A little bit of Seoul today. Today was a busy day at work, the first day of class usually is. I have to get to know new students and renew friendships with students that I have had before. The same goes with office personnel that I have met in person before, or maybe just corresponded with via e-mail. It is always good to put a face with a name.

Of course, my day started out at the hotel. While waiting for my ride I took a few pictures. The first was from the elevator on the way down to the lobby.

The Hotel has a scenic elevator that looks out over the back courtyard. The shadow of the building made for an interesting contrast between sun and shade. I also like the skylights on the lobby roof. They look like they belong on a space station.

If you ask most people in the US about where printing was developed, they will probably think of Gutenberg and his printing of the Bible in the mid 1400’s. However, printing has been around much longer. Movable type printing was used in China as early as 1040 and wood block printing centuries before.

They have an interesting display case in the lobby of the hotel which shows some examples of early printing in South Korea. At the time that this document was found in Bulguksa, South Korea, it was the oldest printed document that had been found. The original of this scroll of the Dharani sutra was printed using wood blocks in the 8th century. The one in the display case is a modern reconstruction. Since the time that it was found, several older printed documents have been found in China.

On the way to the office we saw something interesting.

Here we have carts that are loaded with material that is on the way to a recycling center. They still use these old carts to pick up material that has been set out for recycling. It was interesting to see these men pull their carts, and the help that they received to get them up a small incline. You can also see how cold it is here in Seoul. This morning the temperature was below zero.

What is good to have for lunch on a cold day?

How about a good Spicy Seafood Noodle soup. The broth of this soup was nice and spicy. It was nice to feel the tingle of the spice and to feel my sinuses clear :-). It was also a great tasting soup and I thank my student who recommended it to me. She was a bit afraid that it would be too spicy for me.

On the way back to the hotel I took another interesting picture.

There is just something that I like about this picture. Perhaps it is the interesting silhouettes with the sun setting behind everything. Or perhaps the way that the sun lights up the smoke coming from the smokestack. Maybe it is the way that this picture just makes you feel cold when you look at it. Maybe I am jut a bit jet-lagged and just babbling along :-).

I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my busy day.

Steven