Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Night Ski/Snowboard


Went snowboarding for the second time in my life. We went from 1am to 3am. It was great.

We only went on the "difficult" run... at first I was like, "Hey guys, you remember I've only done this once before, right? Are you sure I should be going on this one?"

But it worked out. By the end of the night, I was doing the most difficult slope with no problem... if a bit slower than my friends... but I did have my s-turns down and I was getting up to pretty good speed.

That's how it's always been with me. I pick things up pretty quickly, but never seem to "master" them. Sort of a mediocre Jack-of-all-trades. Also, I've discovered that if I want to learn something, it's best to try doing the most difficult thing first. Without the challenge I don't get better.

Anyway, here are a few grainy pics taken with my little point and shoot at 1600 ISO. Hopefully this is the start of my return to photography.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I paid basically $35 for the whole trip... gear rental and lift ticket. My friends had the hook-up.

PS it's all man-made snow. So it was icy... and my knees and butt hurt today.











Saturday, December 12, 2009

I'm Alive


Hey everyone. I'm alive and well. I've just been a bit busy. So busy I haven't been able to pursue my favorite hobby... photography. I keep carrying my camera around with me, but never get a chance to take it out and shoot. The weather is cold, so there haven't been any interesting outdoor activities.

I've been busy planning a trip to Japan. I've also been meeting up with a lot of great friends. Some who I haven't seen in years and suddenly they show up in Korea, it's amazing.

I've also taken up learning an instrument. When I was younger I used to play the flute. I love it's sound. I got a lot of teasing in middle school, but I stayed with my instrument. Unfortunately I didn't have a good flute and didn't have the money to buy a new one, so I eventually gave up playing. However, I now possess the financial means to continue my musical pursuit. I've also found an excellent teacher.

Christmas season is here. It's a strange and somewhat sad time. This will be the 3rd Christmas I've missed with the family. I have no real plans as of yet. Maybe a fancy dinner with friends... I'm not sure.

Last week I made "gingerbread" houses with my students. Everything sounded great, until I learned that cake frosting and graham crackers don't exist in Korea. So with some quick thinking and a trip to costco (yes, they have costco here, no, costco didn't have cake frosting or grahams) we used cookies and peanut butter instead. The kids loved it and I have peanut butter hand-prints on my shirt to prove it.

Some interesting people I've recently met... a Korean who grew up in Malaysia and who now works in Korea for a logging company, a neurosurgeon from Uzbekistan who is doing medical research, a Korean concert pianist who changed her major and studied in Germany for 9 years to become a doctor and then decided she didn't want to be a doctor, a Korean who grew up in New York and who looks exactly like my friend Ko-Ko from University, the really cool husband of my friend who I haven't seen in 8 years, a fashion magazine writer who I showed one of my favorite secret coffee shops, an artist who makes lovely postcard sized ink drawings, and many many more...

Stay tuned for photos. I'm going through camera withdrawal and won't be able to resist much longer. Even if they are dumb pictures taken in my apartment.







Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hanbok Fashion


I don't know what the deal is... but I've suddenly had the opportunity to shoot all this fashion show stuff. A friend of mine invited me to a Korean Hanbok Fashion show. When I arrived, I discovered there was no seating left and I would have to stand in a very awkward location behind all the camera guys. Well, I called up my friend and she had somehow accidentally met one of the designers, who had then invited her to sit in the front row! The invitation was extended to me... so I met the designer as well... and asked if I could bring a few more friends up front. So in the end, we all got front row seats. It was an amazing hookup. Here are a few pics from the show.

And apparently I sat behind a very famous internationally known fashion designer (who wears the same outfit to every show and paints his head). I took his picture. The funny thing is, I left the show... drove across town... turned down a narrow one way road and who should I see... but the very same designer getting out of his tinted-window van and heading into Baskin Robbins for an ice-cream. Amazing.

And my favorite dress... number 19... what I like to call "the broken buzz lightyear dress".














Sunday, October 18, 2009

Seoul Fashion Week - Day 2


Got a lot of good shots for these shows. Sorry for all the large size photos for those of you with slower connections. But I had to post them big and I couldn't decide which ones to keep.