December 10, 2007 – 7:42 pm
Tonight! the last Lecture Meeting of this year, with Dr. Richard D. McBride (Fulbright Senior Researcher, PhD in East Asian Languages and Cultures from UCLA), on “The World of Buddhist Devotional Practice in Silla Korea”. He will describe several of the interesting dimensions of that topic — merit-making and divination practices, repentance rituals, dharani procedures, religious communities, and [...]
December 5, 2007 – 10:26 am
Yesterday’s New York Times had yet another article on the Samsung case and why these scandals don’t result in real punishments, and it quotes (1.5 times) our own commentor Tom Coyner. Read “Tired of Corruption but Afraid of the Crackdown” if interested…
Sphere: Related Content
December 4, 2007 – 6:28 pm
December 11th has been designated “International Mountain Day” by the United Nations ever since 2003 (just after the UN held various “International Year of the Mountains” activities in 2002). It is intended to commemorate and raise public awareness about the ecological, cultural, and emotional importance of mountains. This year’s UNIMD theme is Facing Change: Climate Change in [...]
December 4, 2007 – 12:09 am
Saturday Dec 8th: SHOPPING SPREE TOUR (1:30 pm ~ 8:00 pm) – We have arranged this trip to help you deal with those Christmas shopping problems, so we will visit various places where interesting and colorful bargains may be picked up.
Sunday Dec 9th: GYERYONG-SAN NATIONAL PARK HIKING TOUR
- A one-day trip to one of Korea’s holiest mountains [...]
November 26, 2007 – 4:23 pm
Tuesday, Nov 27th, 7:30pm: Lecture by Dr. Jang Yeon-ok (PhD in Ethnomusicology from The University of London, teacher & scholar of traditional Korean music, and accomplished Gayageum player) on “Korean Folk Music: From P’ansori to Sinawi and Sanjo”. In the 2nd-floor Resident’s Lounge of the Somerset Palace, downtown Seoul – free for RAS members, w5000 donation requested from others.
Sat Dec 1st: [...]
November 20, 2007 – 9:39 am
Sat-Sun Nov 24-25th: Inner Seorak and South Sorak Rhapsody Tour — A weekend spent enjoying the grand natural beauty of the less-visited northwestern area of South Korea’s greatest national park, Seorak-san. On Saturday we’ll walk up a long beautiful Inner Seorak valley to the legendary Baekdam-sa (Hundred Pools Temple) and admire the scenic forests, steams [...]
November 12, 2007 – 8:23 pm
Tonight! 7:30 pm, in the 2nd-floor Resident’s Lounge of the Somerset Palace, downtown Seoul – Prof. David A. Mason (me) and Roger Shepherd will speak on “The 2007 Baekdu-daegan Expedition”. I will quickly intoduce what the Baekdu-daegan is – its features, cultural history and significance for Koreans, then turn it over to Roger who will show great photos and [...]
November 8, 2007 – 4:42 pm
Roger and Andrew are spending all this week in and around the Seorak Mountains, the fittingly-climactic-beautiful end to their grand 10-week trek of discovery. Just yesterday they were escorted by soldiers to scale Hyangno-bong (last major named peak of the Baekdu-daegan before the DMZ line), normally closed to civilians. As before, the latest news and [...]
October 28, 2007 – 3:27 pm
Our Kiwi Heros just spent a coupla days being awed by the Mureung-gyegok (perhaps the very prettiest of Korea’s major gorges) and Duta-san, enjoying this gorgeous weather (while i was guiding the RAS tour to Jiri-san, amidst the red maples under the stunning blue). Now they’re off to the culturally-profound Odae-san area… Will do another [...]
October 22, 2007 – 6:10 pm
Well, I hear that the RAS tour to Seorak-san National Park this weekend was very successful and good fun for the 27 guests who enjoyed the crisp blue skies. I myself Sobaek-san for the Baekdu-daegan Buseok-sa Temple-Stay Event, and it was stunning weather, Korea’s best… Anyway, here are some upcoming Royal Asiatic Society - Korea [...]
October 16, 2007 – 7:23 pm
This weekend, daytime Saturday through early Sunday morning, the 2007 Baekdu-daegan Expedition Hikers (now on the heights of Sobaek-san National Park) will descend to Buseok-sa (one of Korea’s greatest temples, an architectural masterpiece) to enjoy its special Temple-Stay program along with local officials, international supporters and Korean well-wishers. There will be some coverage by MBC-TV and other media, with the intention [...]
October 16, 2007 – 5:53 pm
The RAS tour I just led to Gyeongju was pleasantly successful and good fun; almost 20 guests saw all the best places while I told stories, and we had amazing good fortune with traffic for an October Sunday, arriving back in Seoul an hour ahead of schedule… The great autumn weather and leaves are [...]
October 7, 2007 – 4:32 pm
Well, my own RAS Bukchon hanok-neighborhood walking-tour back on Sept 2th was pleasantly successful, and ditto for my SIWA walking-tour of the Sajik Dan-gun Ceremony and Shamanic Shrines of Inwang-san on Gaecheon-jeol (Oct 3rd), despite the heavy gray sky. So, with that promising start we can look forward to a better-weather autumn for experiencing Korea’s best… Here [...]
October 6, 2007 – 8:15 pm
I’m just back from spending two days with Roger and Andrew, at Suanbo Hot Springs and in western Worak-san National Park — in some truly beautiful weather at last! They did not do anything special for Gaecheon-jeol Holiday, but have been enjoying some great times along their way. Their health is good and their spirits are high, making some [...]
September 26, 2007 – 6:35 pm
Here are some upcoming Royal Asiatic Society - Korea activities of potential interest to M-Holers:
Sat Sept 29th: BUKCHON neighborhood Walking Tour in Seoul — Strolling for a few hours through the neighborhood of traditional (old or remodeled) Korean houses (hanok) just north of downtown, guided by by my own funky self, so ya know its gonna be good. [...]
September 26, 2007 – 12:32 am
That sure was a nice Harvest Moon-rise just before 6 tonight, and the noble Kiwi hikers enjoyed it from the ridge, deep in Sangju City territory, enjoying the better weather and feelin’ fine. Roger and Andrew expect to enter the amazingly-beautiful Sogni-san National Park on Thursday (tomorrow) and spend several days exploring its wonders. Check out [...]
September 17, 2007 – 4:28 pm
Man, there i wuz on Sunday privatley-guiding Italy’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ambassador to Korea and several etc around Gyeongju in a drizzle, and just as we get to the Seokkur-am (see previous post!) Parking Lot (700 meters up), that Typhoon Nari hits us (all the way from Yeosu) — the raindrops get bigger and start flying [...]
September 12, 2007 – 11:39 pm
OK, here’s some new photos, of a place I’ll bet you haven’t been (I haven’t either, but a few buddies of mine made it) — Korea’s remotest temple. Or, if you know a remoter one, I’d sure like to hear about it… The Baekdu-daegan Expeditioners visited it along their way (3rd day). Today (11th day) [...]
September 10, 2007 – 10:41 am
Royal Asiatic Society - Korea activities of potential interest to M-Holers:
Tuesday September 11th, 7:30 pm: Lecture by our own MH occasional-commentor Dr. Andrei Lankov (specialist on North Korean political and social history, and its relations with the Soviet/Russian and Chinese governments; his bi-weekly column “Dawn of Modern Korea” appears in the Korea Times) on “North [...]
September 7, 2007 – 9:24 pm
My own web-page about our Launching Event at Jiri-san National Park for the 2007 Baekdu-daegan Expedition has finally been posted, have a look:
http://www.san-shin.net/Baekdudaegan-Expdtn-1.html
Roger and Andrew got wet all across Jiri-san’s peaks for 3 days, but then came down off the ridge and spent 1.5 days in Unbong-myeon of Namwon City due to the heavy rains. [...]
