My photos

Come back in a long while.

2007-11-14T23:07:00.000+09:00

Sorry, this blog is on hiatus at the moment.

I am on the road around the world.

If you want to see any new pictures, you'll have to go to my main blog:

alimamo.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by.

Friends

2006-08-31T22:33:00.000+09:00

It has been a while since I have posted any new photos here. I apologize for that. I have just been a bit lazy.

Since I just sent some photos to friends, I thought I would share those photos with you too. The first three photo sets are hosted on different photo storage sites, so I'll give you the overview image and you can click it to see all the images.

The first set is from a new friend from Seoul, an architect, and a very nice young woman, Jeongeun. She came down to visit Andong and Dosan Sewon. Anyone who visits me gets the obligatory photos of the visit. These were the ones I took while she was here. Click on the collage above to see them all.

The second set was taken when Myeonghee came to visit Andong. It was her first time here. Myeonghee Lives in Onyang, but I met her a long time ago when I worked in Yesan. Since it was her first time, we went to Hahoe village. It was pretty hot, but we still had a nice time. Click the collage and see the photos of Myeonghee at Hahoe.

The final set is just a few pictures from when I went back to Cheongju to visit a good friend, Youngmi. It had been a while since we had met, and it was my turn, so I went back to my old stomping grounds to say hello. Here we went to a park after lunch. It is her turn to visit me now, but it may be a while. It seems to be just one visit per year.

The last two photos are of some friends/students who came to visit me at my place to have dinner.

I made them switch places in the two photos, but in this first photo, from left to right, it is Eunjin, Jeongim, and Youngmi.

Eunjin, on the right in this photo, is now in China studying Chinese and such. The other two are still in Andong. They are quite a group of young ladies. And cute, too.

I hope you enjoyed meeting some of my friends here in Korea. I'll try and get back to a regular picture posting schedule soon.

A Trip to the Zoo.

2006-06-09T22:35:00.000+09:00

This set of photos isn't so much about Andong, but they were taken on my travels in Korea. I went to the city of Daejeon (Taejeon) to visit a friend. While there, we went to visit the local zoo.

It was not too bad as far as small city zoos go. The majority of the cages were a bit cramped, though. There was a fair selection of animals, but nothing too exciting.

This guy was kind of interesting. This camel was of the Bactrian variety, two humped. He (she?) had a nice face and seemed to like to be photographed.

These iguanas didn't look too comfortable in their particular enclosure. They were crawling all over each other in a rather small box with a plastic front. The thing that was probably the most annoying though may have been the children banging on the plastic.
Many times, Koreans, especially children, generally seem to have a lack of respect for animals, especially wild animals. At the zoo I saw children and adults banging on cages, throwing food, and even throwing things at the animals. I am not sure if it is mostly ignorance about how the animals should be treated, or just a general lack of respect, but it is not very nice to see.

There was a special exhibit there that day about insects. There were a couple of varieties, but mostly just a bunch of these guys.
Korean kids use to collect them as pets, but you don't find them around too often these days.
Here is another one for you. Personally, I think they are really cool.

There were birds in the zoo, too. Several different kinds, both colorful ...

... and not so colorful but still rather pretty. Sorry about the cage wires. There was no other way to get a shot.

There were also dogs in the zoo. This little fellow was sharing his home with rabbits.

And unless you thought I was joking about dogs being in a zoo, take a look at this.

The sign in front says Golden Retriever, but the dog in the cage is actually a Saint Bernard. You'll notice the dog seems to be a hit with the little ones, though I think that may just be the parents allowing them to actually get close to a zoo animal.

Yes, a common breed dog in a zoo may seem rather strange to folks in the west, but here I have also seen cats and chickens in zoo cages. And these are not petting zoos. Until fairly recently there were very few breeds of dogs in Korea. In fact, there were really almost only two or three breeds, depending on who you talk to. One main one was the Jindo, and the other was the eating kind (I won't get into that argument here.) Now though there are many more breeds.

And now we end our day with a sunset back in Andong. The zoo in Daejeon is actually a nice place. It is a good place to spend a lazy afternoon and animal/people watch. There are a lot more animals than what I have pictured here. I guess I was just not in much of a picture taking mood that day. I hope your day is a good one.

Odds and Ends

2006-04-10T17:28:00.000+09:00

Yes, yet again it has been quite a while since the last photo update. I could make up a lot of excuses about doing other things, emergencies, or some such, but it would be only partially true. I have a lazy streak. Maybe it is more of an 'easily distracted' streak, but none the less, it does take me a while to do things sometimes.

But I have decided I am going to stop apologizing for not having photos here in a timely manner. If I want to be lazy, I'll be lazy; if I want to feverishly post the latest details of my life, I will do that too (don't count on it). But there is no reason to have to say I am sorry just because it has been a while since I have posted. So there it is. No more "I'm sorry". If that bothers you, if that chaps your ass, well then ...

... I'm sorry.

This post is just a collection of some photos at the end of one memory card and at the start of another. There is no underlying theme here except maybe that all these photos were taken in the spring of 2005. So yes I am officially one year behind in posting photos.

This first image is of cherry blossom time in Seoul, Korea. In all honesty, the cherry blossoms were much better in another city I lived in here, Cheongju. What I was really trying to show here is the sheer mass of people that come out all at the same time to see the floral show. This picture does not convey the hordes of humanity present. When going home, it took us about about ten minutes to go down one flight of stairs to the subway, another ten minutes or more from the stairs to the subway gate, and then about thirty to forty minutes waiting for our turn to get on the subway train. I think living in Seoul would be hard for me. I have the patience of Job, but even for me there might come a time where the constant crowds would make me freak out.

This is the "63 Building" in Seoul along the Han river. So named because it is sixty-three stories tall. It actually is pretty nice. The golden color looks nice against the sky when there is not too much smog. I have been in the building, but never up to the observation deck. It was just too expensive for me at the time. I would do it with someone else if they wanted to go. But for myself, I am a cheap bastard. If you want to see something neat, and you have Google Earth on your computer, click this link. It will download a model of the 63 building and place it in the correct spot on the earth. Then you can zoom in and out and rotate all around the model.

This is just someone there in the park that day. He was staring at me so I took his picture. It is interesting how babies as young as this, and sometimes younger, can look at a foreigner and recognize them for being foreign. That day in the park he just kept staring at me. He would occasionally glance at my Korean companion, but always returned to stare at me. This kind of thing has happened numerous times, so I know it is not just my imagination. It is also interesting how as the individual gets older, the staring becomes more annoying. But no matter how old they are, they still do it.

There were many more flowers on display in the park that day too.

This is the actual reason I went to Seoul that weekend. To see a friend, Misun. I am not quite sure why she seems to be looking beyond me and not at the camera. Perhaps there was some good-looking guy behind me at the time. I saw her just the other week. She has changed her hair, but still looks pretty similar.

The cherry trees were also blossoming back home in Andong, too. These are along the river just above the bridge over the Naktong river. I think they should have planted these trees to spell out some word or create an image. It would have been more interesting. Something like that has been done before. Take a look at one rather infamous tree planting in Germany (second picture in the story).

Some closeups of the flowers.

Just a local enjoying the day and the flowers.

This is just a compound in the older style, out away from the city. I don't think anyone actually lives here. Perhaps they just use the house for special occasions.

Here I am looking over the wall to get a shot of the porch. Yeah, I know this image would look better without that wire there, but I didn't feel like taking it out of the picture.

These next five shots are some pictures I took when I revisited Dosan Sewon in Spring. If you don't remember Dosan Seowon, click the name and go have a look.

Looking out the kitchen window.

A gate down to another level.

Some rooftops.

A roof and the forest.

A garden gate.

And finally, I leave you with something else that has been on this page. Can you guess what it is? Got it? Well, this is Andong dam again, but this time I am at the base looking up the face.

I hope you have enjoyed these photos. If you feel like it, leave a comment. I would love to hear what you have to say.

Spring is coming ...

2006-02-08T17:10:00.000+09:00

But these photos are actually from last spring. Hey, after all, you wouldn't want me to actually get caught up and post recent photos here, would you? Besides I have been lazy.

These photos are from a ride out to Byeongsan Seowon (병산서원). If you remember from an earlier post, I went to a different, more famous "seowon". A "seowon" was a private study place or small learning institute. Rather than try to explain this particular "seowon" outright, let me give you what the information signboard says and then I will try to add a little.

Historic Site No. 260
Byeongsan-ri, Pungcheon-myeon, Andong-si

This seowon, or Confucian academy and shrine, was originally Pungak seodang established in the late Goryeo period in Pungsanhyeon. It was moved by Ryu Seong-ryong to the present site in 1572, the 5th year of King Seonjo's reign. When Ryu Seong-ryong died in 1607, Jeong Gyeong-se (1563-1633) and others constructed Jondeoksa shrine in which they enclosed the memorial tablet of Ryu Seong-ryong in 1614, and changed its name to Byeongsan seowon.
This seowon was one of the 47 lucky seowons which survived destruction during the rule of Daewongun, the father of King Gojong. Every March and September in lunar caleudar, a memorial service for Ryu Seong-ryong is offered.

So this Ryu guy taught about Confucianism at this little school. They decided to move it to this nice location. Ryu dies and his followers erect a shrine to their teacher here in the compound. The destruction they referred to above happened when (D)Taewongun decided to return power back to the royal house by taking it away from the "yangban". To do this he closed or destroyed many of the Confucian seowons where these powerful literati had been educated. Unfortunately all that really happened was that he destroyed a lot of buildings and made a lot of people in power angry.

They actually picked a beautiful location when they moved this seowon. It is right on the bank of the Naktong river, just upriver and around the bend a bit from Hahoe village (see other post here).

And there are some nice cliffs on the other bank of the river. You can see that, though it is spring, the deciduous trees have yet to turn green.

And the area around the compound is landscaped in a very pretty park like setting. Though I expect most of that landscaping is from a much more recent period.

The buildings and such are nice, but what is probably most impressive is the view from the main building looking out over the pavilion and on toward the river. Be sure to click the image below to see the full panorama.

Here is the cherry blossom tree in front of one of the halls. I think I was just a bit early. Probably the next week it would have been in full bloom.

Another view of the right side of the compound. Here you can see more of the building.

Just a small doorway out of the compound.

Another tree in blossom near the seowon.

Cherry blossom trees are something that Korea does fairly well, but I actually wish they had trees that you could eat the fruit from. The trees you see everywhere generally produce small, bitter fruit. I remember seeing a package of 10 fresh cherries in the supermarket here selling for about $5.00.

My Korean reading visitors can get more complete information about 병산서원 (Byeongsan Seowon) here.

Byeongsan Seowon is fairly close to Hahoe Village, but due to the dirt road, fewer people (thankfully) visit it. Since I was close, I stopped in Hahoe and took a few pictures. The rest of these images are from there. Enjoy! And as always, remember to click for a larger image and feel free to leave a comment.

Another Ride

2005-11-13T00:29:00.000+09:00

Here are a few photos from another ride in a easterly direction. Off in that direction at the back end of Imha lake is a place called the Jirye Artists Colony (지례 예술촌). I have only been there in the winter time, but is sure doesn't look like much of a colony, and there isn't much evidence of art. But apparently there is some kind of program in other seasons, and it is open for overnight stays. Perhaps it is more attractive in the summer, but even winter shows a kind of stark beauty.

Apparently the lake is a lot lower than what it has been in the past. But I am pretty sure it has been a long time since it was up to its highest level.

I think this tree fell down into the lake. It certainly didn't look like it was rooted at this spot.

Here is a good shot that shows how naked, and bleak, the mountains can be here in winter. Luckily there are some pine trees, though.

It looks like this boat has been here for a while. I wonder when the last time it was afloat.

Up the hill from the lake are the actual buildings of the village/colony. The terms colony and village are pretty much a bad translation for this place. At the most, there are about 10 buildings here, and only about half of them could be occupied.

Just one of the gates to the compound.

These are some of the jars used to make and store kimchee, bean paste, or any other of the numerous things put in them. These are unused at the moment. In fact they are upside down here.

most of the buildings here are of the traditional style. And in fact several of them are rather old and were moved here when the water in the lake began to rise.

Here is another gate but this time from inside the compound looking back down to the lake. Trust me, it is down there. It is just a bit hard to see.

This is probably the largest building in the compound. Supposedly 100 people can stay at the "colony" but you will certainly be sharing some close floor space with your roommates.

One of the smaller buildings. I think this resident was enjoying the sunny day.

Just a shot of a pine tree in the compound.

I am not sure what this building is used for. It is actually pretty small. I thought it had a nice line to it, so I took the photo.

A shot back at Imha lake as I was heading home. Jirye Artist Colony is nice, but the name is a bit of a misrepresentation of what the place really is. It is a bit out of the way and takes a while to get there. I expect some tourists may be a bit upset after they spend the time and money to go visit it, especially if they hadn't planned to stay overnight. And I do have to say, considering the effort it takes to visit on a bike, I am not so sure I will be visiting again anytime soon. The climb back up the hill to the main road is rough.

One last shot before I go. One afternoon as I was heading out and noticed a black, moving, splotch in the sky. After a closer examination, I determined it was a large flock of magpies (I think) swirling, swooping, and flying around like a large bird tornado. It was really interesting. By the time I got my camera out, the tornado had moved away from me and dispersed a bit, but there is this shot.

I haven't seen anything like this happen again.

If you like the photos, feel free to leave a comment. Have a great day.

It's Winter at 'My Photos'

2005-09-28T17:31:00.000+09:00

It is actually autumn now, so that means it is the perfect time to post my photos from last winter. OK, so yes, I am a bit behind in posting photos. But that just makes it all the more interesting here. You never know what to expect when you visit.

I have tweaked the settings to the blog page a bit so I could use the larger size photos on Flickr.com. I am just trying it to see how it works. I don't expect I get enough traffic to use up the bandwidth of a free Flickr account, so things should be OK. If there is a problem, though, please let me know. If you want to see the photos without my commentary, you can go straight to my Flickr account.

These will be some photos shot in and around Andong sometime between the last month of 2004 and the first two months of 2005.

If you have ever wondered how they make the puffed rice, corn, or other things for your favorite breakfast cereal, then these next few photos will show you how it is done here. On the small scale production level, at least.

Some of the finished product can be seen on the low table in front. The guy takes your grain (Yes, often you provide your own. He is mainly providing the service though he does sell finished product.) and puts it inside that thing that looks like the gear box to a car differential. There is one behind him you can see better in the next photos. This serves basically as a pressure chamber.

He closes up the non-wheel end and places a gas burner under the round part. Then he connects the wheel to a motor, via the pulley, to provide rotation. Then the whole thing sets there and cooks. The rotation is so the stuff inside doesn't burn from setting in one place. The heat raises the pressure in the round part, and he keeps track of it on a pressure gauge at the wheel end.

He keeps an eye on the pressure gauge as it goes round and round. When the pressure is high enough, he removes the pulley and the heat and connects that basket like thing to the front of the device.

Then he reaches in with a pry bar, gives a blow on the whistle around his neck, and pops the door open.

With a loud bang and a cloud of billowing steam, the pressure is released, and the rice is instantly puffed as it shoots out into the catch basket.

It is quite a show, actually. Sometimes the operator doesn't use a whistle and the loud pow can be quite startling. I saw one 'misfire' once. The catch bag wasn't connected quite right and the realease knocked the bag off. Most of the puffed rice went in the bag, but it also flew everywhere else. Think of it like a confetti cannon, but with a much lot louder pop, and big chunks of confetti flying out.

I saw this building while I was out riding the back roads.

It took me a moment to figure out what it is, but I am pretty sure it is(was) used for storage and/or drying of vegetables or grain and the like. I have seen a couple of them now on the older farms. You'll notice it is made out of mud bricks with mud mortar. This one is in pretty good shape considering all the rain this area gets.

On a different ride I revisited a place that has been shown in this blog before. You may recognize it.

In the summer I used to try and skip rocks all the way across the surface of the water so they would hit the far wall. I have only done it once or twice.

In winter it is pretty easy. The stones just bounce and slide across the ice and strike the wall with a satisfying crack.

After a while I got up the courage to go out and test the thickness of the ice.

Luckily it was strong enough to hold me.

Considering all the testing I did and how long it took me to actually go out and stand on the ice, I felt kind of silly when I continued along the river, came around a bend and saw this.

People out skating, sledding and having a good ole' time on the frozen over river. This portion of the river spends most of the day in the shade, so some enterprising individual decided to rope off an area, and rent skates and sleds. He even has a tractor, somewhat like a primitive Zamboni, to clean the surface.

It is amazing how a patch of ice can turn anyone into a kid again.

Even those with kids be come kids.

This picture and the next are kind of interesting because they show what a very traditional Korean children's ice sled would be like. I am sure that in the day they were built better than this, but it really was just a piece of wood with wooden runners and two sticks with spikes in them for propulsion. You reach forward with the sticks, plant them in the ice and pull/push off ...

... and away you go. Who knows, maybe in her younger days this woman actually had one of these. Perhaps she is reliving the joys of her youth. Let's just hope she won't have to relieve the pain of a broken hip from slipping on the ice later.

The wonders of a frozen river may best be enjoyed by the young, but the young at heart can get a bit of thrill again too.

Not far from the skating area someone had apparently been taking ice from the river. For some reason they just left it setting there. I had to go investigate.

< It is interesting how the light and ice change color depending on the angle of viewing.

Here I was trying to capture some of the blue in one particular piece of ice.

I don't know why someone would go to all the work of cutting the ice and lifting it out just to let it sit there. Perhaps they would come back.

Continuing the ride quite a bit further on, I came to a temple complex.
This is the front gate to the temple Goun-sa '고운사' (that is pronounced go-oon as in spoon). It is a pretty nice place as far as temple complexes go. I saw it in the starkness of winter, so the surroundings weren't that great. But I could see were it would be nice in spring.

A little further in at the second gate are the temple guardians. They protect the temple from demons or evil spirits. There are traditionally four guardians in the gate building, but I only have pictures of two of them. Sorry.

This guy is pretty scary. I am sure he could scare off most evil spirits by himself. But he does have companions.

I guess this guy will play some bad music to scare the spirits off, or something like that.

There is a very nice bell pavilion in this temple. The lighting was kind of harsh that day. The sun was low, but it hadn't changed colors yet. I didn't get many good pictures of the buildings there.

Here is the gate to a small temple building you can just see through the door.

Here is another small building probably housing some Buddha images for some specific reason or other.

Here you can see a 'stove' built into the side of the building. It serves two purposes. One of course is to cook food. There is a big pot there now, most likely for cooking rice. But the fire also serves to provide under-floor heating for the building.

A closer view of the pot and fire.

So how do you keep the fire going?
With the surrounding forest, of course. On the top left of the picture you can see some smoke. That is coming from the smoke stack for the cook fire. The cooking pot you saw earlier is directly opposite on the right.

This picture is a bit out of focus, but here is one of the murals on one of the temples.
It is a depiction of the Buddha.

One more shot of a pavilion that spans a small stream.

Switching gears a bit, we head back to Andong. There are a lot of holidays and special days in Korea that follow the lunar calendar. Around the beginning of February is one such day. It actually celebrates the the return of the moon itself and the end of the hard days of winter. On the first full moon of the lunar year people hold a fire celebration.

Traditionally, in Korea, as the sun starts to go down, folks gather by the riversides and light bonfires. They also put burning brands or embers into a can (these days) and swing the cans around creating a displays of light. Here are a few of my attempts to capture some of the moments from this year's celebration.

Please take into account that I didn't have a tripod to use for any of these shots. In some cases that makes the shot more interesting, in other cases less interesting. Here you see a boy swinging around his can. He was moving at the time.

Here a mom is showing her child how to do it. A slightly shorter exposure time, but a larger aperture and toward some light.

This is what things look like when you don't have a tripod. I must be getting old. This is really shaky.

This one is kind of shaky too. But I like the effect, especially with all the burning embers flying out of the can.

This is probably the steadiest of the bunch. Think about what these kids are doing, for a moment. In the U.S., spinning around a can filled with burning coals would more than likely get you called crazy or branded as a pyromaniac. But here in Korea it is encouraged. Parents even show you the right way to do it. Oh sure, in the U.S. there is the Burning Man festival in the desert west, but then most of those folks are kooks. (I have always wanted to go, though.)

As the night wears on, several speeches and a few prayers are given and then they light the bonfire. It is a big pile of bamboo and pine- most of it still green but some dried-out wood too. They splashed a large dose of some flammable liquid on the pile so as not disappoint the crowd. After everything is said a select group of people toss some torches on the pile. Then some other people have to pick the torches back up and actually light the pile on fire.

Here are some fire pictures.

Burning bamboo is actually pretty cool. All the individual chambers hiss, pop, and explode as the moisture and air inside heat up.

There were also people selling fireworks, roman candles.

As things burn down ...

And here is what brings on all the celebration- the first full moon of the lunar new year.

The flames glow blue in the dying embers and everyone decides it is time to go home.

This post was a bit long, but I wanted to get a bunch of pictures out. I am a bit backlogged. I hope you enjoyed them. Leave a comment if you wish. Thanks for having a look.

A few details.

2005-07-25T11:08:00.000+09:00

This post will include several broad strokes, yet also include some detail shots of those larger subjects. I don't do it often, but sometimes I try to take "art" photos. I look for details in the larger patterns to see if any of them are interesting on their own. Sometimes it shows up in my photos, sometimes it doesn't.

This is a shot of a temple not far from Andong. I can't remember the name right now, but I could look it up if you want. This particular temple complex looks as if it was made specifically for instruction. There are several extra buildings that look as if they may be lecture halls or apartments for visitors. Those buildings aren't so interesting.

Korean temples are very ornately painted. The color palette isn't very large, but the details are very intricate. This can be very interesting the first time you see it. Even the second, third, and fourth times are nice. But if you spend enough time here, you soon realize that the saying, "If you've seen one (insert item here), you've seen them all" too often proves true for Korean temples. This is not to take away from the beauty. It is just that after a few temples you come to realize the sameness of most of them.

Something that does make the temples different are the story panels around the buildings. If you look back at the first photo you can see a couple of these panels. Here is a close up. These panels usually tell the story of Buddha or some related incidents of his life or disciples. This panel depicts the Buddha's mother dreaming of a white elephant. This signified to her that she would give birth to a boy who would be come the Buddha. (It is a bit more complex than that, but that is the general idea.) What is interesting is how the story is interpreted on the panels between different temples and even different cultures.

Here is a pagoda in the center of the temple complex. This is a rather modern version of the traditional pagoda theme.

A close up of one of the four Buddhas, one on each face. I used to be able to recognize which Buddha was which. They are all the same person, but the different poses represent a different aspect. I am not sure, but this one could be be the preaching/turning the wheel of law Buddha. Of course it would be a Korean interpretation of whichever image it is.

Switching themes a bit ...

I went to visit Seoul during the winter. And while there I visited a friend. She may not like this picture much, but I think she looks pretty.

One of the bonuses of traveling around with someone is that they can sometimes take pictures of you. So here you have a rare picture of me. I am standing next to an ice rink the city of Seoul laid down on the plaza in front of city hall. I think the skating was free, but the line was horrendously long, so we didn't bother to give it a go.

Here is a wider shot of me in front of the Seoul city hall building. Built in 1926 during the Japanese occupation it is reminiscent of that utilitarian, no frills style of building often done by totalitarian governments.

Switching again ...

I think I have mentioned before the historical set used for a TV drama which is near the culture museum. There is another part of the set built on the lake. Obviously this set was used for water and port scenes. I suppose these boats are historically accurate, but I am sure some license was taken with history to make things look better for TV.

A closer view of the boats.

And still closer.

Here is a shot of the Naktong river just below the dam. The first bridge you see there is a car bridge and the second is a pedestrian bridge. The last structure you can see there, if you can see it, is actually a small dam just to control downstream flow. That is why the river is so broad right below the main dam.

Quick, without looking at the following picture, what do you think this is?

It is the face of Andong dam. It is basically an earthen dam, but it is covered by stones to protect it.

If you couldn't tell if it was winter by the coats and the stark landscape, here is more proof. This is just a small frozen waterfall along the side of a road.

Back near the Naktong river is Sinse-dong Chilcheung jeontap (신세동 칠층전탑). It is a seven story brick pagoda. This one was a bit different than most in that each tier was covered over with roof tiles at one time, which is probably while there are still seven stories standing. You can see some of the roof tiles in the photo. It was built in the Shilla era (57 B.C.-A.D. 935), and stands about 17 meters tall. The perspective differences with the man and the car make it look a bit larger.

Here is an "art" shot of the pagoda.

And yet another taken from the back into the sun.

Just a couple of old style buildings, still in use, near the pagoda.

. . .

This is another small froze water fall just up the hill from the last building.

A close up of the ice.

And finally, a shot of part of Andong from the hills that overlook the city. That is the Naktong river continuing on it's way. Remember to click any photo you might want to see it in a larger size. And please leave a comment if you feel like it.

A little local color.

2005-07-16T09:20:00.000+09:00

I just wanted to include a few final photos of fall before I move on to the winter shots. Most of these are just sites a bit out from the city. A couple are revisited sites. Have a look and tell me what you think.

These first few are from a time I revisited Dosan Seowon.

The maples here in Korea really show a lot of color in the fall season (and sometimes out of season).

No, I don't know who she is. Unfortunately!
I just saw her and thought it made a good picture. I think she was there with a male friend, so I hope neither of them mind.

This is the same shot you may have seen if you have visited this blog before.

This time, however, it is fall. You can see a little color there, but I think I missed to best of it.

A similar shot like this was in the earlier post, too.

The trees surrounding the site are rather colorful.

The door theme strikes again.

Yes, I have taken a lot of red pictures. That is just because it is such a change from all the green.
Remember, I grew up in the desert, so it is all a wonder to me.

That pea soup green river, which was not very green at all when this photo was taken, looks a lot better in this photo.

This is a bit far from Dosan Seowon. The lake behind the Imha dam caused a lot of things to get flooded over. This is one structure that was saved and moved to it's present site. It is another seowon, which basically means private learning place, but this one only includes the main lecture building.
It looks like someone is living in this building now. You can see the smoke marks from the 온돌 (ohndohl), under floor heating. Nowadays the heat comes from gas-fired boilers heating water, but there are still a large number of houses outside the cities that still use wood for direct heat.
The lectures were held in the center platform and the side rooms were where the teachers stayed or relaxed.

At the end of the season, after the rice has been harvested and threshed, the stalks are either collected or burned.

If the stalks are collected, they are used for a number of things including roofs, rope, ground covers, and even fodder.

Just another building that was moved because of the flooding from the Imha dam.
And a closeup of the front gate ...

This is the lake behind Imha dam. You'll notice the water level looks a bit low.

It is low, actually. At least much lower than you might expect. You can see that there is a lot of room for the lake to rise.
It has risen a bit with all the rain Korea has had, but I doubt levels have been anywhere close to the tree line for quite a while.

In a small village near the lake is this house. You are actually only seeing a small part of it.

I will give you the information directly from the information sign out front.

The I-Udang House
Kyoungsangbuk-do Folklore Material No. 49.
This house is the residence of the direct lineal descendants of Kwon Hwan of the Imha branch the Andong clan. It is called I-udang House after Kwon's penname.
Built in 1640, the house has a square layout with a courtyard at the center. It has a spacious wooden floor hall. The sarangchae, or men's quarters, was added in 1773 when the main building was renovated. It stands on a tall foundation and is surrounded by railings. It has a hipped-and-gabled roof. The house faces northeast whereas all the other houses in the village face north.

The last picture is of a 700 year old ginkgo tree 은행나무 (eunhaeng nahmoo). It is thought to be the largest gingko tree ( in girth, at least, 16 m at the base) in Korea and possibly in Asia. There is a record of when it was planted, so it is known to be about 700 years old.
That strange metal structure is there for a specific reason. Originally this tree sat in a school yard next to a stream. The rising waters from the Imha dam started to change that stream into part of the lake and threatened to destroy the tree. As the waters rose, they successfully transplanted the tree 15 meters above it's former location. The tree still lives, though it looks like it is on life support. The metal structure holds(held?) the tree up after transplanting.

That is all the photos for this time. Next time winter. I promise.

Architecture

2005-07-09T12:47:00.000+09:00

About two thirds of the way between Andong and Dosan Seowon is a place called Ocheon-ri Relics Site (오천 유적지). Basically it is the remains of a village that was originally located where Andong lake currently is. When the water started to rise, the houses were moved to this location to preserve them for future generations.

Here, you can read the information plaque for yourself.

I have been here several times, stopping on my rides between Andong and Dosan Seowon, and I have yet to see the exhibition hall mentioned above open, weekdays or weekends. Of course I wouldn't be able to read any of the exhibits, but it still might be interesting to see.

There won't be much commentary on these photos. I just wanted to share so you can see a little of how things used to be.

A couple of shots showing a general view of the houses.

There are a couple of different styles of houses located here.

One house from two different angles.

Just a little color of the season.

A compound gate ...

... and the steps leading up to it.

A few more houses ...

...

...

An interesting gate, and yes, it is a bit smaller than it should be.

A few interior shots and close ups.

I am not sure if the sign is a name, or if it says something about 'life style.' (Edit: Thanks to a good friend, I now know I am pretty stupid. That sign means "The place for trying on traditional Korean clothing.")

Just thought I would end with a little more color.

Be sure to click on any photo to see it bigger. I hope you enjoyed this particular group of photos. Next time, winter!

Extras, Extras!

2005-06-29T08:00:00.000+09:00

Here are just some of the last few pictures from the first memory card dump. Nothing special or specific, just some things I was interested in enough to take a snapshot of. Remember to click on the photo for a bigger version if you so desire. I hope you like them.

The campus where I work is pretty nice. It is set up against some hills. There is also a lot of space compared to the last place I worked. Plenty of room for Frisbee. Now if I can just find someone to play with. Here are a few sculptures in front of the Art and Physical Education department.

Behind the art department building are these, a bunch of student projects that have no where to go. It looks like a few of them have been there for a while. It makes for an interesting crowd.

Several of the individuals in the crowd.

Maybe she was stretching for the finish line or something.

Another face in the crowd. She has a nice expression.

There are even a couple of children there.

Some of the sculptures are a little less finished than others. And no, the one on the left is not flipping me off.

In the hills up behind campus is some nice forested area. And, as can be found in any hills in Korea, there are some graves. Koreans are only recently burying their dead in graveyards due to space constraints. Traditionally Koreans chose a gravesite based on their own version of mortuary feng sui. I have heard that the best spot is on a hill with a view of the valley with some water somewhere in the view, especially running water. Yes, that guy is taking a nap against the grave mound.

The hills can be colorful in the fall.

Just some totems on campus.

Just outside of town, situated on top of a hill, is what is left of what used to be a small amusement park. Muryohng Land. This Ferris wheel was the biggest thing left, but it too has since been removed.

There is nothing sadder than a forgotten amusement park and Ferris wheel.

If only I could have made it work ...

... this would have been the view from the wheel. Well, the bottom of the wheel anyway.

Here is what apparently was a slide. You would place some sort of seat down, sit on it and slide down to the bottom.

This is a closer view of what you slide on. A bunch of plastic golf balls set in some kind of egg carton like frame work. The frame is a bit springy so the golf balls do spin a bit.

These are some of the buildings left standing. That is the ticket "maypyoso" office to the right.

If you look back at that expansive view, you can just see the edge of a river. Follow the river around to the right, and you get to here.

While not actually part of Muryohng Land, this small park obviously benefited from the amusement park customers. Now the customers are few and far between.

It is still a nice place to visit for a picnic. Here a spring comes directly out of the rock wall.

In the other direction along the river, in a completely different area, is this.

If you change angles and look into the sun, the color changes dramatically.

An individual portrait ...

... and an individual walking through the field.

Parts of the river have a lot of algae, probably due to all the field fertilization, but the water is still very clear. Kind of pretty, isn't it?

In a small village are some persimmons drying in the sun.

They tie them up like this to make it easier to dry them. The Korean name is gotgam 곶감.

These have a bit of time left to dry. Dried persimmons are pretty good. Like a giant raisin only a lot stickier and a lot sweeter.

Something else drying in the sun. This is the beginnings of 된장 dwenjang (different spellings available). Basically it is fermented soybean paste. Here the piles of paste are formed into blocks, rounds in this case, and left to dry to preserve them for later.

Later these rounds are reconstituted and allowed to ferment a little more before using the paste in soups and stews. The smell is strong, and it is an acquired taste, but it is generally pretty good. Yes, those are flies on the block. Hey, the flies are nothing to worry about by the time it is finally cooked. The cooking usually, but not always, destroys the aflatoxin in the homemade varieties, too.

Still more things drying in the sun. Jotap-dong ocheung jeontap 조탑동 5층 전탑. This particular pagoda has been rebuilt or repaired a couple of times, but it still retains some of it's original look.

An old house with the family tablets shrine in the back.

Heading to the field ...

... where grandma is knocking the soybeans off the dried stalks.

The colors can really be nice out away from dust of the cities.

...

Again, change the angle with the sun and you get something completely different.

Well, that is all for this time. For the next batch of photos I will take them from the most recent dump of the memory card. It is a 1 Gig memory card, so those photos are still a few months old or so. If you liked anything this time, feel free to leave a comment.

Hahoe Village and Environs

2005-06-07T14:00:00.000+09:00

Hahoe village, 하회마을, is about an 30 minutes or so outside of Andong, situated along a bend in the Naktong river. The name 'Hahoe' is derived from the shape of the river. 'Hahoe' means winding river, circle water, or spinning river depending which translation you get. The whole village is designated as important Korean national folk material. The village is actually a living cultural artifact. The houses have been preserved, as best as possible, in their original state, or have been rebuilt or renovated in the traditional style. These days though, many of the houses have been converted from family dwellings into homestays, shops, or restaurants. If you look beyond the trinkets and consumerism, there is still a bit of charm in the old houses and the surroundings.

Hahoe village is also famous for another cultural item. A series of traditional mask dances, or plays. The photos I have posted this time mostly focus on a few of the buildings and some of the surrounding scenery and area. If you want some more detailed photos of the architecture, you can go here. Remember, you can click on my photos to see a larger version. I hope you like them. Leave a comment if you want.

The village was founded by the Pungsan Ryu family, and their family house is still there. Not the Ryu home, but here is a typical upper class house. This photo was made from two pictures stitched together to show the full house structure.

Here is another house of a slightly different style.

A wall which makes up the narrow streets of the village.

As you can see, these photos were taken in fall. Just a pumpkin ripening on a roof.

Many older villages were built around, or have, an old village tree that is both representative of the village and serve as a gathering place. Occasionally, in time, these trees become shamanistic sites. All the papers you see tied to the rope around this tree are wishes or prayers of people visiting the village. An interesting side note, I heard that during the occupation of Korea by Japan, the Japanese would sometimes chop down these large trees in an effort to demoralize the local population.

This 'totem' representing a Korean scholar or upper class individual is hollow. If you put your hand in the mouth something is supposed to happen to you- good luck, long life, or some such thing like that.

The gate to a particularly large family compound.

Here is another house. The chimney is for the under floor heating system common throughout Korea in old and modern houses and apartments, though these days the heat comes from water from a gas-fired boiler instead of wood.

These are the clay jars in which Koreans traditionally (and even now) store their various kimchees and other foodstuffs. In this case, these jars contain 'shikhye', a traditional sweetened rice drink.

The village is nearly surrounded by the Naktong river. One portion of the opposite bank is a large cliff face that looks back over the sand banks of the village. This photo is another composite.

The wide river, hills in the distance, and part of the village sand banks.

On the village side of the river, above the sand banks, is a nice grove of tall pine trees.

One more shot of Hahoe village. This is just the roof feature on a gate to a family compound.

I saw this old man while waiting for the bus to Andong. I figured since he wearing a more traditional outfit, and I am going to a traditional village, the photos would go together.

Just outside the entrance to Hahoe village a bit is a place that makes some traditional, and not so traditional, village totems.

...

...

Quite a pair!

Perhaps this one is supposed to represent the village idiot or something.

If I was prudish I might label the next two photos as for adults only, but I am pretty liberal, and after all, they are just pieces of wood.

I am pretty sure this is not the traditional village 'totem'.

Not only the head, but the nose too. And he seems happy about it.

More proof that these pictures were taken in fall. This is the gingko tree. The leaves are deep green in summer and bright yellow when fall arrives.

Along the way to Hahoe, just outside another small town, is this small building. It was built by an aristocrat who came back to the countryside for a little peace and quiet. He even had the pond built in front.

It looks like a really nice place to contemplate life, if only the road out front didn't exist.

...

Another door shot.

Along the road in front.

Further down the road.

Just a few sunset shots taken near Hahoe.

I can't decide which of these two sunset shots I like better. Originally I liked the second one, but now I am thinking this one.

I still can't decide. Which one do you like?

Flora and Fauna.

2005-05-18T13:48:00.000+09:00

Yes, I am still posting photos from last fall. Hey, if I continue at this pace you'll be glad when I post winter pictures in middle of summer. These are just some more photos of places around Andong. All the locations are within bicycle riding distance, though a couple of the rides are a bit long. I hope you enjoy the view.

Just a shot of a waterfall built in a park near the forestry museum. Kind of picturesque. People are always taking each other's photos in front of this spot.

Icheon-dong Seokbulsa. Not far outside of town is a Buddha image carved on some granite boulders. The image of the Buddha's body is carved on the face of the dark rock and the head is actually a carved second boulder placed above the surface carving.

In this shot you can see the carved lines depicting the folds of his robe.

Here is a close-up of the carving of his hand. You can see that he is pointing.

A side shot showing most of the length of the carving and the head from the side. The surface carving is about 10 meters tall and the head part is about 2.5 meters. Notice that the head and the "hat" are actually two different pieces.

Here is a final shot of the head. Apparently the head had been misplaced for a while and was only put back into position relatively recently.

A field of flowers along the roadside. They sow these seeds which come up every fall. I am not sure, but I think they are called cosmos. It is really very pretty in person.

More flowers.

A close-up of a few flowers.

A pair of white flowers.

This is almost the same as the previous shot but I like this one too. This second shot happened to catch a bee in the process of doing what bees do, collecting nectar and pollen, I suppose. Unless he saw me and wanted his picture taken.

Here is an interesting caterpillar I found. I don't know what it turns into, and I didn't wait around to see. Sorry.

Near the folk museum there is an outdoor set that was (is still?) used for the period dramas that Koreans seem to like. It is built to represent an older period of Korean history. This particular part of the set shows the cells and torture chair they seemed to like to use.

Here are some more torture devices used on the TV drama. Whether these devices are true to history, I don't know. But they seem like they could do the job.

Here is an over view of the village portion of the set. These would be old style houses - possibly in the 1000s - 1300s period. (?That is just a guess. They have probably used this set for several different period dramas.?)

Another building set representing a more upper class, but small, house and compound with front gate.

Here is another building on the TV drama set. This is a bit more modern and upscale than the others.

Just another item of fauna found near a stream. He (she?) was a bit camera shy and didn't want to cooperate for a picture, but I finally got a good one.

Sunset on the Naktong river, just below the dam. There is a second flow control dam just at the edge of the horizon water line. That is why the river is so smooth. The area around Andong is actually pretty nice. The town can be a bit unexciting, but I guess it generally has to be one or the other. It is not common to get both an exciting town and pretty surroundings.

A trip to two temples.

2005-04-04T09:11:00.000+09:00

I figured since it was now spring, I should probably go back and post some of the pictures I took at the end of last summer.

Here is the main gate to Bongjeongsa (봉정사). This is actually down the hill from the temple itself.

The actual entrance to the temple compound.

Second angle showing the small door. This temple is famous because it has the oldest wooden temple building existing in Korea.

Some of the temple buildings. Note the TV antenna and the SkyLife TV dish. Not quite what I always believed about Buddhism, but who am I to judge.

Each stacked stone is supposed to represent a prayer or wish.

Old pagoda in front of the old temple hall.

Inside the hall.

Inside another hall.

This temple is also famous for having a lantern festival. This is one of the lanterns which they would light with candles.

More wishes.

Another building on the site that was actually used in a movie (?historical television drama?).

Inside.

Here is another old wooden building. It is actually pretty amazing that it has never been rebuilt considering the wars Korea has been through and the ever present danger of fire.

On to Dosan Seowon. 도산서원

On the way to Dosan Seowon.

Dosan Seowon is famous because it was a place of Confucian scholarship for several centuries starting in about 1557. Also, it is pictured on the back of Korea's 1000 Won bill.

A different view of the main entrance. Which do you like better?

Living quarters of students of the time.

Note how small the actual rooms are.

This is part of the caretaker's buildings. The stoves, one just in frame on the lower right, also provided under-floor heating to the rooms.

One of the two "library" buildings where the texts were stored.

This was the main lecture hall.

One of the two guest's quarters just in front of the lecture hall. (I got bored with all the red.)

Behind these gates is the family shrine and the memorial tablets for Toegye Lee Hwang, the main teacher/scholar and founder of the school. Us regular folk aren't allowed back there. By the way, the guy on the front of that bill is Lee(Yi) Hwang himself.

Just part of my door series.

Another.

The money shot, literally. What you see on the back of the 1000 Won bill.

Personally, I prefer this close up.

Technically not part of Dosan Seowon, but a shrine commemorating the location where everyone used to come to take the test after all the studying. It has been moved to this island since the building of the dam.

Picturesque. But notice the green water. That color is correct. It actually looked like thin pea soup, probably due to an algae bloom most likely from the warm weather and all the farm runoff in the area.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. Add a comment if you feel like it.

A Wedding

2004-12-27T20:45:00.000+09:00

I still have a lot of photos of Andong to show you, but since I attended a wedding recently, I thought I would put those photos up so those involved could see themselves. I hope you like them. Remember, I am no professional.

There are twenty-five photos in this post, so be sure to scroll down to see them all. Remember to click the ones you like to see them bigger.

This is Johngsook Pak and her new husband Won Jae Sohng.

Some of her cousins, I think.

A few of her students attended the wedding.

Some of her friends.

Mothers of the bride and groom.

Riding the "magical coach".

Her students sang a song for her.

Johngsook's mother and brother.

The groom's parents.

The friend elected to catch the bouquet.

Around Andong

2004-11-13T23:51:00.000+09:00

I emptied my camera's memory card recently and thought I should post them here for people to see if they are interested. This is just the first batch in and around the city. Hopefully I will get more up here before too long. You can click on the picture to get a large version. There are 22 photos in this set, so be sure to scroll down to see them all. Have a look. I hope you enjoy viewing them.

I was walking around town and just had to take a picture of this sign. What this place is, is a karaoke room. The Korean writing is "sue-we-tue noh-rae bang." Nohrae being the word for song or sing, and bang meaning room. The thing is, I think they probably meant to say "sweet" not "suite." (Maybe not) But "mugic"? Well the 'Z' sound is a puzzle for most Koreans. They have trouble pronouncing it and usually represent it with their 'J' sound. The English 'G' can be hard or soft, and thus we get "mugic" instead of "music."

This a small dam on the Naktong river. The main hydro-power dam is behind in the background.

An old style abandoned house near the river.

For some reason I seem to be taking pictures of doors these days. The same old house.

This is another old house nearby the first, but it is maintained because it has some significant value which I can't seem to remember now.

A doorway at the second house.

The veranda of one of the main buildings. More doors.

One view of the main building/living quarters.

They were building a pavilion in the downtown area to hang a bell.

A wider shot of the pavilion.

These spiders are everywhere in the summer and fall. Their abdomens can get pretty big, even bigger and fatter then the last digit on your pinkie.

I took a walk through the market. Here are some of the fresh fish. Don't ask me what kind.

These are several different varieties of Korean kimchi, basically pickled or fresh vegetables with lots of red pepper paste and garlic, but there is a lot more to kimchi than just that. Go here if you are interested.

Some dried fish. Yes, this is really eaten here.

Here is the fresh fruit area. All pretty much grown somewhere in Korea.

Here are some tiny dried fish of different varieties and sizes.

They put these octopus in a pan of ice water and it seems to make them curl up like this. Whether it actually kills them or not, I don't know. Probably not considering Koreans' desire for fresh seafood.

Some red chili peppers drying in the sun, on the street, with all the car exhaust helping to flavor things.

I am not much of a people photographer, but sometimes I try. The light was low and this little guy was moving, so it is a little blurry. He was helping grandpa carry the drying sesame stalks back from the garden plot.

Just a little old lady who happened to cross my path.

An old gentleman waiting for the bus.

Sunset in Andong.

Pretty nice sometimes, actually.

Thanks for taking a look. If you want, you are welcome to leave a comment. Just click the comment link below.

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

2004-11-09T06:17:00.000+09:00

... But hopefully, not too many of the latter two. I will be posting my photos on this blog as I pull them off my camera. You are welcome to have a look and comment or critique. I am pretty tough, so you can be honest. Just realize, though, that if you do say you dislike them, I will probably just pout and not acknowledge your comments. :-)