Autumn

As my korean vocab perhaps extends furthest into the depths of weather gab, i engage many in an enthralling meteorological discourse. More often than not, Koreans i speak with prefer the fall season. and with good reason. the summer was way too hot, and they say the winter gusts are freezin'. I even recall a particular gentleman muttering that all Koreans just hunker down and wait all year for autumn: A time when the fall breeze through the canopy of leaves never fails to please, and the nuetral weather allows them to untether those burdens from which they find difficult to sever.

Last weekend i embarked to Mt. Seorak with 3 close friends. Our trip coincided with an abundance of autumnal tints. From a distance the mountain resembled one of those Thomas Kinkade paintings my friends at home chide me for enjoying: a wash of multicolored tones blending into one another, some shaded and others shimmering with dabs of sunlight. Once we hit the hiking trails I discovered we weren't very good hikers, but great loiterers. All too often we were held in our steps, heads upturned at a kaleidoscope of luminated leaves, a swirling mirage, a myraid of mini-stained glass windows. Witnessing the coexistance and interaction of these two natural phenomena (the fall season and the mountain) breathed into us the mental health that i sensed earlier in those who proclaimed their love for autumn.

Pollution and Exercise

I don't believe ive ever seen a korean jogging around seoul. But occasionally I go against the grain and jog in the city at night. The problem is that no matter where you go in the city you'll be hard pressed to find a breath of fresh air. Whenever inclined to take a deep breath one is inevitably met with a putrid whiff of poop (maybe falty, old sewer systems?), cigerate smoke, traffic exaust, fresh throwup, rotting garbage composting on the sidewalk, or worse yet, a combination therein. So while im running i ponder whether or not im benifiting my health or afflicting my helpless lungs. in the end im forced to clasp my lips thereby blocking the mouth's airway to the trachea, and soley focus breathing through my inborn mini-filter: the nose. but since the nose is seemlessly bound to the olfactory capacity, my filter idea requires that i also endure the frequent pungency. i wonder if this polluted double edged sword is what deters koreans from running fanaticism.

Needless to say, I greatly look forward to some fresh air back at home.

Political Ponderings

The irony in studying abroad remains that i feel more in touch with American politics while im on the opposite side of the globe. I suppose this is because the recent Bush/Kerry political debates i've been able to catch mention the homeland almost nil while discussion of possible threats from abroad (where i am) abound. one of those threats to our God blessed nation is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, aka North Korea. As ive been studying the inescapable lock Kim Jung Il has on the people of North Korea through their unique political system which somehow legitimizes what's been deemed the worst of the worst in terms of human rights violations, i feel as though i understand the korean situation better than mr george w bush (who would now want to probably tear down this blog posting under the beloved Patriot Act he wishes to institute). A visit to the last remaining barrier between nations, the DMZ (demilitarized zone), supplied a more subjective emotional value to the current civil war put on hold. Since mr bush doesnt have his eye on the north korean nuclear weapons or the north korean situation but instead quite intently focused on nonexistant implimants of mass destruction elsewhere, one can imagine my joy when i recieved my absentee ballot. i plan to send it off tomorrow.

Chusok

The so called Korean thanksgiving was this past week. It's a time for pilgrimage and family reunion. all of those souls who've strayed from home reunite in the domicile of their youth. fittingly enough, i too was able to see a few members of my family: mom and dad. they left our home town northfield and endured the 14 hour pilgrimage by plane to be with me, and to experience what turned out to be a rather dead Seoul. being chusok and all, most everything shuts down and everybody goes home (which is often a distant refuge from work apparently). but by the end of the week things returned to status quo and they saw the full force. We checked out the markets, the Seoul namsan tower, my home in the subdistrict Shinchon, the intricate transportation system, the food, among numerous other ineffable, miniscule details. i was happy to show them a piece of the pie.