really random images

Below are some scenes I pass every day on my walk to work:

Okay, so I don't pass this next one on my way to work, Misha sent it to me:

There's a lot Putin's done that I disagree with,
but sometimes he just looks so cool.

Another farm hit with bird flu, and Korea takes it out on the puppies and kittens

H5N1, the strain of bird flu that can hop from bird to human, has now been found on not one but two farms in the city of Iksan in the North Jeolla province (Jeollabuk-do/Chollabuk-do, depending on the transliteration) here in South Korea. If you look on the map below, you will see that this area is located to the west of Daegu (spelled Taegu on the map), where I live. Sigh.

But where do the cats and dogs fit in? Well, in what many scientists have deemed an overreaction, cats, dogs and pigs in the area near the infected farm sites will be destroyed.

Some 600 dogs, as well as cats and pigs, are reportedly due to be slaughtered in Iksan. A city official said dogs bred on farms for consumption would be killed, but another anonymous official told the Associated Press the cull would cover "dogs raised individually in houses." [article]

Here's some info for you about cats and bird flu; haven't found anything yet regarding dogs:

There have been no recorded cases of cat to human infection from the virus. Cats do not have their own influenza virus (unlike humans or poultry) so the concern of cats acting as a host in which the virus changes to become transmissible between people is extremely unlikely. Furthermore, there is limited evidence of cat to cat transmission of the virus in a non-laboratory environment. [read Your Cat and Avian Flu at avianinfluenza.org]

Bird Flu!

"South Korea said on Saturday a bird flu outbreak at a poultry farm was caused by the highly virulent H5N1 strain of the virus, in the country's first case for three years of the infection that can kill humans." [article]

Well, no physical harm. I suppose I should go eat some kimchi.

In which I climb up one side of a mountain and down the other, get somewhat lost, and throw out my knee

Mount Palgong (Palgongsan – san means mountain), where I have been several times of late, is a large mountainous park north of Daegu where many temples and hiking trails are located. One of the most well known attractions on Mt. Palgong is Gatbawi: a giant stone Buddha atop one of the peaks, with a large stone “hat” on his head. This Buddha is said to date from 638AD, and it is also said to grant one wish per person. According to some sites, this Buddha is a “medicinal Buddha” and as such, people have been known to travel to Mt. Palgong from all across Korea in order to pray for sickly loved ones. And did I mention that it’s located atop one of the peaks? Yeah.

Back in 2004, my coworkers and I spent one weekend exploring Mt. Palgong, and at one point we had decided to make our way up to Gatbawi. We drove to the tourist village at the base of the mountain, and began our hike. We hiked up a steep path to a small temple named Bukjijangsa, where we took a lot of photographs and where we discovered a steep stone staircase leading up the mountain from Bukjijangsa. The staircase was labeled Gatbawi. We took a long look at the steep staircase and decided that perhaps we should try to find a more accessible Buddha.

Since returning to Daegu, I’ve thought about the Gatbawi Buddha, and have seriously considered hiking up to it several times. Unfortunately, my attempts at making it up to the Buddha with the hat were thwarted by both my intrinsic laziness and by misinformation. Early on, I checked the information in my Lonely Planet and on several websites, and learned how to get my lazy self up to the Gatbawi tourist village without a car. About three weekends ago or so I finally decided to go for it. According to my information, I was supposed to go to Dongdaegu Station and catch bus #104. Perhaps this information used to be correct; it is plastered on several websites, not to mention being printed within my Lonely Planet. Anyhow, I took the subway down to Dongdaegu Station, and made my way to the Dongdaegu Station bus stop... where I noticed that of the many bus lines posted at the stop, #104 was not one of them. I waited around for 30 minutes, just to be sure: nothing. I then walked to the four closest bus stops in a square around the station – none of them listed #104 either. So I went home.

Last weekend, as I rode bus #101 up to Pagyesa, I realized that the #101 was behind a bus #401 bearing the label “Gatbawi” – information jackpot. On that trip, I not only learned where I could catch the #101 without having to trek all the way downtown, I also learned where I could catch the #401. I thought that perhaps I might try to make for Gatbawi yet again this weekend. Of course, I also thought that perhaps I might spend the weekend in bed with a good book. You never can tell with me.

Last night, I came home from work and checked my email, where I read a very distressing message from my mother: A close family friend had had a heart attack and was hospitalized and not doing well. Sudden, unexpected illness of a loved-one is something that makes us all feel helpless... and well, there’s not much I can do to help either Frank or my mom from over here in South Korea. Then it occurred to me that I could climb the mountain and ask the Gatbawi Buddha to restore his health. So that’s what I did today.

I got up early and took the subway to Ayanggyo (location of the Dream Gate), and from there took the #401 up the Gatbawi tourist village on Palgong Mountain… accompanied by what felt like half the population of Daegu. When I boarded the bus it was packed solid with people, most of whom were dressed to go hiking. I ended up in the front of the bus on the platform with the cash box, pressed against the windshield, performing bizarre acts of contortion every time to door opened to admit even more Korean sardines. I figured that given the combination the wild antics of the driver (we ran three red-lights along the way), the blasting heater on the bus, the crowd and lack of ventilation and my tendency to get motion sick in overheated, poorly ventilated vehicles on mountains, I was better off pressed against the windshield, enjoying the view and hoping we didn’t crash.

We reached the tourist village, where everyone disembarked, and joined the crowds of people who had either driven or taken other buses up Palgongsan in order to go hiking. Then I began my ascent.

It didn't start off very steep, although the peak was my destination!


Early on, I passed this cat.
Every Buddhist "facility" I visit seems to be home to one or more cats,
all of which look well fed and healthy.

The path didn’t start out too steep, although it certainly increased in gradient quickly enough. By the time I got to the first temple, Bukjijangsa, I was pretty tired… although not too tired to take some pictures.

Approaching Bukjijangsa


Inside one of the Bukjijangsa shrines


Bukjijangsa


Inside Bukjijangsa


Inside one of the Bukjijangsa shrines


This is a macro shot; this guy was only a few inches tall.

After fully exploring Bukjijangsa (and catching my breath!) I tackled the stairs upward towards Gatbawi. It was steep and slow-going. It was quite disconcerting to note that most of the people on the staircase from hell with me were older than me – many substantially older, and many of them sailing past me.

Near the bottom of the stairs


About halfway up


Looking down!

Along the way I met some Korean college guys (studying radiology) who kept telling me things like “Cheer up, you’re almost there! You can do it!”

This picture was their idea.
I thought it was a great chance to rest a bit.

By the time I reached the top I was exhausted, drenched in sweat, and my legs were shaking so much that I was having to hold on to the railing to keep from falling. But the view from the top was spectacular, and definitely worth it.

Take a look at the view!


More view...


And yet another fat, healthy cat.
How it got up here, I've no idea.

Then I arrived at the Gatbawi Buddha. The whole area was packed with people who had climbed up in order to pray before this statue.

Look at the crowd!


This is the guy we were all there to see.


Up close

After taking numerous pictures and making my wish that Frank’s health be restored, it was time to move on. I had come to the realization that I was A) drenched in sweat and B) it was cold and windy. (It had been about 55F at the base of the mountain; I’m not sure what the temperature was at the peak.) If A and B, then C = Jane is cold. While hiking back down was sure to warm me up, I didn’t feel much like retracing my steps back down the stairs I had just ascended. I had read that there were two ways up to Gatbawi from Bukjijangsa, so I had simply planned on taking the other way back down. This plan was thwarted a bit by the discovery that in addition to the stairway I had traversed, there were two other downward-sloping stairs. So I picked one. It didn’t lead back to Bukjijangsa.

Where did it lead? Well, first it took me through a small temple (although bigger than Bukjijangsa) packed with worshippers, called Gwanamsa.

There was this weird little cavern of little Buddhas


Gwanamsa


One of the shrines at Gwanamsa


Worshippers at Gwanamsa

Then the path turned and led me down the other side of the mountain, along a much newer (and as such, a much nicer), although equally as steep staircase to a road, a parking lot, and yet another temple. In the parking lot, there was a bus stop. According to the sign, it was serviced by only one bus, the #311 (which I’d never heard of) although I figured that at the very least it would get me to somewhere where I could catch a taxi back home. My knees and ankles had begun hurting during the last leg of my descent, and I didn’t think there was much of a chance that I could make it back up and over the mountain to the Gatbawi tourist village to catch the #401. According to the sign at the bus stop, I had 45 minutes to kill before the next bus came. I figured that was the perfect amount of time to explore the Boeunsa temple located just north of the parking lot.

That peak in the center - that's where I was!


I liked this shot.


Boeunsa (note the satellite dish!)


The temple paintings might not have been old,
but they were definitely beautiful


Here's another


A shrine in Boeunsa

The #311 bus came right on time… but it was not one of the familiar looking Daegu city buses. I got on anyway. We traveled the rest of the way down the backside of the mountain, and began to head southeast. The trip lasted about 45 minutes, during which we went through several intersections with signs reading Daegu, right; someplace-I’d-never-heard-of, left. And each time, we turned left. I figured that there were enough people on the bus with me that we had to be going somewhere of decent size, and that any place of decent size would have buses running between it and Daegu. I tried not to worry too much, and sat back to enjoy the trip. Finally we reached a point where everyone on the bus disembarked, so I figured it was a good time to get off as well. I got off and discovered first, that I had no idea where I was, and second, my right knee was in terrible pain. (This has happened twice before – the first after walking several miles in brand new heeled boots, and the second after duck-walking across a frozen lake and then climbing up a near-vertical cliff. I guess we can add mountain-sized staircase as yet another thing I shouldn’t submit my knees to. Why was it I hadn’t worn my knee brace? Ugh.) Anyway, I was standing on the sidewalk wondering if I had enough money for a taxi to Daegu from wherever the hell I was… when up popped a Daegu City Bus! Apparently I was out at the very end of the line, the very eastern outskirts of the city (or possibly a suburb?) – either way, I rode the bus for about half an hour before arriving at the Ansim subway station (the furthest east the Daegu subway goes), and after hobbling down the stairs to the station, I was able to catch the subway home.

Thankful for Korean COSTCO and Gwen's membership therein

Several people have emailed me over the last few days to ask how I would be spending Thanksgiving here in Korea... to which I replied that Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) was last month. Today was just a normal day, much like any other. I had hoped to be able to say that I was thankful for the death of nasty germs which have taken up residence within my sinuses, making the past few days one lengthy sinus headache from hell, but alas, they're still in residence. Seriously, what do you do when Sudafed doesn't make a difference? Ouch.

While Wal-Mart may not have been able to survive in South Korea, COSTCO seems to be doing well enough. Gwen has a COSTCO membership, and periodically gives me extras on whatever foodstuff she happens to buy in bulk. Most recently, it was Mexican food - namely cheese, salsa and tortilla chips. With a bit of culinary creativity and various ingredients found at the local NAIS Mart, I created a scrumptiously spicy and cheesy rice and bean dish. Not your traditional Thanksgiving feast, but yummy, yummy. Happy Thanksgiving!

Various things pertaining to Russia

In case you haven't heard, someone has tried to assassinate yet another out-spoken critic of Russia's president Vladimir Putin. Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB/FSB agent, who lives in exile in England was looking into last month's assassination of Anna Politkovskaya when someone slipped him what could turn out to be a lethal dose of thallium. Read the full article. Frankly, my money's on organized crime as the assassin, not the FSB, although whoever the culprit, I can't imagine Putin is particularly bent out of shape over this.

The next two items I found over at Global Voices Online:

Inside the Moscow Metro at rush hour.
(I'm trying to place this... is it Komsomolskaya?)

Interested in seeing what Moscow looked like in the late 1970s? Check out these pictures, scanned from a 1980 Moscow encyclopedia. Translations for the captions can be found here, for you non Russian-speakers. To me, the most poignant image was the one I've posted below. Anyone who has ever lived in Vladimir (where I spent last year) will be familiar with the Kurskii Vokzal (the Kursk Train Station) - this is where the train from Vladimir pulls into Moscow. Let's just say it doesn't quite look like this anymore. Well, the station looks just as 70s-Soviet-chic, but these days a ginormous modern shopping mall sits about 50 feet from the station's front wall. I'd say, right about where that orange car is.

The Kurskii Vokzal

And just because I'm mucking up my usually-about-Korea blog with all this Russia stuff, I figure I may as well go for the gold and give the die-hard Russophiles out there something to drool over:

Bibimpap, Galbi and Kimchi in the Deep South

Apparently, the Atlanta, GA area is a popular spot for Koreans to relocate to.

Atlanta, the home of CNN, Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines, is quickly emerging as a new Korean stronghold in the southern U.S. Following L.A., New York, Miami, and Virginia, Atlanta is becoming home to the next biggest Korean community. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of Koreans in Georgia was 30,000 in 2000. Including all the Korean international students, that number is thought to be more like 100,000-150,000 now. [read entire article]

Who knew? I'm just excited by the fact that when I return to the States I'm going to be living reasonably close to a source of my favorite Korean dishes. Woohoo!

Pagyesa

Today I had the brilliant idea of getting up early and going somewhere interesting. I actually managed to get up fairly early (which, if you know me, you'll know is a success in and of itself), but the weather was dismally dreary: overcast, wet and chilly. I spent the morning cleaning my apartment instead (oh, how exciting). Anyhow, the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds sometime in the early afternoon, so I decided that even though it was getting a little late in the day, I'd try my hand at getting up to Palgong Mountain by bus. The trouble was, while I knew which bus went to where I wanted to go on the mountain, I only knew of one stop where I could catch it - and unfortunately that stop was downtown. That turned out to be like going around your fist to find your thumb... but on the plus side, along the way I did learn exactly where I could catch the bus in a far closer-to-home location.

I rode the bus to the very end of the line, approximately one kilometer down from the Pagye Temple (Pagyesa)... and by down, I do mean down. That 1km hike up to the temple was quite steep. The weather, however, was beautiful at that point, and the colors of the leaves were even more spectacular, so I didn't mind the fact that I was struggling with each step. When I finally reached the temple, I realized something: I'd been there before, with Donna and Tom back in 2004. Not only had I completely forgotten, but I hadn't even included it in my write-up of that trip. Weird. But I recognized the location of the parking lot, and the rather unattractive new addition to the right of the temple. I also remembered the last time I was there, the three of us were worried that our rental car's engine was going to give out on that hill. Yeah, that hill I'd just hoofed it up. Whew.

Talk about some stunning oranges!


I liked the colors in this one.


This picture contains both a Buddha and a cat.
Can you see them? Click to see it large.


Palgong Mountain goes orange.

The temple itself is quite small, although very picturesque, and it didn't take me too long to explore it thoroughly. The following shots were taken inside the temple grounds.

Macro-closeup of the statue in the center of the shrine below.

On my way out of the temple at the same time as a group of middle-aged Korean men with very expensive cameras were on their way in. One of them asked if he could take my picture on the temple stairs... and then next thing I knew, I was being photographed by an entire photography club. They took one shot with my camera, which turned out quite well, although I suspect that most of the shots they got will involve me wearing a deer-in-headlights expression. They took my email address, and said they'll send me the pictures. If I get any, I'll let you know!