240 hours in South Korea : Seoul & Jeju Island : Asia

Shedding Light

Mar 24

Written By

I've been with my wife, Hannah, for 9 years. After getting married last April, it was long past due for me to make the pilgrimage to her motherland. Last month, we traveled to Seoul and Jeju Island where I fell in love with South Korea. Koreans are a proud, resilient, peaceful people who know how to eat well and take care of each other. Their culture is rooted in centuries of tradition having only really modernized (in a huge way) in the recent era. There is an appreciation and reverence for one another built in to the body language and verbiage of every day life. The former president, Lee Myung-bak, told Barack Obama that his country's biggest educational challenge was that "parents are too demanding." When waiting for the subway, neat lines are formed on either side of the train door. Those on board get out without being rushed by people trying to get in. People sit in circles with one another and serve the oldest (and wisest) first. It's always a communal atmosphere. All of the food takes time. A year to make the fermented soybean paste which is a base to so much of their cooking. A week to make a glass of makgeolli which accompanies many meals. An entire day to make a broth for one of the staple stews. There's so much love built in to everything they do. It must be working as they're said to have the longest lifespan on the planet - 90.8 years. I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking, but I'd encourage a stop in Korea on your next trip to Asia. It's an amazing place. All images taken on the fly with the Sony RX100 IV point and shoot camera. (Hint: You dont need to bring a bulky dSLR on vacation)