Category: Uncategorized

This is the castle in Prague. Would you have guessed by looking at the picture? You just can not escape, can you? You might have to click the image to see what I mean. 🙂

During the winter in Korea it gets really cold and it’s a humid kind of horrible cold. But the Koreans seem not to have grasped this at all. At the bus stop you can see girls waiting in short skirts and thin jackets, they do shiver but do not seem to understand that you can do something about it by putting more clothes on. I guess it is not fashionable.

They have totally missed out on the invention of winter tyres and traffic is therefore catastrophic whenever it is slippery or snowy. They simply can not go to work if it is snowing! (imaging trying that with your boss in Sweden..)

Also they have a huge insulation problem which means that they have some difficulties heating the buildings. But when they do succeed with this they are persistent to keep about 30 degrees. This all means that you need to bring a lot of clothes because you do not know if your meeting room is going to keep 15 or 30 degrees. The Koreans usually where their winter jackets inside even if it is 30 degrees (how does their thermostat work??)! Often you end up sweating or getting a cold shock because without warning the temperature changes by 20 degrees and you are still inside! Is this why their major soft drink is called “Pocari sweat”?

I am starting to understand why it is so popular to grill your own meat on the dinner table. It is the only way to keep warm while eating (before they get drunk enough not to notice that is) in the constant draft of the poor building constructions.

If you visit the old temples in Seoul they are very proudly showing the advance floor heating systems they built hundreds of years ago. Koreans seem to have a very bad memory…

…I am leaving Korea and am going to Beijing for the weekend before returning to Sweden on Tuesday. I have never been to Beijing and am very excited to be able to visit the Great Wall (weather permitting, it is cold in these parts of the world now!) and the forbidden city. I have finally finished work for now and can concentrate on going to China tomorrow morning. Looking forward to it! (And the best thing is that when I return to work on Wednesday I have only three days to go to my three week holiday of diving with hammerheads in Costa Rica and cruising around Key West!!)

Just the day before I went to Korea last time in December I read an article about the Samsung scandal involving bribes and economic crimes. It said that there is a saying in Korea that there are three things a korean can not escape; death, taxes and Samsung. And it is so true. The first thing you see when getting off the plane in Seoul is Samsung flat screens and it continues with heaters, cars, buildings, roads, ships, department stores, insurance, telephones, computers, any type of electronic device…. Even the little plastic thing on the dinner table that holds the drinks menu is made by Samsung! They are everywhere! According to my collegues here about 15 % of the stock market is just Samsung. Also about 15 % of Koreas total export is Samsung! It is impressive how one company can be so dominant in a country of this size. I think that I have been able to spot the Samsung logo from everywhere I have been standing in this country. I will give you some examples when I get the chance.

Can someone explain what this means? The sign was mounted at the window in my hotel room in Korea.

Some people are under the impression that I have been everywhere. Several times I have gotten the question if there are places that I have not seen. I might have visited more places than the average person but every time I am equally surprised by the question because there is an endless list of places to go to. I have not even visited all the continents!
When I was in Samoa in the Pacific Ocean I met an elderly man who had the goal to visit every country in the world. At that time he had some 20 or 30 to go. I do not know if he has made it by now but he was very determined and was more or less travelling all the time. He had spent his entire life reaching for this goal. I am now probably about half his age and still have a long list of places to visit and the list is steadily growing as I read and hear about places I knew nothing about before. Often I also feel like returning to some places because I liked them so much or I want to give them another chance.
Perhaps I will travel less in the future, perhaps not. So far I have not gotten tired of it. When I know that I will not travel for a while I can get cramps in my stomach just thinking about it. Especially when I think about hiking in the Alps or somewhere similar. I miss that always. That is funny because I have not been to the mountains for several years now. But it is definately time to go!