Summer Internship.

Korea Student Aid Foundation. Under the Ministry of Education & Science Technology. (yikes!)

This is where I spent the last two weeks and will be spending next three weeks from 9 to 6.

I had to cancel flights and two weeks of backpacking plans in Singapore and Malaysia

 but this experience is really priceless and worth the time.

Research Team. Under the Division of Management and Planning.

I'm currently a paid intern writing case-studies of excellent foreign student aid programs and their details (like, 'Expected Family Contribution' calculation formula of the US Federal Student Aid).

-

This is sort of a dream-come-true for me, because 

I've always wanted have the experience of working in the office at young age (:

I know I get get dead tired when I arrive home around 7, 

but I remind myself in the morning how lucky to have this opportunity.

Lassie after shower.

A weekend at the great aunt's cottage.

Outdoor Family Barbeque.

Wyverns at Twins.

SK Wyverns at LG Twins (July 17th)

David Bush (2-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Kwang Sam, Kim (4-5, 4.26 ERA)

F/9 Twins won over Wyverns by 3-1. It feels good when the team you cheer wins the game (:

It's probably the same reason why the whole crowd of fans were cheering and screaming for their team as if they were together as one. It's not so hard to realize how many people in Korea love baseball- these people came to the stadium even though the weather forecast has been announcing for few days that it was going to rain heavily.

Corporate Pavilions/기업관

Transparent touch screen- discover how the steelmaker is involved in 

sustainable development of ocean resources.

54 47-inch display panels to form media chandelier. 

Animated Pixel Wall.

Personally, corporate pavilions were the finest amongst others. It's always interesting to find out about

other cultures and get to know more about ocean related environmental issue (as it was the main theme of the expo), but they couldn't beat the amount of capital and effort these corporates are putting in their pavilion.

International Pavilions/국제관

Deep sea water samples around the world, gathered by a Spanish ROVs

"Ride the wave of creativity towards new horizons.

Use your imagination to make a positive impact on the future."

Sweden, the birthplace of LEGO, let children to play with the blocks freely. 

Ayyalah Dance - representation of battle that 

signifying the defeat of enemy and celebration of victory.

Yeosu Expo 2012/여수세계박람회

"The Living Ocean and Coast"

KTX-II 4051 bound to Yeosu.

5:20am. Getting on board with my grandparents to visit the World Expo.

KTX-II Sancheon is the first commercial high-speed train developed by Hyundai Rotem.

Gwangmyeong Station/광명역

Yeouido/여의도

City and Colour.

It's weird. While all these people and automobiles are heading towards somewhere,

I'm just standing on an overpass, aiming and closing the shutter for 13 seconds still.

Sometimes I can't believe I lived in a busy downtown district for the most part of my life.

All those passers on a street makes you feel surrounded and yet so isolated.

Seonyudo Park/선유도 공원

Seonyudo park is an ecological park that transformed a former water treatment facility into a public space.

These remaining concrete structures create dark and brutish atmosphere and provide unique passways.

Parks are to imitate natural landscape in urban setting. It's a vital land use for residents in high dense region.

I believe this is a good example of a post-industrial or a brownfield redevelopment- pretty important subject for an environmental science major such as myself.

Trip Summary.

July 2nd to 7th, 2012 (5 nights 6 days)

5 cities

Express Bus 3 times

Public Bus 11 times

Train 5 times

Taxi 4 times

Ship 2 times

KTX4062 bound to Seoul.

From Yeosu, heading back to Seoul on a high-speed train.

I don't mind about getting on a regular bus or a train, but this time was little bit different.

It has already been 6 days away from home and my friends were about to head to Jeju island.

I wanted to be in home and see my family as fast as I could.

Just as my heart beat faster, the train was racing to Seoul at the speed of 300km/h

Jinju National Museum.

On the way from Tongyeong to Yeosu, I decided to transfer from expres bus to a train at Jinju.

Few hours of free time allowed me to visit the Jinju Castle and its national museum.

I didn't really expect much and didn't get much either. 

---

I did meet two interesting people in Jinju though. I met a guy named Luke from San Francisco who's been in Jinju for a week and about to start his work as an English teacher. He was looking to get some information brochures about traveling to Seoul and Busan at the train station. I know staying in a small city would be quiet a challenge for a foreigner but I hope he gets through it well. 

Another person was a railroad officer who took care of my complicated ticket exchange situation. He was new at the job and needed to call others to find out how to deal with my special case (changing the departure date of KTX that had special rate for the specific date). I was quiet grateful for his effort and the sympathy. When I visited him again in half an hour with two drinks, he was gone but I told another officer to give the drink to him. I didn't get to see him again but I'm sure he happy about it.

House of Broken Dreams.

Abandoned and yet visited.

SeomSarang No.3/섬사랑3호

1.5 hours on a stormy sea is not an easy thing.

When I woke up, apparently a lot of other passengers threw up.

Going across the sea to see what I seeked *smile*

Somaemuldo Island/소매물도섬

A boat left Tongyeong Port at 7am and arrived at the Somaemuldo Island around 8:30am

Just like its size, there are only 15 houses, one store, and a single road in this island.

When the time is right, you could also walk across the sea and to where the lighthouse is located.

It is hard to describe what I felt while looking at that island for hours.

No signs of people. Mist on and off. Sound of wind, an ocean, and seagulls

Tongyeong City/통영시

When I travelled different regions of Korea with my family- I was not so aware of the lifestyle of local people or the character of each city has. Being a child might've been the reason, but I think it was more because the city of Seoul, and especially my neighbourhood, has always been the centre of my universe.

This trip has given me the new vision that I didn't have. Riding on a car always skipped the scenery from place to place- narrowing the eyesight to see the only the things you planned to see. Since I no longer was one of the travellers that are protected under the giant metal bubble- I started to see the city in a very new way. I listened to different topics being talked- in a distinctive accent- on a public bus. I started to see each places in perspectives of locals rather than travellers. Old buildings, unorganized market place and mixed use of land no longer seemed like they were before.

July 5th, 2012.

Getting on an express bus heading from Gyeongju to Tongyeong

The stay in Gyeongju wasn't so great with a sip of monsoon season. My friends and I had little conflict of interest, so we decided to split from Gyeongju and rejoined in Yeosu. It was more of me wanting to go to this special island rather than visiting Busan which is the second biggest city in Korea.

When I was alone waiting in the terminal for a bus to take me further south- I couldn't hide my feeling to just fold myself out from the trip and buy an express ticket to Seoul. It was already the 4th day of the trip and I was all wet and carrying a heavy bag. Looking at the sign that said 'Destination: Seoul' really put me in hard position but I ended up getting on the right bus- heading further south.

Guesthouses in Korea.

Guesthouses in Korea are somewhat like youth hostels in North America: These are the places where backpackers are gathered, share information, sleep in shared room, and a kitchen to cook a simple meal. Most of them in Korea are run by an owner rather than a group such as Hosteling International. It's considerably better because owner of these guesthouses have pride in their city and provide recommendations from itinerary to place to have great local food.

Most of the travellers are college students in Korea who are in their early to mid 20s. It's very common to see them traveling with Naeillo railroad pass (limited to under 25, 7 days for 50 CAD). Lodging costs about 18,000 KRW (16 CAD) to 23,000 KRW (21 CAD), which isn't bad price for what's given.

The land of the morning calm.

At the Gyeongju National Museum.

Anapji/안압지

"Building a palace beside an artificial lake... our previous generation really knew how to have fun!"

July 4th, 2012.

A tunnel within a tunnel within a tunnel.

Hahoe Folk Village/하회마을

When some choose to stay behind of development... it becomes a new thing.

This prime located village between mountains and a river used to be the home for Yu Family.

They still live on the houses that their previous generation has left and open them for public.

Preserved village contains not only its architecture at the time but also its tradition and culture.

Byeongsan Seowon/병산서원

Weolyeong Bridge/월령교

Street Art of Andong.

Dosan Seowon/도산서원

Established in 1574, in memory of and after the death of Korean Confucian scholar Yi Hwang.

It used to be a private Korean Confucian academy offering instruction in the classics and serve memorial rites.