would be more excited to go and teach at these hagwons than the kids would be attending the schools.

rocket ship 19:19

I saw this building back in Tokyo near Shinjuku in February and I thought it was a pretty neat building. Looks like a rocket ship in the middle of all the other buildings.

the bowing building 18:59

This is one of my favorite buildings north of the Han River in Seoul. Apparently, SK Telecom added the bend at the top as a symbol of the company bowing to its citizens. Pretty neat concept I think.

photo experiment 23:48

I overexposed this on purpose to make it look somewhat like an Asian landscape painting. What do you think?

world's "hardest workers" 22:10

According to Forbes, Koreans are the hardest-working people in the world as they put in 2,357 hours of work a year. But from my experience, I don't think Koreans are necessarily the hardest-working. (Though I have met a lot of Koreans who do work very hard!) They're just AT work a lot. Much of time is wasted because people are expected to all come and leave at the same time even if they don't have to be there. For instance, I have to come into work at 1:30 but I don't start teaching until 3:15. I come in at 1:30 because other teachers start at that time. Lots of time wasted, I would say.

Greece comes in at second with 2,052 hours a year, then the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. The Netherlands is at the bottom with only 1,391 hours a year. After living and working in Korea, the Netherlands sound very appealing. 

favorite photos thus far 07:46

Taken somewhere in the middle of Mongolia. These are prayer sites where rocks are piled up and topped off with these blue banners. 

Taken in Harajuku, Tokyo. Young kids show up on Sunday afternoons and show off their costumes and makeup. Usually they dress up as their favorite anime character or rock star.

Taken in Nikko, Japan. 

Josh and Jenny are just too photogenic. They make any picture look good.

Korina's way excited for her wedding day.

Taken from inside the Gwanghwamun in Seoul. The biggest and most important palace out of the five in Seoul.

Shot this on Jeju Island while I was waiting for Jon and Tim.

Cheonjiyeon in Seogwipo, Jeju Island. 

Asian Magnolias shot at the Summer Palace in Beijing, China. 

blue roses 23:00

A lot of "specialists" in Asia continue to regard Asia as a mere copier of Western ideas and that they lack creativity. I tend to think that Asians (and when I say Asians I mean the Japanese, Koreans, and to a certain extent, Chinese) are just playing catch up. The reason I bring this up is because I think that these Asians ARE very creative. I'm always quite amazed by products they come up with. I think it's a shame that in the West, we never get to hear about these things. 

So a while ago, a Japanese company genetically altered roses and came up with blue roses. It was suppose to be an impossible feat, a horticulturist's dream. Now it's available for people to purchase, though I've heard that it costs over a hundred bucks just for one rose. 

top five things to do in seoul 10:20

5) All that Jazz in Itaewon. A place where you can have a glass of wine and listen to live jazz music. A pretty sweet way to spend a night out in Seoul.

4) Go watch Nanta. A musical comedy about four chefs cooking up a birthday dinner bash. It actually is more exciting than it sounds. The music and beats are all derived from traditional Korean music. And the greatest thing is, you don't have to know Korean.

This is how Meredith felt after watching Nanta!

3) Go to a barbeque restaurant in Myeongdong. Most restaurants cater towards the Japanese here but that doesn't mean it isn't good. One of the best places for meat in my opinion. And then after all that meat, you can refresh yourself with a nice bowl of cold naengmyeon!

2) Spend a few hours at one of the five palaces. I prefer Changdeok Palace to the other four only because there are always less people around. A beautiful place to enjoy traditional architecture and nature. Extremely calming and peaceful.

1) An afternoon strolling around Insadong. Walk down Insadong gil and in between all the narrow alley ways and visit all the little pottery shops, painting galleries, and tea houses. And don't forget to grab yourself a 700 won hotteok from the street vendor and a bowl of cold plum tea from one of the tea houses.

A restaurant in one of the alleyways in Insadong

jon in korea 04:58

I'm grateful that my friend Jon came out to Korea during his vacation time. Him being here though really made me miss home and even now, I feel a bit homesick. Luckily, I only have three more months left before I fly back to California!

Jon's flight came in late on Friday night so he could not bus to Daejeon, the city I'm living in. I made him stay with my friend Brian who he had never met and I met him the next morning. We hung out in Seoul for the day and then flew out to Jeju Island the next morning. My friend Tim who lives on Jeju Island picked us up. Jeju was probably the highlight of our trip. On Monday morning, we hiked up Seongsan to see the sunrise. Seongsan is a mini crater that juts out from mainland Jeju. I guess it's famous for sunrises and since everybody's does it while they're there, we did it.

Immediately after, we took a ferry to Udo (Cow Island) and rode scooters. While scootering around, we happened upon Haenyeos, really really old woman divers. These women dive and catch sea creatures for food. They can hold their breath for about three to five minutes and from what I saw, most in their seventies. Despite their age, it seemed as though most were in better shape than I was. According to one Haenyeo who we talked to, most woman start diving at the age of ten and continue to do it until the day they die! Unfortunately, they wouldn't let us take pictures with them and we dared not to secretly sneak one after we saw a haenyeo punk a father and son who had done so without their consent. 

I think Jon actually did better with the food that I thought he would have. Granted, I kind of know what he likes and dislikes... I was still surprised at how adventurous he had gotten after Tokyo. 

korean x-boxes 02:22

When Bill Gates met with the president of Korea two weeks ago, Mr. Gates presented him with an X-box inlaid in traditional Korean mother-of-pearl. Three of them were made - one for Bill Gates himself, the president, and the artist. Another hundred will be made for who know who.

Kim Young-joon, the designer, with his new X-box

hello kitty 02:12

Hello Kitty was just named the official Japanese tourist ambassador. The government is hoping to bring in ten million visitors a year with their new mascot. Apparently, there is a "Hello Kitty Wave" happening in China and the government hopes to bank on this.

I don't think I'll ever understand the Asian obsession with cuteness.

will's last weekend 10:11

     This passed weekend, Will, Rachel (Will's friend), and I went to Busan to hangout for the last time before he left for America. A couple of weeks prior to this weekend we had thrown around the idea of going to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tsushima, or Tokyo but it just didn't seem to work out. So we ended up in Busan... again. While in Busan, we decided to go check out if there were any tickets to Fukuoka, Japan on the ferry. I honestly didn't think there would be any left because this was a prime weekend for Koreans to travel. Miraculously, there were tickets left, and that morning we left for Japan for two hundred bucks! 

Will and I in Busan posing in front of an image used by the kings of Korea for their throne room. 

A park in Fukuoka

When we arrived, I got hassled by the customs guy saying that I needed a specific address on my customs form. I told him that we were just going to find a hotel but he kept insisting that EVERY hotel in Fukuoka was going to be booked. Luckily, I spoke enough Japanese to whisk my way out of there. Right when we entered the city, I was determined to prove him wrong. How could EVERY hotel/motel/inn be booked?! And it turned out he was wrong. We easily found housing and spent the rest of the time enjoying Fukuoka. 

Fukuoka is known for its canal and ramen. Canals are nice and ramen is very good. They have "yatai" (street vendors) that serve delicious ramen and yakisoba. Would go back just for the food. 

One of Fukuoka's many canals.

Ubiquitous ramen shops of Fukuoka

      An older lady started talking to Rachel about something in Japanese but she had no idea. Around that same time, Will got in trouble for shooting a video of a Buddha statue and touching all the merchandise. Right then, she took us into the back and started talking to me. She was very warm-hearted and personable. We chatted for a while. We told her that we were tourists from Korea and she told me that she would be delighted to take us around for a bit. She bought us subway tickets, we talked some more, and she guided us to some ancient castle ruins and a beautiful park. And she told me that I spoke very good keigo (Japanese honorifics). It made my day. 

人生なんてそんなものだねえええ 10:50

友達たちに会いたいんだけどね。後３月。