soccer_north korea v south korea

World Cup Stadium, Seoul

Saipan

We've been married a year!

Can't believe how quickly it's flown by.

To celebrate, we spent a long weekend in Saipan,

a South Pacific Island near Guam.

. . . so beautiful.

this picture doesn't even do it justice

ahh, seriously?!

Mom and Dad visiting us in Seoul

My parents came out to visit us in Seoul last spring and we had a wonderful time together.  It was good to show them around the city and have them experience firsthand what our lives are like on a daily basis... which has proven to be complicated to explain over the phone!  We took them to korean barbeque, cooked in with them a few nights, and showed them all the things around town that we have enjoyed.  Most every day we would find ourselves relaxing at a coffee shop or tea house and catching up on the last year of our lives... trust me, I know where every Starbucks in Korea... it's like a little refuge of peacefulness from the mayhem!  Here is a picture of my beloved parents at the Gyeongbok Palace, in full springtime bloom.

This is in front of some of the highly secured buildings along the the border between North and South Korea.  The DMZ runs along the 38th parallel and remains the most heavily guarded border in the world.  We took my parents with us on a day trip to see what it was all about.  It was definitely a worthwhile visit, but disturbing and sad as well. [kind of scary!]

the cherry blossoms

Cambodia and Vietnam

Rad part of the world.

The highlight for us was seeing all the history and understanding what the Cambodian people have been through. It was a heavy trip in many ways, seeing what destruction and pain came from the mass genocide during the 1970's under the Khmer Rouge.

Vietnam is beautiful....... we spent the end of the trip at a beautiful beach called Mui Ne, in south central Vietnam.  Everything is relatively inexpensive and the food was nothing but phenomenal the entire time, both in Cambodia and Vietnam.  Here's a few of our photos:

Cambodia and Vietnam

We started in Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see the famous Angkor Wat Temples... a massive civilization constructed over 900 years ago that housed a civilization of a million people in its hayday. It was in a strategic location for the trade routes between India and China. These temples are somewhat raw - you really can walk around anywhere, it hasn't yet become so commercialized - which makes the exploration all the more interesting.

It's the dry season during the winter. In the summer, the fields are flooded so the houses are built on stilts.

Kim and me riding in the tuc-tuc.... with our Krama scarves

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Precious little boys singing for us...... they had this rehearsed with hand-motions and all (see video below)

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

cuuuuuuuute cambodian boys!

These boys followed us when we veered off the path to look at the water buffalo... and they sang for us. We taught them some new dance moves, it was hilarious!

Some escapades at the sand dunes

Mui Ne, Vietnam




Remnants of the Vietnam War

Cu Chi, Vietnam

The Cu Chi Tunnels... one of many extensive underground cities that the punks used; and let me tell you they are TINY, I'm more claustrophobic than I thought! Matthew was fearless as always.

Cu Chi, Vietnam

A vietnamese woman in her rice hat selling fruit along the beach

Mui Ne, Vietnam

Mui Ne, along the south central coast of Vietnam

Apparently these are small elephants......

I can't imagine what this man has been through during his lifetime in Cambodia...... especially surviving the Khmer Rouge genocide during 1975-1979. An incredible account of Pol Pot's horrific regime is told through the eyes of a girl who survived, in her book First, They Killed My Father by Loung Ung... a must-read.

A buddhist monk in his colorful robe

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Angkor Wat, the largest religious architecture in the world, one of the 7 wonders of the world

Siem Reap, Cambodia

These kids LOVE to pose

The dirt bikes the boys rented

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

scooter madness

yep, those are all scooters!

Saigon, Vietnam

out on the town

Matt took me out for my birthday dinner to a schwanky restaurant in the heart of old Seoul, near Insa-Dong. It's a restaurant on the top of one of the most architecturally unique buildings in the city, called the Jongno Tower. It overlooks the city and has live jazz every evening.

happy new year!!!

amaaaaaaazing!

from this summer...

myungdong... the fashion district

...soooo many people!

skater kids

sweet what?

yep, it's a pastry shop.

Fuseo... and thoughts on design

I've had the opportunity to start my own business for design illustration... and have thoroughly enjoyed sketching here. 

The design world here consists mostly of English words, since the modern design process originated in the western world. Generally, the personalities associated with certain professions are the same here... I almost didn't expect this, but people are people.

The Asian mindset regarding design is very different than what one experiences in the States. Here, theory and ideation is the most important part. Completing the task commences only when all the ideas are decided upon. Their critiques are key to every project here. For my first project here, every afternoon at 2pm we had a four hour crit to discuss the newest ideas.

Green building is an up-and-coming notion here. They want to learn from us as it is not yet commonplace to consider the environmental impact this industry creates. Along with that, codes here are much less stringent, or maybe not enforced to the level a westerner would expect, so buildings go up at an unbelievable rate. When we moved into our brand-new apartment, for example, the toxic adhesives made me extremely nauseous. Standards exist here, more in theory than actuality, however. I've learned much from the detail-oriented mindset, and they've benefited from my ability to think critically and see how the little details fit within the larger picture. I introduced to them the idea of organizing a project based on who is to complete which task. I also introduced to them a corporate interiors 'program' and 'concept' with which to base design decisions. We can learn a great deal from one another.

the do...

Several of you have asked me to put up a picture of what the short haircut looks like. First of all, you must know that when you say "blonde" here, there are not many of us, so the hair stylist (and he's great) had only one color in mind... It's my new married look. I'm trying the more sophisticated hair style so people will quit thinking I'm in junior high :)

6 months married.... 5 months asian

Can't believe it's been half a year already! Married... and thoroughly loving it. There are always challenges to living in a foreign country, things don't always function the way one would expect when in a different culture. Those things will continue... where you live is simply a backdrop to life. And in any circumstance, whether it be stimulating or overwhelming, challenging or dull, you have to choose what to let yourself be frustrated with and what to allow your mind to focus on.

We've seen it as such a blessing to be away for the first season of married life. There are less distractions and obligations. We have the opportunity to spend a ton of time together and establish what we want our relationship to be like. It seems totally normal to be married here; everyone knows us as married in Seoul. We've met some incredible friends including some other young married couples who have served as a rad encouragements to us. I still wake up many days and say to myself with a smile, "I'm married!" That's usually followed by... "and I live in Korea?" Never would have guessed.

We've been stretched and challenged in new ways... yet to sit here at six months knowing we have the rest of our lives together, is exciting. Wouldn't have chosen any other way.

This was the morning of our Thanksgiving dinner with our friends here. I was so impressed with the spread... there are some excellent cooks among us [um, I'm not one of them... yet]. And..... we set up our 3' tall Christmas tree :)