the last month in pictures

halloween partying... 

seeing the beautiful nehjang mountain with family...

the baekyang temple in the mountains...

visiting the farm my mom grew up on and picking scallions...

dog soup...

nieces and cousin come to visit campus...

went to see "the full monty" on broadway...

the farewell luncheon...

enjoying the foliage on the walk back to the dorm....

a few more pictures

oh yeah, i forgot.  I did a few more things.... i went on a boat ride along the Han River which runs through Seoul with my 2nd aunt (there are 7 of them in either korea or the states).

here are my aunt and uncle....

and their second son, his wife and their daughter.  the little girl (my niece once removed?) yehsoon, was so funny.  she only laughed or cried for the whole day.  there was no middle ground for her mood.  she also didn't like cameras much.

here are a few sights from the boat.  the first is the 63 building, which i posted pictures of the interior a few weeks ago, and it's surrounding skyline.  the second is a view of the mountains and one of the many bridges that cross this river.

it was a beautiful day.  i also went to Nam mountain which hosts the Seoul tower.  Nam mountain is located right in the center of Seoul, so if you go up in the tower, you can see the whole city! 

the sun went down while we were there.  beautiful, isn't it?

oh, and for those who are interested, i snapped a picture before church.  i arrived at church an hour early for the second service (out of 7 held on sundays), waited in the masses for half-hour as people were filing into the building, and sat down 20 minutes before the service started.  this is the sight i saw.  i normally don't like mega-churches, but the pastor is so freakin good.   

weekends and traveling....

 so i've neglected to inform you all on my exciting adventures over the past few weeks, so here are some pictures!

i went to an Ewha event called "Cheer for Ewha" about 2 weekends ago.  it was held in their main auditiorium and boy, was i surprised.  their auditorium has cool lazer light show things and fire that comes from the stage for dramatic effect!  it was a hip-hop dance/vocal talent concert/cheerleading show.  also, a major korean band, "Double take"  showed up at the end.

the next weekend, i went out at a korean traditional music concert where the instrumentalists in the orchestra used only traditional korean instruments and there were special performers that came to be showcased.  the concert was held at the korean national theater.  pretty, aint it?

this week, i'm off from school for the biggest korean holiday called "chuseouk" (주석).  it compares to the American Thanksgiving.  for the first few days i had off, i got to do a little traveling with friends.  i had to cut our travels short through, because i'm heading to my uncle's house tomorrow to celebrate the holiday.  

we started our travels by hopping on a train to Gangchon which is about an hour and a half west of Seoul.  while there, we visited a waterfall up in the mountains and snapped a few pictures.  here's the group: Arne, Paco, me, Mario, and Kaz. 

as we stepped off the train, the first thing we saw was this view.

we got some bikes and cycled around town, enjoying the fresh air and beautiful sights.

we cycled to the mountain that the waterfall was on, then hiked a bit while taking fun pictures.

when we got to the waterfall, we soaked in the beauty of the maple trees blushing with autumn colors and took more family-style group pictures. kaz and i then proceeded to climb the waterfall, which was a lot of fun.  it was a pretty chill day. 

it was all around an amazing day.  the next day, i did one pretty cool thing.  take a peek below.  that's me.  ^_^

the rest of the day, we traveled 4 hours to Sokcho/Sorak mountain. 

 Sorak mountain is the most beautiful one in South Korea.  we got to enjoy the temples (and the giant buddha which is bigger than my house) and hike the amazing mountain. 

it was pretty steep and scary going up, but even scarier going down!

we got down at about dusk and got the most beautiful view.

the group bonded a lot from our hike and travels, so we got matching socks!  he he he he he......

Sokcho (the neighboring city) is right on the ocean, so we stopped by for a walk in the sand as we departed from Sorak mountain.

i hope you enjoyed the pictures.  ^_^

minsukwan (traditional korean villiage)

this weekend i got stay out late with my friends on friday night and stay with my uncle for saturday through sunday afternoon.  here is a short picture narrative...

welcome to ewha women's university!

the campus is big, the dorms are nice (here's my entrance way...)

there are a gazillion clubs to join (this is the student union center on club day.  each banner is for another club to join.  there's more banners all over the building)

and of course, there is CONSTRUCTION everywhere (this is right outside my dorm).

The nightlife is pretty hoppin'.

my buds and i went out on friday night, enjoyed a few drinks

but most of all, enjoyed each other's company

the next morning, i was up early to go down to suwon (which is about an hour south of my school) to meet my uncle.  he took me to Minsukwan, a korean folk villiage.  here is me with my uncle and my nephew, sunyoung.  he's about 3 years old and the cutest little boy i've ever met. 

of course, sunyoung wanted a balloon and begged for the blue one.

my aunt and i ground rice into rice flour...

and viewed the traditional houses.

my aunt laughed when my uncle asked her to show me how people were punished in the olden days  ^_^

we looked at the prisoners (don't worry, it's a mannequin)

 and then i got to ride a horse.

i observed the farm... 

then saw a traditional wedding.

i got to see paper being made...

calligraphy being written...

 all the while, giggling a lot with my nephew.

it was a fun day with my family at Minsukwan

we finished the day by walking across a stepping stone bridge..

playing in the playground...

and absorbing the country's natural beauty

"wish you were here" to enjoy korea with me.   ^_^

Seoul is quite a bustling city.  this is the area around my school.  notice that there are a lot of women on the streets...  my school is a korean women's school so the area around my school is filled with clothing and shoe stores, nail and hair salons.  all the stores are in competition for the customers, so you can easily get a new bag and shoes for $20. 

here's a pictures of my room. it's pretty sweet.  there are beautiful hardwood floors and a balcony.  to my right and left are 2 desk stations with bookshelves and there is also another closet to my left behind that mirror.  i feel like i just invited all of you to my room!  ^_^

orientation was pretty hectic.  we had a few looooonng lectures and welcoming events, and of course, a lot of mingling time.  we ended orientation by going to a jazz bar.  here's a picture of me and my friend Kaz.

this past weekend i met with my eemo (auntie) and my 2 oppas (male cousins).  we got to do a whole bunch of things and i snapped a few pictures.  sadly, my family is a bit camera-shy so they aren't in the pictures with me...

my cousin Jason took me touring through the Yoido section of Seoul and we spent much of our time in the famous 63 building.  there are 63 floors, hence the name.  here's a picture of me at the top.

 and a picture of the scene behind me.  that's the Han river and the southside of Seoul.  Ewha univerisity is just on the other side of the river. 

this is the thrill platform of the skydeck, it probably just looks strange to you, so i'll explain.  you walk up on a mirrored platform surrounded by withdows that reflects the scene below.  so when you stand on the platform, it feels like your suspended high in the air.  i thought it was pretty awesome.  there are my toes at the bottom, and my cousin to the top right.   

 there is also an aquarium in the building with penguins, otters, seals, porpoises, turtles....  everything.  it was like a mini-seaworld. 

 then we walked around Hangang Park and catch up on lost time.  i love how the view of Seoul is so mountainous yet developed.  korea is 70% mountains.  i can't wait to venture out into the mountains further south in korea. 

 on Sunday, i got to go to Yoido Full Gospel Church, which is rumored to be the largest church in the world.  it's reported to have about 900,000 members.  the church building itself can hold 80,000 people. 

all around, a wonderful weekend.