the german village in korea

a german village in south korea ^l^

Namhae an island located in south gyeongsang province . it is an island of 78 islands. it is also called " treasure island ". this nick name is due to its beautiful sights . sea , mountain , forest.. it is a fresh county full of life. also, namhae has a historical heritage and a witness of the great fighting of the admirel lee sun shin against japanese invasion in 16 century.
what is weird is to hear is the existence of a german village in south korea !!!
you are in germany without leaving korea ^^. in fact , the korean goverment has awarded the korean community whom have worked during 60's and 70's in west germany and returened to theirs homeland. so , the village is built according to the german style with german materiels too. by years, the village has become a touristic place. the beauty of the houses and the geographical location of the village have given to it a magical atmosphere. besides , namhae is known too by the garlic which is the treasure of the island and its " garlic center ". also , the butterfly ecology park.it provides friendly living space, promotes the importance of the natural envirement and overcome the limits of Namhae tourism resources.

let 's take a tour to see the beauty ^^

taebaek city

this is the flag and the logo of taebaek city in Gangwon province. the 3 mountains in the logo symbolize : taebaek , hambok and yeonhwa.the tree in the center is a "yew" , taebaek 's tree. the blue strean symbolize the source of the han reiver " Nakdong and osip rivers" . for the choice of colores. the green means the stability and , development and hope of taebaek. the blue means dynamisim and progress and white , taebaek 's transformation into highland resort city. i have given this logo from the offecial website of taebaek. ^^

taebaek is a cold and fresh city belongs to the eastern provinces , which are higher than the west provinces and the highest place in gangwon province. the region is 700 meters above the sea level. the average temperature year- round 18. so, it is a suitable climate for man to live in.

taebaek is knowen by its sunflower festival in august. also, there is " Yongyeon cave " , which is the only cave in korea that water and tourists go through the same entrance as the cave is situeted above the highest peak in korea. furthermore, there are many unknow wild flowers that grow only in that region. besides, you cannot visit taebaek without visiting " Geomnyeongso" the upper steam of the han river. so, the taebaek has a great place in the heart of korean as it is the source of the han.
you can visit its offecial website for more information about the festival's schedule:

http://www.taebaek.go.kr/

this video will show you the beauty of taebaek and give you a hope to visit it.

Gokseong station

in Gokseong in south Jeolla province , there is a railway village.it is an old train station which is returned to be a tourstic place.Gajeong station is not an ordinary place ,there, you will find an old steam train that has more than 40 years and still working but as a touristic train.the trip will allowed you to live a nostalgical moment of the past among the beaty of nature.besides, there is a funny bike called " rail bike". it will give you the chance to enjoy the smell of nature and to excercice a funny sport. also , rafting on Seomjingang river. to end your trip youhave to visit "the Gokseong Seomjingang astronomical observatory" to see the beauty of stars in sky.

for some people it can be an ordinary trip on an steam train but no one can deny the feeling of enjoyment after visiting this place.

this video will take you on tour to see Gokseong. have a nice trip ^^

the banpo bridge

i was watching " korea sparkling " and i was facinated by " the banpo bridge " in seoul.at first , i thought that was rebuilt as there is the idea of " fountain bridge" but the fountain was just added.in fact , i was not only facinated by the beauty of the colorful fountain in night or " the water dancing" but also the idea of " adding fountain " is like you have an old fourniture and you will add a simple touch and get a masterpiece , the concept of handcraft " simple idea and have new piece" . so, i have made a research and found an article from " interior design and arcitecture website "that gives informations about the bridge :

"" Just a twist of design, a splattering of paint, a cheeky addition to something old can make it look brightly cheerful and attractive to the eyes again. The Banpo Bridge which crosses over the Han River in the Seoul capital of Korea has been given new life with the addition of a very interesting fountain, that was specially designed to attract more tourists. Instead of remodeling this huge structure to fit it with the usual design of a fountain, even that has been give some change,with the fountain shooting water downwards instead of up. The fountains at the Banpo Bridge were installed on September ninth and have since become a major tourist attraction. It has nearly 10 thousand nozzles ( more exactly 9, 380 ) on either side of the bridge that shoots out 190 tons of water every minute. According to the Seoul mayor, Oh Se-Hoon, the fountain bridge would help acknowledge Seoul as an eco-friendly destination amassing more tourists. But unless the fountain is being used as a means of harnessing energy, the eco-friendliness of this fountain is skeptical.""

this is the video that shows the " banpo bridge ".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCDoBUGT9iY

multicultural communities in korea

i was reading some articles in a korean forum and i was surprised by the increasing of foreign immigrants and expatriots from many countries in korea . in fact , in these last years , Seoul has known the appereance of multicultural communities that have been located in specific area.



According to the map, general location of multicultural communities are as follows :

Muslim and African(mostly Nigerian) communities=Itaewon
Chinese community =Yeonhuidong
Filipino community = Hyehwadong
Nepali community = Cehongsandong
Russian and Central Asian communities = Dongademun Stadium
Mongolian community = Gwanghuidong
Japanese community=Dongbu Ichondong
German community =Hannamdong
Seorae Village(mostly French I'd assume) = Banpodong
Korean-Chinese(ethnic Koreans holding Chinese citizenship) = Gurodong



Right next to Itaewon is the central mosque of Seoul and the Muslim community. Muslims around Seoul and Korea gather to this place to pray and buy halal food in the nearby shops.




Near Dongademun Stadium is the "Mongol Tower", a 10-story building that is filled exclusively with Mongolian commercial establishments. The Mongolian community is centered around this building, and also nearby is the Russian and Central Asian community.

































The streets are decorated with graffitis like the above in the African community at Itaewon where approximately 6000 expatriots from African countries, notably Nigeria, reside.

internationalization of the korean alphabet

in Pu'er city in indonisia, an ethnic minority of 60 thousand inhabitants has adopted the korean alphabet " hangul" as the writing's tool of its mother language as they were losing theirs language due to the lack of an appropriate writing system. last year on july , the indonisian tribal and the academic institution " han min kan for research" have signed a memorandum of understanding to use the hangul system. also , the institution has given educational books of korean language to the tribal. for the first time , the hangul will be adopted outside korean .
in 1997 , the UNESCO designated the hangul in the memory of the world and the OXFORD university has Classified" hangul" as one of the most previlige writing system in the world. besides the beauty of its writing , the hangul can be used in computer faster 7 times than japanese and chinese.

this event is an important success to the efforts of the korean organizations , academic institutions and the korean government. it is an emotional push to go in theirs efforts and spread the korean language over the world.

the incheon international airport

Incheon international airpot is the door of korea.it is situeted in Incheon city at yong jong-do , so, the way to the airport is a masterpiece of beautiful sights of the blue sea and the green land. in fact, the Incheon airport has won 2 prices this year.the first one is The ACI annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) award for the 4 years consecutive asthe world's best airport. the second one is The World Airport Awards as the best airport in the world by skytrax. these prizes are due to the effort of its team and thanks to its slogan : " 45 minute for departure and 40 minute to arrival ".
its construction had taken more than 8 years from 1992 to its opening on march , 2001.since its opening , the incheon airport has become the link that connecting 163 cities and 54 countriesfrom over the world. on average , its receives 80 thousand passangers per day.
besides, the airport covers an area of 500 thousand square meters , which is sixty times bigger than a football field.its includes 270 of general offices,120 offices of passport's inspectation and 28 offices measur's security.also, it accomodates sixty aircraft at the same time and many of shops, restaurants and tourists companies.

so , the first trip to korean should starts inside the airport ^ ^

this file is the the incheon international airport guide. it is very helpful.

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B9kkX7s7P-qpZDdkNWIxODgtNjQ3Mi00MjM0LWExYjgtYTU3YmUxY2JmYjQz&hl=en

hanok

my picture's theme today is about the korean traditional house named " hanok". those pictures will give you an small idea about the old korean houses.in fact , today the majority of hanoks model are used in tourism. but i have read in a korean forum that a korean construction company has offered to build a smaller version of hanok style house like this first image.

Gyeongpo Beach

today it is about one of beautiful beachs in the east coast. i have found this small information about this beach from a korean website :

"It is famous as the largest beach in the east coast. It is in Gangmun-dong and Ahnhyeon-dong and is Myeongsaori presented with full waves of the East Sea and located 6㎞ from downtown to north and 1km from Gyeongpodae. Waves running like engulfing everything, 1.8km long and 1.44k㎡ wide white sands sweeping up these, and the 4km long folding screen of pine forest surrounding it like isolating it from the outer world is a unique beauty of Gyeongpo Beach in harmony of the static with the dynamic."

besides , this video that will give you an idea about it.

puriong festival

hi, as we are in summer, today is about one of the incredible festivals in south korea the " puriong festival".
each year on july 11 and during 9 days,the "dechion beach" , which is one of the most beautiful beaches in the west cost, becomes " the most visited" for koreans and tourists.its reputation is not only due to the beauty of the beach but also to his "mud festival" where people spend the day swimming and playing in the mud.the beach's mud is very healthy and gives a beautiful appreance to the skin as it is rich on minerals sources thanks to Roaring waves whom have broken the shell pieces after was wached by water for hundreds of years and mixed with sand and mud, which has given to the soil a healthy characteristics for that beach . it is used in cosmetic products too.in fact, the " puriong festival" allows you to live a healthy and funny experience with the smell of nature.

this video will give an idea about this festival. enjoy it .