Thursday 27 May 2010

May days

Apologies for not posting as frequently in the past weeks. I have no excuses other than the fact that I've become consumed with the daily happenings here in Korea.

Needless to say, it's been an interesting month on many levels. I made some decisions this week that might later change certain aspects of my life. It took me a long time to come to these decisions... but I think sometimes, all we need is one moment of clarity to finally just do it. And I'm glad I did.

One of these decisions involves what I plan to do once I'm back in Toronto. All I know is that I want to continue writing. It's the one thing that I take comfort in, and it's certainly a creative outlet. It's stressful to think that I might struggle to get back into the industry, but I'm willing to battle it out. They say if you want something badly enough, you should just keep chasing it, right? I just hope I don't have to chase for too long.

A bright spot in Korea is that one of my articles got published in a magazine. I'd submitted a story about my trip to India in 2008, and Speakeasy magazine in Seoul featured it in their May/June issue. I'm pretty proud of it, as they also included a link to the blog in it.

As the weather's been warming up, I've been spending a lot of time in parks and along the riverside in Seoul. Though not nature in its truest form, (Seoul's a city with manmade landscapes built into it), I've enjoyed walking through the trails and finding moments of serenity among chaos.


The photo above was taken on Buddha's Birthday as we celebrated with a picnic along the Han river in Seoul. It's the Seoul skyline with Namsan Tower in the distance on the far right. The bright glow above the city is a result of light pollution. Still, it's a beautiful sight, isn't it? Yeoinaru park along the Han has to be one of my favourite spots in Seoul, by far.


The above shot was taken at Seoul's Olympic Park. We spent a rainy saturday wandering aimlessly through the park's trails and hidden gems... one of which was this beautiful stream. Everything looked so lush and green -- it truly reminded me of Goa's scenery during the monsoons. It's definitely another one of my favourite spots, and I know I'll be frequenting it a lot, as my time in Seoul draws to a close. I feel a sense of comfort around Olympic Park's landscape.

Other than that, life goes on. Watching the news is pretty stressful these days, as the North and South continue to blame each other and make threats. I've often said that I don't know how to feel about all this... more fear or less anxiety. In any case, I'm taking my cue from the citizens of Korea and trying to maintain a sense of calm. No use stressing over something out of my control, right?

Until then, I'll continue to wander through my favourite haunts in the city, enjoying solace and the hidden gems in this country I've called home for the past year.

xo
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1 comment:

  1. It's nice that you have something you want. I have no idea what to do once I'm back in Vancouver but writing might be something worth checking out since I already have a screenplay in pre-production by an indie filmmaker.

    What was your position back home?

    ReplyDelete

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