This is the real New Year for Asia. We'll have to run to E-Mart on Wednesday and see how cheap the Hanboks have gotten. Then we'll take our traditional Korean family picture.
I'm reading a book called "Korea's Place in the Sun" and it's an interesting read. One king had a son that was schizophrenic, and he knew that his son's mental problems could lead to the downfall of Korea, so he told him to kill himself. The son had himself locked in a rice chest and died after 13 days. That's a huge quandry- risk the entire nation against one person? The king's grandson eventually took over and wasn't too forgiving about that.
This map is really cool. It's the shape of the "Hermit Kingdom", and that's exactly what it was until quite recently. They wanted nothing to do with anyone here in Korea. They didn't want to trade and they didn't want to let anyone in. Sometimes as a "kojangey" here in Korea, I wonder if there still aren't some of those feelings. It's not like I can blend in and sneak around. The first time they try to serve me fish, they'll know it's me!
Our neighbors on the 18th floor dropped off some fruit in a basket for us. What a nice gesture. They're great people, too. I really like the asian pears and tangerines- but I can't get into the parsimmons. Just a little too weird for me. I need to write more on here, but it's wearing thin on me since we don't do as much as we used to with the weather like it is. It's been snowing a lot here lately.
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