Welcome to 2010 //Sokcho, South Korea

2010 began in a small port city on the East Coast in-sync with two Korean lads, Aubrie, my Korean partner-in-crime, and Marco, a German couch surfing comrade who stopped through Korea on his move from Germany to Australia. Sokcho is enclosed between the East Sea and Saurak Mountain. The streets are small and the buildings not so high. The city is quiet at night and the white mountain caps are never far from sight.

New Year's Eve was Korean style eating galbi and sitting on plastic stools with a grill in the middle. Pick your meat from the cooler and cook it at your table. The Korean BBQ and drinks lead to companionship with the young Korean-Americans at the table next to us, as well as the adjummas running the restaurant who were sharing drinks with us, telling me about there love lives, and receiving booty taps from a certain light haired someone. ;)

Up at 6:30 AM January 1^st 2010. We made our way to the beach to catch the first sunrise of the decade. The radiant colors from the sun ahead and the white caps in the crisp blue water below offered a beautiful beginning to the year ahead.

Sokcho's quaintness enchanted us all. On our second day we woke up to heavy snowflakes gracing the ground. By the time we had our morning coffee and toast the land was painted white. From our first step outdoors we started a battle with snowballs that lasted all weekend; it was every man for himself.

//Seaside Temple//

At the beach, the playing boys resulted in oranges lost at sea. Six wet shoes and frozen feet were the result of the rescue mission.

Toes were warmed and egos boosted while playing like kids at the bating cages.

The long weekend included two noraebang excursions. One painful due to the tone deafness of our ears, the other due to the snoring coming from the Korean in the corner.

We climbed a bit in Sauraksan. The land was white and bitter cold, but the sun was shining and the clear blue sky encouraged us higher and higher.

[marco sets the scale, and he is one tall German!]

Sokcho's escape from the city was a perfect beginning to the New Year. With high hopes for 2010, we headed back to Seoul with a love for the small wonderland placed between the mountain and sea.

Christmas in Korea

T'was the night before Christmas, and I was 7,000 miles away from home in a land where no Christmas dinner is complete without kimchi. So what are the 외국인 to do~

*Force your students to sit on Santa's knee (aka my director's knee) and smile for the camera

*Enjoy a Christmas cake and a beer at the local western bar

*Go bowling and make the losers buy dinner (that being me and Aubrie)

*Sip tea at a traditional tea house in Insa-dong while birds flutter above your head

*Christmas dinner // North Korean style mandu

*Practice your spin move on the Ice Skating Rink at Gwanghwamun while a blizzard swept through Seoul

*Sing a sweet mix of Korean and Western music in a noraebang. A tambourine dance and wicked rendition of Spice Girls “Wannabe” surely top the charts

*Finish the night by trying every Soju Cocktail on the menu. Some prefer pineapple, some kiwi, others projectile. It's all a personal preference. ^^

Although very far from home, the holiday was spent with good friends and noteworthy affairs.

Truly a memorable Christmas! ^^

fresh from the kiln

The beginner course at Maru & An Ceramics Studio has been completed. Here are the results from the first half of my studies. //Larger pieces are still to be fired//

[coil/asymmetrical vase/carved design]

[slab building]

[slab plates decorated with three different Korean techniques]

[slabs manipulated with stones, sticks, and soda powder; then formed or carved]

[the cupcake, which makes all the Koreans laugh // dedicated to Mara Theophila]

And now I move on to a sore wrist from hours spent mixing clay up and down, and finding my center on the wheel.

here.there.everywhere.

bits and parts of Korea these green eyes have seen

in progress....

the latest work [in progress] from the basement studio on Hagwon-ga....

My final project before graduating to the wheel was to be something I design and make using the learned hand building techniques, and I could not seek the assistance of my teacher. Well, I designed it, and then changed the design twelve times during the building process. I also heavily relied on my teachers clay wisdom.

But it's still standing. We will have to see what a final tier and fire does to it.

산 & 도자기

Wolchul-San National Park

Wolchul-san was the mountain destination this weekend. Sporting headlamps the mountain trekking began at 5 AM. Slow and steady was the motto for the hike because of the men left behind last time on Jiri-san. We reached the suspension bride for sunrise. The bouncing, orange bride spans over a deep valley and paddy fields in the distance.

The sun rose and we took in the beautiful warm colors and glowing trails. As we approached the peak of the mountain a billowing black cloud consumed the sky and dropped the first snowfall on us. From this point on I was pretending I was climbing Mount Everest. The wind was whipping around, the snow was sticking, we even had some hail.

[when the snow was still beautiful and friendly]

[the sky opened on the paddy fields]

[Team B coming down the grass field seeking victory]

Team B stuck together through the slips and the twists with a bit of makali and cucumbers to aid us on the mountain. After the peak we charged along the ridge for a few more hours. At the bottom of the mountain was a quiet temple and warm restaurant. We drank as much coffee and tea as possible. Teams exchanged stories of where we were when the black cloud took over.

Yeongam Pottery City

Before going back into Seoul we stopped in Yeongam at the Gurim Village to check out the areas famous ceramic work. We were lead in a pottery play session were we all tried our hand at coiling and slab work.

[teacher/sun-sang-nim]

[our to-ja-gi work]