That Which is Seoul

Today is Buddha's Birthday, and I thought appropriate to write a blog, as I have not done so in some time. I have been traveling, and exploring various districts, and decided to showcase only a certain amount of photos, and leave the rest for a later time. So far, Korea has been the most fun, with the most welcoming of people. Here are some photographs:

Included are the Palace of the Royal family, Gyeongbokgung Palace. Hongdae's Bauhaus DogCafe, which is really one of the coolest concepts ever, where dog owners bring in their pet/s, and let them play with other dogs, while they enjoy coffee and conversation. The night shots are in front of the Royal Palace, in the wide open area district, seen in previous blog posts. The many colored lamps put up to celebrate Buddha's Birthday, with the most massive festival and parade. Japanese sushi, and local narrow districts filled with people.

Guam!

I am not, nor will I be a fan of tourist locations, or tourist destinations and attractions. I like having the ability to discover things on my own time, and in my own way. This is why I write about Guam in the way set forth. Guam is the 51st state in my opinion, also might be the hottest state, and most boring. However, the one thing Guam does have going for itself is the absolute inevitable beauty of it clear beaches, and amazing weather. So, when I arrived at 2am, I was not able to see any of this, but was welcomed by those neon signs of Taco Bell, McDonalds and blah blah blah blah.....But during the morning, a slight crack in my curtains revealed to me a light so bright, I immediately got up to close the curtain, but a little curiosity instead bequest me to open the curtains wider. Everything else was history! This image is what I woke up to, and went to bed to.

N.O.M.A.D

Chunggue-Chun

Changing of the Guard

General Yu-Sun-Sin

Buddha Temple

Only Starbucks in Korean, all others have to say "Starbucks"

Korea has J.B Fever

Insan-dong

It has been some time since the last post, but in all due respect, I have been traveling, and adjusting to a place 6000miles away from Atlanta. I now live in Korea, a place of great beauty, and the most welcoming culture. My city, Incheon, is located 30 minutes by train, from the center of Seoul. Coming here, I did not know what to expect, and decided to take it all as a day-by-day experience. At the Incheon International Airport, I was greeted by Adam, a Brit, who has been in Korea for 4 years, and Mr. Park, the director of the school, holding up a sign with my name. Walking out of the airport, I was caught by the most piercing chill. Since, the chill has all but disappeared, with snow blanketing the city only once, and melting within a few hours. I live in a small, but rather homely apartment, with a second floor, whose ceiling is 5cm too short of which I am tall. Because of this, I decided to move my bed downstairs. Hitting my head was annoying; but it serves as a great closet, and storage space.

The first night, Adam introduced me to the other foreign teachers, of which there is Jimmy, Brooke-Taylor, Ashley, Elease, who left for Australia not too long after I arrived, and Colin, another Brit who arrived 2 days after me. We all went drinking that night at the local bar, Tadori. The preference of drink is the local Soju, a comparable taste to Vodka, but milder in alcohol content, and relatively cheap, 3000won ($3) for a bottle, it is 1000won in stores. Also, Cass beer, the local brew again. We have since, drank every night almost. I tried to abstain, but Adam, has a great and persuasive ways, which are quite funny. Also, the proper way to drink Soju is to pour to your elders first, holding the bottle in one hand, while using the other hand as support underneath. (This is also the way to hand money when paying for your goods). The elder then pours, with one hand only, to the younger person. While this is the tradition, at times of meeting new people, the older person will pour with two hands as a sign of respect.

The end of the week, Friday, Mr. Park and his wife treated the whole school to a traditional Korean dinner, in a place where shoes are taken off, and sitting on the ground is proper. We were served Soju, and Cass. appetizers and many other native dishes, which are very tasty and some strange. Kimchi is served with every meal, and most of the time is spicy. In fact, most of the food in Korea is served with spicy ingredients. Be careful of cheese-dak-galbi which is extremely spicy, but so delicious, and once the dish is finished, rice is added to the sauce left over, and more cheese is melted, it is then called cheese-dak-paap.

Over the weekend, I traveled to Seoul to meet with Jen, whom I met on the plane from Chicago to Korea. She was my tour-guide, and showed me many parts of the city. But before I describe the city, I must say that the trains are the best I have ridden, clean, quiet, spacious and the seats are warming.

We started in Insan-dong, a traditional district busy with people and tourists, serving traditional food, and traditional tea-houses. Locals were selling the wares, showing of their art and on one occasion, promoting a new magazine issue with Beiber on the cover. Jen and I ate noodle soup and dumplings, and afterwards had tea and coffee. Then she took me to Myong-dong, a young district full of modern Korean culture and fashion. Afterwards, Gwanghamoon, a district with statues of the general Yu-Sun-Sin and the creator of the Korean alphabet, Sejong the Great. It is in Gwanghamoon also, where the president of Korea lives. After seeing Gwanghamoon, Jen took me to a newly built water stream area, where many locals and tourist walk, but being a mildly cold day, only a few people were out. In the summer, people gather here for a festival of fireworks, and laser-shows. 8 hours of walking, Jen and I separated and I was invited to come to Itaewon, a place full of tourists, and everything western, from Dunkin-Donuts, to Quiznos and Burger King. Also, a great many pubs and bars. We were here for a half hour before making our way to Hyundai where our bar hoping really began....

As winter approaches, and snow starts to blanket Atlanta, I wanted to do one more shoot before the start of another year. I was approached by Recho Omondi and together we started shooting early in the morning, a la street style, with the talented Paris as our model. Being cold outside, yet gratefully sunny, we settled to shoot on Perimeter Center. This is what came of the shoot!

Open Studio

Hollie T.

- Very very talented artist

Red Dress Phenomenon

Libby and Ashley

- One of my best friends and definitely the craziest

Olga D. and Mom

- Happiest girl I know

R.A.D

- One of my best friends and the damn best graphic designer I know

Print Dress

- was told by her she wears something pink every day

Alexa J. Artist/Model

- one of the most beautiful and talented people I've met

Jay Fox

- One of the coolest people ever....EVER

- nothing else need be said

Rich G. - Cool and Confident

- Taught me many things

- Thank You

Robert

Stewert R.

Sally

- Great people...and the most amazing accent

Shelley D.

Kathryn

- A very talented artist...very

Stephanie Pharr

- one of the most talented photographers I know

- enjoy your travels across the states

- we will meet again in London

Open Studio as an annual show, in fact the biggest show, Savannah College of Art hosts. This year, the show exhibited amazing work from emerging artists, in the fields of Photography, Printmaking, Painting, and Sculpture. Attending the show, I came to support and view the work created by my contemporaries, but as a personal assignment, I could not refuse the chance to sneak in a few snapshots of what was going on outside the hanging wall. I want to extend a warm congratulations to all the Grad Students for doing such great work participating in the event and showing off their talents and techniques, and to all who had work sold, as well as on the wall.