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I am thinking about using blogger for math. Before doing so I am using this old blog to test out incorporating math on blogger.

$$\int e^x \, dx = e^x + C$$

If $f: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{C}$ is a function, then its derivative is denoted $f'.$

$f:\R \to \R.$ and $\f p$ is a prime in $\f o$.

photos

View from the window of my room at KIAS.

View from the cable car going up to the Tower.
Some guys parading around the base of the tower...
And two from the tower itself...

More pictures

Below I finish narration. So, the next project is to sort through pictures, pick out some good ones. Check which of them I already posted, and post in groups of five. And when that's done, so's this blog.

The End of the Story

One thing I see that I put into the notes I jotted down for myself in January about this trip to Namhansan and then forgot to include in the narrative was that on the way back down the youth soccer team was using the path for training. Coaches were positioned on strategic outcroppings so that whenever a boy faltered someone would see him and yell at him, but they didn't have to actually move at all. I did kind of want a picture but decided to adhere to the "people are not scenery" directive.

The next day was the last day. I guess it was the 13th. I didn't do much. I got up in the morning and went to the shopping mall that I had visited briefly with my advisor. I had formed the opinion while in Pohang that the clothes being worn by fifty-ish Korean women reflected an aesthetic which was pretty close to where my older sister's fashion sense was moving the last time I checked in. My younger sister's fashion sense is something I have less of a read on. So, anyway, I wanted to at least have a go at picking up some fabulous fashion you won't get in the states. But I was going to have to be a bit careful since neither sister was there to try anything on. Also I had at that point not bought a single Korean souvenir, or gift for anybody, so I wanted to look into that a little bit. And I thought that if I saw a nice teapot I would pick it up for my advisor and his wife.

The first mall was pretty much a bust. Mostly the aesthetic presented there was that of the teenie boppers in the POSTECH cafeteria (which I saw skewered somewhere as "Punky Brewster + Kelly Bundy"). But there were several items which I wondered whether one of my sisters would have liked to try on. But nothing that it seemed like it didn't matter that they couldn't.

Next stop was Itaewon, which is, I guess the most "international" part of Seoul. In particular, clothing stores there fairly reliably have sizes appropriate for westerners (according to tour2korea). As far as fashion, Itaewon was also a bust. Custom suits, custom leather jackets, and US brand shops. But they did have a couple of good stores for souvenirs, with good teapots. Incidentally the first of these that I visited was run by a South Asian. And speaking of South Asians, there were pictures of Aishwarya Rai here and there. To be precise, there was one particular image one saw replicated here and there which incorporated a photo of Aish. I have a photo of it somewhere. Did I already post that? I think I did.

So, in Itaewon, I got some souvenirs and a teapot, but no clothes. But by this time I was prepared to give up on clothes. I decided that I was ready to eat, and went to a nearby restaurant for Kalbi. It was brought to me sizzling on a fajita plate, but not cooked in front of me, which disappointed me a bit. For leaves I got only lettuce but some of the side dishes were resting on a bed of whatever the better, spicier leaf is, so I picked it out and ate that up first. It was very good. At this point I would say it was around 2pm. I decided that next I would check back at the craft village to see whether they had reenactors there by day. They did not. They had recently finished shooting a TV show there, though, and were breaking down the lighting setup. The next stop, I had decided, was a museum, and I decided the one next to Gyeongbokgung was a reasonable choice, although the guide had made it sound like it wasn't the best one. I was short of time and since I'd passed it on the way to Gyeongbokgung the other day I knew I wouldn't have trouble finding it so off I went. I guess the name of this place is the Palace Museum. It's pretty small but reasonably nice. I have no difficulty believing that there is another museum elsewhere in Seoul with a larger collection of Choseon artifacts. Mostly I remember jade books, and ceremonial robes, with their giant sleeves, and a display of the queens ceremonial hairpins and what the ceremonial hair arrangement would be-- it's really unbelievably huge.

By the time I was done there it was maybe 5ish. I decided to have another go at the river park. I had looked up a good place and how to get there. It was on a little island where most of the production companies are headquartered and sometimes they shoot soap operas there. I got there at sundown, though. It was a good way to say goodbye. There were steps down to about three feet above the water level, then kind of a sidewalk, and you could sit on the curb and dangle your feet over the river, which is what I did. The sky was blue-grey and the river was approximately the same, and they stayed approximately the same as the light drained out of them, getting darker together. Across the river was a flashing neon "Hite" sign that became more obtrusive as the darkening progressed.

Perhaps I ought to somehow rearrange the narrative or omit stuff to put that last for aesthetic reasons, but of course the way it happened there were a few more things between my ceremonial goodbye to Seoul and Korea and my actual departure. For one thing, I impulse-bought some clothes for my sisters in a little shop between KIAS and the subway stop. I had spotted this cowl-thingy in the window a few days before and thought that it looked reasonably one-size-fits-all. It basically consists of a gigantic turtleneck without the rest of the sweater. Well, part of the rest of the sweater is there, but not all of it. I don't think it covers the whole chest, and I did not realize there were sleeves until someone pointed it out to me. And the turtleneck part is big enough it can be something like a hood. When I came back the last day, it had been joined by a little jacket thing. This looked to me like it was supposed to be worn over the shoulders. That is, the sleeves looked ceremonial or vestigial to me. But how it is worn is the business of its new owner, my older sister. (The younger one took the sweater part).

Also, at some point I decided that while I did not really have time to keep my promise to SH that I would try makkoli, I could manage it. That is, it would mean I got less sleep than I ought, not that I missed my flight. So I headed out the back gate of KIAS, and after asking at about 4 places, found one that had makkoli. This dipped out of a big vat in the back, by the kitchen, giving the strong impression that the guy makes it himself. I couldn't really tell the difference from dongdongju, but anyway I kept the promise.

I guess that's it. From here on out, just pictures.

Why not some more pictures?

I think this one was taken by Chennai, actually. It's from Panchakki in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India.

Daulatabad, Maharashtra, India. Same trip.

Gyeongbokgung

Gyeongbokgung. Pagoda of Folk Museum in the background.

This is from the Namhansan Mountain Fortress trip.

This Blog is Boring

... compared to the emails I am getting from BY, who is in Korea right now meeting his future in-laws.

More Narrative

Ok. I just looked at a Seoul subway map and figured out that it was actually an orange line out of town, then a yellow line to a pink line to my destination, which was called Namhansanseong. Now, they have helpful signs, in Korean and English, which tell you which tell you which exit to take for various things you might be interested in, and so I followed the ones for Namhansanseong fortress. However, when I got out on the street I was in the middle of Brooklyn. Well, not Brooklyn, but an area of approximately the same level of urbanization. Whereas I'd sort of expected that I would be able to tell which way to head to get to the mountain fortress from here. There was some information about bus lines on the signs but if I recall correctly I was sounding out the Hangul, so I wasn't really confident, and also my experience going from KIAS to Seoul National University when I had visited Seoul before had made me a little wary of trying to use busses. One can accidentally end up going well past one's stop, and the route back may not be the same streets in the other direction. So, I decided to see if I could hoof it.

I walked some ways and came upon an old woman selling bundaegi. I had not seen anyone selling Bundaegi in downtown Seoul and reckoned "when am I going to be offered chrysali again," so I got some. I confess I was a little disappointed by the old woman's lack of shock. But anyway they were hot and savory. I also got a Pocari Sweat from a nearby store. Ah, Pocari Sweat. So superior to Gatorade I can't begin to tell you.

Ok. So then I walked some more. But it wasn't close and I didn't have a whole lot of confidence. I saw a road sign indicating that Namhansanseong Resort was in the direction I was walking but I wasn't sure I wanted the resort. But it was the closest thing there was a sign for. Then there was a sign indicating that it was back the way I'd come. I decided to take one of the sidestreets going uphill for a look-see. Some kids were a little curious at my attempt to get to their back door. I tried another way uphill and passed a park in which some more kids were extremely excited by my presence. To be honest, I wasn't really up for it but tried to return as many "hi"s as I could. I spotted a giant gold Buddha and kind of decided that was the destination. After some more wandering around I managed to get to the gold Buddha but it was on top of what was clearly just a neighborhood temple.

So, then I started walking back to the subway station, debating my options. I more or less made up my mind to just call it quits and head back into town and try to find something else to do, but then the stubborn mule side of my personality kicked in and I couldn't stick to it. I consulted the sign again and decided to have another go, and walk farther in the direction indicated by the sign this time. After rounding a couple of bends I decided there really was something in this direction and started to feel a bit more upbeat. At the end of Main Street, basically, was what I seemed to be looking for. You walk under the overpass for the interstate-type highway you'd be getting on if you were from here and trying to go somewhere else, and there's the entrance to Namhansanseong the thing, from which Namhanseong the town derives its name. Basically, there's a park area, and then a path going up the mountain.

"Aha, I thought, so you go up the path and at the top of it is the fortress."

Well, I kind of gave this away in the blogging I did at the time, but what I think now is that this thinking was a bit off. I now think that there is no actual "sight" there at all. It's just a nice place to go for a walk in the mountains if you are the kind of person who thinks walks in the mountains are nice. Which I'm not, really. I wanted there to be a thing at the top of the mountain that made my effort in climbing up there worthwhile. And while there was some old stuff at the top, not much. It's more a matter of "well, if you like walking in the mountains, this is a good area because there are some ruins and such about as well."

But I didn't know that at the time, so I started off up the path and was quite disturbed when it forked, and there was no sign in English: "this way to the thing you came to see." Surely they know that people are here to see the thing. Why don't they say which way it is? Well, this one looks a little better paved. I'll take this one. So two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I took the one more travelled by, several times, passing various places with exercise machines and senior citizens using them. Finally, there was a great big staircase. "Aha!" I thought "At the top of that staircase will be the thing." And so with aching legs and great gusto I marched briskly up the staircase (it was well more than the 78 steps my legs had grown used to).

As I rounded the last landing I started to get a bad feeling. The railing at the top was a bit too sturdy. Like the kind that you put at the edge of a parking lot, that a car will only go through if it's really trying. "Crap. I thought. I'll get to the top and find the parking lot with the bus stop that I could have taken the bus to if only I'd been willing to try the bus."

Worse. It was a highway.

There was a guy with a little stand selling snacks and cool drinks. I think he even had beer, actually. But I still had about half of my Pocari Sweat, and the idea that I could have taken a bus to here only made me more determined to get to the thing.

There was a gate off to the right with cars stopping at it as they came towards us. "Aha. There is the entrance gate for people who are coming to the thing by car. The thing is to the left." I saw that one could cross the road and take a path to the left and that is what I did.

Pretty soon I was quite regretful about the decision to leave my faux-Italian Camel (faux both) Chinese made hiking boots (purchased near Metro theater in Bombay) at KIAS and wear a pair of Doc Martens (purchased on College Ave in SC) which at this point have soles so smooth and glassy I sometimes shave in them.

SH would hate to hear this too, but the whole experience was very reminiscent of the time I decided to go walking in the mountains in Nikko, Japan. Of course, on that occasion, I think I knew that I was going for a walk in the mountains at the outset, but I had been misled, I later learned, by an old travel guide, into thinking that there were still monkeys in the area. I'm not sure why I thought I wanted to see Japanese monkeys. They have a terrible reputation.

Well, so anyway, I walked for some time on a footpath that was pretty much only there from people walking on it, in slippery-soled shoes, thinking "well, this would be a good way to break an ankle and a bad place to do it." And after a while, I arrived at the conclusion that the road I was on did not in fact, go to anything other than eventually the next town. But back down in the valley I had come from I could see temples dotted here and there. Of course, like a stubborn mule I kept walking for about 10 minutes after that. But eventually I did manage to decide that there was no one big thing I could eventually get to, but that if I went back I could maybe find some of those smallish things down there below that looked a little bigger than the one small temple I had passed on the way up. So, I turned back.

I decided that on the way back I would walk along the road. It seemed like a better way to not break an ankle. I turned back shortly after a sharp bend. There is some rhyme or reason to that: one does not turn back right before a sharp bend. When there is a sharp bend up ahead the thing you are trying to get to could be just around it. It's only when there's a long stretch of visible nothing that one can persuade oneself to turn back. Well, if one is a stubborn mule. For some of you, the third or fourth sharp bend might have been enough.

Now, the point about the sharp bend is that there were some guys-- cops or rangers maybe-- stationed there. They had a little shack-type thing I guess I would call a pillbox or chowky and a motorcycle. I'd kind of worried they were going to turn me back when I approached the first time, but I did not. This time, one of them came out and yelled authoritatively and gestured me over. I went over. He demanded to know something in Korean. I said "Hangookbalboteyo" ("I don't speak Korean"). It is widely believed that "If you don't speak my language I guess I need to talk LOUDER" is an American thing. This is a misconception. He yelled at me in Korean. I stood dumbly kind of hoping he would stop. A bus passed. He gestured to it. I kind of hoped he was going to flag it down and make the driver take me to the next reasonable place to be. He did not. I kind of hoped he would make me get on the back of the motorcycle and ride it to the next reasonable place to be. He did not. But after he had made his point, which was, presumably, that what I was doing was a good way to get hit by a car (it was, and that's the sort of thing people tend to mention, so absent any other reasonable theory...) he gestured me on. As I walked away I got a warm, light feeling of recognition. I kind of screwed the description by putting the "LOUDER" bit above, because the point is that while he was yelling at me I kind of thought maybe I should try "Hangookbalboteyo" again, but when he gestured me away it snapped into clarity. I've seen similar exchanges in North America between English speakers and non-English speakers. I guess I can't sum it up. But suddenly I knew what had just happened and felt oddly good.

Ok, so I made it back along the road to the steps I had came up (which were now mocking me, in the way that only steps can). I toyed with the idea of getting a beer from the guy with the stand, but there was still a lot of day left. Maybe I can still get back into town in time to do something.

Well, I should admit that I went to inspect the gate because I still couldn't part with the idea of The Thing. The gate seemed to be associated to a nearby tunnel.

Ok. So, no beer, and back down the steps. Not far from the bottom of the steps there was a map with no information I could make out. (The writing was in Korean and the design was not good for conveying information graphically.) But also, over there, through that old-people's exercise area-- is that path bigger than the one I took? I think it is. That's it! That's the path to the Thing! And off I went again.

I think that this time I did manage to find as much of a thing as there is. To wit: I found a gate, which I think is the gate in the photo on the Tour2Korea page. What more can you ask for? Answer: a Thing damnit. But never mind that.

Ok. So there was a gate and a youth soccer team stretching. And a guy selling bundaegi. I toyed with the idea but by this time I had finished my Pocari Sweat and really wanted more liquid, not another cup of boiled protein. There was indeed a road, and a new temple under construction, and a porta-potty, and a wall. I think the gate and the wall more or less comprised the "fortress."

The gate was similar in design to the ones one sees at various points in downtown Seoul (which I guess are the old city wall gates) but smaller. There were some steps, so I decided to climb them. I guess the platform up there is where the guys manning the gate would have stood and demanded to know your business before they opened the doors. But anyway, once I was up there I could see that there was a path going off along the wall in one direction, and I decided I needed to walk a bit in that direction to be sure the thing wasn't there. So I did, and about the time I was deciding I had walked far enough, I saw a sort of point off in the distance and decided that's were I would walk to before turning around.

The point might have been a thing once. It looked like the land there had been shaped artificially to make a nice rectangular promontory. The wall went all around this promontory, and looking down from the end, it looked like there was additional stuff below that had been allowed to go to weed. Reminded me a bit of ... where was that? ... Bijapur, I think. I think there's a part of Bijapur where there are all these old ruined fortifications that aren't being presented as a Thing, but just left there for the thorn bushes.

Well, the view from the rectangle was nice, but I think the photos will turn out not to have captured it. One can't really be sure from the little window on the back of the camera, but one can get an idea. And anyway, mountain vistas? To get a good mountain vista photo you need to know what you're doing.

But by this time I was satisfied with the experience. It wasn't as much of a Thing as I thought there was going to be but it was enough. I headed back down.

Maybe half way down, I got kind of interested in another of the side paths. I forget why. But it was around 4 maybe. Late enough that I wasn't going to do anything else that day but early enough that if there was something else to do here, there was time to do it. (I believe the sign said the area closed at 6). Through another of those exercise areas and up some steps was a little grotto. In it there were some candles and stuff I will guess is associated with some form of Buddhist worship. And some cats, which I startled when I decided I wanted to photograph the candles.

I don't think that photo came out, but about the time I was done taking it, a bunch of people came down the path which, having brought me to the grotto, continued up the hill. I decided maybe it went to one of the larger temples which I had seen from the highway, and decided to have a look.

It was a bit longer of a walk than I had hoped (every turn: "well, maybe it's around this turn") but eventually there was a nice little temple. I don't think particularly old but with some nice grey stone guardians. The photos of those came out great. I hope it's not horribly rude to go around photographing active temples. There was a groundskeeper lady around and I kind of hoped that if it was she would stop me, but I kind of thought that even if it was, she still wouldn't.

There were nice steps going back down in a different way that looked more direct, with spherical plastic lanterns strung on either side, and there was also a footpath continuing kind of up and to the right. I decided to try that. The temple I had found was big enough to be what the path was to, but definitely not the big one I had spotted from the highway. I got to a kind of point and spotted a big temple through the trees. But after struggling along the path a little further, I arrived at the conclusion that it wasn't the way to get there. One could see a path to that temple arriving from below, whereas the path I was on, if it arrived, would have to try to arrive laterally or from above, and it wasn't clear either was possible. More likely, this one just went to the top of the mountain.

I went back and took the lantern-strung steps back down. But now I was determined to find the path that I had spotted, that went to the big, impressive temple. This, I could tell, would require going most of the way back down, around a point, and back up. At this point there was a bit of time pressure, so I hurried. The path was probably that first fork, where I had thought "Surely they know that people are here to see the thing. Why don't they say which way it is?" I found the fork and took the other path. It seemed to be right. I continued to hurry, which is a bit more demanding going uphill. I'm not sure if it was the exertion or what, but this is when I started feeling really sick. I remember thinking how fun it would be, how worldlier-than-thou I would feel, as I assured people that "you haven't puked until you've puked bundaegi." Regrettably, then, I guess, I did manage to keep the bundaegi down.

And I found the temple. It was a nice temple, and very big, but also the most active of the lot. There was an old woman I passed on the way up who was clearly lumbering there to pray. I felt bad. On the other hand, I'd worked so had to get there. I took some pictures. Some women came down the steps and went into a little grotto area with some icons. I decided not to take any more pictures. There was a donation box. I put some money in it. On top of the donation box was a little pot with sand in it and sticks of incense. One sees them in Hong Kong movies. I don't know their exact significance, but I had used one once before at the Buddhist temple in Bear Mountain, NY, where my ex-girlfriend's mother's ashes are interred. I decided to burn some incense for Mrs. W to justify my presence. I admit this would be a creepy thing to make a habit of but I think as a one time thing on that occasion it was a good way to show appropriate respect for the house of worship I was standing in.

Then I went up the steps to see what was there. A little bookshop, a coffee machine, and a guard dog. And a nice view. And what with the coffee machine and the bookshop it felt like I was back in a place where it was probably OK to take pictures, so I took a few more, though I was kind of worried about the guard dog. The sun was setting. I relaxed a bit and decided to have a cocoa. The watchman came by and did not seem to object to my presence. He even yelled at the dog for barking at me. (I think.) But when I went to go back down the old woman was in the middle of her prayers, so I hung around for a little while to let her finish. It was a good spot to enjoy the sunset, and there was cocoa, but I did kind of feel like I shouldn't be there and/or shouldn't have been having cocoa where someone was praying. But then why was there a cocoa machine?

Well, anyway, that's about the end of it. After a little while, she was gone and I went back down the mountain, back to the subway, back into town, and back to KIAS. Good place to stop.

More narrative

Ok. The next thing on my agenda was Namhansan Mountain Fortress which was kind of on the outskirts. If the Tour2Korea link I put in one of the posts below, you can see the picture I'd seen on the internet that lured me there. I think I blogged a little about this one at the time. Well, anyway, I went and got on the subway and road it for quite a long time. The line I needed doesn't come north of the river and the stop I wanted is omitted on a lot of maps because it's too far out. But anyway I'd surprised myself by running through all of the palaces in a single day and was now somewhat at a loss for something to do.

You know, I just remembered something from Gyeongbokgung (or whatever) that I think I forgot to blog about before. It's quite a large grounds and at one point you can actually exit the palace and be outside and re-enter. I guess it's a part of the world one can't get to by other means, at least not easily, so they aren't worried about people dodging the ticket controls. It's a very nice spot, near an artificial lake with a big veranda-ish sort of thing on it. Anyway one can stop and have coffee from the machines there and/or buy film and so forth, then go back in. When I got there there was some woman dressed up in traditional garb, so I decided to ask if I could take her picture. But it turned out the answer was "yes-- for 15000 won." I thought it was odd that it was several times the cost of entry to the palace, but whatever. This was explained to me by a friendly fellow who for some reason I think was a tourist from China or Japan. Somehow in this very brief interaction I formed the impression that he wasn't a native either. But anyway once I'd said something like "ah, well, in that case no thanks," and was searching my pockets for coins for the coffee machine, there was a bit of giggling from his party and he informed me that his sister would like to have her picture taken with me. Which, like many things, was something I'd been through before in India so I said "sure" and posed for the picture.

... it only occurred to me a few minutes later that I should have said "...for 15000 won."

Ok. Now back to Namhansan Mountain Fortress. Long subway ride. I think I had to get a pink line to a yellow one on the way out of town after using a green one to get out of the main downtown area. The train was jammed with high school students who shoved their way on and raced each other for the seats, then did not stand up for the sad little old men (and by this I do not mean me). I wished I was a middle aged Korean woman so I could yell at them. Now, the next thing I did was rather dumb. I decided to improvise. This is because I looked at the map and realized that the subway stop immediately after the one my directions had me going to was actually called by the name of the thing I was trying to get to. So, I decided to stay on the extra stop.

This meant I got to find out what happens when you try to exit the Seoul subway with a ticket that does not have sufficient fare for the stop you are at. Perhaps I should explain how the subway works in Seoul. Most locals seem to have the little smart cards that they hold up to a reader and walk through but what I was doing was buying single-rides every time. For that you go to a vending machine, look at the map at the top of it, find the stop you're going to, and inside the circle is the fare to that stop. It's based on distance and hence also depends on your current location, but fare between almost an two points in downtown Seoul is 900 won. You can also go to a window and buy a ticket from a person if you don't have change (or just, hey, if that's you're thing). The ticket is a little paperboard rectangle (green? maybe yellow) with a magnetic strip down the middle of one side (which for whatever reason I think of as "the back"). You go to the turnstile, put it in, the turnstile opens. I think it also makes a little whirring, processing sound. Your ticket pops up on the other side and you need to remember to collect it, because you need it to get off.

Some of you may be wondering about the phrase (clause?) "the turnstile opens," because turnstiles don't open. They rotate. I guess technically speaking the item in question is not a turnstile. It has little doors that retract.

Ok, anyway at the end of the line, you put the ticket into another of these non-turnstiles and this time the item in question keeps it, after making its little whirring processing noise (I think) and keeping its light green for you.

That is, if you have the right kind of ticket. I guess the ticket tells it where you got on, and if this ticket is not enough for a ride from that station to this one, the doors close and there's a red light. But, there is also a window that you can go to and give them the missing 100 won and it's no problem.

SH would absolutely hate to hear this, but it is in all of these respects just like Tokyo.

Another comparison is that the little card tickets are like the ones in Paris if you've seen those.

Photos

Ladakh, Ladakh, Gujarat,Lebanon, and then...





... this last one is from Seoul. It's from the wall encircling the portion of Gyeongbokgung devoted to the residence of the "Queen Dowager," which is to say the king's mother. I thought that was the nicest part of the palace, actually, because of this brickwork...

Commercials

Hurray

Random

I just ran across this while going through my old mail. It was sent to me by my aunt. I had been meaning to find it and mention it to Thane because of this which I had seen before at his uncle's house in Kerala.

A little chuckle, because the subject line of my aunt's email was "tantric diagrams" while just two above was one from Thane with the subject line "teri gaandu."