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The Soul of Seoul Tours: The S(e)oul Derby Recap
On July 17th, fourteen teams came together to set the pace and win that race… if they could. The weather wasn’t superb, but the drizzle gave everyone a little push to move and groove and get indoors that much sooner. The teams included expat teachers, Koreans, service people and families looking to do something a little different with their Saturday afternoon. The premise of the event was that The Soul of Seoul Tours would give out a list of scavenger hunt clues which included things like finding someone walking around in a Hanbok, piling into a phone booth, making funny faces, hunting for kimbap and a host of other cultural, quirky and…
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The S(e)oul Derby: Sign Up Now!
Come for some fun. With clues in hand, teams will race to find as many locations as possible from cultural hot spots to traditional architecture and even some friendly local eateries too. The event will be a cross between scavenger hunt searches and amazing race-esque missions. How much do you know about Seoul? Come test your knowledge with some great people and if you have the stuff, you can even win some fabulous prizes. There are more than W1,000,000 in prizes! The event will kick-off near Hapjeong Station and will culminate at 3 Alley a local expat owned pub in Itaewon where we will tally the points while you sit…
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Scavenging For S(e)oul
Here is an event you won’t want to miss! Come for some fun. With clues in hand, teams will race to find as many locations as possible from cultural hot spots to traditional architecture and even some friendly local eateries too. They’re all in the mix. How much do you know about Seoul? Come test your knowledge with some great people and if you have the stuff, you can even win some fabulous prizes. The event will kick-off in the famous Gwanghwamun Square and will culminate at Beer O’Clock a local expat owned pizza pub in Sinchon where we will tally the points while you sit back and relax to…
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My Top Ten Adventures of 2014!
This year was full of new adventures for me and for my husband and not all of them included travel. I used to think traveling someplace new was all an adventure could be but, this year I learned that adventures can come in all shapes and sizes and experiences. 1. New Orleans, Louisiana: For our trip home this year we didn’t exactly go home. Instead of heading to my home state of Ohio, we headed to the Big Easy with my family to celebrate some big birthdays. We enjoyed the beautiful historic buildings and homes that lined the streets of the French Quarter and filled our bellies with the very filling…
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A Look Back: Our Korean Wedding Ceremony
Three years ago at the end of October, my family from the States arrived to Seoul and we made our way down to Busan to prepare for my first wedding ceremony to my husband. Though it’s not our “official” anniversary because we chose our subsequent American wedding ceremony date in January, that doesn’t stop us from receiving a card yearly from my grandmother wishing us a “Happy Anniversary” in October. Every year about this time, the leaves begin to change colors and I am taken back to images of the colorful Hanbok that I wore for our ceremony surrounded by family and friends outside on a gorgeous day with blue…
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Saying Goodbye to Summer with Blooming Cosmos
The winds have shifted and the cooler breezes have been blowing in to say autumn is here and winter is on its way. With autumn comes some amazingly colorful mountain views but also to delight, the cosmos bloom. It’s a flower that holds on until the end and seems to wave goodbye to summer and welcomes us in to autumn. It’s one of the last flowers to enjoy before the plants begin to wilt and turn brown winter ice and snow make their own beautiful scenes to view.The pinks and white of the blooms conjure up memories of the recent spring and summer fun we had frolicking outside with bare feet…
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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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A Landscape Revealed
At the foot of Mt. Inwang (인왕산수성동계곡) an interesting thing happened a few years ago. During demolition of the Ogin Sibeom Apartments in 2008, a scene very similar to that of the artist Gyeomjae Jeong Seon’s (1676 – 1759) in his “Eight Scenes of Jang-dong” appeared. During the rapid growth and industrialization of the area, the scene on the side of the mountain had been covered over with an apartment building in 1971 and wasn’t viewed again for more than 30 years. Upon razing the building a stone bridge was uncovered and the city, which had bought the land back for reclamation, decided to turn the area back into the beautiful natural…
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Gwanghwamun Flea Market Fun
Every Sunday from March to October, traffic is blocked going southbound and tents are erected for a big flea market on the Gwanghwamun Square just in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace. From 11 o’clock in the morning to 4 in the afternoon, visitors can peruse a wide range of goods. Vendors sell everything from old clothes at bargain prices to homemade accessories, teas, candles, lotions, potted plants and seedlings and more. What’s more, every Sunday is different. There’s something for everyone and even food from around the world on sale to munch on when the midday pangs of hunger strike. (This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a certain percentage…
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Flowers In Jongno
This past Sunday the sun was shining, parka weather said goodbye and a warm breeze was blowing so naturally I couldn’t help but head out for a walk. I headed to Jongno to see what was going on and for the most part I found a lot of people planning their gardens and purchasing seeds, plants and fertilizers, which got me oh so excited for my rooftop garden. I haven’t tilled the dirt that the owners before us left up there just yet so I’m not quite ready for the seeds, so instead I enjoyed the scene and purchased some succulents for inside the abode. While I was out I…
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The Flowers, They are a ‘Bloomin
Spring has taken it’s pretty little time making it to the Korean peninsula this year, and from what my grandmother tells me, it’s pretty much the same in Ohio right now as well. On Tuesday last week, I headed to Yeouido to see if the flowers had opened yet, and though the festival had started there, the flowers were not all a bloomin’ to welcome spring. Some of the trees had taken the initiative and opened up, but not the whole street as I’d seen in the past. I stayed all of ten minutes and then headed home. Wednesday came with a burst of sun and higher temperatures than we’d…
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Dongrimsa Temple in Gimhae, South Korea
Sitting just 400 meters away from the more popular Eunhasa Temple on Sineosan Mountain, or Fish of the Gods Mountain, is Dongrimsa Temple (동림사). As it is smaller and was quieter without the people milling around on Lunar New Year, it felt as if we’d arrived to a shop afterhours. Also said to be from the time of King Suro in the Gaya Kingdom, it was supposedly established by King Suro’s wife’s, Heo Hwangok, brother, monk Jangyuhwasang. It features a tall statue of Jijang-bosal, the God of the Afterlife, in the courtyard surrounded by six smaller statues of Jijang-bosal that are the most telling feature of the temple. The statue is rather…
