8 Seasons in the Land of the Morning Calm

my leg/ankle is not broken, and in this wonderful country (aka South Korea), i saw an orthopedic surgeon and got x-rays for 10USD. if the meds don't help, i'll have to have a $10 MRI on Tuesday. no insurance necessary. America's healthcare system blows.

The rainy season (Jangma) seems to have commenced early this year, but it is welcome because summer came fast and hard, too. The sky was light at 5am, and as I sat trying to coax myself to sleep, shadows blotted out the apathetic sun. To my bleary eyes the change was sudden, and I moved to the window to witness the last of the light disappear. In the early morning hours Gwangju begins its hustle, so if sleep has not come by five, i'm usually left without. In the light, the drunks are returning home with loud choruses of "Tae Han Min Guk" (damn the world cup) , couples on every side begin their morning quarrels, babies sputter, old men hack and talk loudly on the streets and in stairwells, and I sit enveloped in their waking life. But today, with the clouds, everything changes. Gwangju's hustle becomes a hush. For reasons unbeknownst to me the rain is welcome, but not enjoyed. No longer can the brash symphony of dawn be heard, it is quiet as though the city canno...

Nagan Eupseong’s (낙안읍성) location leaves little wonder as to why Korea was so difficult to unify. Situated in a low valley, Nagan Eupseong’s initial fortifications are the mountains that surround it. Steep, rock-faced and densely forested cones rise on all sides, and even in these modern times, the well-paved roads feel treacherous. Sharp turns and blind corners twist up and down the mountains’ sides, cleared only as far as the road needs to be wide, so upon entering the valley the expanse is awe-inspiring. mountains surround  The valley’s floor is a patchwork of rice paddies, barley fields and hay that stretch from mountain to mountain. Farmers dot the landscape irrigating or walking on the narrow, earthen ridges between fields. The long road is straight, dividing the valley almost in half, until it turns into a small smash of restaurants, markets and specialty shops. You know, the place where tourists go. Nagan Folk Village (as the tourism board calls it) i...

It was a relatively slow start for us on Sunday. We’d been up by 6:00 AM the two previous days, and felt that an additional three hours were a luxury we’d take advantage of. After rolling ourselves out of bed, a quick shower, and cup of coffee, we were on the streets of Seoul once again. Geyeongdong Market Our first stop of the day was Gyeongdong Market, which is a labyrinth of a street market where vendors specialize in fruit, spices, roots, and medicinal herbs. It was a extraordinarily colorful walk through stalls of flowers, dried fruit and cooking essentials. The strong scent of licorice dominated the herb stalls, and a whole side alley was dedicated to garlic. Old women were lined up under little shelters peeling away, a gathering hill of garlic at their feet. It was beautiful sight. After a few purchases, we wandered a bit, Alex carefully escorting me past the sidewalks lined with dog meat sales. Very obvious carcasses sprawled out on tables. This area of the mark...

Flickr meetup   I met Stephen, red hair in back row, through Flickr.com - the website where you had previously viewed a2's pics. He's lived in Seoul for 3 years, and we met on Saturday night to spin yarns over our experiences living in Korea. He also introduced us to Lucy, Neal, and Jenny We enjoyed the luxury of an evening with cocktails, easy conversation (no translation required), and were none too surprised to discover how different our experiences are from those of Seoulites. It was a nice night under a clearning sky with a Manhattan in hand.

Torrential yet shy of monsoon, that’s where I’d place the rain we awoke to. If it were a Saturday morning in Gwangju, we could laze in bed with books and hot coffee. Alas, we had plans, and those plans required us to be up at 6:00 AM regardless of foreseeable misery. Alex went off in search of water and carbs to kick start our day while I poured (no pun intended) over maps and guidebooks. Our tour company picked us up from the hotel, and by 8:00 we began our bouncy journey into the countryside cradling the 38th parallel. The first stop on the tour is the farthest north one can travel in the western corridor before requiring military permission, Imjin-gak Park. The Imjin River borders North Korea a few miles to the west.  It winds peacefully around the small park, though close observation finds it draped with nets to discourage underwater infiltrations by spies and assassins. The pain of separation is palpable here in the family graffiti that climbs a barbed-wire...

We couldn’t have asked for shittier weather, the clouds gathering overhead as our bus pulled into the terminal. Initially, we hadn’t noticed the disappearing sun as we were still in shock after seeing a Walmart. We hadn’t slept too much the night before, and were doped up on caffeine, but if I was going to hallucinate I’d hope it to be more imaginative than a Walmart. Because while I respect bargain-shopping, I cannot respect an institution that will sell guns, but allows its pharmacists to refuse birth control prescriptions (both presumably based on religious beliefs). Anyway, that’s a tangent for another time. Meanwhile, back in Seoul . . . a2 had rediscovered that some subways still have more than one track, and navigated to our first stop. Our hotel was pretty disappointing on first glance, not that hotels in Korea are prized for appearance. You’ll be consistently disappointed if looking for a shiny, welcoming exterior. Generally, if we don’t see mold on the ceilings, an...