Last year I had the unique opportunity to visit Changdeok Palace at night (it’s very rarely open at night and even then only open to a handful of psychotic fans rushing to get on the sign up page… see those posts here & here).  Well, I finally went during the day.

It was still amazing.  I just love Changdeok Palace.  Even though I hate that the Joseon Dynasty crushed Buddhism, pushed women further into the kitchen, and shut off Korea from the rest of the world (a simplistic view, I know)… I can’t help but stare in awe at these buildings.

They were used until fairly recently… well, until the Japanese came over in 1910 (the saddest place of the palace, in my opinion, is looking at the room in which the last cabinet meeting of the Joseon Dynasty was held in which they voted to agree to the annexation treaty with Japan).  And after the Japanese were forced to leave at the end of WWII… the Korean government allowed Princess Deokhye to live here until her death in 1989.

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I’ve left my blog to ruin as of late. It’s because of photography.

I’ve become obsessed. It’s only been a few months since I bought my first DSLR camera, but I’m in love. (I have a longer blog post to write about hobbies, but that will have to wait.)

Right now, I’m spending all of my time studying photography, Photoshop, and lighting. I’m working on a small part of a massive project to document the Seoul subway system. And I just bought my first off-camera flash (above photo), which basically makes me feel like Kristen Wiig’s I’m-So-Freakin-Excited Sue (USA only… sorry Albanian readers… and speaking of Kristen Wiig, if you haven’t seen her reading of Suzanne Somer’s poetry, it is a must see).

Here are some recent photos from the Seoul metro project.  These were all taken at subway stops in or near Seoul.  You can see the full set here.

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By chance (i.e., human error) I was able to go back to the moonlight tour of Changdeokgoong (Changdeok Palace) with a couple of friends.  Changdeokgoong was one of the main palaces of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897).  It was completed in 1412, and while only 30% of the original palace remains, it is still a sight to behold.

Changdeokgoong is amazingly beautiful and these very rare nighttime tours are breathtaking.  They only let in 100 people, so you get to experience it without getting shoved 400 times (a truly rare event in Korea).

The first time I went, I was in love.  It was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had… really.  And, while I truly love my handheld Canon s90, I wasn’t really happy with the outcome of many of the photos.

This time I came armed with my new Nikon D7000, and the photos are much, much better.

Here are the photos… you can view the full set here.

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I had the rare opportunity to visit Changdeok Palace at night.  The Palace is normally closed at night as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and has limited electricity.  It was one of the best things I’ve done since moving to Korea.  It was incredible.

They only allowed 100 people in this tour, and in my group there were only seven of us, so it really felt like being alone in the Palace.  (This would be notable anywhere in the world, but especially in Korea where it is difficult to use the bathroom without 138 other people.)

A brief history: King Taejong had Changdeok Palace built after he had his brothers murdered in a struggle for the kingship at Gyeongbuk Palace.  Construction started in 1405 and was finished in 1412.  It’s been rebuilt a few times after each invasion/burning by Korea’s nice neighbors.

One interesting fact is that Emporer Sunjong lived there until 1926, even though he was no longer Emporer after Japan colonized Korea in 1910. Crown Prince Euimin lived there until his death in 1970 and his wife Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin, lived there until her death in 1989… more history here.

Changdeok Palace is especially renowned for its design in blending with the surrounding nature (as opposed to just building massive structures to show everyone who is in charge).

We ended the tour with a beautiful traditional Korean concert.  Here is their version of Arirang, probably the most famous Korean folk song.  You should hit play and listen as you look at the photos.

It is impossible for me to write any meaningful commentary.  The best I can say is that it was a gorgeous night and it was truly breathtaking to be able to walk in the Palace with so few people.

Here are the photos.  You can view the full set here.

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A few years ago I was volunteering for a mayoral candidate in Hartford in hopes that he would defeat the now imprisoned Eddie Perez.  A friend and I asked him what his plan was to get people downtown.  His answer was “street theater.”  We both kind of stood there with our mouths gaping because all we could envision were jugglers being surrounded by homeless heroin addicts.

But one thing I love about Korea is that they are all about street theater.  I randomly run into performances all the time… there was the Korean Liza… the Christmas rapper in front of the epileptic Christmas tree… the girls who dance in front the electronic stores… and now, really really really awesome dancing/kicking/jumping taekwondo black belts.

I love Korea.  Watch the video >>>

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I was so excited when I found out about the Chicken Art Museum.  However, none of my Korean friends knew anything about it, and upon learning of it, were not entirely thrilled at the prospect of going.

So, earlier this summer I dragged a friend to come with me… The grandmother working was so excited to see us, and I thought it was all wonderful.

From the museum:

The [chickens] decorated the coffin carriages (상여/sang yeo), as chickens were believed to act as a messenger or a guide between the earthly world and the heaven, symbolize the pen and sword, exorcise the evil spirits , and bring fortune and prosperity to the family.

I think this is so fascinating.  I know nothing of how chickens are viewed in other cultures.  I just know that in America we idolize them for their many food options.  It makes me happy to know that (sometimes) chickens are respected a little more than this.

Directions: Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 2 and walk about 0.6 km.  It will be on your right.

You can see the full photo set here.

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Reasons for moving to Seoul:

Reason #1 was so I could date, fall in love, not get married, and live happily ever after.

Reason #2 was so that I could do fun things that did not involve batting cages.

Things were going swimmingly with both.  I was two dates away from changing my Facebook relationship status and I’ve already been able to do a lot of fun things.

Then, my would-be admirer told me they were moving to Indonesia.

I think I’m feeling a little bit, what others call, broken-hearted…

I’m not too familiar with this particular emotion.  It just doesn’t happen to me all that often.  I think it happened once in 2001, last year when I read Brokeback Mountain, and now.

However, I still have Reason #2, and despite being quite sad, my friends and I went to a fusion gayageum (가야금) concert this weekend with Yeoul (여울).

I love the gayageum.  It’s an incredibly beautiful 12-stringed zither, and the concert was amazing.

Reason #1 sucks right now, but Seoul’s really picked up a lot of slack with Reason #2.

Here’s Stairway to Heaven and Under the Sea.  Probably not what King Gasil had in mind… but it was awesome.  You can check out all the photos here.

Stairway to Heaven

Under the Sea

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After two long days in Seoul walking more than I have ever walked in my entire life, I pulled it together enough to wait it out for the Lotus Lantern Festival Parade.  I’m glad I did, because I loved it.

In my former life working in politics, I attended many (MANY) parades.  As a rule, I don’t like them… I’ve been scarred ever since I was forced to march for Joe Lieberman with two interns and a Joe-mobile in front of John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, and their enormous staff.  (NB, this was BEFORE either Lieberman or Edwards took their respective nose-dives into meaninglessness… or, at least before Edwards’.)

Aside from the beautiful lanterns and beautiful hanbok — both of which make me incredibly happy — it was so nice to see so many smiles.  I don’t typically get too many smiles from Koreans.

It’s not like Tennessee where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see.  And it’s not like Connecticut where you have to smile and say hello to everyone you see (who has the same skin color and socio-economic status)… I just don’t get too many hello’s in Korea.  And I’m okay with that (really I am!), but it was nice to have an hour or so of endless waves.

I was also excited to try out my new Canon s90 camera, which I paid way too much money for at the Yongsan Electronics Market — learning the hard way that sometimes free trade agreements can be quite wonderful.

I’ve always carried cheap point-and-shoots, so I was pretty pumped to finally upgrade to something with more flexibility without being enormous and forcing me to carry the badge of Fake Professional Photographer.

So, here it is.  You can view the full set here (40 photos).

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This weekend I spent some time in Seoul to check out the Lotus Lantern Festival.  Buddha’s birthday is this month and there are a lot of things going on.

It was very interesting in comparison to American festivals… by that I mean it was A LOT less annoying.  Of course, I can never figure out if I’m less annoyed because no one is talking to me or if it’s actually less annoying.

I will give Korea the benefit of the doubt on this one.  It was a great festival with booths on lantern making, temple stays, books, etc.  Plus, instead of serving fried Snickers bars, they had healthy temple food.

One of the best parts was getting to see a traditional tightrope-walking performance — called jultagi or 줄타기.  I had seen this in movies, but never live… and to channel Annie Hall, it was pretty neat!

You can see the full photo set here.

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Giving into Olympic fever, I went out to visit Olympic Park in Seoul last weekend.

I’m always so divided on the Olympics.  I think it’s such a gigantic waste of money, but at the same time I can’t stop loving them.  In my heart I really, really wanted Chicago to win the bid for the 2016 games, but now that it’s all over, my head is really glad they lost.  Now Rio de Janeiro can bask in the post-Olympic haze of unused judo and weightlifting arenas.

But, since my heart still remains with the Olympics, I was really excited to see Seoul Olympic Park…

You can view the full set of photos here.

The pool where Greg Louganis won two more gold medals…

The gymnastics center…

My favorite… an abandoned plastic chair by the gymnastics center.  This is why I can never fully support America hosting an Olympics.

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I went to the War Memorial of Korea several weeks ago, but I haven’t written about it in hopes that my original feelings about the place would moderate.  It is very different from war memorials in the United States, and I didn’t want my pre-conceived notions to get in the way (because I do actually love the war memorials in DC).

The War Memorial of Korea does display artifacts going back thousands of years through Korea’s history, but the bulk of it seems to focus on their civil war from 1950-1953.  And in that, it focuses mostly on what they used to kill people.

I realize there’s a lot of cultural bias coming from my end especially given that I really love the war memorials in the US.  I feel like the WWII and Vietnam memorials do such a good job of honoring the sacrifices and losses of so many Americans.  I find them beautiful and awe-inspiring, but not pretentious or grandiose.

While there were several nice spots highlighting the gravity of the situation, to me it seemed like a massive display of guns, tanks, and planes.  Also, there was a playground in the middle of the Memorial, and there was even a shooting range for kids to practice killing the enemy.  (I’m all for kids having a good time, but perhaps a less bellicose venue would be more appropriate.)

Perhaps I should just think of it more as a museum and not a memorial.

Here are some photos.  You can view the full set here.

This was a great piece showing a South Korean and North Korean soldier holding each other with a split down the middle.

And… the infamous playground beneath the helicopters and planes waiting to drop some firepower!

And here’s where you can practice your aim at the pop up enemy!

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