learn some Korean???

A book made by Koreans to help foreigners learn English.
Hmmmmm...It says, "Me there will be a possibility of carrying that it peels?
Huh?
Apparently the Korean actually means something along the lines of not being able to do something.
Maybe the "Capter I", "Capter II" and "Capter III" found at the top of every page might be a hint that it's not the best book to pick up in order to help you learn Korean.

Cheonggyecheon

For some reason I had thought I had already done a post of some sort on the Cheonggyecheon from when I had gone there in the winter a couple of years ago (they had it all lit up with lights). I guess I didn't, because now I cannot find it. :S

"Spring"
Spring, this sculpture at the Cheonggyecheon, was created by world-renouned artists Coosje Van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg. The idea for the exterior spiral was inspired from a shell rising upward like a pagoda. The vertical shape creates a dynamic atmosphere, representing the restored vitality of the stream and the cultural aspect of Seoul's urban development. Looking inside, two colorful ribbons, inspired from Korean traditional dress for women, stream loosely down, one a luminous blue, the other a peony red, representing the unity of opposites in nature an th human spirit.
Spring is the monument of the nature regenerated in Seoul and the symbol of the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project.
[from a plaque at the sculpture]

Also, the Korean national colors are blue and red. [pic from wikipedia]
The South Korean flag, or Taegukgi, has a blue and red yin-yang shape in the center, called a Taeguk. The Taeguk is also sometimes drawn with a yellow part added. In an older flag, the Taeguk was even more swirled, sort of like a snail shell. The Cheonggyecheon (청계천) or Cheonggye Stream is right down town Seoul, not far from City Hall. It is about 6 km long and is a natural stream that for many years (since the 1960s) was covered by a road and then an elevated expressway. Then, Lee MyungBak (currently the President of South Korea) became the mayor of Seoul and decided that the stream should be uncovered. It was a HUGE project that so many were opposed to, but it went on. The stream was finally finished in 2005 and since then, has been very popular in all seasons. In the winter, they have Christmas lights up and in the summer, people go and sit along the sides and children sometimes play in the water. The stream definitely doesn't have a natural look but it is very nice. Parades now end along the Cheonggyecheon. I remember last year after the St.Patrick's Day parade, they even turned the water green!!!! Not sure what they used to do that. I hope it was environmentally friendly! There ARE fish in the water (though not sure where they come from. The original stream source has mostly dried up or disappeared because of the city (the stream 'starts' at the Cheonggyecheon Plaza - up to that point, it is still all underground) so most of the water is actually pumped in from the subway systems and from the Han River (filtered, of course, to make it cleaner). So, after checking out Deoksugung and the City Hall (on July 22nd, during my summer vacation), I walked up to the Cheonggyecheon. It's a great place for a little walk or to sit and enjoy nice weather. At one point along, there were people all the way along the sides, dangling their feet in, listening to a street performer playing guitar and singing to one side. There were families and couples, groups of friends and several individuals as well. They mostly stayed along a line, sort of being tumbled sideways trying to stay.

Kinda cool watching them.Mojeongyo, the first of the 22 bridges that cross the Cheonggyecheon. Mojeongyo was originally the bridge of a fruit market street. The first section of the Cheonggyecheon, up to this bridge, is a special part called Palseokdam, which was built using stones from tiger eye stones found in all 8 provinces. In this section, the sides are built up an there are steps down to the water and walkways IN the water so people can walk in the water. All of the bridges along the Cheonggyecheon apparently have a story behind them. They were all destroyed when the stream was covered and have been re-built.[looking on down stream][looking back towards the start]
I walked quite a ways down the stream, stopping every now and again to watch the water, the fish, and the people (I love watching people watching!!). Then I crossed over and headed back again. I went to the Kyobo Bookstore, the largest book store in Seoul, which is in the basement of the Kyobo building just north of City Hall. Almost all of the bookstores in Seoul are huge. And I have a membership card for each of the large bookstore companies. No wonder my wallet is so thick!!! All of the large bookstores have at least a small English section. The Kyobo's is a bit bigger than some of the others. The best book store for English books in Seoul, though, is What The Book, in Itaewon. If they don't have it, they'll get it (they have stock in Seoul and in the US). They have a great website as well, and provide free delivery on purchases over 25,000won. Not bad. I must say that bookstores are an evil invention. I can't help but buy books and stationery (the bookstores here have huge sections with pens, stationery and office supplies) when ever I go. One might say I shouldn't go then unless I really need books or stationery, but alas, I can't keep myself from going. It's like some sort of magnetic force. I am drawn to them!! Books make me happy!! :)

Shocking.

I love reading. The number of books I read has decreased over the years, for many reasons (reading things on the Net, for one), but I still read a lot. I have a hard understanding those that never read. It is so nice to sit and relax with a good book. [saw this on Ramblefish and thought I'd share it]

One in four read no books last year
By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 21, 7:01 PM ET
WASHINGTON - There it sits on your night stand, that book you've meant to read for who knows how long but haven't yet cracked open. Tonight, as you feel its stare from beneath that teetering pile of magazines, know one thing — you are not alone.
One in four adults read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and older people were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were the top choices.
The survey reveals a nation whose book readers, on the whole, can hardly be called ravenous. The typical person claimed to have read four books in the last year — half read more and half read fewer. Excluding those who hadn't read any, the usual number read was seven.
"I just get sleepy when I read," said Richard Bustos of Dallas, a habit with which millions of Americans can doubtless identify. Bustos, a 34-year-old project manager for a telecommunications company, said he had not read any books in the last year and would rather spend time in his backyard pool.
That choice by Bustos and others is reflected in book sales, which have been flat in recent years and are expected to stay that way indefinitely. Analysts attribute the listlessness to competition from the Internet and other media, the unsteady economy and a well-established industry with limited opportunities for expansion.
When the Gallup Poll asked in 2005 how many books people had at least started — a similar but not directly comparable question — the typical answer was five. That was down from 10 in 1999, but close to the 1990 response of six.
In 2004, a National Endowment for the Arts report titled "Reading at Risk" found only 57 percent of American adults had read a book in 2002, a four percentage point drop in a decade. The study faulted television, movies and the Internet.
Who are the 27 percent of people the AP-Ipsos poll found hadn't read a single book this year? Nearly a third of men and a quarter of women fit that category. They tend to be older, less educated, lower income, minorities, from rural areas and less religious.
At the same time, book enthusiasts abound. Many in the survey reported reading dozens of books and said they couldn't do without them.
"I go into another world when I read," said Charlotte Fuller, 64, a retired nurse from Seminole, Fla., who said she read 70 books in the last year. "I read so many sometimes I get the stories mixed up."
Among those who said they had read books, the median figure — with half reading more, half fewer — was nine books for women and five for men. The figures also indicated that those with college degrees read the most, and people aged 50 and up read more than those who are younger.
Pollyann Baird, 84, a retired school librarian in Loveland, Colo., says J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter fantasy series is her favorite. But she has forced herself to not read the latest and final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," because she has yet to file her income taxes this year due to an illness and worries that once she started the book, "I know I'd have to finish it."
People from the West and Midwest are more likely to have read at least one book in the past year. Southerners who do read, however, tend to read more books, mostly religious books and romance novels, than people from other regions. Whites read more than blacks and Hispanics, and those who said they never attend religious services read nearly twice as many as those who attend frequently.
There was even some political variety evident, with Democrats and liberals typically reading slightly more books than Republicans and conservatives.
The Bible and religious works were read by two-thirds in the survey, more than all other categories. Popular fiction, histories, biographies and mysteries were all cited by about half, while one in five read romance novels. Every other genre — including politics, poetry and classical literature — were named by fewer than five percent of readers.
More women than men read every major category of books except for history and biography. Industry experts said that confirms their observation that men tend to prefer nonfiction.
"Fiction just doesn't interest me," said Bob Ryan, 41, who works for a construction company in Guntersville, Ala. "If I'm going to get a story, I'll get a movie."
Those likeliest to read religious books included older and married women, lower earners, minorities, lesser educated people, Southerners, rural residents, Republicans and conservatives.
The publishing business totaled $35.7 billion in global sales last year, 3 percent more than the previous year, according to the Book Industry Study Group, a trade association. About 3.1 billion books were sold, an increase of less than 1 percent.
The AP-Ipsos poll was conducted from August 6 to 8 and involved telephone interviews with 1,003 adults. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
___
AP Manager of News Surveys Trevor Tompson and AP News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.
(This version CLARIFIES that people in the West and Midwest are more likely to read at least one book a year, but that Southerners who do read tend to read more books.)

KTX and Yongsan Station

The KTX is the high speed train in South Korea. It runs between Seoul and Busan (and a few other major cities) at about 300km/hour. What normally takes around 5 hours by train only takes a little more than 2.5 hours. Sweet! Last week, they had one of the trains (well, part of it) set up infront of Yongsan Station, one of the 2 stations in Seoul that has the KTX. It is a nice looking train. The front of the train is streamlined and meant to look like a shark.[KTX map from Wikipedia]

[the KTX in the news - even though it is all in Korean, it'll give you an idea of the speed of the train as well as some of the technical aspects of it (if you keep watching)]

In the middle of the steps up to the front of Yongsan Station is a bit of a water feature - basically, in the middle section, water runs from the top to the bottom and then disappears. The steps of the middle section light up. Yongsan Station is connected to 2 huge department stores, a very large EMart grocery store, and the huge Yongsan Electronics Market. To the left of it is the huge IPark Mall. There are too many things in the IPark Mall to list, but it includes a few floors of electronics, a floor or two of home decor, clothing, a 2 floor Sobics bookstore, a CGV movie theatre, and other things.


[The opening of the I-Park Mall in the news.]

(I find most Korean commercials to be silly or strange).

To the right is a huge Shinsegae Department Store with the E-Mart in B1 and B2. Shinsegae is a huge company in Korea that includes E-Mart, Starbucks Korea, the Chosun Hotel, and others. It recently bought out all Wal-Mart stores in Korea and turned them into more E-Mart stores. Sad. (Sorry, I know some of the sites I linked to are all in Korean, but you get the idea, I suppose)

The Aussie Shop

Today I went to Itaewon to go to What The Book? to get some more reading material. On the way I bumped into Stacey on the subway. She, too, was heading for the little book store. After getting out books, we went to The Aussie Shop, a little Australian diner in Itaewon. Stacey had read about it on the Net and wanted to go. She is from New Zealand and said she missed the Australian mince meat pies.We both had meat pies and chips (French Fries). The food was great (Check out the menu if you are interested) and it was a beautiful sunny day today, so we sat outside on the small patio and enjoy the weather. There are only half a dozen tables at the place, a couple inside and a few outside. I will definitely go back there. And I will suggest it to my friends here. I have a few Australian friends that would probably love it.
We talked to the owner for a bit. He is Australian and owns the shop 100%. It is not easy for a foreigner to open a business here due to legal issues and such. Foreigners that open businesses here usually have a Korean wife or friend as a partner, to open the business. He has been having some problems, as trademarks and such are not really respected here, and some Korean guy decided that The Aussie Shop was a great business idea, and opened his own Ozzie Shop somewhere down the street, stealing every idea right down to the color schemes and the menu items. The only thing he couldn't copy (so far) is the Australian beer, as the supplier is somewhat of a friend of Tony's, and decided to be loyal to the original Aussie Shop.
The Aussie Shop in the news:

Down Under Fare in Seoul
By John RedmondContributing Writer
Starting up your own business is not an easy task. It takes money, a good business plan, an original concept and lots of hard work. And that’s in your own country. My two favorite quotes on this subject are, "Think," an IBM slogan, but more to my way of thinking is, "Imagine" the Apple slogan.
Foreigners setting up businesses in other countries are usually burdened with a few extra (usually more than less) legalities, and Korea is no exception. The usual way most foreigners set up a business in this country is to get a Korean silent partner or family member (wife or husband), to register the business under a Korean name, and take it from there.
Until recently there were very few 100 percent foreign-owned businesses in Korea in the food, catering and entertainment industries. The Aussie Shop in Itaewon is a 100 percent foreign-owned business under the management of Tony Le Rhodes, the one-time drummer of the iconic Australian rock band the Choirboys.
Essentially The Aussie Shop is a dine-in or take-away style delicatessen specializing in genuine home-cooked traditional Australian food. Not the kind of food you would find on the menu of that American "outback style" steakhouse chain. Here the order of the day is Fish and Chips, Hamburgers (Australian style with egg, beetroot and pineapple), home- made meat pies (beef, lamb and chicken), sausage rolls, potato scallops, steak sandwiches or vegemite sandwiches, followed by lamingtons and rum balls, all washed down with VB (Victoria Bitter) or XXXX (Queensland spelling for beer).
For the full menu check out the website listed below.
Tony honed his culinary skills in the afternoons after school. While most kids his age were watching TV or getting up to mischief, he was helping out in his father’s fish and chip shop. Later in the evenings the family would help prepare their unique "family recipe" beer batter and tartar sauce. That tradition has stayed in the family as Tony still uses the family recipe (30 years and still going) in the beer batter and tartar sauces. The meat pies and sausage rolls are baked daily. Even the beetroot is home grown. I personally can vouch for the fish and chips. For what it’s worth, you’d be hard pressed to find anything better here in Korea, even when paying the price of an arm or a leg (as I have done).
The Aussie Shop also captures a real essence of Australian culture without resorting to stereotyping. An interesting feature is some of the items for sale. There are music DVDs from the likes of INXS, popular TV DVDs of shows like The Comedy Company, and the New Zealand animation series Footrot Flats. They also offer host of popular Australian TV commercials including the "Export Cola" ad (featuring Skyhooks) a "Coke" ad (featuring the Australian band "Sherbet" performing "Summer Love") and the award-winning Toyota "Bugger" ad.
Wines for sale include a selection from such vineyards as Jacobs Creek and Yellow Tail. More are on the way.
Later this month The Aussie Shop will expand the "shop" aspect of the business by opening up a full-fledged cafe/bistro next door. Renovations are underway. This new area will seat about 40 people "We’ll have full sports coverage of all games, especially Aussie games most people here don’t screen," Tony told me. "It’s going to be awesome," he said. Details will be on the website soon.
The Aussie Shop is open from Tuesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. ‘till late (Friday and Saturday till 3:00 a.m.). To get there: Leave Itaewon subway station (line No.6) exit #1.
Walk down the main street until you get to a Pizza Hut on your right. Take the street that runs parallel to the main road but heads up a hill. The Aussie Shop is on the right at the top. For more information contact Tony at (02) 790-0793, or email tony@aussieshopkorea.com.
Website is www.aussieshopkorea.com