So Long

Probably you have noticed the lack of my response to comments since this autumn, and actually I've been thinking about stopping daily blog. For the past few months, amusement has turned into a burden and I simply didn't have much time to endeavour so I had to post most of photos right before going to bed. Because of this tiring routine, I haven't managed to properly interact with visitors, which I think is also a very important function of a blog besides posting.

My daily Seoul blog stops here, but another story goes on at my new blog - Cozmopolitan Sunkyoung. So you can continue to see 'what's the craic' in Korea.:)

It's been exactly 5 months since I opened Everyday Seoul. This blog has been a very special experience to me, and I truly appreciate all your visits, comments, interests in Korea. "고맙습니다! (Ko-map-sup-ni-da: Thank you very much in Korean)"

Notes

Since last year, we've have new notes with smaller sizes, some different colours and designs. 1,000 won is the smallest, amounting to app. 075 euro cents. In 2009, we will have brand new 50,000 won and 100,000 notes as well.

Season of Reading

It can be said now we are in the early winter but I still want to hold on to the last page of this year's autumn. Besides the season of men (don't know from where this nickname came from), the autumn is also called 'the season of reading' in Korea because the cooled down weather suits well for reading. I'm currently reading 'Status Anxiety' by Alain de Botton, my favourite philosopher and writer and this books gives me a lot of inspirations and comfort. What are you reading these days?

Writing a letter

This is my friend, Heejeong who's writing a card for me. When was the last time you wrote a letter or card? Me, on Monday a birthday card for my Mom. Since e-mail appeared, we almost abandoned our habit of writing an epistle with a pen on paper and, despite email's efficiency, this has made us more thirsty for human touch.

Sunset

Korean peninsula has its three sides surrounded by the sea and, shortly after getting out of the city centre, you can reach the West Sea (or Yellow Sea). Cold sound from the sea and warm light from the sun... With just a little bit of touch, the nature makes human being modest.

Metro in the Autumn

Seoul Metro runs mostly underground but in some routes it also goes overground. Looking at the green line metro leaving the golden leaves behind and entering the station, I with it were a train to the coloured forest.

Apartment

Seoul is under construction all the time. I can't help but wonder, no matter how many apartments and houses are built, why there are always so many people who can not own their house. In this capital city of over 10 million of inhabitants, a quarter of the country's total population, this height of apartment is completely normal.

Seoul Gaels GFC

As wells as liaison officer of Irish Association of Korea, I am a friend of Seoul Gales Gaelic Football Club, the biggest amateur sport club of expatriates in Korea. This FC consists of mostly Irish and also has players from Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. Today they had the last match of the season and, for this final, I got involved to have booked the artificial pitch in Hanam, one of satellite cities around Seoul. Gaelic football rooted in Ireland is a mixture of football, rugby and basketball, and sets up poles on the both sides of a goal post so there are two ways to score up, over/under a horizontal bar.

Spring

"Spring" the figurative art co-designed by Swedish American Architect, Claes Oldenburg and his wife, Coosje van Bruggen, is standing at the beginning spot of Cheonggyecheon. This figure shaped from Indian seashell represents the motifs from Korean ceramic ware, Hanbok (Korean traditional costume), and the full moon that inspired the artists.

Fire Prevention

Today is "Ipdong(入冬)", the onset of winter in lunar calendar, and this new season is immediately followed by 'Fire Prevention Season.' After work, I just found the new poster for this year was posted on the wall. If this poster gave me the impression of Christmas mood, however, would I be too injudicious?

What's Going On?

When I was walking along Cheonggyecheon after lunch, a mouse fell into the water after failing to spill juice from a cup which a girl sitting on the edge put beside her. The mouse was pawing the air to get out of the water and finally managed when it reached a foothold to the stepping stones. Having watched the whole procedure, and on this photo, people are looking at the soaked mouse at the corner that were trying to come up to the footpath.

Signs

The signs of three restaurants that share one building are standing side by side. The left sign represents 'Ginseng Chicken Soup' restaurant, the middle raw tuna, the right Chinese restaurant whose name means 'huge luck.'

English Differenciating You From Others

It's been long since I posted about English. As I wrote here before, in Korea English is considered not to be just a language tool but rather a method to acquire a higher status in society. This advertisement for English school, I think, clearly represents this tendency as well as western, more precisely American, culture adoration: people looking at up a girl standing on the ladder (my ideal figure is they sit side by side) and the girl wearing a cowboy hat. Speaking foreign languages is not to differentiate you from others but to mingle with them.

Korean Beef

Despite the increasing invasion of import beef from the US and Australia, we still consider our beef the best with its top quality and foreigners who have also had it are fascinated by its taste, which they had never got from steak. If you come to Korea, do not miss eating beef!

Handwritten Bill

As many of the good old local cafes have been replaced by global coffee companies, the new technology has also changed the tool of sales management. Most of cafes, bars and restaurants now are using the POS system with the touch screen calculator. Since this has been very common for long, I barely recognised this change until I saw this handwritten bill at a tea house, "Trinitea" today.

Demonstration

I had a meeting at Seoul station this afternoon, where a lot of people come and go and also is famous for its good qualification to gather people and make them pay attention to various kinds of demonstration. As for today, a group of people protested against the government's decision to ease the restriction on the capital region's development. Apparently, these people came from the provinces, mostly in South and they could no longer stand the excessive centralisation of all the infrastructure, materials, capital, labour etc.

1st Nov Theme Day: The Colour Blue

I even didn't have time to give my vote for this month's theme and just listed my blog yesterday. The colour blue feels cold to me, though, as now the temperature has dropped. Hope you can find any warmth in the colour. My photo shows a blue-floor-papered hallway of metro and two pairs of blue jeans two passengers on the seat are wearing. Pick any city of blue you'd like to see below.

Boston (MA), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Arlington (VA), USA - Cape Town, South Africa - Portland (OR), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Arradon, France - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Stockholm, Sweden - Singapore, Singapore - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Toulouse, France - The Hague, Netherlands - Moscow, Russia - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Stayton (OR), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Detroit (MI), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - http://www.twincitiesdailyphoto.com/" target="_new">Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - Bandung (West Java), Indonesia - Greenville (SC), USA - Hyde, UK - Radonvilliers, France - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Nashville (TN), USA - Manila, Philippines - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Saarbrücken, Germany - New Orleans (LA), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Forks (WA), USA - Wichita (Ks), USA - Barton (VT), USA - St. Louis (MO), USA - Joplin (MO), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Quincy (MA), USA - Setúbal, Portugal - Inverness (IL), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand - Toruń, Poland - North Bay (ON), Canada - Le Guilvinec, France - Chateaubriant, France - London, England - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Naples (FL), USA - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - Sydney, Australia - Austin (TX), USA - Mumbai, India - Boston (MA), USA - Santa Fe (NM), USA - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Paderborn, Germany - Montréal (QC), Canada - Jackson (MS), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Orlando (FL), USA - Grenoble, France - Cheltenham, UK - Forks (WA), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Weston (FL), USA - London, UK - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Belgrade, Serbia - Paris, France - Shanghai, China - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Montpellier, France - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Auckland, New Zealand - Evry, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Oslo, Norway - Minneapolis (MN), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Trujillo, Peru - Trujillo, Peru - Melbourne (VIC), Australia - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Durban, South Africa - Brussels, Belgium - Anderson (SC), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Wellington, New Zealand - Prague, Czech Republic - Saigon, Vietnam - Ystad, Sweden - Miami (FL), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Hong Kong, China - Melbourne, Australia - Baziège, France - Greensboro (NC), USA - Sharon (CT), USA - Kajang (Selangor), Malaysia