My first full-week paid vacation came way too soon. With little left in my bank account from my three day, $500USD trip to North Korea, there wasn't too many opinions left. So after about six days of boredom and oversleeping, I decided to investigate the KTX. The KTX is Korea's fastest train. It'll take a …
Category: Korea
A look from the both sides of the border
Beyond the Border, North Korea
Portions of the following article originally appeared in The Groove, a Seoul-based expat magazine, on August 7, 2007. Update: Geumgangsan, the tourist village covered in the post below, was closed in 2008 after a 53-year-old South Korean woman was shot and killed by North Korean soldiers when she mistakenly wandered into a military zone. As of …
Basking in the Artificial Glow of Fukuoka, Japan and Seoul, South Korea
This past weekend I had a brief sojourn in Fukuoka, Japan on a visa run for my teaching job in Seoul. The generosity of the Japanese never ceases to astound me. Despite the dreary rainy season weather that greeted me and my fellow travelers, we were still met with gloriously wide smiling faces around every …
Continue reading Basking in the Artificial Glow of Fukuoka, Japan and Seoul, South Korea
A Fly on the Wall, South Korea
Darting, diverting eyes are my only immediate companion this weekend. As a foreigner in Seoul, I stick out like a walking eclipse, but the Koreans try their best to be polite and not stare. Standing over a group of four women chanting at Samsung Park doesn't draw any noticeable glares my direction, so I continue to look on. The four …
Ignoring Jet Lag
The steam from the sake swiftly swathes through the air. Seoul is alive with the sound of cars eagerly maneuvering through its tight backstreets. The night sky is lite from the vivid street signs that attract night walkers into restaurants and bars like moths to the sun. Sitting beneath the neon glow of a Korean …
Justin Calderón 