It's been ages I know, but the end of the semester is coming and things are hectic (you'll hear me making this type of excuse often:-)) 
Photo courtesy of Getty Images and Chung Sung Jun
Check out Canada.com's hilarious photo-by-photo commentary on some of the wacky outfits on display at the recent "Ubiquitous Fashionable Computer Fashion Show" in Koyang City, near Seoul. http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/photogalleries/wearable.html?g=0
From 1392 to 1910, Korea was known as the "Kingdom of Great Joseon" and was ruled by a royal family which was deposed and sent to Japan for re-education after the Japanese occupation began. The capital of Joseon, relocated to Hanyang (later Seoul), was the site of the Royal Palace at Gyung-Bohk-Goong (경복궁). The palace, parts of which were destroyed by the Japanese occupiers, has been and continues to be restored as a tourist attraction. On national holidays and on weekends during the summer, the palace, now a tourist attraction, is the site of re-enactments of royal parades and changing-of-the-guard ceremonies, one of which is pictured here. 
I took these photos on a film camera and when I had digital images made from the negatives, the photos turned out rather grainy. I decided to soften the images to solve the problem - it lends a faded, glimse-into-the-past kind of effect that I think is actually quite nice.
Why can't military, police, and public officials have uniforms like this anymore? I, for one, would love to wear hanbok to work every day.
Back to Chunn-Gyey-Chunn (천계천), the rehabilitated stream system in the center of Seoul...And a little more abstract - a close-up. Looks a little like steel cables or TV noise...
Single white glove and hat - she obviously still thinks "Thriller" was the best album of all time."Ow!!" 아줌마 or "AH-joom-mah" usually translates into "auntie" in English and is usually used to describe or address any woman who is married and / or over the age of about 30. Younger Korean women dread the day they will be called 아줌마 , perhaps partly because of the stigma that comes with it. These ladies hold a lot of power in their families (ALL the power). Many have had to endure many hard times in their lives and are determined that their children will have better lives - and God help anyone who gets in the way. Any semblance of feminine submissiveness in youth gives way to blunt, brute force and plain-talking, line-jumping aggressiveness that can be intimidating. As a teacher who deals with Korean parents all the time, I never quite get used to it. However, if you don't get on their bad side, these aunties can be among the most dedicated, caring, selfless, and funny ladies you will ever meet. As an example, one ah-joom-mah in a restaurant I frequented used to yell at me for not finishing my rice (bloody near a capital offense in Korea). The next time I visited, if I was a good boy and cleaned my plate, she would teach me words of Jeju dialect and then laugh her 엉덩이 off with her friends as she had me repeat to all of them what I had learned . I'm always happy to be of entertainment to others, even at my own expense - "Sit, Ubu, sit. Good dog! Now roll over!"
The wildest thing about the area now is the traffic, situated as it is, at the intersection of 5 major city streets and several lanes and alleys. It is only a five minute walk from Seoul Station, City Hall, and the ancient Doksu Palace.It gave its name to the adjacent Namdaemoon Market, one of the largest traditional markets in Korea, a hagglers paradise of sorts (and the best place in the city to get camera lenses and eyeglasses). This gate and the rotary that carries traffic around it is at the heart of Seoul's old downtown and the "Gahng Buk" or "North of the River" area of Seoul.
Anyone able to guess what this is and where in Seoul it can be found?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRvzv3Sc8do
I recently took advantage of one of those perfect, crisp, clear fall days to head up to the World Park near the Seoul World Cup Stadium in the West of the city for these photos of the Han River and the Eulalia grass. 
The above is Canada Day, 2006 in Kingston with Devin, the budding flyboy, and Conor, the gamer-genius, my sister's boys. 
Above, from left, Phil, oldest brother and god (small "g") in his own right, Dad, Jessica, Stephanie (whose 8th Grade Grad it was that day), Mom, and a horribly coiffed moi at the homestead in Orangeville.
To MJ, Louise, Dale, Bill, and all other beloved, you shall have your day.
How very lovely, you say? Well, except that the holiday involves, for most, a lot more stress than joyous familial frolic. First off, being with the family involves making train or flight reservations months in advance or having to face up to 20 hours on the roads in an endless traffic jam. This holiday season, some 39 million people were on the move in-country, with another 300,000 estimated to be traveling overseas. Then, once you have arrived, the lady of the family is expected to log countless hours preparing festive traditional rice cakes (song-pyun) and any number of other delicacies for the men, who generally sit with the elder men and get profusely plastered, in keeping with tradition. For those unfortunate enough to be unmarried by 25, there are the inevitable questions about marriage and the ticking of the biological clock.
The second photo was taken today, and shows a similar view, albeit from a bit further away and to the West (they wouldn't let me on the Yongsan base to take photos - GO FIGURE!) but shows essentially the same thing. Those lush green fields to the south are long gone. The area south of the river, all farmland in 1960, is now home to some 7 million people and the dense development stretches well beyond the furthest of those mountains in the background.
