Friday, November 16, 2007

A little of this and a little of that...

First of all, here is my favorite local tree. Now, I will admit that I have never actually hugged the tree or shown my affection towards it in any manner- however, it is the first and last tree that I see when I arrive on and depart the military base every day. I will admit to always glancing it's way to check it out while I'm waiting in traffic. It seems so peaceful to me- almost like a sentry tree guarding and welcoming at the same time.

I think it has a nice open gesture of welcome and the branches are artistically arranged.
I live right past the group of highrise apartment buildings that you can see in the photo.


Some pretty leaves...




I've always thought that nature gives us the glorious display of vividly painted leaves as a parting gift before the drab, cold winter arrives. Almost like an apology and a colorful memory to warm us during the bitter cold dark winter days.


AND.. one of the little mysteries of living in Korea.. I often come home to find 'notices' posted in the elevators.
*click on the photo for a larger image.

Usually there is a 'date' of start and finish on them- so, at least I know when the 'situation or event' is supposed to happen. However, the only problem is: THEY ARE ALWAYS WRITTEN in KOREAN! I'm not the only American living in the building and it's too bad that they can't translate the messages 'if it's important.' My apartment building is a complex of 10 buildings over a 3 block area and each building has at least 19 floors and 3-4 apartments on each floor.

But, I've always hoped that if it's something really BIG that maybe I'll NOTICE whatever it is that is going on.

I've never seen this one- it has drawings on it it. It has something to do with a phone and I think something to do w/ food??

5 comments:

susanc said...

The photos of the changing leaves are gorgeous! The leaves where I live are now changing and it looks beautiful. This is my favorite time of year.

Femmy said...

Is there a school near you where you can take Korean lessons? How about korean/English dictionary? THat must be hard living in a city and not know the language.Nice blog.

iwouldratherbeknitting said...

Oh, Femmy.. I really don't have the natural knack to learn languages- especially not Korean.. it's in symbols..

(I did learn to read and speak quite a bit of Italian when I lived there though-- it was normal letters and that helped me so much, I think?)

AND, I seem to be able to get my point across.. I've drawn to explain what I want, I've gestured, and you 'bargin prices' on the calculator.. all stores/vendors have calculators.

I can say: Thank you, and how much does this cost in Korean. That will get you a long ways here and I'm nice and most people do try to help me- if I need it. :D

Alas, I really, really don't have a gift for languages.. but, I figure it balances out- because I can do other things. :D

SUSANC.. The leaves are so pretty, aren't they?

tanya-merp said...

Hi! I'm just hear to say - don't be afraid of the Korean alphabet! It's not actually "symbols"--well, not any more than our alphabet is. It's not Chinese characters - it's completely phonetic and logical. And it's actually much, much easier to read than our alphabet. I learned to read it in a week when I was 12. Mind you, I still don't speak Korean - being able to sound out the words doesn't equal knowing what they mean. But it is *so* easy to learn how to sound out the words. And there are so many English loan-words in Korean (and I'm sure you've picked up a handful of Korean words by now, too), that sounding words out can actually help. I'm 125% positive that you can learn to read Korean - and what a great opportunity to really have it stick, with Korean around you every day!

tanya-merp said...

P.S. I've been enjoying your blog, and all your gorgeous and intriguing pictures of Seoul. I haven't been back since 1996, so a lot has changed!