Cats as a Thermostat

If we look closely... even animals are indicators of change in weather !

The way cats position themselves particularly while sleeping is a clear sign of

warm to cold temperature ...

MA-PhD Scholarship in Korea (at HUFS)

HUFS (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies) is one of the KGSP(Korean Government Schororship Program) participating universities in Korea, which plans to recommend 10 qualified international students from this regions listed below to National Institute for International Education(NIIED) who can study at our university for their M.A. or Ph.D. degree (including one-year Korean language course) with government-sponsored scholarship from the Fall semester 2012.
Scholarship includes tuition fees (Korean language course & degree course), airfare, monthly allowance of KRW 900,000 (850$), Settlement payment, Research allowance and Medical insurance
The graduate schools you can apply include:
Graduate School ( http://www.hufs.ac.kr/gra ): All majors
Graduate School of International and Area Studies( http://gsias.hufs.ac.kr ): All majors except U-Peace Dual Degree Program
※ Please note that the graduate school of Business is not applicable for this program this year.
If you are interested in this program, please submit application documents (See the attachment) to our university before March 22, 2011
HUFS will review all applicants’ documentation to select 10 most qualified students and send their documents to NIIED.NIIED will select final candidates among those who have been recommended by all KGSP participating Korean universities and overseas embassies of Korea.
Students who have been recommended by our university and finally selected as a GKS scholalorship holder by NIIED will be entitled to be HUFS regular full time students from 2012 on the condition that they successfully obtain TOPIK 3rd level or above after one-year Korean language course.
Please see the attached for more information (Application form, other documents, schedule, scholarships and so on)
Nationality Requirement
Name of Countries (Quota)
Indonesia, Vietnam (1) Mongolia, Philippines (1) Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia (1) Azerbaijan, Chinese Taipei, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan (2 candidates), Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Uzbekistan .....

Mailing Address
GKS Scholarship Program CoordinatorGraduate School of International and Area Studies
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) - 270, Imun-Dong, Dongdaemun-Gu,
Seoul, Korea, 130-791

Please forward application packet as an email attachment in advance if you cannot mail the documents in time (We need to receive the original documents at least by March. 22, 2011)

Email Address for Application :
mrkang@hufs.ac.kr
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.
Graduate school of International and Area Studies: Ms. Kang Miri mrkang@hufs.ac.krOffice of International Affairs: Mr. Kwon Yunki steve@hufs.ac.kr

Download
2011 KGSP Graduate Program
Application 2011 KGSP Graduate Program
Source:
http://international.hufs.ac.kr/

Weekend: Streets of Itaewon

Turkish Kebab Restaurants like the one above are 5 in all in Itaewon area


Foreign Food Restaurant - filled to capacity - it's economical not that it's a perfect place to dine.


Crossing sides! (Hamilton Hotel in the background- a navigational point in Itaewon)


More people - Itaewon is always bustling with the people from nearby US Base.


Turkish Ice cream-this guy said that the jacket he is wearing is Turkish - it seems that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Turkey have a lot in common w.r.t. patterns/motifs/design.


Owner of Mr. Kebab being Interviewed...


The sole crusader: he is always on the streets of Itaewon


Father and daughter: getting into the bus!


Bonding: Dad and the little girl

                                                       Friends...

                Itaewon at Night - a new spot for Koreans to hangout and have fun

                A Cop Outside the Itaewon Police Station on exit #3 of the Itaewon Station

                  
                        TartTine at Itaewon - cafe and specializing in pies/cakes

                                                                  Pies

                               Crossing in front of Itaewon Hotel - road on the  left
                          going down to Bokwang-dong (보광동) and Itaewon Antique Market

Socks: Made in Korea

Every character is found on socks!

Simpsons!

Hello Kitty!

Mr. Gaeguri - a frog!

JAPAN QUAKE

Quake really kicked it big time!
Japan is trying to take in the scale in which this calamity has occurred!
Sendai: is the most hit….and nature seems to be at war!
Waves penetrating 10 miles in land near Sendai and 4 square kilometer area is on fire near the locations of an oil refinery.
A country which is too used to quakes- it is really something that many generations have experienced it the first time. As it is known, Tsunami is among the many hard to predict such events....warning were around - but the the stregnth of the earthquake is much higher than expected. In these worst of circumstances, crowds have been ‘extremely calm’ and very organized – where people go frenzy! It is so Heart Breaking - 300 bodies have already been found and many more are still unaccounted for…..numbers will increase as the day breaks because its midnight now and many who must have been rescued – are totally helpless.
Cars, ships and buildings are floating all over the place.
Power cut - for 4 million homes as Japan relies on nuclear power and they are all shut down particularly, Fukushima power plant – which is closed but there is no fear of radiation leaks as nothing is detected yet…nevertheless, evacuation in nearby region is inevitable.

Today it reminds me of the earthquake in Pakistan on October 8, 2005, that took millions of lives and displaced countless people – at that time, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) were at the forefronts – reaching out to people. They were among the first rescue groups reaching Pakistan within 24 hours, doing what ever they could to help the Pkaistanis and the country. They distributed urgent relief goods and assisted the restoration of water and electricity supply systems in the stricken communities. Japanese medical teams went on foot as deep in the rugged mountains. They have always given hand to Pakistani’s whether it is floods, quakes or domestic refugee’s problem. They are also the major shareholder in community work in places in Kalash etc and have a huge contribution.

It is high time for Pakistan to pay back Japan in their need of the hour.

Prayers for all those in Japan and especially my heart goes out for my friends, their familes and all those traped... in one of the biggest disasters of the century.

Deadliest earthquakes
27 July 1976, Tangshan, China: est 655,000 killed, 7.5
26 Dec 2004, Sumatra, Indonesia: 9.1 quake and tsunami kills 227,898 across Pacific region
12 Jan 2010, Haiti: 222,570 killed, 7.0
12 May 2008, Sichuan, China: 87,587 killed, 7.9
8 Oct 2005, Pakistan: 80,361 killed, 7.6
31 May 1970 Chimbote, Peru: 70,000 killed, 7.9
20 June 1990, Manjil, Iran: 40,000 killed, 7.4
26 Dec 2003, Bam, Iran: 31,000 killed, 6.6
26 Jan 2001, Gujarat, India: 20,023 killed, 7.7
17 Aug 1999, Izmit, Turkey: 17,118 killed, 7.6
30 Sep 1993 Latur, India: 9,748 killed, 6.2
16 Jan 1995, Kobe, Japan: 5,530 dead, 6.9
Source: USGS

Quote of the Day!

“Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends. Continue to learn. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.”- Mary Anne Radmacher

Itaewon-Seoul

Seoul Mosque in Itaewon: Entrance ( pictures by D.H in 2008)

Street where the mosque is located... (pic: 2008)

Towards the prayer halls!

ITAEWON: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

Behind the pole is the mosque of Seoul (Itaewon)

Itaewon is famous for many things since the Late Choson period. Over the years, it has been evolving into something that we can call -the melting pot of cultures in greater Seoul region. Of course the leading city is Ansan in Gyeonggido when it come to its ethnic diversity.

Itaewon, Bokwangdong and Hannam crossing lines in this picture from the window seat. It is my old neighborhood too.

This place has over 30 embassies and diplomatic community prefers to reside here and they are in abundance. Embassies of Pakistan, Germany, Egypt, Malaysia, India, Italy are all at a walking distance from each other. English is frequently used hence, getting around is not a problem.

Information guides @ your service

In case you need any information about anything, walking guides from KNTO are at your service, they speak Japanese, Chinese and English fluently.

There is an information desk inside the Itaewon subway station - where you can get brocheurs etc besides information. There is a full fledged Itaewon-Hannam Global Village Center - for all sorts of activities, information and community work - near Itaewon Hotel. Free Internet services, Korean classes for kids and adults, cultural programs and much more is offered here!

Socks at a make-shift store

Here socks sell like hot cakes - Korea is a leading exporter of high quality socks in all the different styles, shapes, forms and colors. It is a whole project to do a research on...:D In Korean culture people wear socks pretty much all the time - a favourite in all weathers and all the times - inside the home, with flip flops, with sleepers, while going to bed and the list goes on.

Money Exchange

This specific money changer- right next to a bus stop on the street going down to Chunghwa Apartments is one of the oldest. The (odd )couple (possible owners) at this money exchange are good at ripping people off and with the passage of time they have become rude.

Sisterhood

Fast food chains, ethnic food and halal food restaurants are in plenty. My favourite 'Foreign Food Store' is a heaven for grocery shopping is also here - they have their sister restaurant named Foreign Food Restaurant (Halal) close by-food is good and so is the interior and the service.

청화 (Chunghwa Apt Map): An old neighborhood!

Antiques shops are in plenty but it can NOT beat Dapshimni which is the "real" antique hub.

119 Rescue Center/Famous as Fire StationThis street will take you to the Seoul Mosque/ Islamic Center, the Foreign Food Store - one has to take exit 3 of the Itaewon Station to get there.

This place is turning into a small Islamic community of Seoul. We have a Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz madrassa here as well. Islamic books store, halal bakeries, fabric shops, used cell phone shops, travel agencies with a monopoly of merchants from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Turkey and Bangladesh can be witnessed at this place. By the way, this same street can also take you to the 'red light area' which is found en route to the mosque, many gay bars are located in the vicinity. This was the only choice given to the foreign governments to build a mosque during general Parks' era - which took years of diplomacy.

Extension project underway of the already huge 'International School of Korea'.

Lake behind my place trying to defreeze ~ it just snowed for 15 minutes again in a partly cloudy day!

Itaewon is 'the place' if you want to try your regional cuisines at a comparatively cheaper price than anywhere in Seoul. A part of its street towards Hangangjin is called the 'Japanese Street'.

Restaurants from Morocco, Egypt, Jordon and Dubai are all located on the main street. You can also find Italian, Irish, French and German restaurants easily. Places specializing in food from Bulgaria and Serbia to Turkey and Iran are located in this small neighborhood.

FLICKR

It has been years since the introduction of Flickr as a creative common. It didn't come easy - 'Yahoo photos' used to be the option available in those good old days. Many people used yahoo photos to save and share their precious pictures. Later on, external hard drives started to gain popularity but still, it was not a cheap option.

Then one day, Yahoo started sending messages with deadlines to save the 'photos'- since they were going to replace it with Flickr. They also posted the disclaimer to any damage done during the process. It was sort of a responsible move, at least, they gave a few months, unlike 'hotmail' who just emptied the entire record of emails automatically from people's personal email accounts for which they were later sued by a  group of people in the US. On individual basis, I started my one woman's war against 'hotmail -messenger service'....this was the day when I decideded "NEVER" to use their services. Here I am...living by my words. I also encourage friends to have an email account with other portals in case they have a hotmail account. Not just that, I feel that people with hotmail accounts are really the ones belonging to the old school but I also think that they are at a risk...risk of losing their emails! Having said that, I still believe that everyone is free to choose whatever portal they like to have their email accounts with.

Back to Flickr, well, it has been a continuous source for the people to share their personal collection of photography with the world at large but with Facebook - as a trendsetter for revolts to revolution and love to hate options, Flickr has indeed lost its lust!

These arehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/42842276@N02/

Between Migrant and Minjung: The Changing Face of Migrant Cultural Activism in Korea 移住者とミンジュン（民衆）のはざまで−−韓国における移住者の文化的政治運動の変貌

Between Migrant and Minjung: The Changing Face of Migrant Cultural Activism in Korea　　移住者とミンジュン（民衆）のはざまで−−韓国における移住者の文化的政治運動の変貌

Tourism in Pakistan

Pakistan is a home to some of the most beautiful and scenic places on earth but unfortunately, our tourism industry is breathing its last. In a report presented at the World Economic Forum, Pakistan was ranked 113 in tourism out of the 133 countries. Needless to say, its the hub of mountaineering, the Karakorum range has some of the highest peaks of the world here such as the mighty K-2 (second highest peak after Everest), the Himalaya range also has its highest peak here commonly known as the Nanga Parbat (9th highest peak in the world), its famous as the killer mountain due to its extremely difficult tracks - even more difficult than Everest and K-2 and the third famous range is the Hindu Kush with its highest peak Trichmir - are all located in Pakistan . It has its fair share of the famous 'SILK ROAD', the legendary Karakorum Highway, valleys full of cherry blossoms, beautiful weather, distinct seasons and of course, its 'very hospitable people'.

These are some of the images of the cities in the northern belt of Pakistan during the winter season, which is very harsh.

A vegetables /fruits stall under open skies in Murree.


Scene from Kalam (SWAT) once the most famous tourist resort in Pakistan.

Children in Swat region (Pakistan). It snows heavyly and people do NOT have the basic amenities of life from proper clothing to anything.

This picture was of Chitral in February 2011. It is a very common scene in Gilgit-Baltistan region.

Where everything must begin at home so does the tourism. Focus must be on domestic tourism - it can be revived against all odds. I am confident that we can do well, actually much better! We have a great potential and a long standing tradition of tourism in Pakistan. Historically, people of the region have loved outdoors like going to the parks or resorts - which is evident from the times of the Mogul empire. All we need at this point is to take time out to 'relax' by turning off TVs, computers, cell phones and take a look around the cities we live in, delve in its history, architecture, local delicacies, music, museums and parks -simply put, revive local tourism!

More on the recent happening with respect to tourism in Pakistan, visit their page at http://www.tourism.gov.pk/

Some of the events are
- Rock Climbing Competition in Islamabad (5-8 March)
- Cholistan Jeap Rally for mid March
- Para -gliding in Lahore in mid March
- Aero Modeling Display at the Fatima Jinnah Park on April 21.
- Kalash Festival in coordination with Sarhad Tourism Corporation on 15 May in Kalah/Chitral.
- Ayubia-Doonga Gali Walk in Ayubia in the first week of June.
- Shandur Polo Festival in consultation with Sarhad Tourism Corporation from 7-9 July in Shandur.
- Silk Route Festival (15-18 August) Gilgit/Baltistan.

Last but not the least Pakistan is also holding the 'International Mountain Tourism Conference, Seminar, Photo Exhibition' on 11 December, 2011 in Islamabad.

photocredits@defense.pk and Chitral Times

NEWSPAPERS IN KOREA

List of the online newspapers in Korea. The link will take you to the main portal of 'Online Newspapers from Around the World' and you click your region/country and then the newspaper of your choice...
Chosun Ilbo
Dongailbo
Gazette
Gook-Min Ilbo (Seoul)
Han-Gook Ilbo (Seoul)
Han-Kyoreh Shinbum (Seoul)
The Hankyoreh Shinmun
Joong Ang Ilbo (Seoul)
The Korea Economic Daily
The Korea Herald [In English]
The Korea Times [In English]
Kyong-Hyang Sinmun (Seoul)
Maeil Business Newspaper
Maeil Shinmum
Munhwa Ilbo
PRESSian
The Seoul Times [In English]
Oh My News (Seour)
Sport
Yeong-Nam Ilbo (Daegu)
Yonhap News (Seoul) [In English]

International Women's Day (March 8th)

In 1911, the first International Women's Day was celebrated, when more than one million women and men demanded women's rights to work, hold office and vote. Next Tuesday, March 8, 2011 will mark 100 years since International Women's Day was first celebrated.

On this day, achievements of women are acknowledged in all spheres of life.
Events and themes are as wide and varied as women themselves and a lot has been organized to celebrate the day but there is nothing to stop you from celebrating in your own home. Every woman, no matter who she is, deserves to be honored today.
WE can contribute by:

1- Helping to change other women’s lives through organizations such as Amnesty International.
2- Commit to buying from fair-trade companies where mothers can work to feed and clothe their families in safety.
3- Telephone or write to your female relatives and friends, telling them how much they mean to you.
4- Organize a girls night in - pamper yourselves with some face masks made from kitchen ingredients, do some mehendi (henna).
5- Spend time with the greatest feminine spirit of all - Mother Nature. Go for a simple walk in the woods, listen to the bird sing or hug a tree.
6- Give women a little space of their own.
7- Show your respect, your love, your kindness.
What will you do to honor the women in your life or yourself today?

For events in Seoul Click the Post Title.

Kyujanggak Fellowships

Eligibility
- Korean Studies Researcher from East Asian countries
- Invited as a participant to the KFAS(Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies) International Scholar Exchange Fellowship Program

Benefits
Under the fellowship program agreement between KFAS and Kyujanggak,

the KFAS supports program funding for;

- Research allowance
- Airfare
- Accident Insurance coverage

the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies will provide;

- Administrative support
- Desk space
- Housing arrangements at on-campus faculty residence (BK International House)

Position/Term of Appointment
- The KFAS-Kyujanggak Fellow will be appointed as a "Visiting Researcher" of SNU Kyujanggak
- Term of appointment is usually 1 year

For more info: http://plaza6.snu.ac.kr/~icks/ENG/index.php

The Girl with the Pearl Earring

'The Girl with the Pearl Earring' might ring some bells because it is a a famous painting by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). I'm not going to post about the painting or the painter.

It is just a coincidence that I can also proudly call myself one.These pearls are cultured, they are beautiful and they are real. My pearl mania started when my classmates gave us pearl accessories as gifts and as a souvenir on their return from home in the Philippines about 2 years ago. They told us that pearls are dirt cheap there and I recently found out that they are among the major producers of fresh water pearls in the world. The other countries include Japan, Australia, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, India and Tahiti and actually, Japan controls roughly 80% of the world pearl market.

The art of culturing pearls was invented in Japan in 1893 by Kokichi Mikimoto and to this day, his family continues to be one of the largest pearl producing empires. Commercially freshwater pearl (cultural pearl) crops appeared in the 1930s near the great lakes of Kyoto. It is said that the Akoya pearls from Japan are some of the most lustrous and expensive among the fresh water pearls, selling for up to five thousand dollars.



Historically, the world's best pearls came from the Persian Gulf, especially around what is now Bahrain. The pearls of the Persian Gulf were naturally created and collected by breath-hold divers. The secret to the special luster of Gulf pearls is due to its unique mixture of sweet and salt water. Unfortunately, the natural pearl industry of the Persian Gulf ended abruptly in the early 1930's with the discovery of large deposits of oil and later on due to water pollution from oil spills. Still, Bahrain remains one of the foremost trading centers for high quality pearls and it is taken as a hobby. In fact, cultured pearls are banned from the Bahrain pearl market, in an effort to preserve the heritage.