Long time no see! 오래만이에요!

I suppose I haven't made a post in a very, very long time.

Delaying it at first eventually made it seem impossible to resume with something trivial. But whatdyaknow, here's another entry.

I used a lot of pictures because words are hard for me.

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★☆☆

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Outside of my window there used to be a big, wide, green space. Now construction and winter have begun, so it's mostly dirt and brown grass. They're building what appears to be a road on the right hand side of the picture. I'm going to buy some binoculars because I want to take a closer look at their progress. ʘ‿ʘ

However, my aloe vera had two children and some random green stuff started growing in its soil

and I scored some flowers randomly this week from a car vendor. I suppose that this somehow counteracts the developments outside my window. Maybe.

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★★☆

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In other good news, I got a second piercing on one of my ears. As of this week it has just about fully healed. I wore a temporary, small earring to work and no one seemed to really mind. I won't wear an earring to work anymore since it's healed, but, because of their non-reaction I decided to let my hair grow long now.

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★★★

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I filled up my fourth journal today. I have three other journals I've filled since I came to Korea. I keep my doodles, finances, ideas, plans, and stuff in order in them. They're so haphazard and disorganized, but I think of this as a form of encryption. Like my personal blog, they help me keep my thoughts in order and keep my focused on my short and long term goals. Having a notebook always with me allows me to work on my own style which is, "make something that looks nice and ruin it until it looks tortured and nice once more." You might call it "well-intentioned train wreck."

I recently developed a new hobby and it is fiddling around with Adobe Creative Suite programs when I'm at work. I set my first project to be a Korean business card. I keep changing my layout/logo since I'm still exploring my options, but this is my favorite version so far. I intend to buy my own laptop someday soon, so maybe that will facilitate my work some. 

My Korean studies have been progressing slowly but surely. I feel a little more confident in everyday situations. I don't feel scared about offending people or causing too much trouble, either. I took a 6 week night class this fall that recently. I passed, but I don't know my score yet. I will take the second half of the course again in the spring.

After my night class finished I started going to a calligraphy school after work 3 or 4 days a week. There I am learning Chinese poetry. So far I've learned 28 different couplets. I'm learning their interpretation in Korean, so it's a challenge, but my teacher is very kindhearted and patient with me. The poems are mostly based on Confucian philosophy, so, sometimes they're a bit moralizing, but at other times they're esoteric and neat. This is an example page from my study book.

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☆☆☆

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I'll try to post more often with more words and less pictures.

t.

encountering art—in museums

For the past month I've been encountering a lot of art, on the street and in museums and subways.

I guess I started in earnest last month when I went to the Korean National History Museum. The calligraphy section was rather small and not very popular, but there were some gems.

This is some calligraphy by Ahn Jung-geun (he assassinated Japanese resident-general of Korea, cut off left hand's ring finger when setting his intention to help Korea... A pretty intense guy!)

The style of this one is really fluid (called 草書 literally "grass style"). I didn't get the exact details on this one...

I've also been to the Seoul Calligraphy Museum twice. The first time was to see an exhibit by the Buddhist artist Jung Kwang.

There were many different pictures of Bodhidharma!

This one was titled 돌 (Dol, stone).

I think this is a bunch of curse words/vulgarities! and 佛, Buddha.

The second time I went to the Seoul Calligraphy Museum there was the Seoul Typography Biennale. Even though it's a "biennale," it's the first one they've held in ten years. It was titled some "Fire Flower of East Asia" and focused on the shared Chinese character culture between Japan, Korea, and China. So, it had typographers and artists from all three countries, which gave the exhibit a really good, diverse feeling! Most of the work was about pushing the readability of Chinese characters (and Hangul and Kana) to their limits. The logo for the biennale was rather cool, too:

It's read from top right to bottom counter-clockwise. I had to ask Aram to ask a person to explain it. The basic three letters in the logo are ㅅ,ㅌ, andㅂ. The ㅅ on the right starts, "Seoul" 서울; the ㅌ on the left starts "Typography" 타이포그래피; and the ㅂ at the bottom starts 비앤날레 "Biennale."

This one was pushing the limits of readability of Chinese characters (at least for me...)

This is 3-d Hangul! After the first few lines it becomes very difficult to decipher.

This represents various groups (and stereotypes) in Korea, such as English teachers, migrant laborers, old people... They're all saying something with a frank, kind of weird tone. The gray faced man in the middle is saying "I couldn't make any money in Korea..."

This is the name of the president (for life, dictator) of Korea during the 1960's and 1970's, 박정희 Park Chung-hee. My working interpretation of this is that it's an ironic statement. First, Park is credited with the rapid economic growth of Korea during his rule at the expense of political and civil liberties. So, I'm thinking that overcoming those economic difficulties is where the blue pole vaulting guy comes in. But, the subtle irony is that the guy is vaulting over Park Chung-hee's name. So, he's actually overcoming Park Chung-hee. I guess I make this interpretation because I hope people are still making subtle/witty critiques of authoritarian power. I also feel compelled to make a palatable interpretation because the composition is so good in the picture, so I can only hope it's not dictator praise!...

All in all, I'm pretty satisfied with the museums in Seoul so far. I will definitely be checking out the Seoul Calligraphy Museum each month as the exhibits change. It's such a treat that there's a museum dedicated to experimentation with words. 

(All these pictures were taken with my phone~, so excuse the quality. Larger sizes on Flickr►http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaiiuueeoo/sets/72157627130551233/).

encountering art—in subways and on the street

Even though I prefer it to going to a museum for aesthetic enjoying, finding art on the streets of Seoul can be difficult. Most places I go, such as Gangnam or Jamsil, are pretty clean and have no graffiti whatsoever. However, I've been able to find a few places that do have a lot of graffiti. They are the areas called Hongdae and Itaewon. I've also found a little bit of graffiti in Incheon, too.

I sometimes find stuff in the subway, too.

This is inside Jamsil Station and I suppose it's actually regular "art." However, it resembles a useful bench so well that they felt compelled to put a permanent black and yellow sign on it that says, "Do not sit here! This is a work of art." I couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity. Perhaps the artist should've made their work less functional...

And now for some graffiti.

I forgot what subway station this was in. It's on the side of a vending machine. This sort of thing is pretty uncommon, a lot less common than I'd expect it to be in a city with the population of Seoul.

This is in Itaewon, AKA "the foreigner-packed district." Most of the graffiti in Itaewon is pretty rudimentary, thin-lined signatures without much variation, as pictured on the left. But this Communist-inspired poster was pretty witty.

This is in Hongdae, which is an area with a well-known art college. While it's somewhat similar to Itaewon in that it's "fashionable" and "kind of seedy," there are less American/European/Middle Eastern people and more Japanese people here (and art students). The shops are pretty tasteful and inexpensive, too. There's also lots of graffiti to choose from.

Hongdae, also.

In Hongdae I also saw this little cat, whose name I assume is LFW, in many different places. One thing neat about Hongdae is that some walls aren't technically covered in graffiti. They're canvases on houses that the artists change regularly. It helps blur the line between graffiti and sanctioned, legal art, which I think is the impetus behind Hongdae's graffiti culture.

I hope you've enjoyed some of the things I enjoyed!

(All these pictures were taken with my phone~, so excuse the quality. Larger sizes on Flickr►http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaiiuueeoo/sets/72157627130551233/).

I really like hanging around Incheon. It feels much more like a home than Seoul. There's trash everywhere most days (even though one of the slogans you see a lot is "Clean Incheon"). Also, the city's scale isn't incomprehensible and I never really wonder where I am. There are little touches, such as graffiti or open stoves of coals, that are missing from most areas of Seoul.

Yesterday we went to a big park.We rode a double bike (which was really old and rickety). There was also a cactus greenhouse. That was really beautiful and dry inside.

My past few days in pictures

I went to Incheon on Thursday night. It was rainy and I was really tired, but I like to get away from Seoul at least twice a week. We had burgers at a restaurant named BM Factory. I know, that name seems rather odd for a food place and not a colon cleansing place. The day before I bought a peephole (as in a peephole for doors) to make taking pictures with my old camera a little more interesting.

The next day, on Friday, I met Aram for an hour before her hanja (Chinese characters) class. After that I went to eat at TGIF with some friends. This was the ceiling at the place where Aram and I met.

Today, Saturday, Aram and I ate at a handmade dumpling place, Jihasonmandu, and drank some nice hand-drip coffee at Club Espresso, both in Buamdong in Northern Seoul. We walked a ton! In Buamdong we happened upon a museum devoted to the artist Whanki (whose name I didn't know before today). He makes really cute and thoughtful designs, simple, but with an underlying pattern. (I stole this apt description from Aram.) There were also some touching exhibits using Hangul and cuneiform and Minoan B. No pictures were allowed inside the museum, but I pretended to not be aware of that fact. The first picture is of something amazing, but I couldn't capture its amazingness. It is a bunch of Hangul floating in the air in a room with pulsating light. The Hangul reflect the light and project little shimmering fish bodies onto the opposite wall, sometimes making a recognizable Hangul-shape. It was pleasant.

 

On the way to the dumpling restaurant, a spray painted word for honey, 꿀, but it's been done twice in close proximity, so, 꿀꿀, which is also the sound a pig makes when it snorts. A Tyler sort-of-joke.

A mimosa tree, reminder of home.

Fin

Last week a student said to me,

I found one of your hairs in the school. I knew it was yours because your hair is different.

It took me a minute to understand.

Lunch today

Taken by ⓣⓨⓁⓔⓡ～＊ http://www.flickr.com/photos/21381396@N05/5861823949

Sent from my iPhone

In order to bow I must walk straight up.
If I do not, then I will bury myself with each bow.

I noticed

, a photo by ⓣⓨⓁⓔⓡ～＊ on Flickr.

I noticed yesterday that my aloe was leaning to one side, leaning on to its younger self. I decided to use the S-hook-cum-infinity loop that Garin gave me. I once had it in a wall installation back in Arkansas and I decided to take it with me to Seoul.
To combine aesthetic appreciation and utility is one of my aspirations. However, sometimes it can be too forced and too exhausted/ing. When I happen upon natural solutions (given the set variables of objects in my room or space) I feel very glad.
The name of my installation in Arkansas was "The Meaning of Friendship." I don't know what to name my aloe but something like that.

we eat lots of chicken around here

aram eats the life of hoards of chickens, a photo by ⓣⓨⓁⓔⓡ～＊ on Flickr.

I received my Alien Registration Card on Friday.

I immediately got an iPhone. I now am a full modern citizen. It feels about the same as being completely disconnected from the whole world, only, less "the whole world." Immediately afterwards, I started my first Bored Weekend in Korea. It was kind of bad to be bored, what with a sprawling city and the latest technology in front of me, but it happened.

문정지구, Munjeong's new area

Just outside of my window, there is a large green expanse; Aram says that it is going to be a new neighborhood. Around dusk some days I see two people maybe 20 meters apart. One is picking leaves off of bush. The other is standing, staring, waiting for the other. Sometimes also I see two vehicles driving on the dusty road, going in divergent directions. They move very slowly across the wide green. There are bulldozers resting in the greenery, too. I have never seen them moving, perhaps because they wake up after I have gone to work. There are large bundles covered in black plastic, large bundles covered in green plastic. There are the words 배동현 made with white spray paint. For me, this neighborhood waiting to be born is a blessing, because it fills my entire window and eases my mind.
Like a mischievous child, I want to go for a trek through that greenness, but, like a scared adult, I know that that is trespassing on no man's land.
On the map in Naver, I can see how they've planned how the area will be divided: into a park, a neighborhood square, green spaces, a courthouse, and business districts.

I sincerely hope that they take their time

Update 2011/06/13

Here are some photos I took the other day of the area. It's blissfully empty. I feel perhaps more tempted than ever to go walk around there. Perhaps seeing this fills me with some undue melancholia and a little bit of guilt. I really wish that it would stay green. And then I think that the place where I'm living now was once a green bunch at one time, too? 

I think I saw a church back in there...? It doesn't look very orchestrated, so I'm not sure how construction is being carried out.

My apartment building is the grey one just to the right of the middle.

My morning so far. It's about 食醯 (shikhye).

I'm kind of forgetful and it's a blessing that I make it into the office dressed some days. (I forgot my laptop charger and I overslept, but made it to work on time. Luckily the computer department is über competent and lent me a spare charger.)

In the elevator this morning I met a pretty, older-than-me woman from some floor above me. She was adjusting her earrings in the mirror. Cool!
When I got in the elevator I pressed the button for First Floor. But, the elevator has this feature that I tend to forget about. If a floor is already selected and you select it, it unselects the floor. Of course, I did just that and the elevator didn't move for maybe 30 seconds afterwards. Then I realized I was in error and also doing something that could be interpreted as weird or creepy: AHHH! I wanted to scream SURE YOU'RE PRETTY, BUT I'M NOT LOCKING YOU IN THE ELEVATOR WITH ME. AHHH SWEAR!!!!
So, due to my automatic apologetic reflex I said in hapless Korean, "Sorry," which might have been uncalled for, but I don't know. Then the lady asked me what I was drinking (as I was holding a drink). I said, "Shikhye." She said, "How nice!" And so I said, "I like Shikhye." Then we got to the first floor and she said "Have a good day." I wanted to say "You too," but I didn't want to use "You," so I froze up and just did a tiny bow. Then we both tried to leave the elevator at the same time and both hesitated at the same time. I had been embarrassed ever since I got into the elevator, so I couldn't really get any more embarrassed by then, so it was ok.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhye

I think that Shikhye is a pretty good conversation starter. It is "Nostalgia Drink, Shikhye, Since 1994."
Such a sweet nice rice drink. It is malty and has lots of chewy, old-textured rice grains at the bottom, so it helps to shake it up. I want to describe the texture of the rice grains that have been sitting in sweet malty water for weeks. Maybe gristly? gnarly? noodley? It would be a good base for some gelatin, too. I also want to mix it with coffee as soon as I get the chance. I hope that lady doesn't think I'm a creep. I like Shikhye?

Today was really pleasant

I started my day by listening to Ariel Pink's song The Doldrums. I listened to it maybe 3 or 4 times.
After that, I went to Incheon by subway and then bus. I always love riding the bus, because the world goes by like a motion pictures. I can sit and watch. I left my apartment around 9:something AM.

And here is what I did today:

I first met Aram then climbed the mountain named Gyesan 桂山! Even if it's just a tiny mountain in Korea, it was still really challenging for me. She brought a nice backpack and I wore some new shoes I reluctantly bought last night. My feet hurt after all the walking, so, I can only imagine how bad they would hurt if it were not for my better fitting shoes... I was covered in sweat by the time we came back down the mountain. At the top of Gyesan the view was nice and clear. I could see the Incheon harbor from the top, so I got to see the ocean. These days I am so pleased to not have a camera. Without a camera, I am forced to just sit and enjoy the moment now, filling myself with it. I can remember more clearly without one, sometimes. Soon I think I will want a camera, though. 
After Gyesan, we had a surprise lunch with my girlfriend's dad! It was our first meeting. We ate memil (buckwheat) noodles and some memil makgeolli (kind of effervescent rice wine) at a very nice restaurant off the main path. He was really kind and bought our lunch and talked with me. ^^
Next, I wanted to find some comma-shaped earrings (also known as 曲玉 to some people, or half of a yin-yang...) at the Bupyeong underground market, but we had no success at all. I saw some last week at a stall in Bupyeong and but, for some random reason, probably their price, I didn't buy them. I regret it now, but, I will find them again someday! (I've started wearing earrings again on the weekend and after work...) 
I am such a fussy shopper that I refuse to buy anything that isn't extremely simple, but subtly unique and precious. Aram is really understanding about my peculiar standards, so she can help me really well, especially in the hectic, confusing, and labyrinthine stretches of department stores and shopping centers. Instead of earrings, however, I did find some Korean puzzle magazines for children. I love word searches and silly little things to make me use Hangeul. I think 4-5 years is my Korean age at the moment. It allows me the opportunity to learn semi-useless words (at least for daily conversation)

such as "Baekche Cultural Section" or "Clinical Physiology" or "Ethnicity Erasure Doctrine" or "Apollo Eye Syndrome"  ...  you get the point.

After the underground market, we went to Caffe Bene, a Korean coffee shop chain. There I had some kind of expensive (7,000 won, which is actually pretty normal here) "hand drip coffee." I didn't know what it was, but it was just like regular drip coffee. Which was heavenly! Compared with all the Cafe Americano and espresso drinks I've been imbibing lately, it was deliciously full-bodied. Pure black, strong, bitter, but also sweet underneath it all. I think the beans were Ethiopian, but that doesn't mean much to me. It was the first good cup of coffee I've had in a while.
Then I bought some expensive ginseng at a department store, then I ate some super spicy chicken feet (鳳爪!) with the bones still inside, and went to another coffee shop, then I came home and listened to Animal Collective.
Oh, and I started reading Crime and Punishment today, too. Then I went to bed at 11:16 PM. It was a good day. I will sleep in tomorrow. 

Picture 080 means 위험 means danger!

Picture 080, a photo by ⓣⓨⓁⓔⓡ～＊ on Flickr.

Even though I botched the only three social interactions that I had today and I had to have lots of hand-holding when I was doing my laundry, I've started to feel somewhat more competent and confident in myself this past week.
Tomorrow is my first day of teaching.

I brought a black-with-thin-grey-stripes suit jacket with me to Korea. My dear mother modified the sleeves to my picky specifications. Before last week, I had worn the jacket three times.
Twice I wore the jacket for funerals, so it kind of has some sad associations for me.
The third time I wore it when I met with some official-types in Japan.
The other day, in the breast pocket I found a gum wrapper for some gum named Black Black. I ate this gum the day I wore the jacket to meet official-types in Japan. I thought it was weird that it sat in my pocket all that time and has followed me around, back and forth from home, not to be noticed until now. Also, the gum is made by Lotte, a Korean brand.
Not really ironic... not really prophetic... but... foreshadowing? Not really anything, I guess.

i exchanged my tv for an aloe plant...

사진 024, a photo by ⓣⓨⓁⓔⓡ～＊ on Flickr.

사진 013

사진 013, a photo by ⓣⓨⓁⓔⓡ～＊ on Flickr.

who says you need a 35 mm to take a crap ethereal photograph? that's out of my window from my apartment, but, the atmosphere, it doesn't really feel like the picture looks. the photograph probably illustrates the jet-lagged haze permeating my brain matter and slowly dripping out of my ears, though. i have decided that this period of my life will test my endurance more than any previous period.
what's endurance mean? it is related to words like "during" and "duration" and "obdurate" and back further to some Latin word meaning "to harden," with some connotation of "lasting." connecting endurance with the concept of being "hard" helps me understand how i am to endure.

#3: my stuff (the essence of essentials)

Lately I've been trying my best to rid myself of my collection of junk, such as unread books, video games, collage materials, art supplies, unwanted gifts, and the like. Although my load is a good deal lighter now, I am afraid that I will some day amass the same kind of junk due to the same absent-minded, passive consumer behavior. So, I intend to be tight with my won and buy few permanent objects.

On the other hand, I have also been trying to pin down the affects and trinkets that are meaningful to me and hold onto them tightly, trying to prevent them from following their sibling pieces of crap into the trash-resale shop-thrift store vortex. Of all the things that have surrounded me for the past 3 or so years, I feel that some essence has settled itself into a few objects. They feel "heavy." This is likely because they often weigh a lot, but that is also how I conceptualize essence. This process concentrates my memory of a place or a person or an emotion, often with a very healthy mix of misunderstanding and imagination (which I believe are practically the same thing) mixed in. On a tangible note, I am trying to think of both the long and short term with this list. First, I'm considering little accents that will liven up an hypothetical, tiny, and blah apartment, while still retain some significance to me in my new urban environment. Second, I'm thinking of food for my long flight to Seoul. Third, I'm thinking of food I will miss when I am settled down. Fourth, I'm thinking of gifts for people.

But, hey, you know, it's all just stuff in the end.

I will add some of my other mementos and preparatory devices to the following list later on (they're at my parents' house, or I haven't purchased them yet). This list probably won't be exhaustive, however. 
I don't think I will have a problem fitting all this in one suitcase along with my clothing. If I do, then chucking stuff is kind of fun at this point.

Tell me if you think I need anything else.

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mementos 

old tea tin with coral from my parents' honeymoon and 타일러 name stamp and sun-moon necklace from Aram's trip to South America

Daruma doll with one eye unfilled

S-hook twisted to be an ∞

old brown dzi bead
Korean coin purse with 福 on it (gift from Daeshin) 
big, hollow glass ball 
old watch of my dad's 
two scorpions set in plastic (one with CCC and one with BC, for my grandfather and father, respectively)

food and toiletries

jar of peanut butter (2 different kinds)

Lärabars (6)

Benefit 10 make-up

Dr. Bronner's shaving gel

Dr. Bronner's Rose bar soap

Big Sur Sage spray

Venus of Wilendorf cinnamon soap

extra razors (8)

wooden comb (2)

tweezers

extra toothbrush heads (2)

earrings

earplugs
7 bars of hotel soap
2 bottles of hotel shampoo

game, electronics, books, etcetera

Bananagrams

scarf from India from Amrita
lots of postcards

empty notebook

pencil bag with markers and pens (one spray paint marker for filling in Daruma's eye)

Arkansas razorback warm headband thing I borrowed from work

small Kodak digital camera

fish eye lens

flash drive

external hard drive
Korean Grammar In Use
Korean-English pocket dictionary
Lonely Planet Korea guidebook

Nobody Passes

어린왕자
purple rope
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists

Osamu Dazai short story collection
Tugumi
Uncovering Heian Japan

empty things

two little wood containers from Amrita

stem ginger Piccadilly biscuit tin (from my parents' trip to London)

35 mm film tubes (4, empty)

#2: pre departures

i have the bad habit of saying "see you later" when in fact i probably won't see the person or people for a long time (or ever?).

#1

Leaving May the 10th!