The entire staff (Korean teachers, foreign teachers, TA's, front office staff) at the start of our winter semester. We're standing in the foyer of our main floor. 
Four of our brightest students playing games before class. I could keep up but it wasn't easy. 
The ever present peace sign. Not sure Korean kids can take pictures without them. 
The Han River is such a geographically significant part of Seoul, and something that I reference so often in everyday speech, that I couldn't help jumping down a couple boulders to stick my finger in it.
A wedding "boat" that hosts after wedding dinner parties, and possibly the actual ceremony as well. Hard to see but swan boats are swarming around the back....like slightly confused swan babies circling mom. 
The reason for the trip to the Han was to take part in a day of global climate action put together by 350.org. My group of friends and I were the only foreigners there and had a great time, shaking hands and talking climate action with dozens of enthusiastic Korean college students. 
The girl in the white american flag sweatshirt is the president of a large college environmental organization called UNEP Angel. She was idealistic and inspiring. 
Me with a group of students. A couple spoke great English, and were disappointed that I didn't speak more Korean. 
The penguin, a mascot for the group, ran around this huge flee market where the event was being held...giving out free hugs and getting people to write encouraging sticky notes about the need for environmental action. 
If you assumed the girlfriend wasn't doing much peddling here, you were right. 
For Chuseok (Korean "thanksgiving") a group of friends traveled to the green tea growing region in the Korean peninsula's southwest corner. Above is a picture of the perfectly manicured green tea terraces. Had no idea that tea plants are essentially plain bushes. 
A tomb located amongst the tea plants. 
Friends walking up into the terraced rows of tea. 
Dragonflies were everywhere. Caught this guy sunning himself. 
Looking into the canopy of a stand of bamboo the tea plantation keeps for wedding photo ops. 
We stayed a "pension". Kind of like a bed and breakfast. Had a big room with lots of pillows/blankets/mats and a basic kitchen. At night we cooked in half drum barbeques and enjoyed some soju in the tent roofed building in the foreground. 
The pension from below, Becky and Justin stand in front of our first floor room. 
A cadre of old guys playing a dice game and drinking on the station platform as we waited for our train. 
Sejongno is my favorite street in Seoul. It runs from City Hall Plaza north to Gyeongbok Palace. It was completely remodeled recently and now has several beautiful public spaces. The picture above is a water feature that runs the length of the street's middle plaza. 
The US embassy (an ugly '70s era building) is located on the street. I took the above picture on the day of Ted Kennedy's funeral in Boston. The stars and stripes fly at half mast accordingly. 
A manicured flower garden occupies much of the street's center plaza. 
Kids playing in the "headwaters" of the plaza's water feature. 
Myself and friend Marshall in front of Admiral Yi, one of two statues that dominate the plaza. 
Kids playing in the rapidly changing fountain jets. 
....with dads capturing all the fun for posterity. 
A view of the temporary facade that has been erected at the front of the new City Hall, at the heart of Seoul as far as I'm concerned. 
The facade is like a giant Seurat painting made out of plastic discs. Ambiguous up close but join together to create the scenes visible in the first picture. The scenes has already been changed at least once since I've been here. 
Poking....couldn't help myself. 
Looking up from the base. 
A Christian service/concert/event set up on the lawn at night. The production value was pretty incredible. 
N. Seoul Tower is the tallest object in Seoul - measuring 777 feet from the peak of Mt. Namsan - and it offers panoramic views of Seoul as far as the eye can see. There are several ways of getting to the tower, we took the gondola. 
Waiting patiently for said gondola. Marshall (left) is sporting his newly purchased Harry Potter glasses. The lightening bolt had been washed off by this point. 
Riding up towards the peak, and Seoul Tower, with the second gondola car about to pass. 
The Tower is also home to the Seoul Teddy Bear Museum (still unsure why). These two suffered endless photo opps the whole time we were there. This was the least mean of our shots. 
My friends Marshall, Kevin, and myself up in the tower. The windows all have the names and distances of the global capitals they face. We let Kevin join our picture despite being from LA. Go Giants. 
Also, Kobe Bryant hangs out here a lot. Apparently he's into teddy bears. 
The tower is a huge romantic destination for couples. They buy locks of all sizes from vendors at the tower's base and then bolt them to the fences that surround the tower, after writing romantic messages all over them (see below). This picture is actually of a metal tree they've planted for the purpose, with a lock covered fence in the background. 
Not sure if the couples come and cut them off after breaking up. Did not see any bolt cutters for sale. 
After dusk laser shows light up the tower and the grounds that surround its base. It looked pretty good in blue. 
...but a lot better in red, white, and blue. 
My friend Kevin and me in front of Seoul World Cup Stadium....built to host the 2002 World Cup along with Japan. 
The most frenzied fans congregate here at one end of the field. They constitute the official Korean football fanclub.....named the Red Devils. The weren't so much mean as ceaseless. 
The view from our great seats....8 rows back. 
More play. Korea beat the Australians easily. 
The halftime entertainment. You don't see many Korean men with flowing blonde hair. His juggling skills were even more entertaining. 
