bones that roam

semantic romantic

A love for languages drives this experience.

Fail as I might to learn them, I can't help but love them all.

Each has its own unique past, nuance, quirks, and flaws.

Each possessing infinite ways to twist into lyrics, jokes, insults, poems, and compliments.

Korean for all its confusing grammar and unending need for age specific tenses has my heart at the moment. Don't worry Spanish, we go way back. And English well, I couldn't leave you if I tried.

Handwritten hello. Translation: "Are you at peace?"
I hope so.

A two way translation of the Little Prince, classic in any language.

A few interesting tidbits about Hangul as it's known in Korea, aka Korean, everywhere else:

Although Korean is an alphabet (in which one shape largely corresponds to one sound), the letters are not written linearly. Instead, they are grouped into syllable blocks. For example, the name of the script is written not as ㅎㅏㄴㄱㅡㄹ [h-a-n-g-u-l] but as 한글 [han-gul]

Rather than evolving from pictures or abstract shapes, the Korean script was a deliberate invention by King Sejong in 1443ish. A quote from the man himself about the ease with which one can learn the alphabet:

A wise man can acquaint himself with them before the morning is over; a stupid man can learn them in the space of ten days.

Hmm not a real confidence booster for this little language learner....

Hangul is said to be one of the most scientific language because its 14 consonants mimic the shape the mouth takes when forming their sounds. That's all well and good if your mouth is willing to make those sounds. Mine still needs some coaxing.

liquid solid

eunpa lake park, february

the wind persists to rattle the windows and

the waters alternate between frozen and fluid

continuously avoiding a definitive state

shifting over night just as assumptions begin to form.

lunar new year

This lunar new year vacation was an absolute treat that took place over the course of four days and in three very different cities: Gunsan, Cheonan, and Seoul.

On Sunday morning we boarded a bus bound for Cheonan at the reoccurring scene for adventure, Gunsan intercity bus terminal. Cheonan is a home to approx. 700,000 people and a surprising number of Damien Hirst sculptures. There is a chance I would have never visited Cheonan were it not for a unexpected opportunity to attend a traditional new year celebration.

About a month ago, my dear friend YeongJeong Yun invited me to celebrate the Lunar New year with her family in Cheonan. The invitation alone was an honor because the Korean celebration is very family oriented. Part two of the excitement heh heem nervousness was that these days, my friend lives in Atlanta, Georgia, USA with her infant daughter, husband and dissertation in progress....thus would not be joining us for the festivities. The invitation entailed traveling to new city to stay overnight in an apartment with three generations of people I had never met and whose language I barely speak. Quite the social experiment. Luckily, the kids smoothed over any awkwardness with constant questioning and an insatiable appetite for tic-tac-toe.

On New Year's day, most Koreans perform an ancestral ritual that involves preparing, arranging, and bowing in front of a table full of food and pictures of their ancestors. The meal in itself is primarily typical Korean fare but two noteworthy differences in the day are attire and arrangement. The food is arranged according to both its color and cardinal directions and hanbok, the traditional dress is worn. The Yun family was more than hospitable. They took care to explain and identify several new fruits and vegetables and also allowed us to take part in the food preparation for the ceremonial table.

After the table was set, a brief but beautiful ceremony took place. Drinks were poured in glasses set before the deceased, incense was lit, and the living performed several kneeling bows between verses of prayer. Afterwards, the ancestors retired to their respective shelves and we enjoyed the thoughtfully prepared cuisine. The food was amazing and quite inventive. It never occurred to me to gut a chicken and fill it with octopus but I can now verify that the resulting shall we say, choctopus, is delicious.

A partially set ceremonial table. Note the center piece.

Midday Monday we ventured northward to Seoul. By ventured I mean rode a subway for two hours. Yes, Seoul is that big and we were only there long enough to explore a sliver of the city. However, we ate Mexican food (twice)!!, wandered through a palace, saw contemporary Korean artwork! (Seungmo Park's portraits made from screen squares are outstanding), and visited the Beautiful Tea Museum.

Not bad for 32 hours. Big props to the Seoul subway system, not a single taxi was utilized in the making of this vacation.

If there is only one tradition that follows me home from Korea, I do believe it will be celebrating the Lunar New Year. My fondness for the moon is ever growing thus a holiday in its recognition is highly appropriate. And I am always down for gathering with friends and family to eat, drink and be merry. Particularly, if choctopus is on the menu.

solar new year

The last day of 2011 was spent wandering through Jeonju, the capital city of the Jeollabuk-do province.

Jeonju boasts an impressive traditional Hanok village as well as fresh bibimbap, supposedly the best in Korea. I've yet to travel extensively enough to know whether or not their 'claim to fame' is legit but I will say it was rather delicious.

A portion of the Hanok village showcased the local craft of paper making, hanji. There was literally an army of tiny figures made entirely from handmade paper and wire in a well executed diorama illustrating the Korean dynasties. Tedium, skill, and craftsmanship - the holy trinity.

That weekend was one of two New Year celebrations ie vacations! observed in South Korea.

One for the solar calendar

the other, the lunar calendar.

You can't help but respect a country willing to ring in the New Year biannually.

market

all things slippery and sea born

a wealth of berries: goji and cranberries. did you know the goji berry is commonly known in Asia as a wolfberry?! as if I needed another reason to love them.

mmm, texture...

the top felt like worn leather

the bottom, puppy ears.

Don't let all the pink rubber fool you.

She is not a squeamish lass.

There has been a serious lack of prepared food documentation.

Soon, te prometo.

empty your cup

"We travel to encounter otherness. We travel to be surprised, amazed, perplexed, challenged, even disgusted by people who, like us, have two arms and two legs and love and pray and eat and shit, yet order the world differently. Maybe they're asking the same questions about how best to prevent terrorism, serve food, or conquer duality, but they come up with different answers:..."

an excerpt from "First Empty Your Cup" by Andrew Boyd, a reoccurring writer in the ever vigilant Sun magazine.(cue plug: an advert free literary magazine that is open to reader quipped contributions and is peppered with lovely black and white photography.) The lines above are the last lines from a story documenting Boyd's first venture into Asia, a quest for Zen in Japan.

Roots unbound,

abruptly

inverted atypical mystified

success of transition to epiphytic

remains undetermined

Cultural isolation is a strange and beautiful creature. One that feeds on all of your perspectives, opinions, judgements, and most of all, assumptions. Particularly enjoying the ones you didn't know you held. Day after day the feast takes place. Day after day, in some small or sometimes big way, you're stripped of what you 'knew', and placed wordless at the threshold of understanding.

-The elderly woman holding a napkin in the air is not staring at you with narrowed eyes because she thinks you're an ambassador of all things Western. No, silly, you have snow in your hair and she thought it was bird shit.

-The group of giggling teenage girls that are flocking closer and closer to your table are not gathering to sneer at your misuse of chopsticks but because they genuinely want to know what you think about kimchi, toe socks, and Lady Gaga.

-The taxi driver who laughs boisterously at your American citizenship, later asks shyly if you and President Obama are buddies because according to him, "He's a numba 1!"

In short, hold out on serving the assumption pie, because you never know.

Maybe, you never knew.

An impending New Year is apt to make this gypsy reflective.

A very Happy Happy New Year to each and every one of you all.

I hope that it is full of life, love, and adventure!