Day 20: Going with the Flow

The rather lame title aside, this is perhaps one of the more 'artsy' pictures that I've taken, and considering my severe lack of talent, will take. This picture was taken at start of the 청계천, a stream that runs through the center of downtown Seoul. This stream has an interesting history, actually. Originally it was a natural stream that ran the length of the old city, but then the government thought it would be best to seal it up and pave over it. So for years it was simply concrete in the center of the city. However, homeless started flocking to this location and, the then Seoul mayor Lee Myung-bak, decided to renovate downtown and do away with the homeless. So, what does he do? Reopens the stream. So the stream that you see now is a man-made stream built over an actual, natural stream. Yes, Alanis Morissette, this is quite ironic. But out of all this came one of the most beautiful aspects of Seoul, something that both people of Korea and tourists alike can share and love. I am not a big touristy kind of guy; I stick to the obscure back streets and leave the big stuff for the Japanese women and other random tourists. But this is one of the few things that I can point to and say 'so what if it is touristy, I still think it's amazing'. In my opinion, when you can walk out of your office at lunch to sit on a bench by a stream in the middle of the city, that, boys and girls, is a good thing.

Day 19: Have Your Cake and Eat it Too

Ah yes, the art of cake designing. When you think of cakes you probably don't think about Korea, or Asia for that matter. However, don't let the world of cakes deceive you, some of the most amazing cakes have arisen from right here in Korea. It is quite difficult to understand just why Korea has such a special affinity for cakes, perhaps even an obsession, but they do as it runs rampart in bakeries all across the land. Couples will buy a cake for any possible occasion: Birthdays, Christmases, Valentines Day, White day, 100 Day Anniversary, 1 Year Anniversary, Graduation, End of the Semester, New Years (both Western and Lunar), and the list goes on. Now I've eaten my fair share of cake in America, and have come across some amazing cakes in Japan, but when I see a cake like the one to the left, a cake that looks as if it were plucked from a Disney Movie or a Fairy Tale, I know that there is something special about it. Granted, looks can certainly deceive, and at times what a cake looks like and what it tastes like, especially in Korea where the concept of an ice cream cake simply means a slab of solid ice cream decorated to look like a cake, but I think people in Korea don't eat cake for the taste, but rather buy it for what it looks like. The act of buying the cake and having it far surpasses the actual act of eating it. Not only that, but with those nifty cake boxes that you can carry around while you eat dinner or go shopping, you can have cake on the go, proving once and for all that you can in fact have your cake and eat it too.

Day 18: Places NOT to Park your Car

There was always something about turning old houses into stores or restaurants that enticed me. Perhaps it was the old-fashionness of it, or the modernness of it, but the idea struck me as quite innovative. In that same line of thinking, I also find it inventive when I see cafes in Korea in the most unlikely locations, such as an old house or apartment. Yet more interesting than that is the above picture, located in Hongdae (arguably my favorite location in Korea): A garage turned into a mens clothing boutique. There is actually room for one to park one's car there, but the notion of turning a garage into anything other than perhaps a work-space or craft shop seems unheard of. Yet we should certainly not be surprised, because Hongdae is quite spacious and you can find a cafe or boutique around every corner, especially in what we could consider residential districts. Space in Korea is very hard to come by, and shops are constantly changing, especially in Hongdae; go there one weekend and the shops could be completely different than three weeks ago and three weeks in the future. As such, it only seems natural that such shops would spring up using the most unlikely places, not necessarily a mark of 'style' as much as 'convenience' or 'necessity'.

Day 17: New Food = New Set of Problems

Well, there is really no good way to set up this picture or a funny anecdote to introduce it. You all can read, quite clearly, that this place serves pizza that is made out of pork cutlets. Now, it's not so much the spelling error that caught my attention, but rather the actual existence of something even more bizarre than 'regular' Korean pizza you can get at a Mr. Pizza's or Pizza Hut. So the idea of the pork cutlet, for those of you who are not familiar with 돈까스, is that it's a big slab of pork, battered and then deep fried; think chicken cutlets but with much thicker and crispier bread crumbs. So pork cutlet pizza is just a large, circle-shaped cutlet with some pasta sauce on top, maybe some cheese, and other random toppings depending on the one you order, baked again (remember, the pork cutlet was already deep-fried) in an oven, and then served to customers. A million witty comments have come to mind when thinking about this, but I don't think any witty comment will express fully the impact that pork cutlet pizza in and of itself has. I don't think a history, or a cultural discussion of anything, will explain this phenomenon, and so I leave it as is.

Day 16: Free Cotton!

Maybe I'm too much of a brand whore or a consumer snob, but I hardly buy stuff from Skin Food, The Face Shop, and other cheaper places for lotion, face wash, etc. However, I will buy shampoo or hand cream from these places, simply because the Olive Young no longer carries my brand. Anyway, I remember when I first came to Korea and saw all these ladies standing outside the stores trying to get others to come inside. I was surprised how they would grab the arms of other women and virtually drag them inside the store, often against the expressed will of the customers. In America we have a word for that: Felony. But I suppose in Korea it's just friendly marketing. But what also surprises me if that these places will often give you free stuff just for walking into the store, and it's yours even if you don't buy anything. Such is the case with the little box in the picture above. The first time I saw it I got all excited, because who wouldn't be excited at the prospects of something free in a box? But when I opened the box to find squares of cotton inside, the excitement quickly vanished. It wasn't until I started using toner on my face, which comes only in liquid form, that I started to see the rationale behind the boxes of cotton. Sure, you could use toilet paper or tissues, but that costs money. By simply walking into a store and obtaining free cotton, one can significantly cut down on the amount of money they spend on tissues for toner. Now I use toner twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. But women who use makeup on a daily basis, especially Korean women who, at times, shovel it on, they could go through a thing of tissues in a week. These free boxes of cotton, though, could save these ladies, and your occasional man, some money. All one needs to do is walk into one of these stores, not even buy anything, and the box of cotton is theirs.

Day 15: Everything is an Empty Canvas

So a small caveat before we get started today. Some of the things I highlight about Korea may not be necessarily 'specific' to just Korea, but they are specific to my Korea and the things I find charming about this place. Take this mural of an old [what I assume to be] British man from [again what I assume to be] the 19th century, enjoying a rather large glass of wine. He represents 'Wine Tree', some random wine bar in Korea, located in Shinchon. I post this picture not to talk about wine bars, because I am sure I will post a later picture of a favorite wine bar of mine, but rather to talk about street art. In Korea, probably similar to other countries, anything can be considered a blank piece of paper, a canvas, and you will often find some impressive paintings in the most obscure places. There are entire murals in tunnels under the train tracks in Shinchon and on the sides of buildings in Hongdae. Though some may find Bernard over there not all that appealing, I find it to be absolutely brilliant, given it's location next to college bars, cheap eateries, and street vendors. The idea for something like this is simply good marketing, by placing something completely out of the ordinary and obviously eye catching next to things that all look the same. I am reminded of a quote from 'Election' where Matthew Broderick attempts to explain democracy to Chris Kline: "Now say that everyday you had an apple. An apple, an apple and more apples. You probably thought that apples were pretty good, even if you got a rotten one every once in awhile. Then one day there was an orange. Now you can choose, do you want an apple or do you want an orange? That's democracy." Chris Kline, unwittingly replies, "I also like bananas." For all I know Wine Tree could be crap, but this portrait makes me want to go inside and enjoy myself with some 19th century Brits, the same way the Statue of Liberty welcomes people to America.

Day 14: There is a Cure!

When I first saw this, I didn't know if I should feel offended, excited, or simply bemused. In reality, I was none of these things; rather, I was on the floor laughing. Korea has been known for some very awesome English and naming (if you search through my blog you will find a few posts on song titles and boy/girl group names that attest to that fact), but I think this caught my eye because the first thing that popped into my head was simply: A Cure! So if one who is 'the gay' drinks this, will they be turned straight? What if a straight person drinks it, do they become gay? What if a pre-surgery trans-gendered person drinks this, do they... become an aardvark? All these questions started rushing to my central thought processor, but then all new questions started to arise. What if this was tea sanctioned only for straight people? What if gay people were not even allowed to drink this tea and this is like nectar for the straight world? And if so, do gays have their own tea? What's it called, because you know it wouldn't be something as simple as 'Gay Tea', but probably something more along the lines of 'Sexy Times Tea' or 'Getting Lucky Tonight Tea'. Names like that, though, imply a possible alcoholic influence, so maybe something very gay like 'Bea Authur Tea' or 'British Tea'. Upon drinking the tea, I did not have cloaked men come and stop me from drinking it, nor did I have the sudden urge to hump a woman, though I did have to pee a little. Really, Straight Tea is simply unsweetened ice tea; it's served 'straight' rather than 'bent' with milk and sugar.

Day 13: With My Bear Hands

Princess Hours (궁 in Korean) is a popular Korean drama (and actually Manhwa/ graphic novel) that aired in early 2006. It depicts a fictional 21st century Korea that still has a monarch in place (the monarch was dissolved during the Japanese occupation and never regained power after 1945) and the love story between the Crowned Prince and the newly Crowned Princesses. In the drama, a central image and item is a teddy bear that the Crowned Prince has, and has had for nearly his entire life, representing the only 'thing' he can express his true emotions and self to. Imagine if Prince William had a teddy bear that he talked to on a daily basis; same concept. The teddy bear is actually part of a famous brand and also incorporated into the Teddy Bear Museum in Jeju Island. The picture here is not that bear, nor was it taken on Jeju Island. This is perhaps my favorite teddy bear: Secret Service Teddy Bear. I took this picture at N Seoul Tower, which also has a moderately-sized Teddy Bear Museum that depicts Korean history and culture using teddy bears. I must say, at first I was skeptical about this place, when I first went and heard of it, but when I actually went through it I was very impressed, and charmed, especially at this bear. The Teddy Bear Museum, be it the one in Seoul or Jeju Island, is a must for anyone, because nothing depicts Korean history and culture quite like adorably dressed teddy bears.

Day 12: Poetic Justice of Spring

Originally I thought of composing a haiku, but seeing how that form of poetry is native to Japan and not Korea, I decided not to follow through with the idea. Then I thought of composing some sort of traditional Korean poem, but not really caring much about Korean literature and/or poetry, nor knowing nothing of traditional Korean poetry, I thought it best to stay away from that arena as well. The other usual suspects (a ballad, a Broadway musical, interpretive dance) were also scrapped given my lack of will power. So instead you are all stuck with the same old type of posting. If you haven't figured it out by now, this is a Cherry Blossom tree (벚꽃 in Korean), and they are all almost gone and done with. Most of you probably know the life-cycle of the Cherry Blossoms, that they bloom in Spring for only 2 or 3 weeks, thus making them even more beautiful. I bet if the Corpse Flower blossomed for only 2 or 3 weeks, we'd all love that just as much. This picture was taken on my way to work, right in front of the hospital. The main entrance of the hospital has dozens of Cherry Blossom trees, making it quite breath-taking. Also, in perhaps one of the most blatant strikes of irony I've come in contact with, one of the most beautiful places to view Cherry Blossoms in Seoul (outside of Yeoidou), is Shinchon, where I live, where Yonsei and the hospital is located, and where college students go to get drunk off their asses. On the weekend, it is not uncommon to see Korean college students throwing up on the side of the street thanks to a massive intake of alcohol. Well, for 2 to 3 weeks in April, they now get to vomit in style, as one of the main roads that cuts through Shinchon is laden with dozens of Cherry Blossom trees that look beautiful. City planners must have been pretty drunk as well when they planned this one, but hey, at least it gives Shinchon a sprinkle of beauty, even if it lasts only a fleeting moment. You know, now that I think about it, it's a lot like Beauty and the Beast, you know, without the talking household equipment, but certainly with the unruly townsfolk and the occasional song and dance.

Day 11: The Mystery of History

I figured that I should probably post some historical things about Korea so I can give some cool Korean history facts, as told by an anti-Communist, Kim Yuna-loving national! This guard post is located on the Eastern side of the central palace (Gyeongbok Goong). The layout of the palace, and Seoul as a whole, is quite interesting. The idea of the city was to make it as fortified as possible, with a huge mountain range directly behind the palace (to the north), the Sea to the west, and the Han River to the south. I would have taken a picture of the south gate (Namdaemun), but you know, some crazy Korean decided to set it aflame in 2008 and it still hasn't been rebuilt. This guard post is especially important to me because it is the welcoming committee, in a sense, to one of my favorite districts in Korea: Samcheon-dong. This area has gotten a bit more commercial than I would have liked it, but some of the best food, best art, and best cafes are located here. For those familiar with Atlanta, it reminds me of Virgina Highlands, but much more walkable and bigger. There are streets upon side streets filled with old houses turned into cafes or art galleries. There is even a cafe that serves 'ice cream sandwiches', which vary depending on the one you order, but it is basically two slabs of cake filled with mixed ice cream. Yummy? I think so!

Day 10: Stories of Men

I found this bar in Jongro-1ga last year, randomly with a friend. I remember being attracted to it because, ironically, we were two men and figured the bar was almost calling out to us, as if it were made for us. The name of the bar is '2 Men Story', but the two of us really didn't have a story. Really, none of the people I've gone to the bar with had a story with me, besides the last guy I went with, but the whiskey did all but wipe that story away. The inside decor is your usual industrial, yuppie-style bar, but I don't go for that. I also try to stay away from the mixed drinks, besides the simple ones, because I often see the young bartenders looking at cheat sheets on how to mix a drink. No, I go for the eye candy, because the bar rightly hires only attractive young guys and put them in rather tight white button up shirts. One of the managers is pretty, with nice hair and unfortunate facial hair, but when the jacket comes off the eyes, they go a looking. It's a host bar without hosts and old, rich ladies. But the majority of the clientele are women, or couples, and when groups of men come in, they often leave just as fast when they realize the nature of the bar. If this bar were across the street from where it is currently located, it would be filled with those men and easily identifiable as a gay bar, but alas it is no such place. But of course, that doesn't stop me from going, because hell, at least I have something nice to look at while I pour back the whiskey.

Day 9: I am a Bo-Na-Nah!

Today's picture is brought to you by awkwardly placed foreigners: They fill those empty spaces in advertisements like no other! So I think we can lump this in the same category of things as the Teenie Weenie bear, but this time we take it to a new level when we give a banana a face and large, white arms. The picture is blurry, yes I know. But I think we can all get the gist of what's going on, but just in case, let me recap here for you. Dole is sponsoring a new TV show: I'm Going Bananas! It stars a Korean actor who can get no other work, a foreigner easily amused by large fruit, and a 6 foot banana. Seriously, the guy looks like he is embarrassed to be in such an ad, the foreigners looks like she is about to rip off the peel to get her some banana, and the banana just looks happy to be there. The bit of the Korean that is there roughly says, "Don't buy the LED TV. Here's a Dole Banana instead..." So everyone, when given the choice between an LED TV and a Dole Banana, you all now know which to pick. You know, I've seen things like this in Japan, so Korea isn't necessarily special for slapping faces on fruit. What is brilliant about this picture, though, is the fervor at which the foreigner seems to be giving up the supposed LED TV for this living, breathing, and smiling six-foot Dole Banana. The Korean, though, isn't buying it.

Day 8: Big Cups of Coffee

From time to time, we all experience the need for a rather hefty amount of coffee. Be it early morning, late in the afternoon, or some time at night, big cups of coffee are the cornerstone of modern society, simply because there is more in a big cup of coffee than in a small cup of coffee. However, few places will provide big cups of coffee, especially in Korea. Perhaps a rather popular trend in Korea is to serve, or buy, a small coffee 'shot', not as in an espresso shot, but as in a small paper cup, with at most two gulps, of just regular coffee. There are, of course, variations on this: milk coffee, sugar coffee, cream coffee, hot chocolate, and green tea. Yet all of them are in essence the same size and roughly the same price: 150 to 300 won (around a quarter). I guess some people just crave a small coffee shot, but I think that's just crazy (though I've been known to drink my fare share of these from the machines at school). Rather, big cups of coffee, as pictures above, are more useful and totally cooler. This particular cup of coffee comes from this very famous chocolate cafe in Hongdae, a rather arts and 'indie' district filled with amazing cafes that serve many different things. This one specializes in French chocolate cakes and hot chocolate, and luckily, large cups of coffee.

Day 7: Globalization to the MAX!

So it's not the best picture, seeing as there is a huge glare in the window, but that's okay. Now I've seen some pretty awesome examples of globalization in my time here in Korea, from a Dunkin' Donuts 10 minutes away from my house to a Burger King in my hospital, but this, I think, takes the prize. Starbucks isn't that special anymore, and it is quite common to see this logo every-which-way you turn. But this particular Starbucks, my favorite Starbucks, takes that to a whole new level. This Starbucks is located in the lobby of the funeral parlor/ home that is attached to the hospital that I work at. "We are sorry for your loss, but nothing brings up your spirits like a Mocha Latte!" I expect this to be part of the deal: You book the funeral, the room, the hearst, and get a Starbucks voucher as our gift to you. At first I felt bad going to this Starbucks, because I only would come into the building to get coffee. But now I don't even care; it doesn't phase me one bit. Plus, one of my coffee boys work there, so really, when we get right down to it, there is no real battle between social norms/ funerals and coffee boy, because the coffee boy will always win out.

Day 6: Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang

Only those who know Korean will understand the title of Day 6, for those who don't... sorry, but I'm not in a giving mood today~ If you can't tell, this is my room, well part of it at least. It's not that wide, but it is a bit long. Behind the camera is the 'kitchen' and the 'bathroom', both of which really rock the line of what a kitchen and bathroom are. The bookshelf against the wall is filled with books, overflowing in fact, and also CDs I bought in Korea. My bed is really just two mattresses on top of each other, and my desk chair broke so I just use my bed when I use my computer. My desk, which is also behind the camera, just is a place to put stuff, like my cosmetics and more books and my phone. Yes, the bed spread is purple; I bought it for myself last year on my birthday. It makes me happy, and that's all that matters. There is no real theme to my room, which is quite unlike me, because it is tiny, the walls suck for hanging things, and I have too much stuff for such a tiny space. So I gave up trying to 'decorate' and simply looked at it as a game of Tetris. In Korea, this kind of room is known as a one-room (a studio apartment in English), and are usually a bit bigger. But for the size I pay quite a nice price, a price that no one can beat. The floors are heated, which is nice, but I often forget to turn it off when I go to work so when it's not that cold out, I come home to a room that is way too hot. All in all, I'm just talking about nothing here, but there is my picture and happy times.

Day 5: Pink Elephant in the Room

Dear Samsung, we graciously thank you for providing to the Seoul skyline a truly bizarre and easy-to-spot building. Us Seoulites appreciate it, especially when we get turned around and can't find our way downtown. Today I highlight the Samsung Life Insurance building, one of the most easily recognizable buildings in Korea, for obvious reasons. I know little about the actual building, but at the top there is supposedly a Chinese restaurant, so I guess that's something. What I attribute to the building and what others attribute to it are probably different. For me, this is the building that acts like my North Star in case I get lost, which hardly happens these days. But when I first started exploring downtown I could always guide my way back to central meeting points thanks to this building; you can see it from most of downtown as it doesn't really hide behind other buildings. It sits on the corner of a major intersection and so everyone knows where it is. For this reason, it is often a meeting spot for people, especially gays in Korea heading over to Jongro-3ga which is to its left 2 blocks. Friday and Saturday nights you can see groups of gay boys hanging out around the building, waiting for their friends to show up. So for the many reasons and attributes we can give this building, I think the one that could stick is this: It is the gay beacon for Korea, at least for the gay community that is. Everyone else just sees it as an interesting building. But we know better.

Day 4: Picture Perfect

I'm surprised I lasted this long without posting a picture of a cafe; expect many more pictures of cafes as many of them in Korea are amazing and lovely. This picture comes from a new cafe, "The Boiling Pot", a rame cafe. I took the picture to talk not about how much I love this cafe and how it's a regular cafe I go to, although I do love this cafe and will make it a regular cafe I visit. No, I use this picture to talk about Korea and 'fusion', something that one can find any which way one turns. It's hard to call a cafe 'fusion' these days as much of that seems self-evident. But this cafe has taken it to a new level. Firstly, the idea of a ramen cafe is new to me, and in all my years living in Korea this is the first time seeing one. He serves ramen, ice cream, coffee, wine, and other yummies, and no one is favored over the other. The decor, as you can see, is quite eclectic, not quite mainstream as Ikea, but something similar. The reason for this particular picture is not to highlight the furniture, though he has a variety of chairs, all different, and none of them matching. Nor is this picture used to talk about the openness of the cafe, with its high ceilings and large window doors that open out onto the patio deck. No, this picture is used to highlight the stuff that is actually on the bookshelf. In one section he has Korean graphic novels, in another he has Korean novels, followed by magazines, and finally various textbooks in English, including Child Development and Human Evolution. Finally, in the bottom right corner there is a picture of Bi (Rain, the Korean pop star) from Nylon magazine. The randomness of all that was on this bookshelf, including the novel "Confessions of a Shopoholic", blew my mind and reminded me that such randomness can be find all over Korea, obviously in a good way. This is Korea's new trend, be it intentional or not: random, unabated fusion. Be it food, fashion, or interior design, this is definitely one of my favorite attributes of the Korea I live in.

Day 3: Get the Juice Ready, Mom

Dear audio diary, today at work I saw some girls in the lobby playing a flute, clarinet, and oboe and wanted to shoot myself in the face, greater than sign, hyphen, less than sign, semicolon. Anyway, today's picture is brought to you by Severance Hospital, my current place of employment. Go figure, a BA in Japanese and Religion and an MA in Korean Studies lands me a job at a hospital. This is the largest hospital in Korea, the new building you see here built in 2005. It is also the first Western hospital/ institute in Korea, modern Western medicine brought over by Christian missionaries in the later part of the 19th century. There are 2065 beds and 1004 rooms, and the reason for the odd room count (or rather even) is actually interesting. In Korean, when you say 1004, 천사, it is the same word (different Chinese characters) for angel. It may seem corny, considering that many Korean companies, businesses, etc. do similar things, but this was actually the first time I'd heard about it, back in 2008, and so it stuck with me. Here are some interesting things to know about hospitals in Korea. When you visit someone in a hospital, you don't bring flowers but boxes of little juice drinks or fruit baskets, and they are actually not for the patient but rather for those who would come visit the patient. Also, if you work in Korea you are automatically signed up for the national health insurance, which is a 50/50 system: you pay 50% and the insurance pays 50%. For me, working at the hospital, I get at times double insurance and so hospital visits can potentially be free. Also, if I decide to get plastic surgery, which is not normally covered under the national plan, I would only have to pay 50% because of my job. Best part of this hospital? There is a Burger King, pizza/pasta place, bakery, and Haggen Daz all located on the lobby floor across from admissions. So you can have yourself a Whopper with cheese, a chocolate ice cream cone, and large mocha latte before walking (or crawling) over to hospital admissions, carrot sign, underscore, carrot sign, semicolon.

Day 2: Who Said My Weenie's Teenie?

It must be a human fetish to dress animals up in human clothing, for we do it too often in ways that are all-too disturbing. Meet the Teenie Weenie bear; this particular one stands outside the large Myeong Dong store for Teenie Weenie. Now, if you are thinking to yourself 'oh, they must sell children's clothing', you'd be mistaken. In fact, this lovable 6 foot tall bear dressed in a sports jacket and tie is trying to sell teenagers and young adults clothes. I refuse to even go into the store because it scares the crap out of me, not to mention I am not walking around with a giant bear dressed in clothing on my clothing; it seems counter productive and paradoxical. I don't quite understand why the brand is called Teenie Weenie, or why they use bears, but it does lend itself to a deluge of jokes by the average English speaker with only an inkling of a dirty mind. I'd say that we should respect those who have the courage to wear clothing from Teenie Weenie, but I don't see that happening... ever. Rather, I think we can sweep this under the category of 'Korean things that just won't work outside of Korea', which you'll see over the next 98 days, many things reside in this category of Korean stuff. In reality, the only people I see go into the store are women, couples, and young Koreans. I've never seen a Japanese tourist go into the store, and when the Japanese women are steering clear of the store you know it's just a bit too Korean. But hey, if it works for them it works for them. You see Americans walking around with pictures of farm equipment on their clothing, Japanese dressed as maids, and Canadians liking hockey, so to each his or her own.

Day 1: No Pears Allowed!

I took this picture yesterday, and before anyone starts in on the 'fruit' jokes from the countless angles one could possibly tackle this joke, don't even bother. While some may think of this, in lieu of the title, as a prelude to a discussion of a certain academic journal started last year, it sadly is not. I'm sure I'll talk about that at some later day; there are 99 days left. No, today's picture was taken on my way home last night, around 6.30pm. As you can see, this is a truck with various fruits and vegetables parked on the street. This truck is literally a one minute walk from my front door and has some of the best fruit around. A little known secret about Korea: the best fruit is not found in the grocery store but in the basement of the department store, but the second best fruit is found on the side of the street in trucks. Most of these truck fruit vendors are independent sellers, either with family in the country growing them or small business owners. You can find these trucks all over Seoul in the residential areas, and if you can't spot one, you can definitely hear them, as they have loud blow-horns that repeat the same word over and over again: 과일 (or fruit). I suppose they expect people to run towards the truck like the ice cream man. The irony of this particular fruit truck, though, is that it is parked out in front of a chain store of 도시락(Korean lunch boxes), Hansot (the prices at this place are so cheap, but the amount of fat and calories that they put into these things would shame us all, well besides the middle and high school kids that swarm there everyday) and across the street from an actual store that sells nothing but fruit. Needless to say, the owner of the truck doesn't pay attention to irony all that much; he is just trying to sell himself some fruits.

100 Days of Korea

I've lived in Korea for nearly 3 years straight, making it the longest place I've lived since I graduated high school. Needless to say, I've made Seoul my home and know the city quite well. But what people often forget is that I am no tourist; I am not simply here for a short period of time only to leave and never come back. As such, I often overlook those things that distinguish Seoul as a possible 'tourist spot' and look at the city quite differently. There are two ways one can live in Seoul: on the surface and deep within the streets of the city. Most foreigners who come, I've noticed, live simply on the surface, not necessarily a bad thing, but one obtains only so much culture and information from there. I, on the other hand, have rooted myself as deep as I can given my own drawbacks and see a different side of Seoul, a side that few allow themselves to see.

It is from this point that I start this challenge to myself, this mission to unveil 'My Seoul'. For 100 days until my 25th birthday on August 7th, I will take a picture of something I feel is 'Korean', post it, and blog about it. In doing so I will be able to dump all the information I have about Korea and hopefully share with at least one or two people things about Korea they did not already know. I am in no way going to be giving a complex history lesson or rundown of Korea because you can pick up a book and do that yourself. My pictures and blog posts are to share with whoever comes across them a piece of Korea they either didn't know existed or find particularly interesting. I am no photographer, and I wouldn't even call it a hobby of mine, and so most of the pictures for the time being will be taken using my cell phone camera, which I think takes pretty good pictures anyways. As an individual, this allows me to chronicle the things I love about Korea, especially Seoul, and also allows me get my writing juices flowing as I've been in quite the slump these days. All pictures will be taken by me, unless otherwise stated, and will be taken within a week of when I blog about it. I hear people are doing a picture a day for a year; I'm just not that disciplined. But I suppose 100 days is a start. FYI, I didn't take the picture in this blog post. ㅋㅋ