sensory - the medium is (part of) the message

I really notice how my energy/tension-approach to people here is often not matching well.
I sense a lot more lightness & at times also delicacy from people and complexity in their physical attitudes when talking to me, my own is often not in very efficient response to that.

since my Korean-phrase collection is still rather limited and almost no one really understands or speaks English (it is an island, with north-Korea and China to the north, Japan to the West and then for a longer time nothing much) this is pretty much to what I am left in terms of getting along, which always demands some communication with people.

in the school I think people are slowly getting used to me, so that helps (we're a month further now)


I am sensitive enough to feel when I have violated the ongoing flow of tension-communication with someone, in form or content, by not responding with the correct way something said, or saying something too soon and therefore interrupting someone (not very well taken at all - many people sense very keenly when I am just about to speak and then silence themselves, but clearly not finished yet saying what they needed or wanted to say - for example!)

but I am not yet sensitive enough when I try to communicate something to someone myself, and that's where often the lapses or breaks etc. will happen.

^ Dongdaemun Market at night











They really liked this face when I did it at the shop where I bought this vest & shirt to look more presentable, it frightened and made the girl laugh at the same time. So I did this for her!...


The clothing styles that I see here are a mixture of Western / Turkish / Asian / Chinese / Japanese elegance: many colors, but no bright or highlighting ones (dyed clothing was for a very long time a privilege of the rich and the Shamans, the ordinary people wore white, natural fibers, no color) Many women wear shining glitz and glitter in some way, sparkling hair pins, sparkles on the coat, or the make up. Nail polish in all colors except for overt red. The young men remind me a lot of young Turkish men in Istanbul: very elegant trendy several different major styles that are adapted individually. As a nice example, check out Holy Banana ... Many business men in suits, sometimes with pink or turquoise or lilac ties. Lots of asymmetry in the designs, lots of copies from major designing houses. Louis Vuitton copies everywhere. Sometimes there are women wearing a subdued variation of Hanbok, the traditional Korean dress.