Saturday afternoon ramblings

I'm sitting in front of 학생문화관 (Student Union Building). As I sit on the wooden benches situated in front of the building, a soft breeze plays with escaped wisps of my hair. The air is void of humidity, and thus quite comfortable to the touch of my skin. Sunlight breaks through the branches of exotic trees enclosing me in their shadow. Because it is Saturday, there are only a few other students walking across campus. I wanted to get outside, so I came here. I miss nature. I think that is what I miss most about my life in Austria. I have found no other country in which civilization and nature are so co-existant. However, there is nature here too. You just have to look a little harder. I think I will go to the Han River again soon. The vast expanse of the river is calming.

I have only been in Korea for little more than two weeks. It seems much longer! I have already learned so much about this country, myself, and most importantly God. I am thankful for this, and can't quite imagine how much more I will learn in the next three months. But I will, for there is always more to learn! I'm realizing this even in my courses. It worked out so I could only take three courses. This is okay, since it's the minimum of credits I need to take. My courses are 19th Century British Novel, Post-Colonnial Literature, and Korean Ceramics.

My two pinch bowels on the shelf for drying.

The professor teaching the literature courses has a unique perspective on English literature, I'm enjoying his lectures a lot, because they offer a non-native English speaker's perspective on English literature, history and culture. I am finding that English literature taught in English countries can be very biased. Korean Ceramics as well, has proved to be a fascinating course. Art is something I've always done. I'm not bad at it, but neither am I great. I just DO it. I'm especially aware of this with ceramics. Clay does NOT respond to my hands the way paint does, and this IS a bit frustrating. Perhaps I will learn to mold it into the forms I imagine in my mind...I don't know, but I do know that it is fun and poses a challenge! And that is what art should be!

Close up of the dragon fly pinch bowel. There are so many dragonflies around campus. It's quite fascinating, considering they are rather rare where I come from!