Hi. This picure doesn't have anything to do with todays post, but I was cleaning up my picture folders yesterday and thought it was pretty. It's just a door in Kyounju taken last fall. Today marks the 2nd anniversary of my arrival in Korea (Hooray!) and to celebrate, I wrote my exam for my Korean Language course. I got a 92.5% in the course (Hooray Hooray!!) Mind you, it was the beginner course, so it's not as though I'm fluent or anything. Although I can hold my own pretty well when it comes to restaurants... 

I don't often wear baseball caps, except on "Ugh, it's- raining- and- I- slept- in- and- I'm- going- to- be- late- for- class- and- don't- have- time- to- blowdry- my- hair, not- that- it- would- do- any- good- becuase- it's- still- raining" days. Today was one of those days. It's a good thing I don't wear caps often, as Catticus has decided that a baseball cap on my head is for lounging on. Which is fine, until she starts to lose her balance and digs in with a good grip. ouch.


In other news, my sister and brother-in-law sent me a link that you movie buffs might want to try. It's pretty difficult. Each 'quiz' shows you a scene from 8 different movies...but all the actors have been removed. You must try to guess the movie based on the set and costumes alone. My highest score is 5/8 on Invisibles #171 and #199: http://www.filmwise.com/invisibles/index.shtml

Snow(ouch)Board(ouch)ing...ouch.

Wednesday was Lunar New Year. So, since all folks Korean would likely be at home doing family things, we thought it would be a great day to head to the ski hill. It was. The hill wasn't very crowded, and we got a good deal on equipment rentals. Now, keep in mind, I haven't snowboarded since I was 17, and that was just down a toboggan hill ~ not a mountain. After spending the first 2 hours just trying to stand up, I got in a couple of good runs on the bunny hill. (Followed by a couple of good hours in the outdoor hotub). Thankfully, John had lent me knee pads and a butt pad, which means my only injury was a sprained wrist.

It's now been two days since the trip, and my muscles are still hollering. The biggest complainers are those little-known, and under appreciated muscles that hold your armpits to your shoulders. It was those little troopers who bore the strain of trying to hoist myself upright. And so, I say "Kudos to You little muscles!! May I never have to use you again!"

The traffic was terrible on the way home, but we did laugh at the 'temporary' construction signs permanently embedded in the guardrail ~ followed a few minutes later by a maniquin in a rain slicker and galoshes tied to a post. A mechanized rod made his arm wave up and down, holding one of those airport runway safety baton things. We wondered if that was the construction crew....?

A Korean Do It Yourself Kit...

People often assume that because I live in a distant country, my life is exciting and somehow exotic. It's just not true. You can recreate my Korean experience in your very own livingroom. Here's how:

1. Gather some friends about you. An even mixture of Canadians and Americans is best. Throw in a South African if one is available.
2. Haul out every board game in your closet. For an authentic re-creation experience, you'll need 'Boggle', 'Scattagories', 'Phase 10' and 'Scrabble'.
3. Proceed to play the above games for 8 hours straight.
(You may wish to pause at some point and have fried chicken delivered to your door by a guy on a scooter)
4. When you, or one of your companions has to ask "Is 'hi' a word?" you'll know you've played for too long, and it's now safe to go to bed.
<>If you wish, you may drink a cola of your choice while your friends drink beer until they're unable to spell properly, giving you an advantage. Although, you may still lose.

Yup. That was my weekend. ... or 8 hours of it at least. Sadly enough, it really was lots of fun, and we're planning to do it again soon. If any of you are scrabble players, and have a good stock of "Q" words that don't need a "u", let me know!!

School Days, School Days...

Yes indeed. I've started my holiday 'fun'. Since I don't teach again until March 3rd, I've chosen to study instead. For the next few weeks, I'll be brushing up on my Korean skills. Today was the first day and the 4 hours flew by quite quickly. It was all review for me, since I can already read Korean. However, once we move on to sentence structure and grammar junk, it'll get harder. As part of the course, we also get several 'activity' options during the week. I'll let you know more about those as they occur, and if I participate in them. Today's activity was a campus tour, and I chose to pass on that one. Next week though, there's a cooking class and a field trip. Tonight though, I must go study. We've got a test tomorrow, and I'm still getting "sea", "pants" and "butterfly" mixed up.