Life in Weihai

This dude make me some sweet pizza's. My students tried to get me into a Tai Chi class but the teacher was gone. This guy showed us his whole routine and then taught me a short sequence

Yes, in China you can pee on goldfish and feed live Chickens to Tigers!

Weihai

Some images of Weihai. Weihai was voted the most livable city in China, so its not the "real" China so to speak. Jinan will be much different. For the moment I am having alot of fun, getting to know my students and exploring the campus and city. The beach view is from my hotel room.

Ferry

Some images from the ferry from Incheon Weihai. It was 14 hours and had the obligatory drunk chinese guy with a radio dancing and asking us to drink. We got up early and saw the sunrise on the Yellow sea.

Images of Seoul

Here are some more images of Seoul. I took tons of random photos from the bus and I think this one of the flowers and woman is the best. I also like the contrast of this 600 year old gate with large impersonal glass highrises behind it. Since everyone is taking pictures, its easy to get shots of people taking pictures of stuff.

DMZ

Last thursday we went to the DMZ. It was really strange and surreal because it was at the same time a tourist attraction but also had armed guards and a very strict military atmosphere. There was even an amusement park for children. We were told that the red bridge had holes in it for guns in case the north came down the river. We also went into a tunnel that the north had dug, but cameras were not allowed. We were showed a propoganda film before entering that seemed to say that all was fine and the situation was completely peaceful and great. We got 107 feet from actually being on the other side of the DMZ before we hit a cement wall with landmines on the other side.

Seoul

Had the day to explore Seoul today. I found a very beautiful temple right near the hotel, then took the metro downtown and walked around the asian spectacle of consumption, and then got lunch. Luckily we had Rie (Japanese girl) who has been here many times before and knew how to navigate. Then we went to a palace that I forget the name of and saw the changing of the guards. Next we went up away from the city into the hills to a very peaceful buddhist temple.

Seoul2

Leaving...

I am leaving on monday with some other people in the program. We are going to drive up to SF and probably share a hotel room and then meet the others at the airport on Tuesday, when we will depart for Seoul. I'm not happy about packing and all of the little things I need to do and a general feeling like I'm forgetting something, but I'm following the rule that If I need anything I'll just buy it there.