Anyone who has witnessed such beauty could attest to it, I guarantee it. Having experienced my first autumn here, I have to say that it was quite an alluring sight seeing the lush greens transform into the ablaze hues. As quick as these seasons come, they go, & now the rustic red, yellow, and brown leaves have given way to the icy and jagged white flakes of the winter.
What a crazy week it's been!
North Korea, behind Kim Jong-Il and his stubby fingered, trigger happy generals, just fiending for hell to break loose on the Peninsula need to relax, or just take a vacation somewhere. Who really knows what the true reason behind the attack was. I mean even those working for the propaganda offices probably didn't even know why the artillery shells were fired in the first place. Goebbels would have disapproved. Maybe it was the "hey-it's-winter-time-and-we-didnt-harvest-much-if/any-crops-so-we-need-more-rice-and-aid-here," maybe "hey-where-still-a-force-to-be-reckoned-with," OR "hey-kim-jong-un-wants-to-prove-to-the-regime-that-he-is-x-to-the-core." Whatever it was, the Republic of Korea seemed to be at high alert only momentarily. Since then, the initial distresses have more or less subsided, and everyone has resumed normal activity. The calm before the storm? Whatever that means... I always thought crazy winds and rain down-poured before the storm hit...
Anyways, I registered with the U.S. Embassy here just in case. Though I'm carrying around my passport around town, I'm going to take it a day at a time, & if anything happens, I've got no one else to blame except myself for willingly flying 5956 miles (or if you prefer, 9585 km) within 30 miles of the DMZ, and prior knowledge of NK's volatile, defunct, cold-war era shenanigans. Darn-it, the irony is impeccable!
More importantly I spent a quick 43 minutes at the Costco and loaded up on some American delights. Honey nut Cheerios, seedless grapes, sliced turkey with 3 different cheeses (cheddar, provolone, & feta), whole grain wheat bread, bratwurst, salami, & of course the muffins!!! I probably would have done more damage, but I arrived 43 minutes before closing time. If anyone wants to have a wine, cheese, and salami night at my place, consider it done! (I promise not to open the cheddar if you tell me within the next few days!!!)
A busy weekend kept me from posting this earlier, but I suppose it's always better late than never.
These pictures were taken a few weeks ago during a weekday morning bike ride through Olympic Park near Jamsil, and during a weekend bike ride by the Han River, passing alongside Cheonggyecheon (청계천), trekking up to the hills behind Gyeongbokgung Palace, perusing through Insadong, and eventually ending up back by 청계천 where the Seoulites had gathered en masse for one last visitation to the Lantern Festival that was coming to an end.
bracing myself for the winter,
pax
1 comments:
love it! and i'm beyond envious of your costco trip and your REAL cheese :) i might have to take you up on that offer for wine & cheese! stay warm...
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