Caveat emptor

The hotel looks pretty in the pictures. The reviews are great. It has thousands of Instagram followers. Their restaurant appears attractive.

The request for a quiet room was for naught, since most of the rooms face a parking area. The restaurant, which appeared to be in the main building, is in the parking area. The late night people made noise as they left the restaurant.

The air conditioning unit was deafening, so the engineer brought a fan to use instead. The dead bolt was misaligned, so he had to repair it so the room's door could be locked. The mirror on the bathroom door was loose and might fall. The floor was warped where it met the entrance to the bathroom and would be replaced, the engineer said.

"Old Painting" by Krebs' Class is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The blanket did appear like the one in the pictures. The lobby is cute and cozy. The location is close to town, within walking distance. A move (luckily) to the main building assured sleep, due to a less noisy air conditioner.

However, the time spent on repairs to a place not one's own was disconcerting. It is a motor inn transformed to a boutique hotel, which was not completely successful. We met the photographer outside, who excels at dreamy photos.

Don't believe everything on social media. Ask friends if one can. Anyway.

Cultural Differences

i am OTHER is Pharrell Williams' company which celebrates people who are different. Who is the other, one asks? It could be those different or foreign. The new student in school, the refugee, the immigrant. To learn about the other adds depth to our analysis of consumers. To increase one's knowledge, it is important to travel and learn about other cultures. Subsequently, one could compare and contrast those cultures with one's own.

The recent exhibit "In Grand Style: Celebrations in Korean Art during the Joseon Dynasty," at the Asian Art Museum, provides a window, through art, of another time and culture. We learn of the Koreans' system of royal lineage, where political power could be inherited by women, although they could not be rulers. Think of powerful women in our history for analogy.

A painting of a king in front of a landscape signifies his relationship to and power similar to nature's. The five peaks behind him represent the universe. Current official governmental portraits or family photos reflect this painting.

The impressive 150 foot long scroll from 1795, "King Jeongjo's Procession to His Father's Tomb in Hwaseong" emphasizes the importance of commemoration for this culture. In this artwork, one understands the values of family, royalty and honoring one's parents. The commemorative quality reminds us of the incessant photography, Snapchat and Instagramming of our culture. The Koreans of the Joseon dynasty are the other, but not so different. We also want to record aspects of our lives. Through viewing other cultures, we may learn about our own. Thoughts on consumers...