boo-boo.

i went hiking again yesterday. it was super nice. but, on the way down, i fell down! i stepped and slipped on a tree root that was hidden by leaves. since it was ridiculously warm for october, i wore a t-shirt and unfortunately, my bare flesh met ferociously with the tree bark. that bark had bite! ouch! a boo-boo. it stings! (be careful of slippery roots!)

i don't know why...

but seeing this sign for the men's bathroom made me laugh. it's not man, but double "M" man!

nature.

just a short and simple video of a sweet moment during my hike today. i loved the combination of falling leaves, calling birds, cool breezes and sunshine.

soyosan

the last subway stop at the northern end of the line 1 is soyosan. it's a long way from home, but, this is my time for exploration! the hike itself was steep in the beginning (STAIRS!) but towards the middle, it was fun to scramble along the mountain range. even though the skies were a bit hazy, the leaves were pretty.






STAIRS!

catching my breath!

taking care of business

1. last thursday, i went to the seoul immigration office and renewed my visa. yup. (i've been in korea for nearly 2 complete years. november 5/6 marks my anniversary!) and the renewal was amazingly straightforward and easy! i filled out the form, paid the fee, and handed my alien registration card to the official. (heh heh, i'm an alien!) after a brief 10 minute wait, my card was "renewed" with a new expiration date: november 6, 2012.

2. i went to my dentist for a check-up on the ole gums...and they are FINE! my dentist told me that they are healing up very nicely and that in late dec, we'll be moving forward to stage 2 of the implant process. the addition of the abutments. ooooooh!

3. i've given my verbal acceptance of the hard-core/badass teaching job! there's relief and excitement and all these zen zen mind exercises that i've been actively practicing lately will most definitely be applied.

two peas in a pod.

beans 200.25

my sweet friend eun young and i explored a new coffee shop called beans 200.25. i have no idea why 200.25, but, it was a fun spot with bright colors and cute baristas!

mocha!

say kimchi kimchi! (modeling my hat)


latte love:

flower power

this reminds me of dale chihuly's spirals:

changdeokgung palace

changdeokgung palace is a world heritage site and since it is such a famous palace, the only was to gain entry is through a guided tour. there were so many people in my tour group that i meandered towards the back of the crowd and captured these images.

mmmmmmm authentic japanese ramen!

dry tissue:

wet tissue, aka wet nap:

chopsticks:

ramen!

seoraksan

this past sunday, amanda and i went to seoraksan, which is in gangwon-do, a 3 hour bus ride away. our bus left at 6:30am and we arrived back into seoul by 10:30pm. quite the all day adventure! and totally worth the 7-ish hours on the bus. (our bus ride was plush! wide, comfy seats!) we went to see the changing of the leaves--which were not in their prime, but, it was still impeccable. the weather was OUTSTANDING! there was not a cloud in the sky, it was as if all the gods of the universe were smiling and we were among the lucky ones to be in the middle of it all.