TheSoulofSeoul
What was thought to be a year adventure has turned into 6 and that's not really anything new around here anymore. More and more expats come with a year in mind and end up here longer. That's great but I realized a year or so ago I was getting into a rut. I'd seen what was in tour books and wasn't feeling nearly as enthused as I used to about my surroundings. I decided to seek out some new things I hadn't done or seen and in a country where places are literally gutted one day and a new place pops up the next it's easy enough to do. That's what I write about. That new stuff probably not in the tour books and those events they couldn't put in anyway.
Apr
30
On the lookout for cherry blossoms this season, but not wanting the crowds, I searched the google machine for a different place to head. I was surprised to stumble upon Changgyeong Palace. During my six years here I had yet to see this palace and wondered how I’d missed it. Cheonggyeong Palace was not originally meant to be a palace, but a residence for the many royals that f ...
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Apr
19
A nation centered on people and nature co-existing, based on the ideas of a Mr. Minn Byeong-do back in the 60s, has transformed a once desolate island into a very prosperous endeavor. At only 63 kilometers from Seoul and accessible via a shuttle bus from Insa-dong or Jamsil, the subway, a normal bus from East Seoul Terminal or car it’s an easy day or weekend trip away from the city. After a ...
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Apr
08
Getting into the spring flower madness that takes over Korea, a group of friends and I headed out to Icheon this past weekend to take advantage of the flowering Sansuyu, Japanese dogwood trees, Festival. There is a village in Icheon with “thousands of Japanese cornel trees that are 100 to 500 years old” according to their brochure. Icheon is a perfect destination for a day trip awa ...
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Apr
04
Take two. I’m going through the process to get my F6 visa here in Korea. Up until this point, I had gathered my passport, my Korean marriage certificate and through a slight debacle hadn’t yet gotten it translated, notarized and authenticated at the US embassy. So, here we are…
After going home to the States and coming back at the end of January, I wrote the addresses of th ...
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Mar
26
After two wedding ceremonies and a month vacation in the States, we finally made it back to Korea and after a week of resting from the vacation got our rears in gear to get everything filed for the F6 visa. We had started the process a few months ago, but after Jae-oo inadvertently made me make an uneccessary trip to the American Embassy I pushed everything aside until we were definitely ready t ...
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Mar
13
Spring is here. The weather is going back and forth a bit trying to decide which way to turn, but it’s finally here. In Korea, spring festivals can make for some of the prettiest photos of the year and if you’re not ready for it the festivals could really pass you by. The blossoms will bloom and a couple weeks later they’ll be gone and with it the spring festival ...
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Mar
06
My schedule was changed and no one told me. That’s par for the course and I’ve gotten over it, but when I went to find my students they were sitting in a dark room, lights were off, chatting or sleeping or as they told me, “studying history”, with no teacher in sight. Tell me why my job is getting cut when there are clearly plenty of teachers that don’t even want t ...
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Feb
20
“I have a curious regard for the history of art. My painting practice is unusual in that, I seek to undermine both the Renaissance perspective and the flatness of Modernism by combing both.” Alternative Space Loop in Hongdae is currently exhibiting a very vibrantly colored display of works by artist Lee Jin Han. It’s a great space for the art and in a location surrounded by ...
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Feb
17
Tutankhamun is ending his time in Korea in a couple weeks. The pharoah, unknown to the world prior to the discovery of his tomb in 1922, came to Korea about four months ago. King Tut was born in 1341 BC in the Armana Age and took the thrown from his father pharaoh Akhenaten around 1333 BC when he was still a child and reigned for 9 years.
The exhibit, though stocked with reconstructed origi ...
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Feb
14
Guinsa is the headquarters of the Cheontae school of Buddhism located just outside of Danyang, South Korea. Cheontae is the Korean version of China’s Tiantai teachings which were brought to Korea and firmly established during the time of Uicheon, a Korean Buddhist monk who was the son of Emperor Munjong of Goryeo, between 1055 and 1101. It had a major impact on Goryeo Buddhism, but then ...
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