First Things First
Because I'm a little bit behind on this thing, I'll recap a little of what transpired in Korea in December before I get on with Japan. Geez, organizing pictures for web display is a hell of a lot of work, more so since I'm using exclusively lower quality jpegs so you people don't have to wait for 80 megs of pictures to download every time you look at this thing. Aren't I helpful?
Anyway: this is what most of Seoul looks like, again. Identical skyscrapers and worn down asian hill-side houses all crushed together. WILL IT BLEND?
I should probably also show you my pet monkeys. They are having a birthday party, which is good and bad. It's good because I don't have to teach shit that period. It's bad because then they're all jacked up on sugar for the rest of the day and start stealing to buy candy.
Okay, so. First off, about two weeks before Japan, Tiff came up to visit Kirst, and I tagged along for the ride. We went to Cheungbokgung palace, a smaller subsidiary palace that was not burned down in 1592, and was used as a refuge for the surviving royal family while the Japanese were occupying, both in that invasion, and in the subsequent occupation during WW2. It has palace guards and stuff on parade, so here's Tiff in front of that.
There was also a statue inside, and here's Kirst and Tiff sitting in front of it. It's otherwise fairly generic except for the examples of early Hangul script on the base, which you might be able to see.
Mom and Dad (mostly Mom) complain a lot that I'm never in any pictures, so here's a picture of me! In Seoul! To prove I was there! Also, the fattest damn pigeon I have ever seen. Hambeast here had problems getting off the ground.
Also, there is a landscaped river area running through Seoul, which they discovered when they tore up a freeway.
The day after that, Nara and Lisa and I went to the Louvre exhibit at the Seoul National Museum (I think that's what it's called). No pictures of the interior, but there was some good stuff, 'The Raft of La Meduse' being the most noteworthy. It has been commented that aside from a small handful of works, most of what was exhibited was not really stuff the Louvre would miss, and I tend to agree. There was one unfinished Turner and I got sufficiently excited to make a scene of myself by accident. BUT NO PICTURES, hahaha. Denied.
The rest of the museum is nice enough, Lisa and I got free tickets and did a quick walkthrough, I'll have to go back in more detail later, maybe.
The following pictures are terrible because no flash was permitted. The Koreans do have some scientific history -- apparently they invented the world's only self-adjusting sundial to cope with seasonal change, and there were good examples of pretty solid cartography. This here is a pretty accurate looking starmap.
Some more Korean art:
Wait, no. That was Ganesha.
Okay, going to start on Japan now. I guess.
Anyway: this is what most of Seoul looks like, again. Identical skyscrapers and worn down asian hill-side houses all crushed together. WILL IT BLEND?
I should probably also show you my pet monkeys. They are having a birthday party, which is good and bad. It's good because I don't have to teach shit that period. It's bad because then they're all jacked up on sugar for the rest of the day and start stealing to buy candy.
Okay, so. First off, about two weeks before Japan, Tiff came up to visit Kirst, and I tagged along for the ride. We went to Cheungbokgung palace, a smaller subsidiary palace that was not burned down in 1592, and was used as a refuge for the surviving royal family while the Japanese were occupying, both in that invasion, and in the subsequent occupation during WW2. It has palace guards and stuff on parade, so here's Tiff in front of that.
There was also a statue inside, and here's Kirst and Tiff sitting in front of it. It's otherwise fairly generic except for the examples of early Hangul script on the base, which you might be able to see.
Mom and Dad (mostly Mom) complain a lot that I'm never in any pictures, so here's a picture of me! In Seoul! To prove I was there! Also, the fattest damn pigeon I have ever seen. Hambeast here had problems getting off the ground.
Also, there is a landscaped river area running through Seoul, which they discovered when they tore up a freeway.
The day after that, Nara and Lisa and I went to the Louvre exhibit at the Seoul National Museum (I think that's what it's called). No pictures of the interior, but there was some good stuff, 'The Raft of La Meduse' being the most noteworthy. It has been commented that aside from a small handful of works, most of what was exhibited was not really stuff the Louvre would miss, and I tend to agree. There was one unfinished Turner and I got sufficiently excited to make a scene of myself by accident. BUT NO PICTURES, hahaha. Denied.
The rest of the museum is nice enough, Lisa and I got free tickets and did a quick walkthrough, I'll have to go back in more detail later, maybe.
The following pictures are terrible because no flash was permitted. The Koreans do have some scientific history -- apparently they invented the world's only self-adjusting sundial to cope with seasonal change, and there were good examples of pretty solid cartography. This here is a pretty accurate looking starmap.
Some more Korean art:
Wait, no. That was Ganesha.
Okay, going to start on Japan now. I guess.