I know I haven't been around very much over the last several weeks. There are times when I feel like I have nothing to write about, since the routine is the same pretty much every day.

Two days ago marked my fourth month in Korea. This month has gone by so fast. The second term has gone by so fast.

* I visited the Seoul Museum of Art. Matisse and the Fauves: Color of the Century is on display.
* One of my students performed a miniconcert for me and two of her classmates this past week. She began lessons in November. The smile on her face as she played was priceless. There is a joy in playing music that few will ever experience. She has that joy.
* The writing club is slowly taking off. I have two groups that I work with. Today we look at some editing techniques so their writings will improve. Next week they will read their writings.

I want to add more to this, but the words aren't there. Some nights I sleep better than others. Last night I was up three times and had a rough time getting back to sleep. An unsettled mind isn't going to find rest when rest is needed the most.

I don't write much about the single life. Maybe I don't want to go there. Maybe I should go there.

I've heard people talk about "how hard" it is to be married. Then again, I hear the same from my Korean students about "how hard" it is to speak English. No one ever talks about being strong enough to rise to the challenge of marriage or of speaking in a new language.

Mindset is the key. I've told my students that if all we focus on is "how hard" or "how difficult" something is, Sir Edmond Hillary would never have climbed Mt. Everest. He saw the challenge, prepared for it, and rose to the occasion, climbing to the summit of the world's tallest mountain.

I've heard the divorce rate in America is hovering around 47-50 percent. In Korea, men fear divorce, and the divorce rate is increasing. People fear relationships.

There are nights when I am trying to sleep and it weighs so heavily on my mind that I am 41 and single. I'm asked why I am not married. All I can say is that I have never met the right person. I've never met the right girl. Psychologically, this is crushing me, and the enthusiasm of the hunt is gone.

The reason why the divorce rate is so bloody high is that bad advice has been given and taken, and it has messed up a lot of lives. They didn't wait for Mr. Right. They took Mr. Right Now... and a friend of mine nearly killed herself as a result. It will be a while before she files for divorce.

No one shares my belief in the concept of "the right one." I've seen the end result of this, and I want no part of it. It's not about perfection. It's more important than that. I chatted briefly with someone last night that attempted suicide three times because she doesn't know where she stands in the eyes of her boyfriend. She says she loves him, and she has given him three children. She's been engaged to him three times, then he breaks up with her when she tries to kill herself. She has a lot of fear, and she has a lot of selfishness. She hated it when I told her "If you love him, then..." She said she loved him, and got mad at me for making this statement.

No one loves anymore. It's all about the hormones. Sex and love are the same thing. There is nothing special about any of it any more. It's all cheap, and if it costs a human life, well, WGAF??? A person can go out and pick up any person he or she wants to, get crazy, and in the morning, when they wake up alone, he or she can go right back out the next night and find someone else. Who cares??

And now I will show you the most excellent way... I Corinthians 12:31

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 8Love never fails... I Corinthians 13

1Follow the way of love... I Corinthians 14:1

This is all the advice one needs to make a relationship work. Love is N*O*T sex. God is love. Walk in the way of God. Even if you walk alone.

Better to be alone than to be married to a mean, bitter, cantankerous spouse who makes your life such a burden that the grave looks inviting. I hear that I am a nice guy, but the woman who says this ends up marrying a mean, bitter, cantankerous (one who is difficult to deal with) husband, also known as "Mr. Right Now."

And someone asks me why there is sadness in my eyes...

overdawn (c) 2006 James Heald
taken that Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, South Korea

Sentry Duty at Gyeongbokgung
(c) 2006 James Heald

Gyeongbokgung - (c) 2006 James Heald

Gyeongbokgung: southest corner of the palace (c) 2006 James Heald

Bukaksan - (c) 2006 James Heald

Bukaksan II - (c) 2006 James Heald

All images taken with a Canon PowerShot A-85 camera, with an 11x digital zoom and four megapixels. Color balance corrected in Adobe PhotoShop.

Sorry I haven't been around lately. Lots on my mind..

I'm organizing a creative writing club for the students at the institute. Among the goals I have in mind for the club are:

* improve their writing skills
* improve their vocabulary
* overcome their fear of speaking English
* have more interaction with the foreign teacher, as well as work with students of other levels and classes

What is one more blog??? Check out Seoulman5. I'm still working on it.

I'll be back...

The university professor challenged his students with this question, "Did God create everything that exists?" 

 A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!"

 "God created everything?" the professor asked.

 "Yes sir," the student replied.

 The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil."  The professor was quite pleased and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

 Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?" 

 "Of course," replied the professor.

 The student stood up and asked, "Professor does cold exist?"

 The professor replied, "Of course it exists.  Have you never been cold?"

 The students snickered at the young man's question.

 The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist.  According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat.  Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy.  Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat.  Cold does not exist.  We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat. 

 The student continued.  "Professor, does darkness exist?"
 
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
 
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir.  Darkness does not exist either.  Darkness is in reality the absence of light.  Light, we can study, but not darkness.  In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color.  You cannot measure darkness.  A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it.  How can you know how dark a certain space is?  You measure the amount of light present.  Am I not correct?  Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."  
 
Finally, the young man asked the professor.  "Sir, does evil exist?"
 
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said.  We see it every day.  It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man.  It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world.  These manifestations are nothing else but evil." 
 
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself.  Evil is simply the absence of God.  It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.  God did not create evil.  Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart.  It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

"From New Moon to New Moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, I will draw all flesh before me," says the Lord of Hosts. Isaiah 66: 23

It is Solnal, First Day of the calender for the Year of the Dog in the Chinese horoscope. Like the ancient Hebrews, the lunar cycle is the foundation for setting dates. Those who have read the ancient books of the bible know how important the moon was in regard to their festivals and feast days. Among them, when a new moon was on the Sabbath, it was celebrated as a High Sabbath, a very special time to the Hebrews.

For those familiar with the prophecy of Isaiah spoken of in Isaiah 66, the keeping of the new moon and the Sabbath is a cycle that will never draw to a close. This scripture is focused on a time in the future, after sin has been destroyed, and all who survive their personal struggles with sin and have overcome sin through the blood of the Lamb will live on throughout eternity. YHWH will fulfill His promise of being the God to the people who love Him, who have tasted and seen that yes, the Lord of Hosts is good, indeed.  

Those who hate God, who never learned to trust Him, who refused His offer to taste and see, who refused His offer of "come, let us reason together," who have ultimately turned their backs to Him and walked after false gods and selfish desires, and who put their faith in lies, deceit, and ignorance will not survive to see the renewing of all things at the end of time as we know it. On Solnal, the First Day after the flames have consumed the wicked, the righteous will walk in their ashes, and Eden will be restored.

Today, many are praying to their ancestors a blessing and an offering. This day I remember where I come from, and thank my First Father, YHWH, for all that He has done to restore me into His kingdom through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I have visited the ancient palaces of kings and emporers. They are indeed beautiful, but they do not compare to the throne room where my First Father resides and rules over the universe. I have tasted. I have seen. Truly the Lord God of Hosts is worthy to be praised.

"Now the hour of His judgmend has come..." Revelation 14:7 What verdict will you render on God's behalf?

Amen.

October 24, 2005 was just yesterday. In the last three months I have:

* had kimchi, kimbob, bebimbop, and some other strange food
* taught four adult classes in conversational English
* learned my way around one of the largest cities in the world
* found out why one of my closest friends in the world is no longer living with her husband
* spoken to the same friend on the telephone...
* been reconciled to a friend I haven't heard from in over three years
* celebrated three American holidays, and am preparing to celebrate my first local national holiday - Chinese New Year is coming this weekend
* set a new record for having a cold - six weeks and still counting
* shopped Itaewon
* walked Insa-Dong
* haunted Jonggak most weekends
* read Korean poetry (English translations)
* visited an Asian palace (as spectacular as you see them in the movies)
* walked and photographed the streets of Seoul
* walked Cheogyecheon
* gotten lost on the metro (once)
* had a number of dreams come to pass
* photographed the Han River

I could go on, but it's late. I need to get up early, I have papers grade and attendance records to process before midterm.

This has been the fastest three months I have ever experienced.

Somewhere out in America, it's starting to rain
Could you tell me the things you remember about me
And have you seen me lately?

Have You Seen Me Lately
Counting Crows

Outside it's America
outside it's America
America...

Bullet the Blue Sky
U2

I haven't been around very often over the last week or so. I have looked over my subscriptions, tried to visit every so often, but I'm zoning... going through a phase where I don't feel like reading, and the writing isn't coming easy like it should. Every day I spend six hours a day with people. In four of my classes, I work with students from the book in conversational English. I'm at a point to where I want to get away from words for a while.

www.lenemarlin.com

http://www.rockchicksradio.com/ - sometimes there's a language problem, but plays a very wide selection of female artists, including some foreign artists I've never heard of.

http://www.radiorivendell.com - hasn't worked for me for a few days. Music from video games, movie soundtracks... perfect for a night of heroic adventure role play.

We've come to that part of the year when I announce my top five favorite movies in 2005. Unlike last year, this year's selection was rather easy to make. They should be on DVD by now, so check them out. You will have a great time.

A heavily fictionalized account of the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin at the end of the 12th century. I purchased the deluxe edition yesterday and watched the movie for the fourth time. Of interest is a feature called Pilgrim's Road. Turn it on and watch the movie. It will tell you when key events took place, like the battle of Hattin, depicted in the film. The second DVD will have a "History vs. Hollywood" segment as well.

It tried too hard to be quirky, but still, I liked this movie. I'm waiting for the DVD, and already have the soundtrack. The two songs by Tom Petty alone make it worth the price of the CD.

This movie was better that Star Wars III.

I plan to read the books next month. I'm still not over my fixation with the LORT movies. I've not read the books, and was told that this was rather dumbed down in certain respects by someone who has read them. If that is the case, then it was only to make it more easily marketable by Disney. Still, I thought it was a very good movie. Nothing too scary is in it, and should have been given a PG rating.

This was fun. Also, it had some rather amazing visuals. Make sure you sing along with the dolphins during the opening number.

Namdaemun - South Gate to the old city of Seoul

Namdaemun

I spent the final hours walking the streets of downtown Seoul. My first stop before heading to Jonggak was Namdaemun.

Namdaemun - 5:30 p.m.

It is Number One on the list of Korean national treasures.

It was the main gate in the fortress wall of Seoul. The name, Namdaemun, means "Great South Gate" and was the south gate to the ancient capitol. It was constructed during the Joseon Dynasty, in 1398, and rebuilt in 1448. It is the largest gate in Korea.

Namdaemun - two second exposure

Namdaemun - 5:45 p.m.

I arrived a few minutes before they turned the lights on.

Detail of the top of the structure.

A 1634 text called "Jibongyseou" claims this lettering was done by Prince Yangnyeong. I don't know what the translation is.

Tomorrow I will have pix from the rest of my walkabout. Happy New Year!