Past blog hops and challenges

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Challenge of Travel reveal

Sorry this wasn't posted at with the other posts but the scheduler didn't work the way it was supposed to.

I signed up for Erin's blog hop as soon as I heard about it.  I have always liked traveling, getting on a plane and arriving some place that you have never been before.  Getting the chance to visit places and see the sights.

When I signed up, I had the option of choosing my own country or letting Erin choose for me.  I chose the continent, Asia, and Erin chose the country, South Korea. 

South Korea!  I immediately thought of the TV series M*A*S*H.  Taking place in the early 1950s at the time of the Korean War.  Never mind that it was actually filmed in California.

South Korea was created after World War II when Korea was divided with Russia having a trusteeship over the north and the United States having trusteeship over the south.  This was supposed to be temporary but the North would not agree to holding elections and establishing a national government.  An election was held for the South and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) was proclaimed on August 15, 1948.  The United Nations recognized the Republic of Korea as the sole legal government of Korea in December 1948.

Below is the flag for South Korea called Taegukki (Taeguki means harmonious state of movement for yin and yang and ki means flag).  The red stands for Yang and the blue for Yin.  Yin and yang are opposites and struggle with each other while they cooperate in harmony thus taeguki.  The symbols in the corners are called Kwae and mean the principle of movement and harmony.  These different symbols mean heaven (Kun) (upper left), fire (Yi) (lower left), water (Kam) (upper right), and earth (Kon) (lower right), thus the movement of all objects in the universe and the movement of the universe itself.

·         image by Željko Heimer (information on the flag came from  "FOTW Flags Of The World website at http://flagspot.net/flags/")

Seoul is the capital and largest city with 11,000,000 of the reported 48,900,000 population living there.  The best months to visit are April, May, September and October.  You can stay in the country for up to 30 days with no visa and up to 90 days with a tourist visa.  Travel within the country is reasonably fast with fast and comfortable buses and trains along with domestic air flights.  There are well maintained roads and rental cars are available.  There are many choices for rooms and restaurants to meet every price point.  Many people speak at least a little English and some of the street signs are written in English.  There are plenty of tourist attractions depending on what you are interested in.  You can also shop, hike, play golf, visit museums, or temples.

Here is what I started with to make my South Korean represented jewelry.  The large square stones are jade from South Korea in a kind of grassy green with black markings, thus the black seed beads and cubes. 


Earrings made from the black cubes and 3-sided Korean jade.

















Bracelet with Korean jade and black accents.



  
 
 Matching necklace













Thanks for stopping by.  Please stop by the other participants and see where they have traveled and what they have made.


 
Name
Blog
Region Chosen
Inspiration Nation
Monique Urquhart
Africa
Burkina Faso
Niky Sayers
Africa
Egypt
Therese Frank
Africa
Kenya
Raychelle Heath
Africa
Lesotho
Joan Williams
Africa
Mauritania
Sherri Stokey
Africa
Senegal
Regina Santerre
Africa
Seychelles
Raida Disbrow
Africa
Tanzania
Kristi Wodek
Africa
Zimbabwe
Sally Russick
Americas
Brazil
Melissa Trudinger
Americas
Mexico
Tracy Stillman
Americas
USA
Sandra Wolberg
Asia
India
Tanya Goodwin
Asia
Japan
Susan Kennedy
Asia
Japan
Beth Emery
Asia
Japan
Lisa Cone
Asia
Japan
Tanya Boden
Asia
Japan
Inge von Roos
Asia
Laos
Erin Prais-Hintz
Asia
Nepal
Dee Elgie
Asia
Phillipines
Carolyn Lawson
Asia
South Korea
Lisa Stukel
Asia
Sri Lanka
Elly Snare
Asia
Thailand
Shelley Graham Turner
Europe
Austria
Mallory Hoffman
Europe
Bosnia Herzegovina
Paige Maxim
Europe
France
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Europe
Germany
Sharyl McMillian-Nelson
Europe
Greece
Evelyn Shelby
Europe
Iceland
Holly Westfall
Europe
Ireland
Rebecca Siervaag
Europe
Ireland
Toltec Jewels
Europe
Ireland
Lee Koopman
Europe
Ireland
Laren Dee Barton
Europe
Italy
Cindy Wilson
Europe
Norway
Kathleen Lange Klik
Europe
Poland
Shaiha Williams
Europe
Portugal
Jennifer Justman
Europe
Romania
Elsie Deliz-Fonseca
Europe
Spain
Lola Surwillo
Europe
Sweden
Kim Hora
Europe
Switzerland
Leanne Loftus
Europe
The Netherlands
Patti Vanderbloemen
Europe
The Netherlands
Marcie Carroll
Europe
Turkey
Marlene Cupo
Oceania
Federated States of Micronesia
Ine Vande Cappelle
Oceania
Fiji
Tammie Everly
Oceania
Guam
Alice Peterson
Oceania
Kiribati
Elisabeth Auld
Oceania
Nauru
Susan McClelland
Oceania
New Zealand
D Lynne Bowland
Oceania
New Zealand
Denielle Hagerman
Oceania
New Zeland
Rebecca Anderson
Oceania
Papua New Guinea
Mischelle Fanucchi
Oceania
Samoa
Kari Asbury
Oceania
Solomon Islands
Cece Cormier
Oceania
Tonga
Emma Todd
Oceania
Tuvalu
Debbie Price
Oceania
Vanuatu

18 comments:

  1. The Korean jade is gorgeous and I love what you made with it.

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  2. Nice post! The jade beads are lovely.

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  3. That Koren jade is just beautiful. Good post. The information about the flag was great.

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  4. Nice job, Carolyn! I love the colors you chose! Never been to South Korea, but I'm sure that they would be appreciated there!

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  5. Its great to learn more about South Korea. Very interesting and beautiful jewelry pieces ;)

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  6. Korean Jade is gorgeous.. great job.. I love your pieces.

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  7. A pretty set! The Korean jade is a lovely colour isn't it!

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  8. Wow! I enjoyed the trip! I love the bracelets and the earrings!

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  9. Such an informative post! I have learned so much I didn't know like the symbols on the flag. I have to admot that MASH is the first thing I think of too! I love that you found some beads from the region to use. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Enjoy the day. Erin

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  10. Okay, another walk down memory lane with M*A*S*H! I catch an episode here and there on TVLAND and I still love the show to this day! Thank you for including the flag and its symbol interpretation - I love reading this stuff! Your jade pieces are stunning - such a beautiful stone! Nice job!

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  11. Love your pieces! The thing I think about Korea is tang so doo, (I think that's how you spell it!) my son went to 2nd degree black belt before he quit! Master Kim teaches here, he taught the American army in Korea martial arts!

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  12. I enjoyed reading about the history of North and South Korea, and also the South Korean Flag. Both the earrings and bracelet are beautiful. Of course I just love Jade. And thanks for the welcome flashbacks to the M.A.S.H show!

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  13. Hot Lips would have totally rocked these jewels - Beautiful. M*A*S*H was an often quoted show in our home

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  14. Jade is a delightful stone to work with,Great job.Love and hugs Tanya

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  15. Hi Carolyn,
    Thank you for taking me along on your trip to South Korea I enjoyed learing about the country. The necklace, bracelet, and earring are very pretty.
    Therese

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  16. Carolyn, your necklace is a wonderful tribute to the nation of South Korea, and how fabulous that you had actual Korean jade to make it so authentic. I love how the shapes in the necklace echo the elemental symbols on the flag.

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  17. I am new to Korean Jade and am loving it. Your pieces are very nice. This whole blog hop has been so informative, learning about the different countries. You have done a great job sharing your influence with the pieces you created!

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  18. I was stationed in South Korea for three years and later went back to visit -- it's funny but I always homesick for that place. I did some really integral "coming of age" there. It's such a unique country. The cities are so modern, but it doesn't take long to get to areas that are still what we'd call Third World or undeveloped. When I was there, I taught English on the side, and the town I went to was like that -- very undeveloped. It's all developing at such an unbelievably fast rate, though, that soon I'm afraid those peaceful enclaves are going to be gone.

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