Michael Janairo

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Tag: Seoul

  • 2016 Year in Review with Photos

    2016 Year in Review with Photos

    Wall of Masks hanging at a store called Nim Po't in Antingua, Guatemala
    Masks at Nim Po’t, Antigua, Guatemala
    Fuego Volcano erupts near Antigua, Guatemala, with clouds turning black with ash and red with fire
    Fuego Volcano erupting, Antigua, Guatemala
    Deborah Zlotsky and Crit Streed at La Tortilla Cooking School in Antigua, Guatemala
    Learning to cook, Antigua, Guatemala
    Michael and Deborah in front of Robert Indiana's "Love" sculpture at Sixth Avenue and 55th Street in Manhattan
    Valentine’s Day, New York City
    Signs on a hike for Snow and Wolf Jaws trails, and Deer Brook Trail, and the High Water Route
    Hike near Lake Placid
    Michael and Deborah in Lake Placid
    Lake Placid
    Deborah and Max swap their faces in an image using the Snapchat app
    Deb and Max play with Snapchat
    In a subway car in Seoul, nearly everyone is one a mobile device, except for one man who is reading a Bible
    Subway, Seoul, South Korea
    Deborah Zlotsky speaks to a group of Samsung Art and Design Institute students in the shade of a tree, Seonyudo Park, Seoul, South Korea
    Samsung Art and Design Institute students, Seonyudo Park, Seoul, South Korea
    A tour guide in traditional clothes and straw hat leads visitors toward the Main gate of Changdeokgung Palace
    Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul, South Korea
    Lily pads in a pond amid traditional buildings in the Secret Garden, Seoul, South Korea, of the Changdeokgung Palace
    Secret Garden, Seoul, South Korea
    A wall of screens at the Samsung D-light Store, Seoul, South Korea, shows names and faces of visitors, including Deborah and Michael
    Samsung d’Light, Seoul, South Korea
    Two young women in traditional costume visit the traditional Hanok Village in Jeonju, South Korea, and take selfies with a selfie stick
    Young visitors to the traditional Hanok Village in Jeonju, South Korea
    Vesta, Deb and Michael on the rocky coast of Maine
    Maine
    Deborah Zlotsky wears white coveralls before picking poison ivy
    Poison Ivy eradication prep
    Low water and worn rock at Buttermilk Falls, Ithaca, New York
    Buttermilk Falls hike, Ithaca, NY
    Max Seiler, Michael Janairo, Deborah Zlotsky post outside voting site in Delmar, New York
    Election Day 2016
    Glasses raised in a toast with Janairo family at Mitchell's Fish Market at the Galleria in Mount Lebanon, Pennsylvania
    Thanksgiving Dinner
  • Summer in Dosan Park, Seoul, South Korea

    Summer in Dosan Park, Seoul, South Korea

  • Yes, I took photos of toilet seats in Korea

    2016-07-23 19.27.06

    “Full up” is exactly the opposite of what you want a toilet to tell you.

     

     

    2016-07-23 19.22.42

    I know Hello Kitty is popular everywhere, but biscuits? on the toilet?

     

     

    2016-07-23 19.22.23

    Yes, it sounds poetic, but maybe “drips” shouldn’t mix with plumbing-related things.

     

     

    2016-07-23 19.21.55

    So true.

     

  • English is Seoul: Part 1 — Signs on buildings

    English is Seoul: Part 1 — Signs on buildings

    As an English speaker, when traveling abroad my eye often goes straight for written English. I found this to be especially true when traveling around South Korea last month. Even though some Chinese characters are used in Korea, and I know a few having lived in Japan in my youth, the Hangul writing system is prominent throughout the country and remains foreign to me.

    Yes, I’ve heard that in just a few hours a person could learn how to sound out the Hangul writing system. It consists of 19 consonant and 21 vowel letters, which makes it sound easy to learn; however, the letters are arranged in blocks to form syllables that can look like Chinese characters. Mathematically, that means more than 11,000 syllables could be formed, though about 256 are commonly used. So in my preparation for the trip, I decided to forego learning how to read and to focus on learning how to speak a few key phrases, and how to listen (I was even told that I had good Korean pronunciation).

    Anyway, did you know that there are “only” about 375 million native English speakers in the world, though 1.5 billion people are said to be able to speak English? English is all over Korea. Most of it is perfectly fine. Some of it is strange.

    Here are some signs in English from Seoul.

     

     

    youneedmyyogurtherecomesthatdreamer

    2016-07-24 13.57.47Korea-English_ - 27Korea-English_ - 19Korea-English_ - 17Korea-English_ - 10Korea-English_ - 11Korea-English_ - 4Korea-English_ - 1

    Korea-English_ - 36