Yeouido Ecological Park

Two weeks ago, while feeling the usual bout of restlessness that overcomes me ever so often, I decided to do some more exploring of Seoul.

Armed with my camera, and sketchbook I took the subway and got off at a station close to the Han River, thinking I would walk along its shore. However, the best days are the ones not planned. On my way to the river I stumbled across this little piece of nature in midst a city of development, and decided to spend the afternoon there instead.

What I love about this city is that you can find little havens like this, in the middle of a busy city!

Skyline of Seoul in the distance, creation of God in the forefront!^^

I thought this bridge looked so cool! I might paint this one day.

There were tons of weeping willows. My favorite tree!

Afternoon sun

I am so thankful I stumbled across this little part of nature. It was refreshing to spend the afternoon here sketching, reading the Word, and listening to music. Although I love the city life, for there is always much to do and much to see, I still love nature best. It is wonderful when you can find a way to have the best of both worlds, as I was that day.

At 한강 (Han River): Is fried chicken American?

Two days ago, a bunch of us Internationals and several Buddies (Korean students who help us adjust to Korean culture, etc.) went to the Han River. Somehow, I hadn't even registered that Seoul has a river, but of course it does! It makes complete sense that a city, centuries old, would have been built near a water source. Still, I wasn't quite prepared for the full effect of the river, it was HUGE! And it was beautiful (I think you say 아름다운 in Korean).

Rivers are a big part of city culture. You walk near the river, you bike near the river, you meet your friends near the river, you pick-nique near the river; Having lived in Innsbruck, near the Inn river, this culture is familiar to me, and seems to be a way of life in Seoul as well. However, the river in Tirol is a lot smaller than the Han river, and the city skyline is not quite so impressive. Here's a picture of the park we sat in.

The setting sun bathed everything in a beautiful warm light. Wish I'd had my watercolors.
However I did attempt to sketch this scene. Photo of my sketch below:

Yeah....still need to work on my sketching! It's definitely harder than watercolors! :)

Apparently the thing to do while you're enjoying the warm evening sun, is to order fried chicken and have it delivered to where you are sitting. We ordered 8 people's worth of chicken, and ate every piece of it. It was delicious! (맛있었어요! I think that's 'it was delicious' in Korean) Our order also came with plastic pick-nique blankets to sit and eat on. Very convenient! However eating over the face of some Korean celebrity was a little unsettling!^^ To illustrate:

The chicken had somewhat of a familiar taste, after all, chicken will be chicken. Yet it definitely had a non-American flair to it. So it leaves me with the question, that I would love to know the answer to: Is fried chicken American? Considering Pizza (a very American meal) is NOT American, there is a distinct possibility that friend chicken will also turn out to be from somewhere else. Maybe from S. Korea?

Most would probably say, "Who cares about food, when you're in South Korea! There's bunches of more interesting things to do!" However, I would have to reply, that I love food, and Korean food is so different, and so delicious, I think I will spend most of my time here eating! (And starting to go to the gym to make up for it!)