Thinking about Korean tea lately. Remembering all the time I spent in the teahouses in Insadong - a favorite neighborhood in Seoul - on the weekends, lounging over a cup of tea and the Korean alphabet. My three favorites were quince, jujube, and plum tea. Always served in a beautiful, earthy cup with a small wooden spoon.
Although I traveled around much of the country, I never made it to famous green tea fields. However, I did learn how to perform a Korean tea ceremony, an elaborate ritual with specific equipment and certain gestures and moments for each part of the performance. The ritual of drinking tea was always best when served with delicate rice cakes, pictured below.
(image above via, image below via, last image via)
All this talk of South Korea lately had me sifting through my photo archive today. A colleague headed there over the weekend and, having lived in Seoul for a year, I was called on to give my advice on all that is Korean. Rusty as my knowledge is, I was also proud that I could remember how to navigate from Gyeongbokgung palace to Jogyesa temple, where to find green tea ice cream, how to say basic phrases, and why sundubu jjigae is the best.
The World Cup is off to a great start and South Korea has probably been my favorite so far. In 2006 I was watching in Seoul and couldn't believe the enthusiasm of the Korean fans, crowded onto the streets to watch the matches and celebrate together. They were probably quite happy about the great start yesterday, visualized above by The Guardian's 
As I prepare to head to Berlin on Wednesday, I thought I would resurrect one of my great life mysteries. While I was living in Seoul, I spent a lot of time in Hongdae, an artsy neighborhood in the north with some of the best graffiti in the city. I spotted the above work one day, thought it was interesting, and snapped a photo.
Every Saturday in Seoul, when I was living there at least, there was an artist's market in Hongdae where the students from Hongik University would drag their latest creations to the street corners and put them up for sale. In this creative hub, I came across Keiichil who had an extensive collection of sketches and drawings featuring a sole angel shrouded in a black veil. Doing my part to support the apprehensive Korean art scene, I frequented Keiichil's collection over the period of a few months and sent black angel-etched journals and prints, along with other finds, to friends in other parts of the world. A few years later, as I realize his email is unsurprisingly outdated, I wonder if this emerging Korean artist still exploring the angel motif on the streets of Hongdae?
A few years ago, while living in Seoul, I spent many Sunday afternoons in