I am hoping to join Pure Yoga, but the website is in Korean. This could prove to be a challenge, but I know where it is and I figure yoga is the same in every language. I'll be able to understand the instructor by the way he guides my legs and arms into the correct position. And he'll be able to understand me by the way I wince and cry in agony.

kaboom

N Korea issues warning to South

North Korea has threatened to reduce South Korea to rubble unless it stops what the North calls a policy of confrontation.

The harsh attack came after citizens from the South sent anti-government leaflets over the North in balloons.

The latest leaflets made allegations about the North's leader, Kim Jong-il.

Speculation about the leader's health has been rife since he failed to appear at a series of nation-praising events in recent months.

"The puppet authorities had better bear in mind that the advanced pre-emptive strike of our own style will reduce everything ... to debris, not just setting them on fire," the North's military said in a statement to the official KCNA news agency.

"It will turn out to be a just war... to build an independent reunified state on it," it added.

Military talk

Military representatives from the North and the South held a rare scheduled meeting on Monday, at which the North complained directly about the leaflets.

Analysts say the North refrained from bellicose military threats while it was receiving regular aid from the South.

But the current government in Seoul, led by President Lee Myung-back, has been taking a harder line, amid questions over whether the South's so-called "Sunshine Policy" of engagement with the North was working.

President Lee has advocated tying aid to progress on the North's nuclear disarmament.

The South says the leaflet campaigns are nothing to do with the government.

But the North's military statement said the acts of non-government organisations were "nothing but premeditated operations" against the North.

Leaflet balloons

Many batches of leaflets have been sent from the South over the years.

Activists had recently sent a new batch of tens of thousands of leaflets, attached to balloons, despite warnings from Seoul not to do so.

The leaflets were printed in waterproof ink on plastic sheets and carried the names of South Korean civilians and prisoners of war believed to be held in the North, as well as a family tree said to chart Kim Jong-il's relationships with several women who bore him children.

A North Korean defector now leading the leaflet campaign in the South, Pak Sang-hak, has reportedly said he has no plans to stop sending the airborne messages.

US and South Korean officials say Mr Kim may have fallen seriously ill in August, raising questions about leadership and also about who is making decisions about the country's nuclear weapons ambitions.

Hiking Mount Bukansan

The mountains that surround the city. I have stared at these from the city for three months and finally made it Saturday. We left around 8:30 am . My coworkers Meghan, Daryl, Craig, and me.THE TIPPY TOP: I saw a lot of rock climbers dangling from the side. Got a little itch to try it out now.
Autumn in Seoul.

THE FIRST FEW STEPS: It was pretty crowded on the mountain and at times people were crawling over each other. Really, actually, heels in your stomach, "speed! speed!", walking sticks jabbing your feet, crawling over each other. But honestly, that is a typical day anywhere in Seoul, at least getting knocked to my back in the woods promises a nice view.
OUT OF SHAPE: A very quick break. 30 minutes into the hike we sat down...and watched about 30 elderly men and women run past us at lightening speed. When I saw the woman with a toddler strapped to her back, I put my water away, got up, and carried on. We didn't take many breaks after that.
THE TOP IS WHEREVER YOU WANT IT TO BE: By this point it was raining pretty hard. An old man, upset seeing me soaked to the bone, offered me his raincoat. Meghan and I opted out of the last 100 feet of the hike because it was nearly straight up using rope on very slick rock. But the boys were intent -- to them the top was the entire point of going. As we waited on more sturdy ground, a man mentioned to us that this was a dangerous stretch, but if we got over this part, the top was only an hour away. Ugggggggggggh. When the boys returned walking proud, we patted them on the back, said good job, and never said a word.
5 HOURS LATER: Craig likes to thumbs up everything. Not sure if he was exhausted from the hike or what, but he's not looking at the camera. I wore that hat the entire way home because it rained the last 2 hours and however goofy I looked with the hat, the hair was worse.

By the way. It's Sunday now, a day after the hike, and I can barely walk down the stairs. My knees ache and my calves have turned to stone. I do have to say, though, that I was in heaven. I couldn't feel my hands, and my muscles were quivering...but I was finally on a mountain. I haven't seen a tree in a very long time. Rain and all, it was a beautiful day.

tourist

here you go. this is me being a tourist. i hate these photos but, ehh. this is one of the biggest palaces in south korea and it was really beautiful. the pond behind me was filled with goldfish, all of which were nearly jumping out of the water begging for food. they were like little puppies. fuppies? i was with bart and jane and it was the dead of summer. but a great day, nonetheless.

Victory hug

The moms and teachers took the blue team to victory!

Field Day

Warning: What you are about to witness is the single most adorable child in the entire world. So cute, in fact, you may fall over. This is 5-year-old Alex running his heart out on the blue team.

Note: The red team going backwards at the end of the video. Also note the screaming teacher. Sorry about that, I was really excited.

The way baseball should be