This week, I got a lucky surprise! Ben and Billy came to Korea on a visa run, so we met up and toured the Korean War Memorial Museum, which I hadn't been inside yet. Tomorrow, we're going to Hongdae. Random musing from language study - 김장 means "kimchi making in preparation for winter." That vocabulary word combined with the scenes of devastation on display at the War Memorial are hard to reconcile with Seoul today. Sitting on an air-conditioned, immaculately clean subway with fast WiFi, in the same city that only half a century ago was ravaged by successive occupations and reoccupations...
Anyway, the weather is finally cooling off, and the sights are pretty incredible. This was taken at the Hangang Park near Sinsa Station.
If you're wondering "What on earth is Hongdae?" then here are scenes from a typical weekend night at Hongdae playground...
I also went on my MT (management training) last weekend to Chucheon, a beautiful stream tucked back into the mountains. I really like all of my fellow lab members, and I'm excited to start work next Monday! (although of course a little sad that my summer of relative freedom is over...)
(we didn't start the fire)
Two weekends ago, I conquered my lingering fear of heights by taking the big dive, 60 meters, at a bungee jumping tower in Gangwan-do Inje Nerinchon. Scariest thing I have ever done... But I want to go again! We also went river rafting, ziplining, and had a big barbecue party Saturday night. To celebrate, we went to norebang in Seoul during the next week.
Two weeks ago, on Korean Independence Day (from Japan), I went hiking with Peter Beck, the head of TAF Korea. We headed to Bukhansan to test our mettle. Of course, being Korea in the summer, it poured while we were on the summit of the tallest peak (I forget the name, but it's right next to Insubong). We both had a great time, which is more than I can say for the rock climbers who were on Insubong when the downpour started.
Now, back to the daily grind haha...
