Japan and Korea

During my winter break I went to Japan and Korea, January 27 to February 8th. I took a short trip to Japan in September, but I had not been to Korea in over 2 years. 

I went to Osaka and Kyoto in Japan. I just went sightseeing, mostly at places I have been before. February 3rd I went to Seoul. It felt weird to be back. All I did there was meet friends. I wish I had allowed a little more time to myself.

 Some pics from my phone:

Jonggak Station area, Seoul

Seoul Tower

Seoul

Chion-in, Kyoto

Chion-in, Kyoto

Byodo-in, Uji

Tucson 2017

I was in Tucson for the gem shows this past week.  I had not been there since 2004, when I still lived in San Diego and could just drive there.

I have a friend in the Phoenix/Mesa area so I also wanted to see him while I was there.  I flew to Mesa Monday, and hung out with my friend for a while then drove to Tucson.  Tuesday and Wednesday I went to the AGTA show and GJX show, which are the ones I really go there to see. Both of these shows are open to the trade only.  They are primarily gem shows, but there is also some finished jewelry, rough stones, and tools.

2017 AGTA show at the Tucson Convention Center

AGTA show 

GJX show, right across the street from the AGTA show

I wanted to buy 1 or 2 nice stones and some South Sea pearls.  On Tuesday I bought a tourmaline cut by John Dyer.  It was actually more than I had planned to spend on a single stone, but his stones are really well cut and that tourmaline had great color and that was just the kind of thing I was looking for.  The next day I went back and bought a small garnet from him.

Afghani Tourmaline 3.64 ct

I also bought three white South Sea pearls.  My mom asked me to get her some pearls for a pair of earrings, I also got one for myself.

White South Sea pearls, 12.4 mm (x2) & 13 mm, next to some Tahitian pearls I bought years ago.  

Thursday I went to JCK Tucson.  My reason for going there was to check out the Form 2 3D printer. GRS was there so I also spent some time at their booth looking at some new tools.  Other than that I mostly felt JCK Tucson was a waste of time.

Formlabs Form 2, only $3500

After that I drove to Mesa and met my friend and his wife for dinner, and flew back to Iowa Friday morning.

It was good to go to Tucson again and good to visit the Southwest.  I really like it there, and that makes it so hard to go back to Iowa.

Arriving at the Phoenix - Mesa Gateway Airport

Not sure how long In-N-Out has been in AZ, but I'm glad it's there. 

Back in the USA

Monday November 28th I left Seoul and came back to the US for good. "For good" for now anyway. Although I don't know what other job I could get abroad except teaching English, and I'm done with that.

My friend owns a jewelry store in Iowa and had offered me a job when I return so I started working there Friday (12/2).  I had wanted to take at least a week to organize my stuff and clean and organize my studio, but my friend was backed up with work and wanted me to start ASAP.  

It felt a bit awkward at first being back at the bench.  But it was feeling much more comfortable by the end of the day. 

What I have been doing

It's been a while since I posted.  I didn't have much to say and eventually pretty much stopped even thinking about posting here.  All I did in Korea was CAD work, and that's not really something I have any interest writing about.

Right now I'll just briefly write what has been going on in my life...

At the end of February I finished teaching in Korea and went back to the US.  I spent a total of 5 years teaching English there.  It was a great experience.  I was really sad to leave, but I was just feeling it was time to move on and get back to my metalwork.

After going to the US I traveled a bit there, to San Diego, New York and Washington DC.  April 19th I went to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, Via de la Plata route.  I walked about 1000 km (620 miles?), from Sevilla to Santiago de Compostela.  It took about 2 months.  After that I kept traveling... Portugal, Morocco, Turkey, Dubai, Thailand, Myanmar, Taiwan, Japan, and now, as I write this, Korea.  November 28th I'll go back to the US.  If everything goes as planned I will be working at my friends jewelry store in Iowa.

I have a lot more to write about these things I've been doing, and a lot of photos I want to post. I also have a lot of drafts I never finished which I plant to post eventually.

More travel

Friday I'm going to Taiwan for 6 days.  About 2 weeks ago I found out I would have May 1st-6th off, so I decided I should go some place.  If I was in the US and had 6 days off I probably wouldn't go anywhere.  But while I'm in Korea it's so easy to travel to another country I want to travel every opportunity I have. 

US trip

I got back from the US Sunday morning around 5:00 am.  My time in the US was mostly spent busy and tired.  I had big plans to make four lockpicks, but I didn't start on them till five days before I left.  That would normally be enough time, but two of the days I was in Iowa, and aside from all the other things I had to do (meeting friends, shopping) I still had jet lag and was tired by early evening. 

I roughed out four wood handles before I went to Iowa.  On my way to Iowa I thought about if it I really wanted to spend my last couple days trying to finish them all and decided to just finish one. 

I met a couple friends in Iowa, I also met my former professor from the University of Iowa, Chunghi Choo, who recently retired.  She taught the first metals classes I took (1996-1997) and was my teacher again in graduate school (2005-2006).  She probably had the most influence on my metal work. 

I'm planning on this being my last year in Korea.  I'm going to try to put more effort into learning CAD (also learning Korean and saving money) and try to put together a portfolio. 

winter travel

I have a lot of vacation time this winter, so I'll be visiting the US January 20th - 30th and Japan February 14th - 24th.  I'm not too excited about the trip to the US, but I'm glad to be going to Japan again.  Being able to travel easily in Asia is one of the things I like about living in Korea. 

Japan trip

I went to Japan August 9th - 19th.  This was my 6th trip there since 1997 and it was great, as usual.  I was going to take a boat from Busan, but it was canceled cause of the weather.  Luckily I was able to get a flight for not much more than the cost of the boat ticket.

I flew from Seoul to Fukuoka, train to Kagoshima, boat to Yakushima (an island), jetfoil back to Kagoshima, flew to Osaka (KIX), then took trains between Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara.  Flew back to Seoul from KIX.

The pics below are from my phone.  I haven't had time to go through all the photos I took with my DSLR yet.

This is what I brought.  Each trip I try to bring less than the previous trip.  I didn't like that my bag was so full and I didn't have room in my bag for my camera.

I liked this white ant sign in Kagoshima-shi.

Yakushima

Me in front of a 3000 year old tree.

Toudaiji.  

I was finally able to buy more of my favorite incense at Toudaiji.  Last time I was there was 2004.

Deer near Toudaiji.

Fushimi Inari Taisha

Japan trip

I'm going to Japan next month.  August 9th - 19th.  The main purpose of this trip is to go to Yakushima.  But I will also be going to Osaka and Kyoto.  This will be my 6th trip to Japan.  Living in Korea, I am so close to Japan, but this will be my first time to go there since I came to Korea.  I'll be taking a boat to Fukuoka from Busan and flying back to Seoul from Osaka. 

USA trip

Last month I went to the USA from the 14th till the 27th.  It was the first time I had been back to the USA since I left February 29th, 2012.  I mostly spent the trip eating food I can't get in Korea, meeting friends and shopping for clothes.  I also got a new driver's license.  Mine expired over a year ago so I had to take the driving test again, which was silly.  It was good to drive again, I just wish my parents had a more fun car to drive.

I made 2 new lockpicks while I was there, which I just sold last week.  The handles are tulipwood.

I was too busy to make anything else while I was home.  Making these picks felt no different from when I used to make them.  I mean I didn't feel my skill had diminished at all.  Although with something smaller and more precise like stone setting, I'm sure I have lost some of my skill.  I don't know, it's just my guess.  

trip to California

I visited San Diego May 18 - 25. I lived in Oceanside (45 min. north of San Diego) from Nov. 1999 - Dec. 2004. I went out there to go to GIA, then worked there a few more years. I left to go to grad school at the U of Iowa, with the intention of returning to the San Diego area as soon as I finished. I finished grad school at the end of 2006, and have been putting off returning to California since then. Currently I am putting it off till I spend at least one more year in Korea, but who knows what will happen after Korea.

Anyway, I haven't been back since I left in 2004, and I have missed it and I really wanted to visit when I got back from Korea. Actually visiting California was one of the only things I was looking forward to doing this summer.

I didn't do much during my trip. I drove around a lot. I like to drive and I like driving in Southern California much more than in the Chicago area. Much nicer scenery. I spent about $200 on gas during the trip. I went to places I used to go to, ate at restaurants I used to eat at, and met a couple friends.

View from outside my old apartment building:


Oceanside:


One of the best things I did during my trip was run one of my old running routes near my apt in Oceanside. I am not in as good of shape as I was when I lived in CA, so all I could do was run a three mile route that used to be the minimum I would run. Southern California is a great place to run because of the weather, and my neighborhood was especially good. On the west side of I-5 the area was all flat, if I wanted to run hills, there were some really steep ones on the east side if I-5. I wish I could start running again, but I have never enjoyed it much anywhere but in California. This video is the 3 mile route I used to run a lot:



South Carlsbad:


Approaching Laguna Beach, I think:


Laguna Beach:


Someplace that brings back memories in Laguna Beach:


While I was going to meet a friend I happened to find the Palos Verdes Art Center. I was in an exhibition there called Wearable Expressions in 2008:


The Getty Center in LA:






View of LA from the Getty Center:


Furaibo used to be one of my favorite restaurants. I was happy to go there again. It's on Sawtelle Blvd, a Japanese area in LA.


This is the corner of Sawtelle and Olympic Blvds. I always liked this neon aquatic scene.


Random San Diego picture (Mission Beach):


I went to the San Diego zoo. I had never been there before, I couldn't believe it cost $40 to get in!
Below: Cavendish's dik dik


I don't know what happened but three ducks, two males and one female flipped out on some female duck and attacked her. Eventually she was able to fly away.


Secretary bird


Los Angeles



So my trip was really good. Not much had changed since I had left. After my trip I was wanting to move back there even more. So I'll try to do that someday after I settle down a bit. I have trouble staying in the same place very long, even California. I don't know what I'll do after at least one more year in Korea. There's a couple other things I am considering.

going to california

I'll be visiting California May 18 - 25. I used to live in San Diego and I haven't been there in almost 6 1/2 years. I keep planning to move back there someday, but other things always come up that I want to do first.

If I am going to make a new piece for Cheongju I need to hurry, the deadline is June 8th, Korea time.

an update

It's been a long time since I posted last. So here's whats going on:

In January I took a three week trip to Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. Maybe I'll post some pictures of that later. I still haven't finished going through all my photos and picking out the good ones cause I am stressed and just haven't felt like it.

Travel always makes me feel like working in the studio. To bad this time I didn't have much of a studio to go home to. I didn't produce anything during my time in Korea. I am not sure if this long break is good for me or bad for me.

I was a finalist in the Saul Bell competition. I got the results for that last week: I didn't win anything.

I have been in Korea almost one year now. It went so fast. I will be going back to the US April 23rd. I plan to make a piece for this year's Cheongju craft competition while I am home. I also want to make some lock picks. I don't have another job yet, so I don't know how long I will be in the US. I'll be going back to Korea when ever my next job starts. I would like to have one month in the US, but I might be there for a longer or shorter time.

I'm taking a trip

Tuesday (1/11) I'm going to Thailand, I'll also go to Laos and Cambodia. The trip will be three weeks, I'll come back to Korea on January 31. Most people I have told about it in Korea think it's too bad that I am going alone. I don't know why. I think it will be great to have three weeks of solo travel. I have wanted to do this for a long time. I will be alone and not have any obligations to anyone. I will be able to do what I want, and go where I want. I don't even have any hotel reservations, so I don't need to be any place at any certain day.

Korea/Japan part 3 - Tokyo

On Oct. 10th I went to Tokyo. I met an old friend from GIA who I haven't seen in 7 or 8 years, she's Korean and is in Tokyo studying Japanese language. I also met a Japanese friend from elementary school who now lives in Tokyo. I hadn't seen him in over 20 years.

I hung out with my friend from GIA three days and went to some places with her, like Ameyayokocho and Asakusa. When I wasn't with my friends I mostly just took the train (Yamanote line) to different parts of the city and walked around.

Ameyayokocho:


Outside Sensouji Temple in Asakusa (below). Not exactly my favorite temple.




Harajuku:


Outside Shibuya Station:


Same place at night:


Shibuya:


I just realized there's crowds of people in all the photos I am posting. The whole city wasn't like that, but all the interesting places I saw were.

I have been to Japan 4 times before this trip, but this is the first time I have been to Tokyo. It was interesting, but it is not my favorite place in Japan. It's too big. But I liked Seoul because it was so huge. Go figure.

I felt somewhat dissatisfied with Tokyo. Visiting Tokyo was fine, but afterward I wanted to go someplace else in Japan. I didn't really feel like I had visited Japan. I'm sure I'll go back to Tokyo someday for some reason, but I think I would prefer to spend most of my time someplace other than Tokyo.

The flight back to Chicago was the best flight ever. I had three seats all to myself.