Winter here is cold, surprisingly cold for a latitude considerably closer to the equator than Victoria is. One morning last week I woke up to find everything, including my wet clothes hanging on the balcony to dry, frozen solid.




And last weekend, I found the time to check out one of Seoul's many remaining feudal palaces, most built about 400 years ago and most still well-maintained, albeit smaller than they once were due to various military occupations as well as urban growth. They are, on the whole, beautiful and especially serene places. The one I went to also had a lake that reminded me very much of home; there were ducks in the water and willows swaying in the wind along the edge:


When a king was born, the placenta from the birth was kept and buried under a stone monument, and some kind of mythical birth story was inscribed on the stone. What an odd thing to monumentalize....


A traditional door knocker for palace entrances:

One does get a sense of the history at the palaces, but the cement-block apartment buildings peeking over the walls at every horizon detract significantly from the experience, as does the faint sound of traffic.

Cho Long was my tour guide for the day. A wonderful girl, I must say.

And for this photo, taken at a subway terminal....

My theory: someone kidnapped Santa Claus and Mr. Peanut, and put them into Jeff Goldblum's teleportation device from The Fly. Korean Christmas was thus born!


Cho Long, in spite of height (a hair under five feet) and appearance, is in fact close to three years older than I am. We met at a blood donation clinic, as she jabbed my finger to the sound of my cowardly yelping in order to test my blood type. Times have since been very good, and she's even helping me learn how to cook, and speak, Korean. Not surprisingly, I've taken to the cooking much more quickly.

At any rate, I'd like to send season's greetings to all my family and friends and readers!

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