Want to Read Minds? Make Mind Muscles Strong! (just follow these tips...)

So. What is new. Well I really have to do the dishes and there is a drunk pissing into the empty lot my one window overlooks.  I do not feel like cooking so am eating another garlic cream cheese sandwich with milk. I have some green tea ice cream I will be eating later with a spoon I will probably pick up out of my sink and rinse off. It's only me living here anyway.
At work today I had to make a sign that said 'San Francisco' and ran out of room for the 'O'. So I nestled it into 'C's cove. I think it looks artistic. The teacher's whose project it actually is, hasn't seen it yet. I also had to make five sea lions. It's "International Day" at the school tomorrow, and there is a station for each important continent. Asia, Europe,  and The United States of America.  ( I actually brought up the fact that Mexico was part of the North American continent, but was ignored. I didn't bring up Canada because they don't count.) I was asked to pick the three most important cities in America : San Francisco and New York were picked immediately. The third one gave me and the other American a little trouble since we couldn't decide which city was more important: Boston, Chicago, the Alamo? It was defiantly an hour or so after putting the project aside that I thought, "Oh! Washington D.C.!" I guess its important, so we added it to The List representing North America. Anyway, I made the sea lions to represent the S.F harbor. I was asked to do this, this did not come from any internal motivating source.  I made one girl sea lion, one boy sea lion (they are dating), a blind sea lion, a big papa sea lion that is going to scare the boy sea lion, and a sick/dying sea lion that I put in the fake rock corner. I wanted it to be realistic. One of my co-workers had to make ten cooked crabs. He asked me to help him and I said, "No".  So then I had to make a fake post for some fake sign, all by myself, and I thought that I should have helped him because then I would have company and not be making a fake post. Anyway, International Day should be fun tomorrow! I'll take some pictures. The students will be watching a video on how to dance like an African, and I will probably join them. This is for the African continent station. Sorry, I guess I forgot about it earlier.

Hangang Park

Over the holiday weekend I spent a day at Hangang Park in Seoul, it was so beautiful! You could put your feet right into the river, if you wanted, but you probably didn't. Here are some pictures of the place:

The Haetae again! 

 dimension change, straight ahead

Just hanging out in this huge fountain. 

The designs on his paper boat: !? 

Peace!

This is the 'floating stage'. I am standing in the amphitheater, and as I understand it, there are lots of concerts here in the summer.  

yay for kite flying as sunset 

Another cool ancient stature of some Koran dude

Gyeongbok Palace

Mostly Pictures,  though I did add some narrative along with the photos. For the most part, the adventure was spent in observation and awe.

The entry gate 

Haetae : mythical creatures meant to ensure justice. The Haetae is the mascot of Seoul and can be found all over the city.

The ceiling of the entry way

Inside the first 'plaza'

The Throne room

Inside the Throne room

This is where Foreign Diplomats would be entertained

Those creatures on the roof are mythical creatures meant to protect, similar to the western idea of a gargoyle. 

This image of the rising sun and moon and five mountain peaks  is a royal symbol and it used to be that only the King was allowed to own such am image

A girl wearing the traditional Korean dress called a hanbok. Because of the holiday Chuseok that was going on, most of the kids at the palace were wearing this outfit. 

'The Blue House' The equivalent to the American White House.  The Korean president lives there. 

Part of the original gate to the city of Seoul

A bell tower that would mark the opening and closing of the city gates. The bell would be rang 33 times in the morning to symbolize the 33rd level of heaven in Buddhism and 28 times at night for the 28 constellations. The bell tower was built there in the 1396. 

A statue of the man who created Hangul, the Korean writing system, with me and an awesome little kid at Gwanghwamun Plaza.  

Gwanghwamun Plaza 

These tiles borders Gwanghwamun Plaza.  There is a tile for each year marking the history of Korea. The tiles mark Korea's 600 year history. There are blank tiles for the future of Korea on the other side of the park. Water runs over these tiles and it has been called "The Steam of History",  For obvious reasons. This one is my birth year and it says that in 1986 Korea began to import foreign cigarettes such as Marlboro and Camel. It also started a cruise line. 

Happy Birthday Ali! I don't know what this says but here is a picture of your birth year tile from the Seoul plaza Gwanghwamun  outside the Gyeongbok Palace!

Best Korean food so far found at this restaurant down this tiny street. We had a Korean friend tour us around and he really hooked it up! 

Seoul Street graffiti