Newest Member of the Family

Meet the "Countess."

After several weeks of debating (and waiting for a faulty pick-up to be replaced), I have adopted a lovely mandolin made by a Korean instrument company called "Countess." It has been at least a decade since I've owned my own mandolin, and I'm really excited to start pickin' again.

I purchased it at the famous Nagwon Musical Instrument Arcade in Insadong, a neighborhood of Seoul famous for its tea shops, antique shops, art galleries, and yummy Korean restaurants.

Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me, which is a real shame because the Nagwon Musical Instrument Arcade is a veritable smorgasbord of sights and sounds. It is rumored to be the largest instrument market in all of Asia, and with its two sprawling stories of vendors' shops selling every instrument imaginable, I think it might very well be true.

I could easily drop a year's pay in this place before even making it past the first aisle.

Anyway, if you want to get a sense for what the arcade feels like check out this brief video tour or click here to see some lovely sketches of the market created by Korean artist, Lee Yong-Hwan.

Agent Bristow in Seoul

Every time I enter my apartment building here at Seoul National University, it's as though I'm transported into one of my favorite TV shows from a few years ago:

One minute I'm just walking home from work, and then -- BOOM! -- like magic, I'm a covert operative going through ridiculous security checks.

You remember the scene, of course, from the intro of every episode: Agent Sydney Bristow enters SD-6's Credit Dauphine Building, passing through a stark white room, which then flashes red, and then white again.

It's very cool.

OK, so we don't have a white and red flashing room, but the security on the BK International House where we live is pretty dang high tech.

Since there's no chance in hell that you're gonna break into this place, I'll walk you through it. (Unless, of course, your name is Irina Derevko, Arvin Sloane, or Julian Sark, in which case you've likely already broken in, cased the joint, and set up surveillance.)

STEP 1: Type in your 47-digit code. (OK, it's really only 5.)

STEP 2: Using the near-infrared biometric scanner, scan the blood vessels on the back of your hand to gain entry. Yes, you read that correctly: NEAR-INFRARED BIOMETRIC SCANNER!

I kid you not. Just to get into the building! (And for those of you who related best to Marshall's character in the show, here and here are some links related to the technology involved.)

STEP 3: Push the call button for the video connection to the view screen inside to be allowed in. (Or code in 100-digit binary-coded password that you only have 30 seconds to memorize!)

Finally, just because I know it'll embarrass her, here's a photo of my dear wife dressed up as Sidney Bristow from Halloween 2005.

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And for the record, season 5 sucked.

At the summit...

Hiking is quite the popular hobby in Korea.

And who's surprised? If you lived in a major metropolitan region such as Seoul (with its metropolitan region boasting around 25 million people), wouldn't you too want to escape the concrete and glass to immerse yourself in the beauty of nature, exploring trail after trail on the many craggy, wooded mountains that surround the city?

Just think... all that time alone.

The peace.

The solitude.

Just you and nature.

And when you reach the summit, sure, you'll be able to see Seoul spread down below you, but it will just be you, the black-and-white flash of an Asian magpie winging by, perhaps a squirrel chattering in a scraggly pine, and the mountain breeze whistling through your hair.

Oh, yeah, and approximately half of that 25 million people of Seoul:

Told you hiking was popular!

(P.S. Please note that the average age for hikers is well over 40! And people wonder why Koreans stay so trim and fit.)

I'm Huge... (part XI)

I'm huge (and blurry, apparently) in Korea!

[For all in the "I'm Huge in Korea" Series, click HERE.]

Insadong

This weekend we went shopping in Insadong with my cousin Carolyn and several other friends. Here is some of what Insadong has to offer:

An amazing lunch

All sorts of herbs for teas. I got the "jak-seol-cha," or loose leaf green tea:

This is Korean ginseng, an alleged tonic for everything that ails you:

Handmade paper (this picture alone would persuade me to come to Korea):

한국말 하실 줄 아세요? (Do you speak Korean?)

Nope!  My Korean stinks!  

That's why Austin and I just enrolled in a class that is certain to kick our asses. Six hours a week of ass-kicking language class, to be precise. Wish us luck! 

A New Job, A New Apartment

Victoria and I have returned to Korea with brand new jobs. I'll let Victoria blog about her job later, but here's a little about mine.

I begin teaching in the College English Program next week at Seoul National University. It doesn't boast a 600-year history as Sungkyunkwan University can, but SNU is well known to be the top university in Korea and one of the best in all of Asia.

SNU is located in the southern part of Seoul in an area known as Gwanak-gu. Campus is beautiful, and most buildings are relatively new, as various leading colleges and programs around Seoul were relocated to this campus in the 1970s (some have argued for the purpose of consolidating and controlling political dissent).

In fact, much of the architecture is quite modern:

I'll be teaching three courses: College English I (integrated skills); Advanced College English: Speaking; and Advanced College English: Film. This last is not truly a film class, but an English class that uses film as the basis for discussion, writing, vocabulary, and the analysis of discourse and pronunciation. Best part? I get to choose the films!

Of course, the change in employment means that once again we find ourselves living in a new apartment, our third in Seoul in 12 months. Luckily, we've gotten upgrades every time.

Our new apartment in the BK International House is light, spacious, and comfortable, though the living room is a little less furnished than our last place.

The kitchen is quite nice, and we'll be adding an oven to this picture some time next week.

BK International House is located right next to SNU's campus, and the campus itself is set amongst the foothills of Gwanak-san, or Mt. Gwanak. There's a trailhead for the mountain practically out our back door, and we climbed part way up the trail on Sunday.

Here's our our apartment building, from Gwanak-san:

And us.

(Yes, I have a goatee now. Stop snickering.)