Thursday, September 23, 2010

The Last Days of Summer

The leaves haven't started to change color yet, and the afternoon sun still gets pretty hot, but one day, the season changed, and you can feel it in the air. The weather is so beautiful right now, the air is cool and there is no longer that hanging humidity sticking to your face. I've been told that Fall is a short lived season, so take advantage! I am absolutely going to be doing exactly that and in a few minuets I am going to go to one of the new parks in Seoul. There have been major reconstructions in the city to beautify and modernize the image of Seoul and it is very noticeable.  They (the government) have also begun to restore many of the ancient relics, that, until now have haphazardly been build around, so there is this really wonderful juxtaposition of the old and new.

I am discovering my new hometown and finding that I really dig the place I am in. Seoul is a kick-ass city. There is so much to do, there is so much to see! It's not just industrial, it's made to be beautiful and structured to dissipate some of the pains of urban living. Nature isn't very far away, spas are dirt cheap, and the fashion is unbelievable. I love the styles here. I have made a few friends who have taken me out, shown me around, and gone touristing with me. It's been a lot of fun! I don't have anything to complain about really, though I am still finding my own rhythms here. I do feel a bit  homesick every now and then, I missed my sister's 21st birthday, and I wished I could have been there for my family when my grandfather passed away.  And, as the culture shock wears off, and simple acts are still just plain difficult because of the language and culture barrier, it is sometimes wearisome and lonely.

But then I think about how everything in life can turn around completely in just one day and that there is so much potential ahead, just waiting for someone to grab onto, that I get a little excited to find out what that may be, and head for the door.

Here are some photos of a hike I went on.

Love-
E.














Weight machines provided for you along your nature walk!

You can weight lift on your hike and in the serenity of nature!
Grave yard I passed by on my hike.

1 comment:

  1. Weight machines on the trail...? Who are these people!? How many of us would want to go and do this exact thing? Work out in the middle of some park during sunset or at sunrise? Doing whatever people do in the gym on a windy day or in the pouring rain...how cool would that be? These guys are waaaay ahead of the curve in this respect. Do you think that those graves are just for one person? (One FAT person!) Maybe they are for groups or whatever, because look how they stick up so much. Why do they stick up so much? Maybe these are groups of exercisers who just overdid it at "the gym" and kacked coming back from a workout. My Gawd! Even if you were homeless in Korea, you would at least have a place to workout and look your best as long as you were, y'know,...homeless? But it sounds like everyone is way too nice to have a homeless predicament there. Can you see the graves from the exercise equipment? Holy cow! Wouldn't that be something! Could you imagine visiting your family plot while someone else is grunting out sit-ups ten feet away? I don't know about that... Hey! I've noticed that there is no graffiti on any of the equipment. Doesn't that just beat all! I wonder if there is caning over there? Man, wouldn't that hurt like Hell? Maybe that is why there is no graffiti on any of the equipment. Maybe, those graves are from the morons who decided to graffiti the equipment and so they are buried next to and in between the exercise stuff to remind everyone. Elizabeth, I sure hope you don't get caned! I bet it hurts...like Hell.This entire thought of caning and exercising around graves gives me the Willies. I'll write later.

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