Dedicated to my friends who never get spring continued...

Korean women are smart when it comes to protecting their skin. Some even have visors that not only protect their face, but act as sunglasses as well.

Seoul has terrible air quality. You see people wearing these surgical masks all the time.

No, its not raining, this is to keep the sun off your face as well.

These ladies are weeding. For some reason, they don't spray in these huge parks, they get rid of the pesky weeds the old fashioned way. Korean women can squat like this...it is kind of a fetal position I have also seen them assume this position while waiting for subway, even the elderly can squat. Which reminds me of a discussion I had with a Korean friend about their toilets, but this subject is spring, so I will save that one for another time.

If you enlarge this picture of the little girl in green you can see she has already learned the offical photo pose of most all Koreans here {sideways peace sign}

The mom spied a carp in the water while she is fishing.

Ahh, the bike can finally come out of the parking garage.

Birds Eye View

This Saturday's excursion was going to the Seoul Tower. It was a clear day, but very cold. We thought we better go anyway for the sake of pictures with no fog, smog or clouds.

This guy in the picture below gets lit up at night. I think he's really there to make us wish there was another mode of transportation besides stairs!
(There really was a gondola ride almost all the way to the tower.)

I liked this mossy stone wall as we were making our way to the top.

I had to make Lyle stop for a photo shoot. He's modeling my first completed knitting project!! It's full of mistakes {but was made with love.} He wouldn't know if I skipped a row or lost a stitch anyway. It's all about functionality, not style as far as he's concerned.

Nate (Krista's fiance) told her Seoul is tied for the no. one spot of Largest City in the World along with Mexico city. Here are some pictures to give you an idea as to why....these pictures really don't do justice to the size of this city. I'm showing you less than half of what we saw.

Our apartment is somewhere across the river in the background of the picture below.

We were also fortunate enough to be there for a martial arts performance on the plaza.

And of course we couldn't leave with out the customary "tourists with part of the cast" picture.
I promise some day it will be warm enough here to have a photo of me on this blog without the black coat on.




There was one female kung fu fighter...don't mess with her.

If you want to know how fun it is to chop bamboo I think this guys face tells it all.

Helen Cummings and I took a class about 21/2 years ago on Take won do. (I KNOW that's probably not spelled right, but I'm too lazy to look it up.) Anyhow, we never quite mastered the art like this guy did...but it brought back a few funny memories of two old ladies thinking they could get into shape and be cool looking at the same time. I'm pretty sure we didn't succeed at either one.

We Love To See The...

Krista and I headed of to the CoEx Mall today and while we were wandering around lost {again} we stumbled onto this Budhist Temple area. The buildings are dated from the mid-1800's, but the site for these temples has existed since 749AD!

There are quite a few pictures here, but we enjoyed seeing the area so much we thought you would too.

There were people worshiping and praying in almost every building, so we didn't go inside.

This is one of the monks (below) walking on the grounds.

The Korean children are so adorable. This little girls father said we could take her picture. She was playing in the bushes, but got very sober looking when we asked her to smile. She waved and smiled later. Typical kid behavior no matter where you live.

People come to these statues and light a candle and leave it there or they drink from these community plastic cups. I believe they thing the water gives them good fortune.

I don't think this Budha is as large as "Our {famous} Butte Lady of the Rockies" but he was big!

We thought this was a cool knarly tree that must have taken years of pruning.

Krista drinking from the fountain... for good luck, or someone's cold. Everyone uses the same cups, and they are well used.

Women lighting candles.

A Few More Reasons Why We Love Subways!!!

I know I mentioned all the exercise we get walking to and from the subway stations as well as all the stair climbing opportunities they provide, but I failed to mention a few more advantages to ditching the car payments and going on the subs.

There's all those photo opportunities!


Click on the picture below to see this Monk's eye glasses. Definately designer wear, as well as the Fila bag he is using.
Religious and stylish...he almost sounds like a member of that mormon faith I belong to.
Riding the subways is also a great time to show off your fake designer handbags, shoes and clothing. How do we know they are fake you might ask? If you could afford the real deal would you really be riding the subway? We, however have not given up our Jansport backpacks yet, even if they aren't counterfit.



Subways also provide that time for a quick little cat nap or a little reading time while getting to your destination. Korean's sleep alot on the subways. Krista picked up on that activity really quick.



And when your not sleeping you can always practice your model pose.


It's going to be tough leaving life in the fast lane someday and getting used to driving in a car again when we return to the States ...not.