Here's a set of pictures from the last two weeks or so. Included are: a kite-flying trip to the beach, a soccer game, and Hallowe'en at work. Enjoy!
Up until quite recently I thought the only crunch I was going to experience in Korea was the one that sits atop the gloriously chocolately “Crunch King,” (pictured) a Cornetto type ice-cream that tastes even better than it sounds. However, things changed dramatically last month when I discovered I was thirty pounds down on my monthly cash transfer to my home account.
Since then the Won has been on a (mostly) downward spiral. My first remittance of 1 million won bought me a cool £500 sterling back in August but that same amount now is worth little more than £400. In fact, the currency is so volatile that if I check the exchange rate online before I leave for the bank I’m likely to get a different rate entirely once I get there.
The situation has gotten to the point where I’ve stopped sending back money entirely. Instead, I’ve decided either to keep the money in my Korean account in the hope that things won’t get much worse, or blow all my pay check on a Crunch Kings and electronics. A tough choice and if I know myself (which I think I do) the latter will prevail.
Still, at least Korea has President Lee Myung Bak to steer it through these troubled times, a man whose sole contribution to the global recession debate has been something along the lines of “we must not lose sight of free market economics.”
In this uncertain climate it looks like Sarah and I may have to put our planned trip of “five or sixth months or so” at the end of our contract on ice, having most definitely counted all our chickens before they hatched.
Yesterday, I was invited to do the opening performance for the Korea Contemporary Art 1000 Artists Exhibition, held in the Danwon Arts Center in Ansan City, just south of Seoul.
This performance was called "Here & Now " and was a symbolic tea ceremony to celebrate the passion and creativity of the 1000 artists who joined together for this exhibition.
The artist rolls a circular black table symbolizing "now" until it intersects with a square black box symbolizing "here".
At the meeting point of "here and now", the artist inscribes these words in Korean and English and then begins to set up the table to perform a ritual tea ceremony.
A square black silk cloth is laid under the round table, and a square gold teatray,and jars of various spices are laid out.
The artist creates a multicultural and fragrant blend of tea and five different spices that are labelled (in Korean and English) as "courage", "passion", "persistence", "self-belief" and "audacity".
These spices represent some of the qualities that artists need to continue to create uplifting and inspiring art in a world that is all too often focused on destructive and materialistic endeavours.
The teapot is marked with an infinity sign, symbolizing the infinite power of human creativity and the infinite power of the "now" moment.
Thus the tea is called "infinitea", and the audience members are all invited to drink the tea to share in the special energy of the creative "now" moment.
You can see a video below:
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