Like the outfits?No - they are not dressed up for Hallowe'en.
These are guards at the Changgyeong Palace in Seoul, which I visited in 2002.
I am looking forward to developing links with Korean friends by speaking at the Korean Church in Glasgow this coming Sunday - but I don't expect anyone to be dressed like this.
Like Glasgow (but on a vastly greater scale) Seoul is built along the banks of a river, the Han. Together with the surrounding mountains, the river helps to establish the character of the city. It also was for me something of a metaphor for what was an all-too-short visit to South Korea.
The poem below comes from the time of that visit.
Sunset on the Han River
On the south bank of the Han
the late Spring sun
lowers herself gently
onto the lap of the pale white hills.
Gentle fingers of soft cloud
caress her forehead
and she stretches and settles for the night,
pillowed by the earth's embrace.
The Han slides slowly by
beneath its ever-busy bridges
while darkness descends
like a benediction.
I would find it easier
to gather the Han in my arms
or cradle the sun in my lap,
than, with a few poor words,
hold on to moments
that have meant so much.
© Iain D. Cunningham
Well, I didn't manage to see my football team playing this weekend... so they lost 2 - 1 to Celtic.
I really think Motherwell FC ought to pay me to be a spectator. When I go they win! (Well, it has happened twice.)
I couldn't go to the football because on Friday and Saturday I was at Harrogate for the Northern Christian Resources Exhibition organised by Christian Resources Exhibitions. I was part of a team giving a presentation on the forthcoming three day event in Glasgow which is to be called "Nexus 2007" Check out what it's about.
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