This Time in Seoul

On our way to Dongdaemun market, buildings become more and more intimidating, so much so that I tend to look straight ahead, choosing only the sound of my heels and the strength of my legs as a wonderful distraction from the shadows that they cast, wishing that the buildings would share the sky, not block it out. I looked up and saw this green sign, a shade of green that leads me to think that it was possibly constructed in the 50’s or 70’s. The tower which I call flowertower,  is located at Yangjae Flower Market. I don’t know why, but I love them both.

They remind me of something.

I have never been affected this deeply by flowers before. I mean, just look at them! I’m stunned and grateful. I even gently rubbed my nose and cheek against them. I feel as if I’m in love, seriously.
The shape, they look like animals when closed and burst with color when they open. Amazing.The woman at the stall let me buy some, I swear I would’ve been depressed had she not. I’m completely happy. I can hardly wait to wake up and see these beauties in my place!

Oh! Where can you find these? On my lunch break, I traveled to the largest flower market in Seoul: Yangjae Flower Market. It opened June 1991 and it is here that they have wholesale and retail flower markets. People gather here in the wee hours of the morning for the auctions. Here you will find a very large greenhouse, an arboretum as well as retail stalls having very kind and knowledgeable florists. I will feature orchids tomorrow. Enjoy!

Yangjae Flower Market
Subway line 3, stop: Yangjae
from there you could take a bus or a very short cab ride to the market. 

Just wanted to give you a little glance at a typical sidestreet in Sinchon. Thank goodness I do not live on this street but this area is pretty synonymous with bars and lots of restaurants. Don’t let this picture fool you into believing that Korea is some underdeveloped backwater country. Remember Korea is the  most connected country in the world and with that, as well as other economical and technological aspects, will be a force to be reckoned with in the very near future.

To my family, true friends and of course all of you who stop by this blog, I wish you all a very Happy New Year. I hope that this year will see you in good or better health, lots of love and laughter and most of all, gratefulness for the beauty that surrounds us of every second of our lives no matter where we are in the world. I just made a major decision yesterday and it was only after talking wtih my dear friend, Philippe, that I truly committed to it and visualized the end result. I’m so happy, focused and grateful. The year 2007 was great and 2008 will of course be even greater!   Thank you and God Bless you!

This was my Christmas spent in and around Samcheondong and Jongno. What beautiful colors, scents and shapes I witnessed yesterday. The door is always open and thankfully it was also open to me.  Can  you believe these colors just on the temple grounds?! Stunning. This particular temple educates westerners about Zen Buddhism at the weekend. Yours truly will be there this Saturday, hopefully with a less heavy heart and a clearer mind.

I finally made it to Heyri! I’d been planning to visit this village of art galleries, museums and architectural gems for over a month and today was the day. I’d read about this village and all that it has to offer and thought that it would be a great opportunity to acquire more photos for my ongoing Design project. So, I took a one and a half hour bus ride outside of Seoul. Hmm, to say that I froze my butt off would be an exxageration but it was COLD folks. December is big month for design here in Seoul! Great things are coming! I really do think that my next country of residence will have to have a temperature of 70-75 degrees everyday.

I walked around this village for three hours only to find galleries of interesting art but nothing of what I wanted and needed to find.  I took a chance, and well, all was not lost. I did meet a wonderful woman who happened to be the Director of Keumsan Gallery, Angie Lee.  She spoke impeccable French, comme moi et these potraits painted by Seo Young-a were still in the gallery. These paintings have soul, you can see that the artist clearly loves her subjects and give them a dignity that is rarely seen in some portraits of humans.  It made the trip to Heyri, on such a cold day, worthwhile. 

Yes, my next life will be filled with sunshine everyday and one or two lovely dogs, a great husband, and my two sons, et mon amant Brasilien (je blague!) et Catherine, et surtout et toujours beaucoup d’amour!!!!

These posters were the first to inspire me to hope to see more beauty on the streets and walls of Seoul.
Whenever I walk down the street where they “live” I like to stroll by and watch them shine. It’s like seeing old friends.

Met with a talented, young artist and spied these posters when we strolled around her campus, Hongik University. I took a lot of photos from different angles, the eyes wouldn’t leave me alone.

The bright yellow attracted me initially but then I saw three pastimes that are very important in Korea:
1. Text messaging
2. Eating
3. Playing games

Whew! Satiated after eating mandu, I walked through Insadong. There’s always lots of people in this area as it is full of beautiful pottery, art galleries, tea houses, etc. Today’s main attraction was a traditional Korean wedding festival of sorts. Here are some beautiful people that I saw there and want to share with you.