I browsed through my photos and chose the memories that really impressed me. Here are some of my favorite images.
A Good Omen: My Initials — While in Beijing, in search of the party district, Sanlitun, I rode a city bus to an unfamiliar area. The bus stop was closer to my accommodation than the subway station, which is why I rode it in the first place. I asked for directions, but nobody that I spoke with could speak English. Frustrated, I located the subway entrance and I went underground to board the train. Once I figured out how to get to Sanlitun, I rode the subway there and upon exiting the subway station at Sanlitun, the first thing I saw was this guy’s hat. I had been lost, but I found myself in that moment. His hat was a good omen. LAW. Those are my initials.Peace — Take My Picture At the time I was living in Iksan and I missed Daegu — a larger metropolitan city with an amusement. Feeling nostalgic I decided to take a trip to the amusement park I visited with friends my first year in Korea. I rode rollercoasters and enjoyed my day off. As I snapped photos of the park, I crossed paths with this young girl. No words were exchanged between us, but she sensed that I wanted to capture images of my trip so she posed for me and I snapped her image. And just like that a memory was made. She turned and joined her classmates who were on a field trip and I went on my way.Saturday Hiking Club My colleague, James, invited me on hiking trips organized by the Saturday Hiking Club. James is on the far left. It was a beautiful spring day and our hike was very long, but we enjoyed the adventure. This is one of the activities I miss.The Great Wall — I thought this would be a cool pose.Beijing’s Train Station — After returning from the Great Wall, I got off the train and my new Chinese friend who I trusted with my cameraphone snapped my photo. He invited me to dinner that night and we ate like kings.Sushi Naeko — I’d visit this restaurant religiously because their Salmon sushi was the bomb. This place though it has a good reputation has probably closed like so many other businesses in Korea do after a few years — in some cases months. The owner would greet me with a wide grin and welcome me every time I visited his store. I loved this place.Construction in Korea — I often noticed the way things were built in Korea and thought that that would not be done in America. Here is one example. Notice how if somebody were walking through that door they would have to step up and over more than a foot of wall to get through. I wonder why that was done that way.Beijing — This is one of my favorite photos from my time in Beijing.Beef Udon with Ginger and Onions — It was my ritual to travel to Fukuoka and have a bowl of my favorite Udon dish. I traveled there at least seven times just to eat this!
