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Seokguram Grotto: Seoul’s Version
Seokguram Hermitage (경주 석굴암) is one of those places that makes it onto every list of top 10 temples, Buddhist sites or wondrous views while in Korea. If you haven’t heard about it yet, head over to my friend Dale’s website and read more about it there. As I’ve read the name and heard it again and again, though haven’t yet been the site myself, I recognized it when I came across the name in Korean as I sat on the side of Mt. Inwang in Seoul. Seokguram… Seokguram (인왕산 석굴암), when I realized why I recognized the name it made me all the more confused as to why there…
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The Military Invasion of Jeju Island
Most people that head to Jeju Island, known as the peace island, go with the intention of seeing the beautiful scenery from waterfalls and green tea fields to black lava sand beaches and palm tree lined lanes. Honeymooners go for romance and tourists go for scenery. With the tallest mountain in the country being the biggest draw by far for everyone from the avid hiker to the average Joe just out to get a jaunt and see some views, it’s a wonder that there hasn’t been more done to protect the island from military invasion. Though protesters in the small town of Gangjeong, meaning “Village of Water”, on the southern…
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Bitter, Sweet, Seoul
If you have an hour to spare and I hope you do, this is what you should watch today. Culling together clips from over 11,000 videos submitted, directors Park Chan Wook and Park Chan Kyong, known together as PARKing CHANce, made this movie using 141 clips from Korean and international submissions to represent Seoul and I think they did an amazing job. It’s not just the pretty view of the city or even the pretty people of the city, it’s real life and real moments with black and white clips of historical moments in Korea from archives to today. There are the kind people we meet on the streets and…