Many of my Saint Louis friends have asked me to keep them posted on my experiences as a Fulbright Fellow teaching at Yonsei University in Seoul. This blog is a response to those requests. I returned to Saint Louis on July 5, 2009; however, I'll continue to add photos to the Blog until I run out of photos or time.
Almost all transportation in Siam Reap is via Tuk Tuks.
When we were tired of temples, we drank Angkor, a very good Cambodian beer.
One of the hundreds of images carved into the rock of the temples of Angkor.
Cambodian children playing jump rope, a universal game for children around the world.
The trees are very old--and very big--in Angkor Wat.
Massage parlors are ubiquitous in Thailand and Cambodia.
Danny's masseuse in Siam Reap (Cambodia)
There is a ball inside the mouth of the dragon; if you can remove it without damaging the dragon's mouth, you are guaranteed immortality (of course, nobody can do this, making the point that death will come to us all).
Danny parasailing in Pattaya.
Foot massage is one of the joys of travel in Asia.
Aphorisms are posted on many of the trees in Wat Umong; you are expected to contemplate the various messages as you walk through the gardens and grounds of the temple.
The entrance to Wat Umong (where Danny studied Buddhism and meditation in 1999 when completing his first Fulbright in Chiang Mai, Thailand).
The person who conquers himself is more powerful than the soldier who captures the world.
An image depicting our inevitable death and decay.
Buddhist iconography reminding us that we all carry the spores of our own death within us.
William James wrote that life is a banquet--but there is always a skeleton peering in at the window!
One of Danny's favorite Buddhist statues at Wat Umong.
Thai monks line up to receive food in their begging bowls; Thais are eager to contribute as a way of "making merit."
These images from Wat Umong in Chiang Mai are designed to get the viewer to pause and think about the pain experienced by those animals we eat.
Note the praying cows.
Even fish feel pain.
What if we treated humans the way we treat animals?
Thai Buddhists recommend fruit and massage for the treatment of whatever ails you.
It only looks like Danny is pretending to be a pirate; actually the scarf is very functional and keeps his bald head from burning.
Danny visited Thailand and got to spend some time with former colleagues from the Department of Psychiatry at the Chiang Mai University School of Medicine. This is the house he lived in while completing his first Fulbright (visiting scholar quarters on the medical school campus).
The Cheonggyecheon River was one of my favorite parts of Seoul.
