Oh Seoul, Oh Mio!

Taking a Break

2008-03-29T06:37:00.008+09:00

Dear Reader

This will be my last entry in this blog for a while. Now that SWMBO is here with me in Seoul, and work has become pretty hectic for us both, I don't have the time, or the inclination, to keep it up to date. So I am taking a break.

I want to say thank you to the readers of my scribblings for taking the time and trouble to drop by.

However, for those of you have actually enjoyed what you have come across here (masochists!), all is not lost! I have started a second (photo) blog called "Seoul City Daily Photo". The idea here is to post a single photo (and caption} of Seoul every day.

I have thus become a member of a small but active community of photobloggers across the globe who reveal their respective cities one day, and thus one photo, at a time.

Bye for now...

Me

Inredible India

2008-03-15T09:20:00.015+09:00

Dear Reader

It's been a while since the last post; we have both been pretty busy on the work front. In fact, I have only just returned from 10 days in India with business colleagues. Although we spent most of our time in Hyderabad, we did get the opportunity to play tourist. The highlight of the 'pleasure' part of the trip was a visit to the Taj Mahal at Agra, while the low light was a case of Delhi Belly (which I am still trying to shake off).

The Taj was every bit as good as I thought it would be, and then some. The thing that struck me most was the enormity of structure; it is huge! Although the air quality in Indian cities can be terrible, on the afternoon we went to the Taj we were fortunate enough to have clear skies.

While visiting the Taj was in itself a moving experience, so too was seeing the slums of Delhi. Tiny filthy children, often naked, surrounded by a sea of rubbish and rubble. It made me appreciate even more the importance of the public health programs that our work is associated with in this part of the world.

Another low light of the trip was flying out of Delhi International Airport. 'International' is accurate only in the sense that flights come from, and go to, international destinations. There is NOTHING of an international standard in evidence there. Procedures at the airport are illogical and inefficient.

My views appeared to be shared by others I spoke to, or overheard, in the various (and numerous) queues one has to endure to board an aircraft. Words like "ridiculous", "embarrassment" and "inadequate" (plus frequent expletives) were uttered by frustrated travellers. In fairness, the airport is currently being renovated, but if India is serious about hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2010 in Delhi, they had better hurry up and pull their fingers out; they have a very long way to go.

Anyway, here are just some of the hundreds of other photos I took while in incredible India.

Bye for now...

Me

Dead Sea Scrolling

2008-02-25T11:21:00.006+09:00

Dear Reader

Yesterday SWMBO and I walked over to the Dead Sea Scrolls & Birth of Christianity exhibition at the War Memorial of Korea. If I was to sum up the exhibition in one word it would be “disappointing”.

Very little of the exhibition actually deals directly with the scrolls. Only a few tiny fragments of the original scrolls were on show; the rest of the items in the small and dimly lit room were replicas. Most of what was on display in the rest of the exhibition tracked the origins and development of Christianity.

However, the biggest problem with the exhibition was the lack of descriptions in English. While I acknowledge that there were brief English captions on nearly every item on view, it was virtually impossible to put them into any kind of context without explanations. No English language brochures were available (we asked two different staff members) and I could not see any audio guides to rent (as I have noted at the National Museum of Korea and at art exhibitions at the Seoul Museum of Art).

Okay, I know, when in Rome…, but, given that a lot of information about the exhibition has already been translated into English for the accompanying web-site, it would not have been too difficult for the organizers to have cut and pasted this information into small explanatory cards with each exhibit, or to have prepared an English language brochure or to have come clean and declared up-front that the exhibition was in Korean language only. Given the 15,000 Won admission fee (the most expensive ‘international’ exhibition I have seen so far in Seoul) I don’t think that this would have been unreasonable.

Incidentally, President-elect Mr Lee formally takes office today (in a ceremony taking place as I write this). One of the things promised by him during the election was to reform, and thus to improve, the teaching of English in South Korea. Perhaps requiring all ‘international’ exhibitions to be bilingual, would be a good start?

Until next time…

Me

Up In Smoke

2008-02-22T07:39:00.007+09:00

Dear Reader

Up until about two weeks ago, Sungnyemun, otherwise known as the Namdaemun Gate, or National Treasure No. 1, looked as shown above.

On the evening of 10 February 2008, 69 year old Chae Jong-gi is alleged to have climbed up into the gate and set fire to the 600 year old structure. It is claimed that Chae started the fire because he was angry about the amount of compensation he received for his house from a construction company that carried out a development project from 1997-1998. It is also alleged that Chae had considered an attack on the public transport network and overturn a train but decided against it given the risk of casualties.

Shortly after the fire this is what the Namdaemun Gate looked like (click here).

There has since been a huge public outpouring of both anger and grief over the loss of National Treasure No. 1. Farmers have offered to donate large trees to help provide the timber for the reconstruction which may take 2-3 years to complete.

Last weekend SWMBO and I went to the site of the gate. Thousands of Seoulites were there paying their respects, placing flowers and taking photos. The remains of the gate are now surrounded by a huge grey wall erected almost immediately after the fire. There is a small transparent section in the wall where it is possible to glimpse of what is left of the structure, as shown below.

It is hard not to be moved by the terrible loss of this historic and much loved treasure.

Until next time...

Me

Kimchi, it's out of this world (well, almost)!

2008-02-13T15:13:00.005+09:00

Dear Reader

Kimchi that famous Korean dish, is set to go into orbit. An article that I saw in the JoonAng Daily newspaper today, and which is reproduced in the online edition, reports that kimchi will accompany Korea's first astronaut, Ko San, when he flies to the International Space Station on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in April.

The kimchi space-food has been specially developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute and is set to boldy go where no Korean food has gone before! I expect that it then be added to the collection at the Kimchi Museum.

I should point out that SWMBO recently forced me to throw out my supply of kimchi that I had stored in the special kimchi fridge in our apartment on the grounds that it "stank". I trust that Ko San's fellow occupants of the International Space Station will be a little more accommodating than my spouse.

Until next time...

Me

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

2008-02-10T18:19:00.001+09:00

Dear Reader

Over the last couple of days I saw these sometimes funny, sometimes confusing and sometimes just plain weird signs. I guess that some of these represent poor translations into English or are just misspellings, but some are not easily explained. For instance, I asked some Korean friends about the last one and they are not sure if it is meant to be asking you not to speak loudly, not to vomit, not to spit or not to exhale!

Above a clothing store in Itaewon:

In the street at Ichon:

In the steet at Ichon:

Outside a pizza place at Ichon:

Above a cafe in Ichon:

In at garden at Yongsan:

In a park on Youido Island:

Until next time...

Me

Hwaseong Fortress

2008-02-10T09:23:00.002+09:00

Dear Reader

On Friday (we had a long weekend, courtesy of the Lunar New Year holiday) we took the train south of Seoul to Suwon to see the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Hwaseong Fortress.

The fortress was built during the late 1700's but was badly damaged during the Japanese colonial period and again during the Korean war. It was rebuilt in the 1970s and received World Heritage listing in 1997 because of its high technical scientific distinction as an early modern military structure.

We walked along the entire length (about 6 km) of the fortress wall and here are some of the photos we took along the way.

With the thick high walls, steep steps, watchtowers, turrets, sentry posts, crossbow towers and command posts, it reminded me of images of the Great Wall in China.

We took a thermos and some pastries we bought in Suwon and had a picnic lunch on the high point of the fortress at Paldasan. It was a cheap and resonably energetic day out and a hightlight of my time in Korea (so far).

Until the next post...

Me

Birth and Death of a Snow-Person

2008-02-04T17:37:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

During the last big snow dump a couple of weeks ago, a few folks at work made a snowman on the courtyard at the back of our building (I donated two 1000 Won coins for his eyes). A couple of days later he had a sex-change, courtesy of a pair of breasts added by some wag! Alas, his/her head has since fallen off, along with his/her facial features and arms, and the body parts sit slowly melting in the pale afternoon sun.

The series of photos below show the beginnings of the snowman and the end of the snow-woman.

Snow to ice, ice to water; RIP (rest in puddles) MR/MS snow-person...

Me

Luce Vista

2008-02-03T08:08:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

At the moment Seoul city is running what is known as 'Luce Vista'. The major element of this festival of light is an illuminated structure that has been erected around Seoul Plaza.

SWMBO and I went in to take a look before it comes down later this month. Although it was quite chilly, many families were enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere with music playing, clowns, stilt-walkers and the temporary ice-skating rink.

Until next time...

Me

Live Web Cams of Seoul

2008-01-31T14:14:00.000+09:00

The above link is from the Seoul Metropolitan Government Web site. There are three different web cams that you can choose to see the view from although, at least when I last looked, only the first one looking over Seoul Plaza was actually up and working. You can steer the camera up/down and left/right and obtain a real-time view of Seoul Plaza. You get a pretty good view of City Hall and of the skaters using the temporary ice-skating rink there.

Note: you will probably need to install a piece of software when prompted (a plugin), however, I did this and can report no apparent adverse consequences from doing so.

I actually enjoyed playing with this so much that I am making it a permanent link (at right) on this Blog.

Enjoy!

Me

A Stroll in Seoul

2008-01-28T20:44:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

Yesterday SWMBO and I took the subway to Anguk and then wandered through the back streets of Jongno-gu. Along the way we passed lots of interesting little street art/sculptures, galleries, museums and restaurants.

We called in on the quirky little 'Owl Museum' which is a tribute to one woman's obsession with representations of owls. The museum contains more than 2,000 owl items. On the basis of what we saw there we elected to pass on paying a visit to the 'Chicken Art Museum'.

The narrow streets and alleys off the main road were lined with beautiful houses built in the traditional Korean style.

After hot chocolates and cakes in a cafe near the station, we walked on to Changgyeonggung (a palace) and the surrounding gardens. This is one of my favourite spots in Seoul. It only costs 1,000 won to enter and the large gardens isolate you from the hustle and bustle that is Seoul. I have been to Changgyeonggung many times, but this was SWMBO's first visit. However, this was the first time that I had seen the lake more or less completely frozen over; an indication of how cold Seoul has been over the winter.

I am still fascinated by the architecture of the palaces and took way too many photos again. Alas, the recent falls of snow had pretty much melted, apart from the areas still deep in shadow.

We then headed back home for our own home-cooked Korean dinner.

Bye for now...

Me

An Ounce of Prevention… (another rant)

2008-01-28T15:09:00.000+09:00

(© UNICEF/HQ07-0108/Thierry Delvigne Jean)

Dear Reader

Last Tuesday UNICEF released a major report entitled: ‘The State of the World’s Children 2008’. The picture above is featured on the cover of that report.

One of the surprising statistics presented in the report is that in 2006, the most recent year for which firm estimates are available, the annual number of child deaths globally fell to 9.7 million, the first time that it has fallen below 10 million since records began. In contrast, in 1960, roughly 20 million newborns did not live to see their fifth birthday.

While bringing the death toll below the 10 million mark for the first time is an impressive achievement, it still means that more than 26,000 young children die each day. Only about 1% of the deaths in children under five have unknown causes and two thirds of them are entirely preventable.

The provision of, or improvements in: health education; adequate nutrition; safe water and basic sanitation; maternal and child care; immunization against the six major vaccine-preventable diseases; appropriate and timely treatment of common diseases and injuries; measures for the prevention and control of endemic diseases; and essential drugs, could further reduce the terrible toll.

As someone who works in the area of human health and disease prevention, it is alarming for me to learn that nearly 400, 000 children die each year from a single infectious disease, measles, for which a safe and effective vaccination is readily available in the developed world.

It thus even more alarming for me to hear some of the folks from the anti-vaccination lobby argue that vaccination is: unnecessary; dangerous; part of some weird government conspiracy to harm their citizens or even to control population growth by sterilizing them; or simply another means by which the big pharmaceutical companies can further line their pockets. How can it possibly be in the interests of ANY elected government, or big Pharma company to allow harmful vaccines to enter or, to remain, on the market?

However, human nature being what it is, on occasion, individuals, and thus companies, or governments, or their agencies, will act in irresponsible, unethical or even criminal ways. Although it is just as unreasonable to conclude that such behaviour is automatically associated with the manufacturers of vaccines as it would to conclude similarly for the manufacturers of herbal medicines or acupuncture needles. In addition, the vaccine industry is amongst the most tightly controlled, vigorously regulated and scientifically scrutinized on the planet.

Yes, I concede that it IS true that vaccines, like most other products that people sell, be they space shuttles, cars, aeroplanes, microwave ovens, foodstuffs, herbal remedies or vitamin supplements, will, from time to time not work as intended or even cause some harm to the individuals exposed to them. Whether this is a direct consequence of the vaccine itself, how it was stored, handled or administered, or due to some other factor, is not always clear.

While vaccines have had a tremendous and positive impact on human and animal health, I also recognize that no vaccine is perfect. However, most of the common and recognized side-effects of vaccination are minor; for instance, the local site soreness or swelling that may follow vaccination with an injectable vaccine. Having said that, there are some vaccines that are delivered orally or nasally, and research continues to develop other non-invasive vaccine delivery strategies to further improve safety profiles and reduce the discomfort that may be experienced with vaccination.

It needs to be understood that vaccines are unusual in that they are normally administered to healthy individuals, frequently children, to protect them against diseases that they don’t have. Therefore parents may have a concern about allowing their child to be vaccinated. They also figure that diseases like diphtheria, whooping cough, and measles are trivial, or a thing of the past, and that their kids don’t need to be vaccinated.

What they fail to understand is that while a disease like smallpox may have actually been eradicated (by vaccination, it must be added), and that the incidence of such diseases may now be low, they are still out there and only need a susceptible pool of unvaccinated individuals to allow them to spread. While a sufficiently high number people in a population have been vaccinated, the incidence and prevalence of a disease will remain low. However, if the proportion of vaccinated individuals falls below a certain level, there will be a loss of what is known as ‘herd immunity’ and the disease will reappear, possibly dramatically.

Of course it has to be recognized that there are some individuals for whom vaccination may be contraindicated and thus the medical history of an individual should be considered before administering a vaccine; for example, have there have been previous reactions to vaccines or is there a history of allergies or other underlying medical conditions?

A recent research letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by Jennifer Keelan and colleagues reports on an examination of 153 videos posted on YouTube that were related to the issues of vaccines or vaccination. While 48% of the videos contained a positive vaccine/vaccination message, 20% were ambiguous and 32% contained negative messages. Of the negative videos, 45% conveyed messages that contradicted the scientific reference standard. Compared with the positive videos, the negative videos were more likely to receive a rating by viewers, had a higher mean star rating and had more views. In the letter Dr Keelan et.al comment that clinicians now need to be aware of video sharing sites and be prepared to respond to patients who obtain their health information from these sources.

Among the negative YouTube videos on vaccination I have looked at was one from an individual whose online biography states that he advocates “taking absolutely no prescription drugs or pharmaceuticals whatsoever” and “no visits to M.D.s or western medical doctors (visit naturopathic physicians only)”. The same individual also condemns the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccine for cervical cancer and criticizes the strategy of giving it to males on the basis that they “don’t have a cervix”. What this individual fails to recognize is the potential for reduction in transmission of HPV to females from vaccinated partners.

Another cluster of what would be considered negative vaccination videos I saw appears under the imprimatur of an organization whose name appears to associate vaccines to the 911 tragedy!

The potential for misinformation in such extremist and non-peer-reviewed online sources is thus high and viewers need to seek a balanced range of professional advice before making such important health decisions. Just because somebody has a voice on the Web it doesn’t mean that what they say is true (and that includes me!).

Although I admit freely that I am unashamedly pro-vaccination, I am not anti-alternative or anti-complementary medicine. I think that a number of alternative and complementary therapies have a place alongside modern western medicine. For example, many of the botanical extracts used for centuries in herbal medicine traditions across the world have provided the source of a number of modern pharmaceuticals.

Anyway, it is my belief, and that of major international agencies like UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) that the continuing use of vaccines will help reduce further the tragic and preventable loss of life among the children, and adults, of the world.

Me (yes, I'm vaccinated and so are my kids!)

There's No Business Like Snow Business

2008-01-24T05:24:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

It snowed for most of Monday and Tuesday. As it was relatively warm on those days, some of the snow melted and then refroze in the chillier conditions yesterday leaving a very slippery layer of ice along the roads and pavements. It has also made for hazardous driving conditions. I have seen a few cars sliding along on the road with their wheels spinning as they lost traction in the icy conditions, one two-vehicle collision and a couple of crumpled cars along the road to work. I also observed one poor soul slowly sliding backwards down an icy inclined path, much to the amusement of his friends who obviously had better tread on their shoes.

In spite of the dangers that the snow and ice bring with them, the area around Seoul National University (SNU) looks beautiful under its white blanket. The photos below were taken earlier in the week near the SNU campus.

Until next time...

Me

All's Well that Ends Well

2008-01-21T15:32:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

In the last installment SWMBO was waiting for her eight cartons of clothing and belongings from Melbourne to show up. Well, after several more phone calls to and from PackSend AND DHL, the boxes finally arrived at the apartment unharmed on Friday evening. DHL also rang today to make sure that we had received them (at last some signs of customer service).

Although the external temperatures have been higher of late (it is 3 degrees C outside at present; a veritable warm-spell compared with the minus ten we had recently in Seoul), it was snowing this morning when we headed off to work (SWBO started her job today) and then it snowed all morning and through lunch. It has now stopped and the sun peeped briefly through the clouds a few moments ago before the sky grey-over again. The current indications are that we will have more snow tomorrow and then the temperatures should drop to lows of minus 9 degrees C for the rest of the week.

I intend to walk to the top Kwanaksan again while it is still covered with snow; possibly next weekend if the weather permits. I am told that it can be quite dangerous when the snow on the trail to the summit has been compacted to ice by the columns of walkers who tackle the climb every day, but particularly on weekends. I have thus kitted myself out with a set of spikes that you can strap to your boots to provide grip when walking on ice. Coupled with my telescoping hiking pole I suspect that I will look like a cross between Sir Edmund Hillary (who sadly passed away earlier this month) on his 1953 ascent of Everest and the majority of the other hikers who will be on the trail.

The latter will almost certainly be attired in what is the de rigueur uniform for the, even not-so-serious, Korean bushwalker comprising: high-end, blizzard-proof jacket; multiple layers of brightly-coloured space-age-fabric garments; twin, light-weight walking poles; and all manner of paraphernalia (cups, bells, water bottles, folding padded mats, small collapsible stools etc.) dangling from, or poking out of pockets in, large, multi-zippered and compartmented day-packs. From the window of my office I can actually see the walkers setting out for, and returning from, Kwanaksan (one of the trails starts from behind my building). It appears to me that if you are bushwalking in Korea then you must not only be doing it but also look the part while doing it as well.

Until next time...

Me

Delayed During Transit (or Lost in Transportation)

2008-01-17T15:20:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

Before we left Australia, SWMBO packed up eight cartons of personal effects and clothing and contracted the company PackSend to air-freight them to South Korea. This was very carefully timed in consultation with PackSend so that they would be delivered just after we arrived back in Seoul. Unfortunately, although they arrived at Incheon Airport at about the same time that we did, the cartons have been tied up in Customs ever since.

The delay only came to light after the boxes did not arrive when expected and we called PackSend in Melbourne. We learned that they had sub-contracted DHL to air-freight the cartons to Korea. As I had the Airway Bill Number, I was then able to use this information to track the consignment on the DHL web-site where I discovered the hold-up at Incheon.

Neither company advised us of the delay and neither company has been helpful in respect of sorting out what the problem actually is at Incheon. Phone calls to staff at both companies have been frustrating; PackSend appear to be pointing the finger at DHL while DHL appear to be pointing it at the "Customs Agent". All of this has of course been made more difficult by the language problem at this end.

Anyway, with the help of the Korean staff at work I have at last been able to obtain some assurance now that the cartons will be delivered tomorrow or on Saturday. It would appear that all that what was required by Customs here was a copy of the photo page of SWMBO's passport and a copy of her Korean visa, both of which were offered to PackSend prior to uplift.

Meanwhile, SWMBO is trying to avoid slowly freezing to death in sub-zero Seoul as all her winter and work clothes and foot-wear are packed in those cartons sitting in Customs at Incheon.

Based on this experience I would certainly not use PackSend for future shipments of this kind and I would also think twice about using DHL. It is disappointing to say the least to not to have received a service from a company that has been contracted (and paid) to provide it.

I'd like to send 'em both packing...

Me

Down the Hatch!

2008-01-16T13:46:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

I have commented previously in this blog about soju, a favourite tipple in Korea. I happened to come across a couple of articles on the Net about alcohol consumption in Korea that I thought I would share with the reader.

An article in the Online People's Daily from April '07 quotes a report from the South Korean National Tax Service (NTS) that apparently states that in 2006 the average Korean adult had 79.8 bottles (640 milliliters) of beer, up from 79.3 bottles in 2005, and 72.4 bottles of soju (360 milliliters), up from 71.3 bottles.

The article also reports that the rising popularity of wine, because of its widely publicized health benefits, has contributed to increasing the alcohol consumption. South Koreans drank 27,000 kiloliters of wine in 2006, up 8.7 percent from 2005.

An article in the Korea Times from August '07 describes how the alcohol content of soju has steadily fallen from 25% in 1995 to the current 19.5%. This trend appears to have been driven by the changing demographics of soju drinkers; women and younger drinkers prefer the lower alcohol content, at least in part due to health concerns. There has also been a move towards alcoholic beverages containing fruit and plant extracts (like wild raspberries and ginseng) that are believed to possess other health (and/or aphrodisiac) properties.

I suspect that the excessive consumption of alcohol, but particularly soju, is at least in part responsible for the pools of vomit that one frequently encounters on the foot-path first thing in the morning. These hazards to pedestrians are made all the more so in the current freezing conditions. Stepping on a pool of frozen after-dinner-mince on the poorly illuminated street is an invitation to a close encounter with the pavement!

Cheers

Me

Not Solo in Seoul

2008-01-13T21:20:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

I am back in Seoul after holidays at home in Melbourne where I had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends; it was very hard getting back on the plane to leave. Anyway, the photos above were taken from the window of the plane as it taxied to the terminal at Incheon International Airport (note the snow!). However, I am no longer solo in Seoul as She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed (SWMBO) also flew back with me via Bangkok.

The weather that greeted us on our return was in stark contrast to that which we experienced in Melbourne and in Bangkok. Although we had very little time to play tourist in the Thai capital, and in spite of the disruptions caused by the death of the King's sister, we did manage to see part of the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha as shown in the photos below.

We also caught a glimpse of the Temple of the Dawn from the ferry along the Chao Phraya River as shown below.

I'm now back into the daily grind at work and battling to keep warm in the sub-zero temperatures outside. SWMBO and I took a walk in Yongsan Family Park yesterday; the lake was frozen over, the large grassy areas were covered with snow and icicles hung from the open-air stage.

Until next time...

Me

Messing About in Boats

2008-01-04T03:26:00.000+09:00

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolutely nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

- "Ratty" Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Dear Reader

A new year started for many of us with the clink of champagne glasses and the odd resolution or two; mine involve losing some of the weight I have gained recently and getting back into cycling. I have also decided to refrain from my usual tendency to become depressingly philosophical by looking back on the year that was (or wasn't) and instead take a more upbeat and optimistic view of a new year that is, at least at this very early stage, filled with so much promise and potential.

Anyway, having said that, this first post for 2008 actually relates to the dying days of 2007. As you probably know, I am currently on holiday in Melbourne where the weather in the last week of December was particularly hot. I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of those hot late-December days messing about in boats on Port Phillip Bay, courtesy of the generosity of family (many thanks to "A & I").

On one of those days we cruised from the marina at St Kilda down the Bay to Red Bluff and round the Cerberus. We then headed back up the Bay to Station Pier for fish and chips, on to Docklands for coffee and ice-cream and then up the Yarra River and under Princes Bridge to Birrarung Marr where we turned around and headed for home.

On New Years Eve we anchored the boat across from the Spirit of Tasmania at Station Pier and played around with the jet-ski until one too many capsizes resulted in our inability to get it started again. This necessitated us towing the jet-ski back to St Kilda behind the boat.

Below are a series of photos taken over both days.

I think that Ratty was spot-on!

Anyway, on a much sadder note, she-who-must-be-obeyed (hereafter referred to as SWMBO) and I leave Melbourne today to make our way back to Seoul. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all our friends and family for their hospitality and for making our Christmas holiday break such an enjoyable one.

We hope to see you in Seoul at some stage in the not too distant future...

SWMBO & Me

That's all from me... and that's all from him (at least for 2007)

2007-12-11T10:03:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

I am about to head South for the winter; to travel from snowy Seoul to muggy Melbourne for my annual vacation and Christmas at home.

As the few readers of my scribblings are my mainly Melbourne-based family and friends, I hope to catch up with many of you soon. As for my friends and family in other cities, I won't see you this trip, but I will be thinking of you.

Many of you know that I have assiduously avoided giving specific details in this blog about my job, and about my friends and colleagues here, in order to avoid "guilt by association" with me and the views and opinions that I express from time to time. I have also avoided including photos of them and of me for the same reason. For this final post of 2007, I had thought about including a photo of me shot from behind, à la the "Rob the Dentist" toothbrush advertising campaign that screened on Australian television a year or several ago. However, instead, I have decided to include one taken of me (by a colleague) doing one of the things that I love to do: to get out and about in the great outdoors with my camera, snapping photos that frequently end up in the posts to this blog.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish "Dear Reader" a very Merry Christmas and a safe, prosperous and happy 2008.

Until next year...

Me

International Mountain day

2007-12-11T08:11:00.001+09:00

Dear Reader

I could use International Mountain Day to crack a very old and extremely bad joke about being a "mountain-man", but I shall exercise some restraint and refrain from going there.

Seriously for a moment, it was the UN General Assembly that designated 11 December, from 2003 onwards, as 'International Mountain Day' (IMD). IMD is an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build partnerships that will bring positive change to the mountains and highlands of the world.

According to this reference, mountains cover one fourth of the earth's land surface and more than half of all the people on the earth depend on mountains to provide the water they need for drinking, growing food, running industries, and making electricity. Mountain people (about 12% of the population of the world) are among the poorest and hungriest on earth. Their lives are made more difficult by environmental degradation, such as deforestation, and by armed conflict, which often occurs in mountainous areas.

Given Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's moves towards signing the Kyoto Protocol, and the recent awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to former US Vice President Al Gore, it is appropriate that the theme for the International Mountain Day 2007 is “Facing Change: Climate Change in Mountain Areas”.

In honour of International Mountain Day, I attach one my favourite photos from my travels in Australia.

It was taken in February this year from the top of Mount Amos (one of "The Hazards"), looking South across the beautiful Wineglass Bay and down the Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania. Whenever I see this photo I am instantly transported back to Tassie and that testing trek up the side of Mount Amos, followed by the sense of absolute exhilaration upon cresting the summit and seeing this view spread before me.

International Mountain Day is yet another reminder to us all to do what we can to take better care of our third rock from the sun...

Me

The Changing Face of City Hall

2007-12-09T20:36:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

As I had spent the entire day indoors yesterday doing chores, watching movies and reading, I really needed to get out and about in the (very) fresh air of Seoul. So today I took the subway into Downtown and went to have a look at City Hall.

The plaza in front of City Hall has been transformed into an ice skating rink as the photo below illustrates.

I have posted photos of City Hall previously in this blog and I attach a couple of them to show you how this space changes over time.

I also took a video of the skaters and I have put that in the YouTube player below the last post on this page.

Just after I had shot the skating video I heard the sound of drums coming from Deoksu Palace (Deoksugung), so I walked over to see the Changing of the Guard Ceremony take place in front of the palace gates. I also took a video of the ceremony and have included it in the YouTube player as well.

When I got back home it was mid-afternoon and I was starving. I whipped up the following for lunch:

I thinking I'm turning Korean...

Me

Snow Business

2007-12-07T08:09:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

Although many Koreans are Christians (the sheer number of illuminated crosses atop churches across the city is testament {gratuitous Bible reference} to this fact), Christmas does not appear to be quite as big a deal here as it is in Australia, at least on superficial level.

In my local E-Mart store (a bit like K-Mart or Big-W), there is a tiny display of Christmas decorations and small selection of faux fir trees. These only appeared a couple of weeks ago and not at the beginning of October as is the practice back home. The Chusoek festivities in Seoul in September carried the kind of crass, cash-in commercialism that has become such a big part of Christmas in many parts of the world.

Having said that, in front of some buildings, like the shopping centre at Yongsan, there are few large illuminated decorations and the trunks of nearby trees have been wrapped with hundreds of tiny incandescent lights. I have also seen a decorated Christmas tree inside the subway station at Nakseongdae and above the entrance to a church near work. A large tree has also been erected in front of City Hall together with an ice-skating rink. I have only seen one apartment window with a decorated tree in it.

However, the Amore Pacific building in Yongsan has been decorated unlike anything I have seen before. Illuminated panels have been fitted to two sides of the building and these flash to give the appearance of giant snowflakes. I have placed a video of this display in the YouTube player at the end of the next post.

Speaking of snow (unsubtle segue), it snowed again last night! In fact the snow was falling as I set off for work this morning. Large postage-stamp-sized flakes were fluttering down and a team of workers were sweeping it away from around the apartment complex.

Near work, which is close to Kwanak mountain, there was a white blanket covering everything. Our security guards and building maintenance staff were out with what look like small plastic dozer blades on broom handles pushing the snow off the road and pavements in front of our building. I can understand why; the slushy melting snow is incredibly slippery. I have learned very quickly how to take short chain-gang style steps to avoid falling over.

The following two photos show the views from the rear of my work and from my office window.

It's funny, although it was cold and dark when I got to work just after 6:30 am, I was feeling strangely euphoric. I could see my stupid grin reflected in the window of the bus. I have had a pretty hectic and tiring couple of months, topped off by the two weeks I have just concluded training our visitors from Pakistan. However, the sight of falling snow and the thought that I am now on the downhill run (gratuitous skiing metaphor) to my trip back home to Australia to see my family and friends, has me filled with excitement.

There's no business like snow business...

Me

Oh Seoul, Oh Mio! The Video!

2007-12-05T09:40:00.000+09:00

"Lights, Camera, Action!"

Dear Reader

I have been trying for some time to get the Blogger video feature to work, but with no success. The videos will play in the preview but not when you view the page directly on-line. I suspect that I have some more aberrant code behind the scenes and lack the patience (and the knowledge) to sort it. Instead I have decided to open a YouTube account and then embed a linked video player in this blog to play the videos. The beauty of doing it this way is that the videos will always be visible from this page without having to dig back through earlier posts to find them. It also means that I can post new videos without having to create a blog entry to accommodate them.

Anyway, you should now see something like this below the last blog entry on this page:

The only video that I have posted so far is of the elderly Korean drummers I mentioned in my previous post. The quality after conversion from the video I shot with my digital "stills" camera is so-so, but I think that you'll be able to get the general idea. I had been hesitant to take a lot of video footage given the difficulties that I had experienced trying to share it through the blog, but I hope to change that now.

Anyway, I don't think that Steven Spielberg has anything to worry about (yet...).

"Cut! That's a wrap" (until next time...)

Me

Go Van Gogh

2007-12-02T18:04:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

Today I went to the Seoul Museum of Art to see the Van Gogh exhibition entitled "Voyage into the Myth". It comprises 67 works, made up of 45 paintings and 22 drawings, together with a collection of photographs from the period. Many of the works in the exhibition have been borrowed from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, including "Irises" which had not been on display went I visited there last month.

Although I have always been an admirer of his work, I developed a much greater appreciation for Vincent Van Gogh after my trip to Amsterdam. The sheer volume of work the artist created in the 10 years before his death, by his own hand at the age of 37, is amazing. So knowing Van Gogh was in town, I had to go.

Yesterday my boss, his partner and I played tour guide to a couple of visitors from Pakistan. They are visiting my work for two weeks and we felt obliged to show them around; more so as the trip to Seoul was the first time one of the two gentlemen had been on an aeroplane!

I had prepared a detailed set of written instructions to help them navigate their way from their hotel south of the river and into the city using two different subway lines and a change of trains. So I was more than a little relieved to actually see them arrive unscathed at the agreed time and place.

We took them to lunch at the "Sanchon" Buddhist restaurant that serves vegetarian temple-food, and then afterwards we walked through Insadong so that they could buy some souvenirs. While there were treated to a performance by a band of young drummers in traditional dress (note that Van Gogh also makes another appearance in the background).

It was then on to the Jogye-sa Buddhist Temple to see the golden Buddha and the nearly 500 year old tree in front of the main pavilion.

After the temple stop it was on to Cheonggyecheon where we listened to another band of drummers that included an elderly player who the youngsters we saw earlier would have found hard to "beat".

We then walked over to the Deoksu Palace (Deoksugung) with its impressive statue of King Sejong, the man responsible for the Korean alphabet.

We then put our cold and weary, but nevertheless happy, guests on a train headed back towards their hotel and we made our way out to Yongsan to dine on Samgyeopsal washed down with a couple of bottles of soju. My boss and his partner then headed off to a party while I walked back to the apartment for an early night.

Until next time...

Me

The Last Word?

2007-11-21T21:51:00.000+09:00

Dear Reader

As a lexiconophilist and an amateur etymologist, I was interested to see a couple of articles recently in the local and international press regarding the moves to develop a new Korean dictionary in advance of a unification of the North and South.

This new dictionary highlights two important issues: the first being the increasing likelihood of the divided Koreas reuniting; and the second being how much the common language on both sides of the border has evolved and diverged since the countries separated at the conclusion of WWII.

I suspect that this has been aided by the isolation of the North and the embracing of Western "culture" by South, together with a large U.S. military presence since the Korean War. The term Konglish has also been coined in the South for the frequent, and sometimes strange, mix of Korean and English words and phrases that are used together, particularly in advertisements.

In an article in the International Herald Tribune by Choe Sang-Hun, Lee Jae Kyu, secretary general of a South Korean government panel of linguists involved in the seven-year compilation of the joint dictionary, is reported as saying "...we hope to compile a 300,000 word dictionary by 2012".

A similar article in the JoonAng Daily by Lee Eun-joo says that 200,000 words in the new dictionary will be taken from standard South and North Korean dictionaries. The other 100,000 words will comprise often used Korean words that are not yet in the dictionary.

The scheduled year of completion of the new dictionary also happens to be when my visa expires. Thus I may not be around to see the Korean equivalent of zyxt conclude the compilation of this novel lexicon.

Until next time...

Me