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 France Pavilion Entrance Sign From the somewhat underwhelming sign that adorns the entrance to the French Pavilion, one might not have very high expectations for what the interior might hold. But, with typical French artistic flair, this is one of the more beautiful country pavilions at the Expo.
There are three halls, which I’ve dubbed “The Hall of Mirrors,” “The Electric Blue Hall,” and “The Green Hall.” Not very inspiring names, but they’ll have to do until I, or you, think up some better ones.
The Mirror Hall features lots of, umm, . . . mirrors. It’s like going to an old-time carnival Hall of Mirrors. A bit disconcerting, so be careful not to smack into one of them.
 France Pavilion Hall of Mirrors Along the right hand side are several scenes that show various French landmarks underwater with colored, electric fish swimming serenely through the famous areas. I hope this isn’t a prediction of the height of the rising water levels due to climate change!
 Arc d' Triomphe Underwater at French Pavilion Another image of the Hall of Mirrors
 Hall of Mirrors In a room just off the Hall of Mirrors is this large model of a futuristic undersea research vessel. Looks like it would be an awesome place to live and work.
 Research Vessel Model Next up is “The Electric Blue Hall.” This one was very difficult to photograph, due to the very low light levels. I had to crank up my camera’s ISO and do some tricky adjustments in Photoshop, but I still couldn’t get it quite right. I’m going to start carrying my tripod with my when I go out to the Expo on weekday mornings and evenings, when it’s less crowded. That’s my colleague Andy watching the video screen in the background.
 The Electric Blue Hall There were some “tanks” in this room, too, with electric fish swimming around a bright white light, but the photos I took didn’t turn out so good, so you’ll have to go see them for yourself. Here’s the exit from the hall.
 Exit From the Electric Blue Hall The final “Green Hall” leads the way out of the pavilion. This is a landscape-themed hall, more or less, with your usual robot enjoying itself on a tree swing. (See second photo below)
 The Green Hall  The Green Hall There are two disappointments about the French Pavilion. They are the lack of a souvenir stand and the lack of a restaurant/bar. These are certainly not enough to spoil your enjoyment of the pavilion, but for those looking for such things, it might dampen your enthusiasm a bit.
Time and Day visited: Friday, May 18th at 6:45 p.m.
Interior Design: Outstanding (My photos don’t do it justice)
Lines: There weren’t any at this time of day, nor are there any in the morning, but afternoons there are occasionally long lines. Go early or late if you’re pressed for time.
Multimedia: A few interactive screens, videos, and simulations
Souvenir Shop: None
Cultural Assets: Very Few
Restaurant/Bar: None
Overall Rating: Well worth a visit because of the interior design alone, but a bit of a disappointment that there is no restaurant to chow down on French cheeses and wines.
If you’re walking around the Expo, there are so many things to see and experience, including cultural performances. I was lucky enough to be present for this performance of the Central African Republic. I love African music–it’s so energetic and exciting, in my opinion. So, these folks were a real treat–exciting rhythms and a bit of a fashion show. Enjoy.
 Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers  Central African Republic Performers
Depending on the time of day (I think after 2 p.m.) when you walk into the entrance to the Belgium Pavilion, you’re offered a cookie and a piece of chocolate. It’s really a nice introduction to this small, but charming pavilion. Oddly, I haven’t taken a photo of the outside entrance, but the next time I’m at the Expo (probably this Tuesday), I’ll take a shot and post it here.
There are three main areas of the pavilion. Upon entering, you’re in a room that features interactive screens about Belgium and its relation to the ocean. Also in this room is a rotating platform where you can view a few chocolatiers plying their famous Belgian trade. The smell is, obviously, quite nice and you may be able to get a few more free samples. (I’m not sure about that because I didn’t spend enough time at the chocolate carousel to find out.)
 Making Chocolate Goodies Another area is the great souvenir shop, where you can buy, what else, chocolate and other Belgian products. It’s one of the better souvenir shops at the Expo, so give it more than a cursory look.
 Belgium Souvenir Shop Finally, there’s a delightful restaurant, featuring several different Belgian offerings and a small selection of Belgium’s famous beer. I haven’t tried the food yet, but it definitely looks appetizing. Here’s a shot of the restaurant and the food menu.
 Belgium Restaurant  Belgium Menu And here’s Corrie, a colleague, enjoying a refreshing Hoegarden beer.
 Corrie Enjoying a Hoegarden Another interesting thing about the pavilion, for me, at least, is that several of my former students work there, mainly on the weekend. Walking into the pavilion is like walking into one of my English classes! The young men and women working there are extremely friendly and their English skills are pretty good. Definitely pop in and say hello to them and tell them that Ron sent you. Also ask for Ian or Etian, two of the Belgian supervisors and great guys. Here’s a shot of some of the souvenir shop workers and one of the Belgian chefs. The two in the middle are former students.
 Belgium Pavilion Workers So, here’s a concise rating of the Belgian Pavilion:
time and day visited-several different times, including weekends and early daytime weekdays
decor–charming
lines–haven’t seen any very long lines, probably because this is not a guided tour
multimedia–several interactive screens
souvenir shop–excellent
cultural assets–chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate!
restaurant/bar–quite nice, appealing looking food, small but nice selection of beer
overall rating–very good, you can spend some time here watching the chocolatiers, browsing the souvenir shop or enjoying the restaurant offerings. Definitely put this on on your list of places to visit, especially if you’re a chocolate lover.
 Angola Pavilion Entrance OK, so here’s my first pavilion review. Let me state that these are just my opinions and others may have different thoughts about individual pavilions, so caveat emptor, so to speak.
I was going to give a grade to each pavilion, but, me being a teacher, that seems too pedantic. I’ll just give a recommendation about whether or not a pavilion is “must see.” Most of the international pavilions that I’ve seen are worth a visit. If you’ve got a lot of time, take in as many as you can. However, if you’re only going to be in Yeosu a day or two, you’re going to have to maximize your time. You really need at least several days to browse around. Hopefully, these reviews will help you.
Angola would seem to be an unlikely country to have a great pavilion, but it does. It has a beautiful exterior that easily catches the eye, but it’s kind of off in a corner. I haven’t noticed any long lines, but I’ve usually been by the pavilion before noon, so later times might mean longer lines. (That’s true of any of the pavilions–go early in the day to avoid the lines.)
This is one of those pavilions where visitors are ushered in in groups, probably about 20-30 at a time. Once inside, you’re given an introduction to the country by way of several video monitors. Then, you’re led into a larger theater with a large screen that shows a several-minutes long video about the gorgeous Angola coastline. Very nicely done. After that, you go into a small interactive area that also has a few cultural assets.
If that were all that the pavilion had, it probably wouldn’t be worth waiting in line for. The thing that makes this a special visit is the restaurant and performance stage. The restaurant has an extensive menu, and you can sip on a beverage, including various teas and beers. When I ate there this afternoon, the staff told me that only a few choices on the menu were available, but the food items would be arriving in the near future. Also, the Angolan beer, Cuca, hadn’t yet arrived. No problem.
After around 2 p.m., you can also take in some of the Angolan musical performers and dancers on the stage in the restaurant. I haven’t been there late enough to check that out, but I hope to go there tomorrow evening to catch some of the performances, and I’ll post my impressions at a later date. At any rate, the restaurant seems like a great place to chill and enjoy some African music. Adding to the laid back feeling is the friendly staff. If you go there, enjoy a chat with Uzail, Bernie, Leandro or Eldon. Cool dudes, and everyone else seems very accomodating, too.
On a couple of these photos, there seems to be some odd ghost-like figures on the back wall, but music videos are projected there when live performances aren’t taking place.
 Angola Pavilion Restaurant  Angola Pavilion Restaurant  Angola Pavilion Restaurant  Angola Pavilion Restaurant The paintings along the wall are part of a monthly rotating exhibit of Angolan artists. Here’s a close up of one of them.
 Angola Pavilion Restaurant Painting Like I said, I had lunch there today. I ordered a rice and seafood stew and it was darn good! The downside was that there were a few small bits of crab shell that I bit into, so I don’t think I’d order that particular dish again, but it was good. I also had a small cup of coffee. The total bill was 16,000 Korean won , around 14 or 15 US dollars. Most of the pavilion restaurants, and there are many, charge between $10 and $20 an entree. You can get cheaper food outside the pavilions at any of the numerous food courts. The food in those courts, mostly Korean fare, is also quite edible. I promise, you won’t go hungry at the Expo. For even cheaper fare, there are many small Korean food stalls and coffee shops clustered around the main gate. Most of their food looks very palatable.
 Angola Rice and Seafood Stew I didn’t notice a souvenir shop, but there may be a small one. I’ll report on that later.
So, here’s a short summary of the Angola Pavilion.
time and day visited–Tuesday, May 15th, 10:30 a.m. and Thursday, May 17th, 12:30 p.m.
decor–entrance good, restaurant awesome
lines–short in the morning, maybe longer later on
multimedia–large screen presentation, a few interactive screens
souvenir shop–??
cultural assets–a few, except for the restaurant, which has many
restaurant/bar–superb, prices in line with other International Pavilion prices
overall rating–I consider this a must-see for the restaurant alone, although the large-screen video of the Angola coastline was spectacular. Laid back atmosphere with friendly staff. Make room for the Angola Pavilion on your itinerary.
OK, I hope you enjoyed my first review and I’ll try to get more of these posted on a frequent basis every few days, or, depending on time, perhaps a couple a day.
I’ve been out to the Expo twice since it opened and I’ve been taking literally 100s of photos. Many of those I’ve deleted because of exposure problems, blurring or bad composition. Still, I’ve got dozens that I could probably post here, some good and some average. I’m sure I’ll be taking hundreds more, but I’m not going to bore you with all those shots. Therefore, I’ll put up a few random scenes here and there from time to time.
What I think I really want to do is to focus on some of the major pavilions, including the International Pavilions and to give my opinion of them, along with a few photos. I’m thinking of rating them according to several criteria, including cultural aspects, the overall look, use of multimedia, quality of the souvenir shop (which most pavilions have) and whether or not there is a restaurant/bar and the pricing. This might be handy if you’re going to be here for only a day or two, and you want to visit some of the more interesting areas. (In my opinion, you’d need several days to really take in the Expo.) So, stay tuned for the upcoming Pavilion Reviews, probably beginning tomorrow.
In the meantime, here are a few shots from opening day, last Saturday, May 12th. Enjoy. One of the performance highlights is the Ocean Show, which is put on in the area of the Big O. It’s very colorful, interesting and exciting. Here are a few photos of the Ocean Show.
Overlooking the performance was the 11-meter (33 feet) tall mechanical marionette, Yeonani. He’s become, like the Big O itself, somewhat of an icon of the Expo. He’s chauffeured all over the place. Here he’s on the walkway between the International Pavilion and the Theme Pavilion.
 Yeonani Here are a few of the many performers in the Ocean Show. First up, literally, are some pole “sitters,” who climbed atop the flexible poles and cavorted and swayed to the enjoyment of the audience.
 Pole Performers  Pole Performers Other performers included gaily costumed dancers and trampoline artists.
 Ocean Show Dancer  Ocean Show Dancer  Trampoline Acrobats  Trampoline Acrobats And then there’s this amazing guy, who hovered above the surface of the ocean through the force of jets of water streaming out of his feet and hands. Reminds me a lot of some comic book Super Hero. He does his “flying” at the far end of the performing area, but now that I know where he appears, I’ll try to be watching from the other side the next time the performance occurs so I can get some close-up shots of him.
 Water Flyer  Water Flyer  Water Flyer Here’s a shot of the Theme Pavilion from the far end of the structure.
 Theme Pavilion Finally, a photo of the Big O at twilight, with the Theme Pavilion on the left and one of the docked sailing ships on the right. This particular ship was lit with ever-changing lights, including green, blue and red. I caught it here in green.
 The Big O at Twilight I’m going to the Expo again tomorrow, so I’ll visit a few of the International Pavilion areas and, hopefully, put up a pavilion review or two. More later.
Here are some more scenes from last Saturday’s mass rehearsal. This is the main hall of the International Pavilion, looking toward the Main Gate, which was packed with people waiting in line to get in. When I first got to the Expo around 10 a.m., I saw the looooong lines and decided to walk around to the gate near the train station, where the lines were much shorter. The individual country pavilions are located under the curving, grass-covered slopes to the left and the right. There are a couple more pavilion blocks to the sides, closer to the camera, but out of the picture.
 Main Hall at the International Pavilion If you look closely at the above shot, you might be able to spot a rather larger-than-life sized family in the middle of the pavilion. Walking down to the area gives a good look at them. Because of the similarity to the “Spyglass Lady” sitting on the Organizing Committee building (see her here), I assume they are both works by the same artist. (And I think they’re both great!)
 Tall Family in the International Pavilion There are four entrance gates into the Expo, and here’s a look at Gate 4, the Expo Town Gate. The other entrance gates are the Main Gate, Odongdo Gate, and the Train Station gate.
 Expo Town Gate 4 Walking out of the International Pavilion gives you a good view of much of the Expo, including, clockwise from upper left, the Theme Pavilion, the MVL Hotel with the Marine City and Civilization Pavilion in front of it, the Big O, the Aquarium, and, at the bottom, the Amphitheater on the Ocean Plaza. The reddish-brown walkway just to the right of the Big O leads to the Floating Stage.
 The Expo from the International Pavilion The Amphitheater is the place to be during the day, as far as performances go. There are going to be many street performers and other entertainment taking place here, as well as in other areas around the site. Last Saturday saw a trio of stilt walkers putting in a couple of appearances, delighting the crowd of youngsters with their juggling and dancing, and posing for pictures with the kids.
 Stilt Performers  Stilt Performers  Stilt Performers I also caught the tail-end of another much larger performance with costumed dancers and Who Knows What Else, since I only got there in time to see the exit. Part of the entourage of performers leaving the area was this huge puppet, operated by a winch-and-cable system. I’ll have to be sure to check this performance out the next time I’m there.
 Large Puppet  Large Puppet I’ve decided to buy a season pass since there are so many interesting and “hidden” things to see and do that I’ll easily get my money’s worth. I don’t have classes until 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so it’ll be nice to wake up in the morning and decide, on the spur of the moment, to go to the Expo for 3 or 4 hours. Hopefully, then, I’ll have a lot more to say and show about the Expo as the summer goes on. I’m definitely going to try to attend the Opening Day ceremonies this coming Saturday, May 12th. So, more later.
I took in the full-scale rehearsal this past Saturday along with about 100,000 other awestruck visitors. My quick reaction: the Yeosu 2012 Expo is amazing. It met and exceeded all my expectations. If you’re in the area, you should definitely attend. I arrived at 10:30 in the morning and stayed until closing time at 11 p.m., a pretty tiring day, but well worth it.
Most of the pavilions were open, but a few were still being worked on; I imagine they’ll all be up and running in time for next Saturday’s official opening, which I’ll try to attend if I can get a ticket. As a matter of fact, I’ll probably buy a season pass, which costs 200,000 Korean won, about $175.
I took close to 500 photos throughout the day and night, and I’m still going through them, culling, deleting the obviously bad shots and deciding which of the others are worthwhile. It’s going to take a while before I process the good ones, but I’ll get them up as soon as possible.
One of the highlights was the beautiful experience of the centerpiece of the Expo, the Big O. After the night time stage performance, the Big O took over, showing off with a 3-D laser show incorporating bursts of flame and colorful fountains, mist and fog. It was very difficult to photograph properly, with the lighting changing constantly. About all I could do was fire off a burst of shots, adjust my settings and fire off some more. I didn’t have a tripod, although that probably wouldn’t have helped, but the lens I used does have an image stabilizer feature, so some of the shots didn’t turn out too bad. Here’s one of them.
 The Big O Shows Off I was able to process a few more photos before going to work this morning, so here are a couple of views of the Theme Pavilion, the first one taken from the International Pavilions building, and the second taken from behind the Theme Pavilion, looking toward the Sky Tower and the Corporate Pavilions on the right.
 Theme Pavilion  Theme Pavilion Here’s a shot from behind the Samsung Pavilion looking toward the Sky Tower.
 The Samsung Pavilion with Sky Tower in the Background And here’s the Samsung Pavilion from the front.
 The Samsung Pavilion Finally, another one of the Sky Tower.
 The Sky Tower I’ll have many more photos to post and some other impressions of the Expo. I’ll try to get some more up later today. Enjoy.
Tomorrow, May 5th, is the biggest rehearsal prior to the official opening of the Yeosu Expo 2012 next Saturday. I’ve got my ticket, so I’ll be there, finally being able to take some photos from inside the site (yes, yes, yes, YES!!!). Tickets for this rehearsal cost 3,000 won, about two and a half American dollars, compared to the standard daily pass price of 35,000 won ($31) after the Expo opens. There have been a few smaller-scale rehearsals over the past few weeks, the largest topping out at about 60,000 people. Tomorrow, however, more than 100,000 tickets have been sold, which is about the expected daily total for the duration of the three-month event. I’m really excited about wandering around the site tomorrow, exploring all the nooks and crannies I can find, as well as the main areas, and I’ll post my photos on Sunday. The area is so large, that I’ll be able to take photos all summer and not repeat myself. (A season pass costs 200,000 won, and I might buy one.)
Meanwhile, as I mentioned in my last post, I went on a field trip to the Expo (as well as to beautiful Heunguk temple) last Saturday. There was a rehearsal in progress, and I took a few shots of the area. So, here are a few of what are the probably the last long-range photos of the site that I’ll take. These pretty much show that every thing is in place, except for, perhaps, a few minor landscaping details. First up is the Expo Theme Pavilion.
 Expo Theme Pavilion This is part of the area around the centerpiece Big O.
 The area around the Big O Clockwise from the lower right is the Marine City and Civilization Pavilion, a white tent-like structure which I have no information about, the Theme Pavilion and behind it, the Sky Tower, the Corporate Pavilions area, and the cruise ship dock area.
 Expo View Finally, an overview of the area (except for the MVL Hotel). If I weren’t so lazy, I’d put up some side-by-side photos of the area from before construction started and up to today, but maybe I’ll do that later.
 Expo Overview from Jasan Park Stay tuned for some Big Rehearsal Day photos on Sunday and, later in the week ahead, some photos of lovely Heunguk temple.
As usual, spring time in Yeosu is, quite simply, gorgeous. It’s a city that features flowers of all colors, amazing green hues in the trees and, at times, deep blue skies. Following are a few shots that I took while walking around campus when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. Most of the blossoms have fallen, but right now various other flowers are dominant.
Our English Tour Guide class took a field trip this past Saturday to several areas around town, including an achingly beautiful temple up in the mountains. I haven’t processed those photos yet, but they’ll be forthcoming soon.
I’ve also been down to the Expo Site and everything appears to be up and ready to go. There was a kind of mini-rehearsal on one of my visits, when a few thousand Yeosu citizens were invited to tour the facilities. This Saturday, May 5th, is the first full-scale dress rehearsal with around 100,000 folks visiting the site–I’ll be among them.
I also tried to get some night shots of the Expo, but heavy fog prevented any long-range photos, though I think I got a few interesting shots from around the area. I’ll try to get some of those up also.
Sorry for the delay between posts, but, except for a few days of heavy rains, the weather has been fantastic. I’d rather get out and enjoy it than spend the hours inside. 
OK, here are the campus shots. I will definitely have some others up soon!
 One Campus View of Spring  Cherry Blossoms 1  Another Cherry Blossom Shot  Magnolia Blossoms  More Magnolia Blossoms  Rest Area Near the Dorms  Azalea Blossom  Camellia Blossom
Unfortunately, I’ve been a bit under the weather the last several days, coughing and sneezing, feverish and chilly at times, and a bit lethargic (lazy?). So, apologies for the lengthy delay between posts.
As I stated in my previous entry, I did manage to take in the Azalea Festival at Yeongchuisan (san = mountain) here in Yeosu last Saturday. Unfortunately, we caught it about a week too early, so it was a bit of a flop. There were some sparse regions of azaleas, resplendent in their pink blossoms, but the vast fields that spring up at this time of year were sadly absent. Like I said, we were a week too early.
Still, it was a beautiful day, with clear, blue skies, warm temperatures, and little wind. Corrie, another English teacher at the university, Anne, one of our Korean students, and I started our climb up the mountain about 10 in the morning. I thought we’d have to take a gentle hike to the azalea fields, but it turned out to be somewhat of a steep trek — not grueling, but a good workout. Was it worth it, considering the lack of the flowers? Sure, more than worth it. Here’s a few photos from the day.
One of the trails up the mountain, the one we took, starts from the enormous petro-chemical area of Yeosu. Many Koreans make the trek, so we weren’t alone. Here we go, soon passed by these guys as we took several breaks on the way up to catch our breaths and rest our aching leg muscles.
 Hiking to the azalea fields Up we went, hoping for a bedazzling pink flower show, joined by many azalea acolytes. Quite a few tour buses drop off aficionados of the local flora, so the mountain does get crowded.
 Hikers going up to the Azalea Festival  More people ahead of us Unfortunately, the azaleas weren’t out on this part of the mountain. There were more blooming at the university, as a matter of fact. We could have just walked around there to see plenty of flowers, but it was worth going up Youngchuisan despite that. However, off to our left on a ridge below us, they were in full regalia. Corrie and I thought about going down to see them, but it was a LONG way down, so, a LONG way back up. There was a road there, but, unfortunately, it wandered off toward the farther mountains, away from Ann’s car. We had a good view of the flowers, despite our distance from their fields.
 Field of flowers at the festival  Another view of the flowers Eventually, we made it to one of the peaks. We saw another one about a kilometer from us and several dozen meters above, but we decided not to make that hike; the trail was packed and we were eager to take a snack break. Here’s Corrie, on the left, and Ann at the top of our little world.
 Corrie and Ann Despite the lack of azaleas on this weekend, I was fascinated by the area. The scenery was exhilirating, but the intricacies of the myriad petro-chemical plants enthralled me. Ann had to drive through several kilometers of the area to reach the mountain, and the road winds its way through the tanks and pipes and weirdness of these industries. The architecture of the area is monstrous and its pull on me is undeniable; I’m going to go back there on my bicycle or motorbike later in the summer and photograph this alien landscape.
Here are a couple of shots of the area, showing the new bridges linking the Yeosu Peninsula with the port of Gwangyang. Before the bridges were built, travel time from Yeosu to Gwangyang was probably a couple of hours, but now the journey has been cut at least in half. The bridges aren’t open yet, but they should be ready to go before the Expo opens.
 New bridges from Yeosu to Gwangyang  New bridge from Yeosu to Gwangyang The weather, as you can see, has been gorgeous lately. I also did a photo walk around campus this past Wednesday morning, an election-day holiday in Korea, and took lots of photos of the wonderful spring colors in the area this time of year. I promise I’ll try to get those up soon. More later.
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