Fall colors

Ginkgo tree in front of our house.

Winter has come to Seoul in the last week, and everything is gray and barren. Just last weekend the trees were full of leaves and we were able to enjoy some of the fall colors. Here are some photos from around our neighborhood at autumn's height.

Gilsangsa temple in Seongbuk-dong.

The temple's entrance.

Seoul Lantern Festival

Seoul putting developing countries on G20 agenda

We've got G20 fever here in Seoul! You can't got anywhere in Seoul without being reminded of the summit or it's importance for Korea.

While Mike's been busy talking about the summit with scholars and diplomats for the last couple weeks, I wrote an article for The Christian Science Monitor this week on the role of developing countries in the G20 Summit. You can check out the article here.

Happy Pepero Day!

The Pepero cookie display at Home Plus in western Seoul includes Pepero-shaped balloons.

November 11th is Pepero Day here in Korea, a made up holiday akin to Sweetest Day in the U.S. The whole holiday is based on the selling of cookie sticks like the Japanese Poky line or the Korean version, Pepero. The date was chosen because it looks like four Pepero cookies lined up: 11/11.

While I can't say I condone holidays based solely on the selling of products, I do enjoy getting free cookie sticks at work for Pepero Day. And you can bet I'll be shopping the sale racks next week for discounted cookies.

FC Seoul vs. Daejeon Citizen

We went to the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sunday to see FC Seoul play Daejeon Citizen for the K-League title.

It looked like the game was going to end in a tie until the last three minutes when FC Seoul sneaked in a final shot.

When the score board lit up, so did the flares. One big difference we noticed from games in the United States was the total lack of entrance security here. No bag checks, no metal detectors, nothing. Good thing Korea is so safe.


By winning Sunday's match, FC Seoul finished the regular season at the top of the K-League. Accordingly, they were given a certain amount of pomp and circumstance after the game. I think it will take a few days for our ears to recover from the celebration.