Travel & People

The I Ching (역경/易经 literally meaning "Classic of Changes") or Zhouyi (주역/周易 meaning "Changes of Zhou") is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts, which contain a divination system of cosmology and philosophy. In Korea, under the Confucian system, the I Ching was admired by people of all ranks as a textbook of oriental philosophy (의리/義理) as well as a tool for divination (상수/象數). World of ..

A maxim (금언/金言) or an aphorism (경구/警句) is good witty words to remember and to practice in our daily life. Generally speaking, it is of moral and educative nature, while a proverb is called the wisdom of the streets. For example, a maxim "A debate cannot beat the enemy" is more straightforward and educative than a proverb, "A few words can discharge huge debt" (말 한 마디로 천 냥 빚을 갚는다). In the West, a..

Look at the cloud over the sky! It looks like a white horse galloping through the sky. At first, I didn't notice it, and I left the place near Shangri-la, Winnan Province, China. At that time, I was travelling around the Ancient Tea Route and Shangri-la. Read more . . . It took place at the lakeside of Lake Sudo, the Potatso National Park on April 27, 2013. Later when I looked through the pictur..

In the early February 2011, I met with a student from Sydney whom Prof. Graham Greenleaf introduced to me. Her name is Joni Sham, Chinese Australian, and was working as an intern reporter of JoongAng Daily News for one month. The following is the excerpt of the interview, which took place in my office at Kyung Hee University on February 7, 2011, regarding the significance of data protection in K..

아래의 삼행시들은 필자가 여행을 다니면서 지어본 영어 하이쿠(English Haiku)이다. 이런 취미는 미국에서 연구년을 보내던 중 2007년 12월 뉴욕 가는 길에 아메리칸 항공사의 기내잡지 Miles Are Forever에서 영어권에도 일본의 5-7-5 음절의 하이쿠(俳句)와 비슷한 정형시가 있다는 것을 알게 되면서 시작되었다. 이를 테면 다음과 같은 영어 하이쿠에 매료되었다. Time equals my life / Productivity is key / Use seconds wisely. - Stephen Johnson 시간은 생명 / 생산성이 열쇠 / 촌각을 아끼자 신동아 2000년 6월호 하이쿠 특집에 의하면 광화문 네거리의 교보빌딩 앞에 걸린 짧은 詩 덕분에 한국에서도 하이쿠에 대한 관심이 ..

When 1996 fall semester just began on campus, most of the students who had backpacked around the world came to the class with numerous experiences. While I traveled around Europe last summer, I met with tens of Korean students. Each time I talked with them somewhere at the station or on the street, my previous opinion that they merely wanted to spend their parent's money just for sightseeing gra..

When I came across some Korean travellers one day in front of Amsterdam Central Station, they bluntly asked me how they could manage to look around the city of canals in half a day. It is quite natural that tourists with a tight schedule and budget are inclined to spend less than a full day in Amsterdam. Compared with other big cities in Europe such as London, Paris, Rome and Berlin; Amsterdam h..

Surprisingly, under the bright sunny sky, they appeared with reddish orange umbrellas. Each unfolded umbrella said, "Netherlander comes in Seoul." The Dutch athletes, who were entering the Seoul Olympic Main Stadium during the opening ceremony on September 17, 1988, have not been the only Netherlanders with a conspicuous appearance. More than 360 years ago, several Dutch seamen landed in this co..

What or where is "Bellagio"? Isn't it the five-star casino hotel in Las Vegas, famous for its extravagant fountain show? As a matter of fact, some motels in Seoul or in countryside carry Bellagio. But I'm boastful of visiting the "original Bellagio" in Italy during the winter vacation of 2006. Bellagio is a small town on the eastern shore of Lake Como, north of Milan near Chiasso of Switzerland...

In mid-May 2007, a special testimony congregation of Dr. David Hee-Don Lee, Vice Chairman of the World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), took place at the Oriental Mission Church (OMC), Los Angeles. At first, I was not interested in this meeting because I have heard little of him in Korea, and regarded his survival story from the scene of the 9.11 terror attack as one of the so-so" stories. Howe..