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I've been in Korea for nearly 3 years now. Recently I complained that the weather was too dry during the winter and too humid in summer, with horrendous pollution occasionally.

MargoZ joked that she hoped I wasn't working for the tourist board, and that made me think that maybe I was too harsh. Since not a lot of people come here for a holiday, I thought I would post some pics to show the contrasting images of Korea. Hope you enjoy them

The best way I can describe Busan is to say that it is an ugly city set in beautiful surroundings.

Like a lot of Asian cities it is changing fast, and hopefully they will start to think about long term architecture and not just "throw it up quick" buildings.

The view from my apartment



From the mountain back to my apartment



A postcard

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Busan really isn't too bad, it actually looks like some parts of Los Angeles! The view from your apartment looks a lot like my view, except that the "hills" are the Hollywood Hills in my case!

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Jim M.

Korean people follow the rules (frustratingly to the point of harm sometimes!) In July and August you go to the beach; in September you climb the mountains. It's too cold to go to the beach in September they say.
It's the last week in Aug - temp 35°C in the first pic - 1.2million people on the beach.
It's the first week in Sep - temp 35°C in the 2nd pic - mostly foreigners on the beach. The temperature stays in the high 20's right up until November.
If you try to ask a Korean student if they went to the beach at the weekend- they look at you with a puzzled expression and quote from the rule book "No teacher, it's too cold to go to the beach". "But it's 35 degrees outside", I say. "You can't go to the beach in September!" student claims with a look on his face like I'm crazy.
"Why?" says I. "It's too cold", says he. "But it's 35 degrees outside" says I
"But it's Spetember", says he. "And?" says I. "You can't go to the beach in September teacher" says he. "Because it's too cold?" I suggest......"Exactly" says he, glad that the crazy foreigner finally sees sense.
The upshot is that "crazy" foreigners get the beach to themselves for 10 months of the year...but stay clear of the mountains in September...it's like London during the January sales!

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

The view from my old apartment rooftop

And again from a mountain looking back

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Another postcard

And downtown at night

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Buddha celebration

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Springtime in Gyeongju

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Some pictures from Seoul

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Old houses


The Fish Market in Busan....be thankful you don't have Smellyvision!

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

A hard working man

A monk coming from the temple

And a prize for my hard work (OK this isn't a pic of Korea, but I don't often win anything!)

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

The subway entrance to Lotte Department Store

Parasailing Club - exciting-relaxing-terrifying all at once!

Modern life

Ancient Shamanist Totem Poles

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

You can't actually call what I do "Skiing", so here are some photos from a "coming down a mountain under the influence of gravity and trying not to break anything" trip.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

I keep meaning to go back to find out what this is!

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

I was invited by some of my students to the International Motor show....it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!!




There were some weirdos taking pictures of Dashboards and Wheels???

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

A cloud dragon eating the moon!

A Beach pub

Bizarre Plastic Surgery Advert

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

I hope these photos inspire you to visit Korea! We can have an Asian Stampboards Day Out.
"The World is a Book.....and If You Don't Travel.....You Read Only One Page"....I don't know where that quote comes from, but I like it

Hope you enjoy the photos. Cheers! from A Scotsman Abroad

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Don,very nice indeed,especially the ornamental gardens and the female delights at the motor show.....enjoy your beer
Ian

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I wish i knew then,what i know now.

Don, very nice. Thanks for posting them

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I buy too much, can't sell enough - but the information here is priceless.

Great little travelogue of Korea,and the color was good too.
but what was with the swastika in the pink and red roses

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Nunawading Stamp Fair
Last Sunday of Every Month - Jaycees Hall Silver Grove - Nunawading.

What we know infamously as a swastika is the symbol for Buddhist temples, and it's been in use for many hundred years, long before the Nazis stole it for their idiology. But I have to admit it does look odd seeing it flying from flagpoles

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

I really enjoyed your pictures and it brought back some interesting memories of the year I lived there. I can see the cardboard box composition of the cities still prevails as well as the blue-gray smoky haze over the hills... but I see tremendous improvements made over the thirty odd years since I was last there which is I hope a steady trend.

I lived in the Yong-bo-ri, Kwang-Ju area which was mostly farmland with that wonderful morning aroma so well associated with honey buckets and the "Land of the Morning Calm." I did get to wander around a lot and was in the Kunsan, Seoul, and Cheju-do areas. I honestly enjoyed the mix of ancient and new technologies intermixed so I would heartily recommend a vacation there for anyone wanting a unique experience especially away from the modern tourist attractions. For example, I used to travel around where I lived on a bicycle normally and often would find villages with traditionally dressed elderly men with the black horsehair hats wandering around in front of stores with a glass-bottle coca-cola dispensing machine in front. The dichotomy was amazing!

Komapsomnida Chengo!

Ernie

Cheers for the comments Ernie.
Jeju Island is probably the one place you would recognize as having changed the least. I can hardly imagine what it would have been like to live here 30 years ago. Korea has the fastest internet in the world, and I use it for work and to keep in touch socially with friends around the world. For my students, I think in the future I will be able to look back at this time as the point when average Koreans were able to travel and experience other cultures for the first time. I think it is a good time to be here.
You should come back for a holiday!

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

It looks so exciting, will definitely be added to my 'must visit urgently' places

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Bonfiregirl
I'll always remember the fifth of November

Some more pictures from a recent trip to Seoul

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Donald, great photos, thanks for posting them!

Just out of curiosity, what camera do you use?

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Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford

Fascinating

thanks

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Here to learn
Here to enjoy

Thanks for the comment, DCP23, I use a 6 year old Fuji Finepix S5000. It has been a great camera for me over the years, covered a lot of miles and taken a few knocks. As you can see from the picture of the Plaza where the martial art demonstration was taking place, I was a long way back. When I saw the chance to get some photos I put the camera on a wall and zoomed in. I didn't get the chance to up the number of pixels, so they were taken at only 1megapix. I've been thinking recently of buying a smaller one I can put in my pocket to carry around, but I can't justify spending too much as this one works fine. Any recommendations?

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Cheers, Kevin. As I mentioned on the "Aircraft and Stamps" thread, I was at the War Memorial Museum yesterday and the last few photos are of just one of the displays that take place every Friday afternoon. There were drumming displays, sword fighting displays, marching bands and others. At the end, the airforce, navy and army did a combined bayonet-rifle precision drill display that was breathtaking. There was so much going on that I didn't have enough time to go into the museum itself!

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Donald, thank you for the answer. No recommendations from me as I don't know much about photography anyway It's just that my camera got so old it needs to be replaced very soon so when I see very nice amateur photos such as yours I'm interested in the brand/model used to get an idea of the possibilities.

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Collecting stamps is the beginning of philately. Knowing about them is what really matters. Major R. N. Spafford

These pictures are just great...somehow I missed this thread when it first started and I totally take back my remarks about Scotsman abroad working for Korean tourist bureau

Glen and I spent a few days in Seoul a couple of years ago-fascinating to see such so much western glitz grafted onto a very traditional old asian foundation and to see the old and new juxtaposed everywhere.

We also went to the DMZ which was bizarre, poignant and downright scary in equal portions.

Definitely an interesting destination which I'd love to go back to.

I'm organizing photo folders this weekend, so here are more pics of Korea. A trip to Gyeongju.

The entrance to Bulguksa.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

The Guards

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Ancient Grumpy Old Men?

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

The city of Gyeongju is known as a 'Museum Without Walls'. Burial grounds and temples abound. I stopped off for a meal with some students between visiting Bulguksa and Seokkoram. Traditional Korean food is served up in many small bowls, along with makkoli (a rice wine, which looks terrible, but tastes pretty good).

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

A Korean friend and me enjoying a light lunch. The large brown bowl with the ladle is the rice wine.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

Seokkoram

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.

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It's good to shoot the breeze with like-minded people.