Adventures on Thanksgiving Weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I feel fortunate that I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with some moist turkey, sweet cranberry sauce, savory pumpkin soup and a slice of pie. I don't exactly know what the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Korea does, but I'm more than happy to eat the food at the dinner they host every year.

It also gave me a chance to get back to Seoul and see my travel agent there. Hooray!! I'm going home for Christmas this year!!! What a lovely Thanksgiving gift.

We stayed in a Yogwan in Seoul, which is like a small motel. Some of them are quite clean and cozy and comfortable. The one I managed to pick out was not. Ewwww. I woke up with 12 mosquito bites on my arms, and some of them are swelling up like red, puffy quarters, nickles and dimes.

The weekend went by super fast and now I can't believe it's Monday already. I think that since I've had 2 long weekends in the past three weeks, actually having to go to work on a Monday seems a little strange! Even so, I hope all of you reading this from Canadian soil will enjoy your holiday.

Adventures in Free Food!

Like many people I know, I grew up big and strong by eating Church Basement potluck dinners, (and I capitalized it, since I think someone should use it as a brand name for a line of microwave dinners~ wouldn't you buy something called Church Basement 3 Bean Salad, or Church Basement Baked Beans??). The point of all this ---well, to be honest, this is going to be the point-before-the-point, so if you're feeling overwhelmed already, you might want to bail out now--- The PRE-point is that I love free food. Think about it. I'd never make a Spinach Pie in my own kitchen, but if you serve it to me at your house, chances are I'll love it. Or, when I'm going through the supermarket, and there are free samples of stuff -stuff I KNOW I don't like and I'll never buy - I still take the free sample! And then I stand there with a thoughtful look on my face and murmur things like "Hmmm, it's not so bad. Maybe I'll add it to my list next time" but I know I won't. I just don't want to hurt the feelings of the nice lady who's handing out the Dixie cups full of free food. So that's my pre-point. I love free food. I think maybe judging by the size of the congregation on Church Basement pot-luck days, other people do too.

Now, onto my main point. Even better than getting free food, is giving free food...so other people can have it for free. And there are no dishes for you to wash!! I've added a link on my sidebar for The Hunger Site. It's a website that allows you to click the box that says "Give Free Food". You can click every day, and each click donates 1.1 cups of staple food to folks who need it via The Mercy Corps and America's Second Harvest. (There is info about these organizations on the site). I've known about, and frequented this website for a long time now (Thanks to Melanie for pointing me in its direction). There is also an on-line gift shop associated with it. Every item purchased (and there are some really nice ones!! ) results in more free food for somebody! When you look at the stuff in the shop, along with the price and product description, it also tells you how many cups of food will be donated if you purchase that item. Christmas is getting closer, and if you tend to do some of your shopping online anyway, you might want to check out The Hunger Site. The only sad part is that while folks will get good healthy food, nobody's going to be lucky enough to get a "Church Basement Jell-O and Olive Salad".

Adventures in Teaching

Over the holidays, I seem to have forgotten some important classroom tips. The other day I leaned against the board during my lecture. It wasn't until after I got home that I realized the words "I have the flu" could clearly be seen scrawled backwards across my back. Lovely.

Adventures in Chuseok

This weekend was what's known in Korea as Chuseok, and is often described as the Korean Thanksgiving. It's a time when everyone travels to their hometown, the women cook monsterous quantities of food and people tend to their ancestors tombs. It's also a time when English teachers at Daegu University gather for a fantastic BBQ - since we have 3 birthdays in September that need to be celebrated in style. We had tons of food, some guitar music, some singing, and of course, a pinata. It's so much fun to watch grown adults scrimmaging for a fun-size Snickers bar. Although, come to think of it, when the weather's nice like this, we have a BBQ almost every weekend, whether there are any birthdays or not!

So, since I've been finished work since 9am last Friday, I've had plenty of time to clean, shop, make some pottery thingies, BBQ, watch some movies and play cards with my friends. Now, it's 2:30 on a Monday afternoon and I'm thinking that after I wash up all the brunch dishes I'll just curl up with my cat, a good book and a cup of tea for a little while...or re-decorate my bedroom. We'll see how energetic I'm feeling after the dishes are done. Also, since it's only been 2 weeks since the semester started, and now we're enjoying a long weekend, it feels like summer again. I really hope I don't forget to get up and go to work tomorrow morning!

Adventures in Writing.

Even though it may not be apparent from the hastily concocted literary belches on my Blog, I really can write. It's one of my skills. It's not one of those 'cool' skills like precision spitting or being able to burp the alphabet, but over the years it has served me well. I like writing. I like to read other peoples writing, and I figured I'd like to teach writing too. So, this semester I'm teaching a 3rd year Writing Composition class. My problem, as I discovered last class, is that although I'm confident in my own writing skills, I don't know WHY it's good writing. It just sounds right. After reviewing a few examples of a particular sentence structure in class, some students asked the dreaded question 'why?'. I blurted out an answer that made sense to me, but I wasn't really sure it was true. (I found out later that I hadn't led them astray ~ whew!) Keep in mind, these students are sharp. They've been studying English Grammar since middle school. I don't know if I ever studied grammar. I know that about 1/2 - 2/3 of my Freshman Linguistics class failed a 7th grade English Grammar test circa. 1950, and I know that many of our Korean students have a better grasp of grammatical principles than their native English speaking teachers. It's a little intimidating. Here's hoping I don't make a complete chowder-head of myself in this course!

In other news, my cat is currently trying to crawl inside my printer.

So here are a few pictures from Thailand. The one on the top is a great shot of my toes enjoying the view during our lunch break on 'snorkle day'. In fact, once again the heat had struck me down, and I spent most of the afternoon in that pose. The shot below is the view I had if I flopped my head to the right. (The view to my left was a tree trunk, so I didn't take a shot of that one). Gorgeous, eh? I'm going to look at these when winter rolls around and I'm shivering in wool socks and drinking hot chocolate.

Adventures in Thailand

What a way to spend the final 10 vacation days of summer! Shopping at the markets in Bangkok was the most relaxing market experience ever. I'm used to vendors loudly hawking their wares, or shoving pink ruffled hair clips under your nose while you're trying to examine the lizard-shaped belly rings. (How do they think those things go together?!). In Bangkok, it was completely different. Vendors greeted you with a friendly smile, then let you look around, and eventually engage in good natured bargaining "Good for Me...Good for you. You give me a price now". It was delightful.

On our 2nd day in Bangkok, 3 of us went on a river cruise up the river on a tour boat, then back down again on a converted rice barge. It was really stunning to see the wooden houses propped up on stilts all along the waters edge. Once in a while, a sprawling old home looking like a cross between a Souther Plantation and an old English Estate home with boarded up windows would loom along the waters edges, sagging at the gutters. As Anne of Green Gables would say, there was 'lots of scope for the imagination'.

Soon, we were off to Koh Samui with it's white powder beaches, sparkling clear aqua waves, swaying palms and coral reefs. The island was gorgeous. However, by this time, I discovered Thailand was like a sad, sad romance. As much as I loved Thailand, it wasn't lovin' me back. I spent a great deal of time taking tiny nibbles of delicious food I would have loved to devour, all the while hoping my churning inards and pounding headache would wash out to sea. As a result, I didn't enjoy the island as much as I should have.

Even so, I had a great time. The 4 of us travelled well together. We got along well and enjoyed similar interests, so we weren't at cross-purposes the whole time.

Now however, I'm home again and started back to work yesterday. It looks like it's going to be a good semester, and I'm looking forward to teaching a Writing Composition class in addition to my regular Freshman courses.

Adventures in Sunburns

I'll fill you in on all my Thai adventures later. For now, I just wanted to say I'm home safe, sound, and only a tiny bit sunburned. (On my last day at the beach, I fell asleep under a palm tree - I got a few little weirdo splotchy burns as the sun peeked through the fronds.) So, yes, I've retuned from a tropical adventure with a sunburn on my left ankle, the inside of my right knee, and my right armpit. Lovely. Tonight is our semi-formal start-of-semester gathering for the teachers...and my dress exposes-you guessed it- my left ankle, my right knee, and my right armpit.

Adventures in packing...

34 more hours, and I'll be on a plane bound for Thailand. Well, actually I'll be on a plane bound for Seoul, so I can connect to the plane bound for Thailand. Even so, I've just finished packing and am ready to go! It's not as though Thailand will be any cooler, or less humid than Korea, but somehow it seems more bearable when there's a white sandy beach under you, and salty aqua surf infront of you. So, I may not be posting for a while, but hopefully will have some pictures for you early in September. I've also never been snorkling or windsurfing before, but I figure if my Gramma could go snorkling last year, maybe I'll be able to manage it too. (Does snorkling have an 'e' in it?) What a fun word...snorkle, snorkl, snork. snork. HA! I love words. No, I haven't been drinking. I just like the sound of 'snorkle'. It ranks right up there with 'duck' and 'barnacle' and 'macadamia'.

...I've just read the above post. I really think it's time for a vacation. Snorkle.

Adventures in Golf...

Yup, I did something today I've never done before. I went to a driving range. There were 5 of us all together, and I think I hit around 300 balls (taking about 600 swings, of course). My arms are a bit sore, but it was more fun than I thought it was going to be. Most of us are pretty inexperienced, so I think some of the skilled Korean golfers were a bit amused (bemused?) by us. Nevertheless, we had a good time. We also plan to hit the batting cages and the bowling alley in the near future - just to make absolutely certain that our skills really and truly don't lie in the world of sport.

Adventures in Toilet Seats...

Some of you may recall from past posts that many washrooms in Korea are equipped with what I call 'space toilets', because they look a little bit like Captain Kirk's chair aboard the Enterprise. There are a bunch of buttons on the side that control the bidet, the post-bidet blow dryer, and the temperature guage for the heated seat. They are so common here that I don't even think twice about them anymore. So, when I was watching Las Vegas tonight, I didn't even notice the seat on the toilet in the episode. Lo and Behold, the seat played an important role in the show! During the discussion about the toilet seat which was imported from Korea, the guy mentioned that they would soon be a hot item in the USA. I had to shake my head in wonder. The seats cost over $250 each. I can't imagine anyone I know paying that much money for a toilet seat. I'm guessing the same folks that would spend that much on their toilet seat are the same ones that would spend over $300 on 'doggie stairs' to make it easier for their pooches to climb up on the sofa. I know that personal spending is all a matter of priorities, but people, please, lets have some perspective! No one should be able to rationalize paying $250 for a heated toilet seat...unless they've committed themselves to reading the collected works of Hemmingway whilst perched on the potty in the middle of winter. Even so, I have no doubt that the guy on Las Vegas was right. Heated toilet seats will indeed be a hot item in North America pretty soon.

What a nice evening. Most of the day was cloudy and full of showers. However, just after dinner, the clouds were sent packing, and scuttled across the sky dragging their feet on the tops of the mountains as they went. The air was scrubbed clean and the whole of the outside world looked as though its windows had been freshly washed. The rice fields shone a bright bright green, and I sipped a glass of iced tea and watched the pretty world.

The times they are a changin'...

Ahhh, Bob Dylan. Seems to me that some of the (best?) singers that came out of the 60's had the worst voices. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Mick Jagger certainly lack the melodic and dulcet tones usually appreciated in singers. This observation is an aside however. The real reasons for using Dylan's lyric as my introduction today are as follows:

1) I'm working my way through the Anne of Green Gables books for some light summer reading. I have always felt a kinship with the impetuous, quick-tempered Anne of the original book. This summer however, it's taken me all the way to book #4 "Anne of Windy Poplars" before I found myself nodding my head thinking "yup, I know how that feels".

2) I discovered it now costs $185 to be a Young Interpreter at Upper Canada Village. I held that much beloved role for 2 summer as a volunteer (this was before I got a job there that actually paid me to dress up).

3) My favourite treat during the summers I worked at Upper Canada Village was when my campers made and brought back "Butterscotch Squares" for dessert. I was thinking of them the other day, and hunted down the recepie. My first thought was "Ooooh, but they have alot of sugar - and all that butter can't be good for you". That never used to be my first thought when it came to yummy food.

4) During a quiet lull in the afternoon, a time when I would usually daydream, or read or try to give myself 1940's era hairstyles, I did none of those things. Instead I thought "I think my bathroom drains need a good scrubbing". How responsible of me. (In Korea, our bathrooms have drain holes in the floor. Every once in a while, the little hair-muck-grime-scum filters get clogged up with hair, muck, grime and scum and need to be cleaned out with rubber gloves, chopsticks, a toothbrush and some determination.)

5) I've been using my air conditioner lately. Up until this summer, I haven't had any use for the things. Winter is long enough as it is without blowing it into your livingroom during the summer too. And yet, here I am sneaking it on for an hour here and there, feeling guilty all the while. Like I've committed a crime against my own convictions.

There. Those are just little things, but since they've all jumped upon my concious mind today, they seem to have conspired en mass to remind me that the times, indeed, are changin'.

Huh,

I've just logged on to write a new post and have realized I'm at a loss for words. Let's see what I can dredge up...

1-The cats are no longer fighting, they're 'playing' instead. The only difference is that there's now no hissing.
2-I'm back at work now. If you can call it that. Today I sang songs and drew and coloured aliens with 6 sweet kids for a few hours, then was home by 2pm. Not bad for a days work. I'm teaching the children's summer program here at the university, afterwhich I still have 10 more days of holiday. I've got my sights set on Thailand.
3-I finally read the newest Harry Potter book. I was quite surprised, but I didn't cry (like some people I know!)
4-Oh! Oh! Oh! I thought of one that will come as a surprise to all ... I went to the gym! 2 day in row! Okay, that was last week, and I haven't been back since, but I was on a roll there for a little bit.
5- It's been Kids Week, and now Teen Week on Jeopardy. I'm feeling quite smart these days. However, it's also got me thinking that perhaps my academic knowlege base has been deteriorating for the last decade. (Especially considering my reading material is no longer Jane Austin or Joseph Heller but J.K. Rowling instead) Hmmm, alot of good authors start with the letter "J". I'll have to keep that in mind.

Alrighty folks. Sorry you've had to read all that. You may now resume your daily activities with a fresh sense of purpose - since you'll be secure in the knowledge that whatever you're doing today is probably a little more exciting that what I'm doing. If not, at least you know you're in good company.

Feuding Felines...

It looks like a picture of domestic bliss at the moment ~ one cat sprawled out on the bed, eyes half closed, one paw draped over the edge. One cat curled up between my typing arms, head resting in the crook of my arm, rear end agravatingly close to the space b ar. Aging spinster (oops, I mean lovely young teacher) sipping some iced tea as she types.

Yup, I'm kitty-sitting. Actually, more like the "Flying Fur Intervention Service". Mike went home for a few weeks and had nobody close by to take care of Venus, so yesterday I brought her home with me on the train. Catticus was not pleased. There's been a lot of hissing and growling, but no all out brawling. For the moment they've agreed to give each other their space. (I think it might be to hot to fight.) 54rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr6555555 (That was Venus strolling across the keyboard ~ sorry, it's even too hot to bother with the BackSpace key.)

In other news, ... well, there really is no other news. Mom and Dad have gone home, and I miss 'em. The cats are quiet for the time being, I had Spinich/Mozzarella pasta for lunch, I'm going to curl up infront of the fan with a good book for the afternoon, and I haven't killed any plants for at least 3 weeks (thanks mom!). See, I told you - there really is no other news.

Mom and Dad are now safely home, but evidence suggests they adapted to Korea quite well.  

(1) 

(2) 

Sorry, I still haven't learned how to get more than one picture on a post. I thought I had it, but I was wrong. Blah. 

Here are Mom and Dad (1) at the Emille Bell in Kyoungju, (2) infront of a pond at the Bulguksa temple, (3) near a big drum at the Bulguksa temple, and (4) with a soldier in the North Korea/South Korea meeting room in the DMZ. 

Mom and Dad are having a good time. Monsoon season has started, but so far we've only had one really rainy day. They brought a Reader's Digest from Canada for me to read, which is where I found the GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE at www.geographyzone.com You have 200 seconds to locate 10 countries selected at random. When you start the quiz, you also enter your home Country ~ for someone who's had a world map on their wall since University, I got a dismal score! I'm sad to say I've decreased Canada's score by 0.003% Sorry!

Hooray!!! Mom & Dad arrive in Korea tomorrow!!! I might not have time to write much while they are here. I hope they'll get along well with the cat....

Not much has been happening lately in my awake hours, but I've been keeping a 'dream journal' since February. Here are some exerpts:

March 5.
I was in prison ~ Martha Stewart style. However, I couldn't find my name on any of the team activity lists (which were written in English and Korean), so I always felt I was late for something, but I didn't know what.

March 6.
I ate a sea-cucumber, and it was gross. I tried to spit it out, but one little piece in the middle of my tongue kept growing back. I'd wipe it off, but it would grow back and keep wiggling.

April 3.
Toilet plungers and potted plants. That's what last nights dreams were made of.

April 12.
I was supposed to be getting married at a roadside diner/gas station. When we arrived to set up, the army had comandeered the area. Luckily, I had my own Stealth Helicopter, and while I distracted the soldiers with tours of the helicopter, my friends set up the wedding in the woods behind the diner.

May 22
Queen Elizabeth was getting married again (I don't know what happened to Prince Philip, but I seem to think he was invited to the wedding) and I was invited to the wedding too, because Prince Charles was my professor. I arrived a few days prior to the nuptuals and helped the groom make mincemeat, while my Mom and Dad helped the Queen roll candied fruit in marzipan.

What a day.

7:14am. I get a text-message from my student, wondering why I'm not at the office. I politely clarified for him that his make-up exam was supposed to be at 11:00am, NOT 7:00am.

9:00am. Still sleeping. I'm dreaming of a sweaty mechanic (don't ask, and no, it wasn't that type of dream). I wake up with my arm wrapped around my head, and realize it's me that needs a shower, not my dream.

11:00am. I meet my student for his make-up exam, and intend to go to the bank downstairs afterwards. My bankbook and wallet are both still at home. drat.

1:00pm - 3:00pm. I'm in class listening to my students speaking exams. The first 3 pairs came in with absolutely nothing prepared, and stared at me in silence until I told them to come back on Friday.

4:00pm. I'm cutting a piece of cheese, with my hand carefully placed on the back edge of the knife. My hand slips and I manage to stab myself in the thumb anyway. As I'm rinsing off the blood, the phone starts ringing, and stops as soon as I've grabbed a paper towel.

5:25pm. I didn't know the answer to Final Jeopardy

8:00pm - 10:00pm. Grading exams. Question: How many children do you want to have? Answer: Yes. I am will going swim yesterday. Did I teach them anything??

10:22pm. I think I have a sty in my eye.

I'm going to bed, and will try again tomorrow!

Today was Exam Day! All the freshman English students wrote their exams, which makes for a very long day for the teachers. (well, hour wise it's not that bad...but hour after hour of listening to the script, and then watching students write is quite dull).

Luckily, our friend Eva was the recipient of a surprise bridal shower this evening, which put a nice cap on the day.

I'm also including a link here for "Store Wars". If you haven't yet seen it, and you are either a Star Wars fan, or a responsible shopper, you should watch it. I laughed and laughed. Then I went about my day. Then I watched it again, and I laughed and laughed. Enjoy. http://www.storewars.org/flash/

WHEW!! I've finally finished my last essay for my Linguistics course. I'm free until September, and may even go outside tomorrow to remind myself what the sun looks like. I seem to recall a big warm ball in the sky...

I approached this essay differently than the essays that got me through University:

1) I actually read the articles I used as references. I didn't just grab a few quotes and build a paragraph around them.
2) I wrote this essay during daylight hours, and was not sleep deprived, nor had I replaced all my natural bodily fluids with Tim Horton's coffee.
3) I didn't just grab the closest theory and run with it, showing a complete disregard for my own opinions and those held by actually credible scholars.
4) "Spellcheck" was not synonymous with "proofreading".

Having made these changes, and in so doing deviated from my tried, tested & true essay methods which served me well in my undergrad days, I hope I pass!

I read in the news this morning that North Korea has developed a candy to help make it's kids grow up big and strong. It sounds like a great idea. Then, later on in the article I read "Unlike sugar-packed and chocolate-covered sweets, the North is hoping that children in the reclusive state will enjoy munching on their nutritional candy made of seaweed, beans, carrots and sesame seeds, the newspaper said." Ummm, maybe it's just me, but SEAWEED, BEANS, and CARROTS are not candy!!! I'm trying to imagine all the Twix lovin' kids back home throwing a temper tantrum in the grocery store because they want some of that 'seaweed and carrot' candy.

Sometimes, my students worry my with their observations. I've never been one to wear a lot of makeup, and my eyeshadow is usually barely noticeable. I tried a new shade the other day, still barely visible. (kind of like my mom paints the house, then tells me "this white wall is green. this white wall is yellow, and this white wall is peach") Like I said, barely noticable. Anyway, I walked into my Education class yesterday and the first thing they said was "OH! Teacher! Eyeshadow! Colour Change!" Just like that. exclamation marks and all. They can't remember to use a verb in their sentences, but they notice I've changed my eyeshadow. They're a great class.

It's Festival time again here on campus, which is always lots of fun outside, but not so fun in class. All my students are either absent because of fatigue, and/or hangovers or else they're in class suffering from fatigue and/or hangovers. So I've dedicated this week to a review games day and a take-home assignment day. So far it seems to be working well.

Tracy and I went for a walk around campus after dinner to say 'hello' to our students and take in the festivities. In the process we wound up at the pottery sale table. Now, it's not enough that tomorrow we're taking a semesters worth of our own pottery to the kiln, and that in 2 weeks we'll have a house bursting with new wobbly bits of clay that are supposed to resemble flower pots and soup bowls. No, we had to buy some more wobbly bits of clay that other people made too! I got a little spoon rest for $1 and a piece that's shaped like a bag that hangs on the wall for $12. I think when I grow up, I'll probably see if I can make my whole house out of clay.

We had one of our World Famous Birthday Barbeque Bash's tonight. (3 birthdays were being celebrated together) As usual, we sang 'Happy Birthday" in as many laguages as we could, which means I think we sang 7 versions tonight. As you can see from the picture, it was a quasi-costume party (meaning costumes were optional). AND I am excited to say that the birthday pinata has been added to the fun. I hope it becomes a regular tradition. It was tremendous fun for us, and provided just as much amusement to the Korean onlookers with whom we shared the BBQ pit. So, after many hours of fun and frolic, I'm going to go to sleep.  

It's 5am. I'm awake.

It's 5:30am. I'm still awake, I'm hungry and I need to pee. I get up and make some coffee, put on a sweater and go sit on my balcony. It rained last night, and the ground is still wet, and the air has been washed clean. It's overcast, so there's no sunrise, but the sky is as light as it's going to get today. I think about going for a bike ride (at this point, the thought does occur to me that I was abducted by aliens in my sleep and it's the implanted microchip that's doing the thinking). It's still a full 3 hours before my usual time to rise & shine. I read a couple of journal articles about differences between German and English rhetorical style....and I'm STILL awake by the end of the 2nd article. A bird lands with a splash in the pond, and from where I'm sitting I can see a black and white cat trotting along with something orange hanging from it's mouth. Then I look at the orange and black and white cat curled up sleeping on my lap. I think about how different the cat's lives are. Catticus is clean and cozy and well fed and plays and sleeps a lot. The black and white cat (I've seen it many times before) lives down the hill in a garbage heap. It's dirty and skittish and also well fed, but judging from what in the garbage pile, I doubt it's nutritious. Then I think about the news lately, and picture the people in Darfour, Bosnia, Bagdhad, Afganistan, and I know I'm missing many more. - and I think about me curled up on my balcony sipping a hot cup of coffee. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get it settled in my head that we all get one life, and while I"m living mine as it is, so many others spend their lives so differently. It's something I've been thinking about for a while, but it's like trying to eat a rubber grape. No matter how much you chew on it, it still looks the same when you spit it out again. (I know this, because we used to have rubber grapes when I was a kid. I chewed on 'em a lot, and they still looked the same when I spit 'em out again. If you've ever bought rubber grapes at a garage sale at our house, you might want to give 'em a wash).

And that's what happens in my head at 5:30am when I'm awake, hungry, and need to pee.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Roses are Red,
My mom's hair's turning Gray,
And I love her more,
Then this lousy poem can say.

I love you Mom! Thank you for loving me, and praying for me, and for letting me eat raw cookie dough, and making me vanilla milkshakes when I had chickenpox, and reminding me to slow down 'cuz I have to pay my own speeding tickets. (I think there might be a metaphor somewhere in there.)

If you're not my mom (and, well, let's face it ~ most of you aren't), but you're sombody else's mom, then Happy Mother's Day to you too.

My friend Mike also has a Blog (see the link on the sidebar). His Blog is titled "Something About Nothing", and each entry begins with "Something About...." and then his topic for the day. I think it's a great idea. Now, everytime I sit down to write an entry, I want to start it with "Something About...." It's catchy.

If I were to follow Mike's example, todays post would be titled "Something About Yellow Puddles". Those of us who were raised in the snowier parts of the world understand the wisdom behind the admonition "Don't eat yellow snow", so I'm familiar with the existence of yellow snow. Until moving to Korea though, I was never familiar with yellow puddles. Now I am. As I've mentioned before, we've been covered in Yellow Dust for weeks now. Even after new clouds of the stuff stopped moving in, we hadn't had any rain yet to wash it away. Cars, streets, tables, desks, bikes, etc. were all covered with a heavy layer of yellow dust. Last night, the rain finally came by the bucketful. (Hooray!) We watched bright yellow rivulets of water flow past our apartments. This morning, puddles rimmed with bright yellow rings were everywhere. But if you step in 'em, you wind up with bright yellowness clinging to your shoes. So, they're pretty, but not much fun to play in.

Hooligan (n.) : a cruel and brutal fellow

Newspapers all over the world have picked up the bickering going on between the American and North Korean presidents. I've skimmed through a number of them, and have noticed that while Australian, Indian and South African papers have included the word "Hooligan" as part of the name-calling. I've noticed though, and I admit I haven't done extensive research, that the American news agencies have left that word out. They carry pretty much the same content as the international papers, but they don't mention that Kim Jung Il called Bush a hooligan. Perhaps we've watered down the meaning of Hooligan in the west, and American journalists didn't think it would carry the same import as the other nasty names the two grown men have been calling each other. I'm sure I didn't know it meant "cruel and brutal" as the dictionary says it does. I thought it was more along the lines of rowdy and ill-mannered. Whatever the reason, it's always a little disheartening to hear kindergarten-style name calling from two world leaders. What's next? They'll break each others crayons and pee in the sandbox? Or, start in on the ever-popular "My nukes are bigger than your nukes" taunt. Whatever it is, it's not looking good for our respective neighbours.

Ben had this posted on his site, (Click on the link for "Ben" on the sidebar if you want to see his answers too). Since I FINALLY finished my essay tonight, and it's not quite bedtime yet, I figured I'd post my answers too.

Three Names You Go By: Janice. JanA** . Jan-iss-suh (Korean pronunciation!)

Three Screen Names You Have: I don't think I have screen names.

Three Things You Like About Yourself: My creativity, my sense of humour and my belly button.

Three Things You Dislike About Yourself: My selfishness, my laziness, and the chubbiness around my belly button.

Three Parts of Your Heritage: Scottish, German, Irish

Three Things That Scare You: Drunk Drivers, airplane turbulence and George W Bush.

Three Everyday Essentials: coffee, toothpaste, prayer. (not necessarily in that order. Although coffee after toothpaste is not recommended)

Three Things You Are Wearing Right Now: a red plaid shirt, blue plaid PJ bottoms, and blue Pucca slippers.

Three Favorite Bands/Artists: Simon&Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen, Diana Krall.

Three Favorite Songs At Present: None stand out in particular.

Three Things You Want To Try And Do In The Next Twelve Months: Make it home for Christmas, lose 10 pounds, learn more Korean.

Three Things You Want In A Relationship: Humour, intelligence and a dishwasher. (I'll cook, but it'd be best if someone else washed up after.)

Two Truths And A Lie: I jumped out of an airplane. I threw up in an airplane. I flew an airplane.

Three Physical Things About The Opposite Sex That Appeal To You: collarbone, eyes, shoulders.

Three Things You Just Can't Do: yoga, eat chicken feet, tell a believable lie.

Three Favorite Hobbies: pottery, hiking, reading

Three Things I Want To Do Really Bad Right Now: brush my teeth, see my family, change into matching clothes, now that you've all read I'm wearing two different types of plaid.

Three Careers You Have Considered: Bible Translator, Museum Curator, teacher (oh! doing that one now!)

Three Places You Want To Go On Vacation: Thailand, Namibia, Italy

Three Kid's Names You Have Considered: Gregory, Samora, Victoria. (Keep in mind, I haven't thought about kids names since I was about 13, they are subject to change)

Three Things You Want To Do before You Die: I can't think of anything specific. I've done a lot of what I want to do. Everything else is a bonus. Hmm, maybe get married someday. Oh, and eat at that Lebanese restaurant in SoHo again.

There, that's all. Feel free to add your own answers!

No, it's not the Yellow Rose of Texas.

It's the Yellow Dust from China. Every spring, the sands of the Gobi Desert are whipped up into a massive dust cloud that sweeps over parts of Asia. Every spring, the cloud of dust settles on Korean cities for 2-3 days at a time before being blown or rained away. This year, the dust has come more often than any year since 1990. It makes your eyes water and burn, your throat itch and your nose sniffle. You can't really see it, but you feel as though you're covered in grime. The latest cloud arrived on Wednesday, and should blow away by the weekend. It's such a shame, because in every other respect, Korean springs are gorgeous.

Earthquake!?

Yes indeed. I woke up at 6:14 this morning because my bed was shaking. At first, I thought it was because of the cat scratching vigorously. However, when I looked, she was curled up beside me, with her head all perked up and attentive. Then I heard my dishes rattle a bit. Just a small tremor, but I can't remember the last time I felt an earthquake. I stayed awake for a few minutes and decided on the best "duck and cover" location in my apartment in the event of a stronger quake, then went back to sleep.

The tremor I felt was a result of a magnitude 5.7 earthquake in Fukuoka Japan at 6:11 this morning. I've been to Fukuoka before, it's a pleasant little city that also suffered a magnitude 7 earthquake about a month ago, which caused quite a bit of damage and 1 death. The only news article I could find on today's quake was 1 sentence long and didn't include any news of damage or injury.

The Royal Wedding.

I'm a sucker for Royal weddings ~ mostly because I like to watch the clothes. I remember sitting glued to the little TV in my Grandparents camper during a raging thunderstorm many many moons ago the last time Charles got married. Although I had made no specific plans to watch Charles and Camilla finally tie the knot, (or, as the narrator in the movie "Love in the Afternoon" says, they "came before the magistrate, and were stentenced to a life of Holy Matrimony.") However, a few of us were having dinner at a friends house, and coverage of the event started at 7pm (we left at midnight and it was still on). As we watched, I could think of only one word to describe what I was seeing. PLUMAGE. Never have I seen so many feathers stuck, stuffed, perched or spewing forth from, atop so many noggins. I was agog. Our after-dinner conversation was frequently interrupted with exclamations of utter disbelief at some of the creations people had chosen to leave their homes wearing. Big Bird, Sitting Bull, and the sprites from Midsummer Night's Dream would have blended in with ease. Although, to be fair, most of my head gear is knitted out of chunky wool, and has ear flaps. But somehow, that still seems better than feathers. Maybe.

A word from my toes:

Ahhhhh, freedom. After months of being hidden, swaddled and forgotten, we are free again. We knew something was up on Saturday when we were scrubbed and trimmed and painted pretty colours. Then, today, we were freed from our socks and dark shoes and spent the days out in the lovely warmth and sunshine. It's sandal season. Now, instead of being smothered in wool, we can see the sky, the cherry blossoms and sometimes, up Janice's nose. (We're at a bad angle, really). All the way to class today the 10 of us joined in singing gustily the ancient chorus all toes are taught: "This lit tle pee kee wentto mar ket. This lit tle pee kee stayed ho ome." Ahhh. What a lovely feeling. We would tell you more, but it seems like the job of typing is best left to the fingers. It's not our forte.

Happy Arbour Day!

Yes, here in Korea, it's Arbour Day. Which means that we get the day off, and 4 of us happily spent an hour picking out flowers at the local nursery, and another hour playing in the dirt re-potting them. I spent about $22 for a total of 11 plants, including a jasmine plant that's just about to bloom, and is a foot high. I also picked up some daisies, a daffodil, a blue hyacinth, and other pretty little things that I don't know.

It's also an absolutely gorgeous day for a holiday. I've opened all my windows and doors, and now my apartment has that gorgeous, warm, fresh spring smell. Aaahhhhh. The magnolia trees have started to blossom here too, but the grass is still brown, and most of the trees are still bare.

Yesterday was really beautiful too ~ and a good thing! I was locked out of my classroom in the Art building. Instead of trying to hunt down the key in the Administration office (picture the clutter and mess of an artists studio, then try to attach the term 'administration office' to it. Do you think the key would be easy to find??) I marched my class outside. We started class in the amphitheatre, which was perfect until the Korean drummers started to practice. What a day.

(No) Thanks to Leno...

I watched Jay Leno last night, so it was probably an episode that aired a few nights ago in Canada and it's large Southern province. He had this segment on "Googlewhacking". (http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=2680) Which, as some of you may not know, is the process of typing 2 random words into a Google search engine trying to come up with only a single hit on a related webpage. I gave it a stab this morning, and "diaphanous chamberpot" came back with 142 hits. I got closer with "paleontologist sousaphone" with only 43 hits. My best (before I needed to stop and eat) was "metalinguistics crud" with 8 hits. Which, wouldn't you know, included a Blog entry about Krispy Kreme donuts ~ written by a linguistics student!!! I think I'd have a much better chance of getting a Googlewhack if people didn't blog about weird things. (Yes, I'm aware of the irony).

The downside of good training...

As you know, my cat is toilet trained. Also, as you know, she's recently had surgery. I figured it might be uncomfortable to leap up to the toilet seat with a belly full of stitches, so in the spirit of making her life a little easier I put her old litter box back on the floor. I think that she's forgotten how to use it. She's used to perching on the edge of the toilet seat and doing her business in the bowl. Now, with the litter tray back in the picture, she perches on the edge of the litter box and does her business on floor. Good kitty.

Happy Easter!!

I hope you're all having a wonderful day. I read the Easter story this morning before taking the cat to the vet (again), and then had the benefit of seeing the Easter story illustrated in Leggo at www.bricktestament.com check it out! It's a fun site. It beats those Sunday School flannel graphs.

Catticus is doing fine. She's eating and kissing and purring again, which is great. She's still wearing a big funnel on her head so she won't lick the stitches, but she'll come up to me and try to lick my nose ~ and bonk me on the head with the funnel. She's also pleased that the vet says she won't have a scar. Thank goodness ~ I know she was worried about that one! (?!)

This afternoon we had an Easter potluck. It was supposed to be a barbeque but it rained. After we'd eaten, I brought out some white eggs (hard to find here, they're mostly brown shells) and a dye kit that Mom sent last year. I'd hardboiled some eggs yesterday, but not enough, so we thought it would be fun to blow some too. I did the first one, since many of the others hadn't done it before. After that, whoever wanted to try did. One of my friends asked me to put the holes in her egg for her, which I did. The others were doing well hollowing out their eggs, but she kept blowing and blowing and her face was turning red. Finally it dawned on her that I'd passed her a hardboiled egg! I hadn't done it on purpose, but I wish I had! It made for a good laugh.

I read a headline this morning in the Canadian Press:

"Study finds link between problem gambling and abundance of VLTs".

Really? I think we should now also commission some studies on the link between peanuts & peanut butter, computer use & Microsoft employees, and I think there may also be a connection between pollution and the abundance of pollutants in the air!!

In all fairness though, the study should do some good. Newfoundland and Labrador plan to reduce the number of VLT's in the province. But it leads me to wonder why a study is needed to state the obvious before policy makers will consider it? Have the folks in charge lost all common sense?

In other news, I'm taking Catticus to the vet tomorrow to get her fixed. I've tried to tell her, but I think she's hoping I'll forget. Oh good grief...I've become one of those people who talk about their pets as though they're people. Sorry. Let me rephrase: I've tried to tell her she's going to the vet, but she no more understood that then anything else I've ever said to her.

Culinary Differences

I spent my Saturday morning with some friends at Costco. It's a fair distance away from campus, but is well worth the outing 2-3 times a semester. After we finished our shopping, we headed for our ritual meal at the Costco food court. (It serves the only pizza in Korea that really tastes like pizza.) While we were eating, we noticed 2 different Koreans perform an interesting culinary exercise. I've seen it happen on all my other Costco fieldtrips as well. You know the onion dispensers they have (where you turn the handle and the onions grind out)? I have always assumed the onions were to be used as a condiment for a hotdog, or slice of cheese pizza. However, in Korea, it seems to be a common practice to grab a dinner plate, grind the onions onto the plate to make an onion mountain, then cover it in ketchup, mustard and tobasco sauce. The resulting onion platter is then consumed by the forkful as a side dish to accompany a pizza or chicken bake. Hmmm.

I apologize for any typing errors in this posting. I've got a cat sleeping on my left arm, and I'm useless at one-handed typing. Sorry.

Sneaked or Snuck?

I was reading an article (the content of which left me feeling incredulous and I'll get to it in a minute) and the first sentence contained the past tense of the verb "to sneak". The article used the word 'sneaked'. It just sounded so wrong I had to check it out. Apparently, according to AskOxford.com, 'Sneaked' is the proper British English form, but 'snuck' has made its way into the American vernacular over the past century. While it's still frowned upon by editors and folks who care, (some British dictonaries actually warn against the use of 'snuck') 'snuck' just sounds right. Funny how the spoken workd changes so much faster and meets with less resistance than the written word.

Now, onto the actual article I was reading. Since I'm a technological dunderhead, I can't make a link to it. I found it on Yahoo!'s Oddly Enough news page. The long and the short of it is this: A guy from LA meets a girl from Canada in a chatroom. Since he can't cross the border legally (he was convicted of robbing a Pizza Hut in the US.....WHY??) he walked into Manitoba instead. He's picked up 100 hours later suffering from hypothermia and is going to lose is fingers to frostbite. Here's what gets me: (1) He "didn't really know that there was any place on Earth that could be so cold and so inhospitable," For goodness sake, IT WAS FEBRUARY IN CANADA!! (2) He never did see his girlfriend ... because SHE LIVES IN QUEBEC!!. Amazing. I know everyone loves the Proclaimers song "I would walk 500 miles.." and perhaps people even find it romantic, but really - if you're setting off on foot to woo your internet girlfriend, wouldn't you LOOK AT A MAP and/or the weather report?!?! I'm dumbfounded. Absolutely dumbfounded. Really. I've been sitting here reading the article over again, and shaking my head so much I'm pretty sure something's starting to rattle in there. Unbelievable.

And so begins another year...

Wow, it's hard to believe that I've just begun my 2nd year here at Daegu Univeristy. Last year at this time I was so nervous! This year was much easier. I had 3 classes today, with one student in each. I said 'hello', and checked to see if their name was on my attendence list, gave 'em the name of the textbook and said "See you next class!". I've seen several of my students from last year out and about as well. They seemed happy to see me ~ I guess they weren't ones that got an F. The campus, although still cold and brown and bleak, has come alive again. It was so quiet during the winter, but the returning students will hopefully bring Spring with them.

As for my own studies, I began my course today as well. If introducing myself on the discussion board, and glancing at the titles of 4 articles counts as beginning my studies. The title is "Languages and Cultures in Contact" and I'm looking forward to it.

Hmmm, I still haven't figured out how to put more than one picture up at a time. Sorry!

Anyway, as part of our Korean class, we went on a few field trips. This one was to Andong ~ on a cold, rainy, cold day. Still, there was lots to see in the traditional village. Well, maybe there was. We weren't there for very long, and were too cold to feel much like sightseeing. Still, I got a few pictures. This one is of a little house in the village, and the one below is of an old gnarly tree that looked quite striking against the pearl grey sky.

Currently, I've got the TV on to AFN (Armed Forces Network) and am watching Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers. I used to love this show when I was a kid. My sister and I would watch it every week (I had a huge crush on Mike Seaver played by Kirk Cameron.) Now 14 years later, it's horrible. I can't bear to watch it, but neither can I bear to turn it off ("Just incase it gets better" I tell myself). Ugh.

Tomorrow is the first day of the new semester. The spring semester in Korea is the beginning of the school year, so I'll have a whole batch of new freshmen. We're not expecting more than 2-3 students to show up during the first week, as they're all still registering. So, tomorrow I've got 3 empty classrooms to rest in for 15 minutes. Next week though, we'll be in full swing.

These pictures are from a recent trip to the traditional village in Andong. 

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.

Still in One Piece.

Skiing was great. We got off to a dubious start, as we had another blizzard the night before departure. However, the weather was warming up even by 4am, and all the snow was melting. Due to our early start, we all slept on the bus ride to the hill. (5:30am - 9:30am) and were awake and ready to ski upon arrival. First, we checked into our hotel, then rented out skis, had some lunch, and finally hit the hill. I only fell once, but it wasn't until the last two runs of the day that I felt comfortable on my skis.

We had a fantastic meal of rice (of course!), Barbequed pork, marinated quail eggs, bean paste soup, kimchi, tofu, and a variety of veggies. Afterwards, we were so exhausted, we watched a little bit of TV then hit the sack.

Early the next morning we were back at the hill, and having a marvelous time. Around 12:30, three of us called it quits, while the other two kept snowboarding. The three of us returned our equipement and headed off to the sauna. The sauna's in Korea are usually seperated by gender, and include 2 or 3 (or more) different sauna rooms (steam, red clay, charcoal, etc.) and 2 or 3 (ore more) communal baths (hot, warm, cold, green tea, etc.) plus little shower alcoves. By the time we were done, we were so clean and relaxed and warm, it felt as though we hadn't exercised at all.

On the bus ride home, I had one of those "Canadians and Korean are really different" sort of moments. There were lots of kids on the bus, yet somehow, in Korea, is wasn't innapropriate to show the movie "Blade 3". No one (except us foreigners) seemed upset that these kids were watching Vampires gnawing at people's throats. I was grossed out, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Anyway, we're all home safe and sound, and are planning to to it again for Lunar New Year. Next time though, I think I'm going to tackle a snowboard.

Skiing!

Yes indeed. Tomorrow morning at 4:30am (UGH!) five of us are heading out to catch a bus to the ski hill. I haven't worn skis for ages, and have never been terribly adept at the sport. Nonetheless, it should be a good time. We've also rented a 'chalet' (read dorm-room) for the night, but have access to the pool and sauna at the nearby condos. So even if the skiing is awful, I'm sure we'll still have a great time. We'll be back on Thursday, but them I'm off to Seoul for the weekend so it might be a few days before you hear all about the ski trip.

Did you know they sell breath fresheners for cats? It's true.

It looks a little blustery. 

oops, wrong caption. The little red umbrella in a blizzard was the view from my window. The giant snowman is a prime example of your western 3-ball snowman. The other snowpile with a head is a prime example of an Asian style snowman. Both were tons of fun to build. 

The view from my window around 10:30am 

SNOW DAY!!!!

Yes, I can hardly believe those words myself. After the first tiny dusting of flakes that didn't even linger for a moment on Christmas Eve, we've been bereft of the white stuff. Our days have been sunny, clear and chilly. Until today ~

I woke up around 9am and peeked out the window. The day was cloudy, but bare. I could see some students playing soccer out on the field. I made myself some coffee and wandered into my office to check my e-mail and scratch my cat. 'Round about 10:30 a took a load of laundry out to my balcony (where my washing machine is) ... and what did I see?!?!?!? Yes, that's right!! A BLIZZARD!! Snow everywhere! It was the biggest snowstorm Daegu has seen in well over 4 years. Immediately, I started phoning or text-messaging all my friends. I rustled up some breakfast, bundled up, and sat on my (unheated) balcony to watch the amazing event. As I finished my last bite, my phone rang. John and Hee-Jin were heading out to build a snowman. Would I join them? OF COURSE!! So, bundled up like woolen sausages, we joined others already outdoors. Together, we constructed the largest snowman I've ever been a part of making. (I'll post pictures tomorrow). It was great. After our snow folks were completed, and dressed, we headed around to the back of the building where there's a steep hill. Armed with heavy plastic bags and a snowboard, we proceeded to create and enjoy the best toboggan hill this side of Seoul. For the Canadians, it was a typical and welcome winter day. For the South Africans, it was a unique experience. Tracy was apprehensive about going down a hill on her bottom, but after the first run, she was hooked.

When we were all tuckered out, Tracy, Jen, and Annelie joined me at my apartment for hot chocolate and movies. (When I got back upstairs, I peeked out the back window and saw a slew of neighbourhood children already screaming and sliding down our hill on scraps of cardboard). It was the perfect snow day. I know that all of you who have been shoveling, slipping and shivering for the past 3 months may not be as excited as I am, but even though we were all around the 30 year mark, it really felt like we were 7 years old again enjoying the first big snowfall of the year. It was wonderful.

Ummm... Happy New Year!

Hi, yes, I know. I haven't updated my Blog recently. But hey, after the thrilling tales of my talented feline, it's been hard to find something to say of equal calibre. To be honest, I still don't have anything to say... Maybe I can make something up....

... nope.

Back to the truth. Yesterday I went to see Ocean's Twelve with my afternoon conversation class. (Their idea, not mine). It was nice ~ and a pretty easy class to teach! The movie was good, but I think something was lost in the subtitles. (The movie was in English, but the subtitles were in Korean). After the movie, we went for dinner, and I asked my students what they thought of the movie. The girls all liked it (Brad Pitt, George Clooney) and the guys all liked it (Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta Jones) but after a few moments, they all started to say "I didn't really understand it. It was confusing. What happened?"

Oh, and I've just remembered. I plugged my name into the Super Hero Name Generator (which can be found on Ben's Blog). I was rather distraught to find that my official super hero name is The Green Philosopher. I don't think I'll be getting my own comic book with that one anytime soon. Everyone else in my family has cool names. sigh.

There, the proof is in the pudding...well, actually, the proof is in the toilet. I don't think I'd want it in my pudding. 

Mission Accomplished.

Hooray! My cat is now toilet trained!!! Not litter trained, toliet trained. She does her business in the toilet (but she can't flush). No more litter boxes for me (well, not that I used the litter box, so it's not really for me...) Three Cheers for Catticus!!

Christmas Eve at the Police Station

So, how did you spend Christmas Eve this year? I spent mine in the local Police Station. Here's the story:

I caught a ride with my friend Justin to Costco to pick up some food for Christmas. On the way there, a delivery truck was doing some severe tailgaiting (Not uncommon in this part of the world). Justin braked slightly a few times to get the guy to back off... but he didn't. Finally, Justin put his hand out the window and motioned for the guy to go around us.

The truck driver though that Justin had given him the finger, so he pulled up beside us, looked down into my window, then drove his truck into our lane (while we were still there!) He swiped the side of Justin's car, scratching the paint and denting the side a bit, but nobody was hurt at all. Then the guy stopped his truck right infront of us, and as Justin got out of the car, he got out of his truck and started pushing Justin. He refused to give us his lisence #, insurance or phone numbers (all of which drivers are required by law to exchange after an accident). As it happened, a Korean friend of ours was driving by and saw us all standing around in the middle of the road, so he stopped and translated for us and called the police.

The cops came, took our statements, then escorted us all to the police station. We sat around while the cops gave the truck driver a lecture on recklessness. Then, the police asked where we were from. We said "Canada", which then prompted the cop to give the driver a lecture on being kind and showing a good face to foreigners. Finally, after some discussion, the police suggested that it would save everyone a lot of trouble if we didn't engage the insurance companies, and agreed to let the guy pay us in cash for the damage(!?). So then we had to wait for a guy from a local autobody shop to come in and estimate the cost of the damage. (about $100) Then we had to wait for the guy to go to the bank machine and get the money. We were a little skeptical of a cash transactio, but the the cops mentioned that this was really the best way ~ it would save them paperwork, it would save us the time and trouble of engaging translators to help us process the paperwork, and Justin wouldn't actually have to get his car fixed he could just pocket the money! lovely.

The nice part of all this is that as we were in the police station, a gentle snowfall (the first of the year here) made it look a little bit like Christmas Eve afterall.

Just a Superstar kind of day...

In grand Korean style, my univeristy is hosting a number of recruitment events for highschool students. As part of the program, the English teachers have been asked to participate. "No problem", thought I. ...

My task was simple. I had to go up on stage; introduce myself; and give a quick, fun quiz. Reality was a little less unobtrusive. I found myself standing at the back of a dark, crowded auditorium, waiting (along with a Chinese exchange student) for our names to be called. When our names were finally called, the lights dimmed, a popular rock song started booming, and a spotlight followed us down the long aisle as hundreds of highschool students cheered. I felt like The Ultimate Warrior and Oprah all at the same time. Once we'd finished the proscribed quiz show (and the MC co-erced me into singing a few bars of Yesterday by the Beatles), we made our way back down the aisle as students reached out their arms to touch us/shake our hands. Afterwards, some of them approached us to get their pictures taken.

Just another day in the life of a foreigner.

4:42 pm Office. Have spent most of afternoon reading sequel to Briget Jone's Diary (Briget Jones: Edge of Reason). As a result, have spent remainder of afternoon, and most likey evening, with disjointed (almost)30-something single woman dialogue running through my head. Even worse, it's coming bereft of modifiers and aritcles AND in an unconvincing British accent. Next time, must remember to read something intelligent, containing properly constructed sentences.

4:58 pm. Still narrating own life with botched accent. Must stop, as am now starting to fear opening my mouth in case horrid mental narration becomes audible.

Well, I guess it's time for an update...

... My plants are all still alive. None have been voted off yet. I've discarded the idea of plastic ones as that removes the challenge...and I'd have to dust them.

... I'm still going to Yoga class 2~3 times a week, and I like it even though my instructor tries to coax my limbs into the proper position then gives up muttering "impossible. impossible."

... I got accepted for the Master's of Applied Linguistics program at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia. I can do most (all?) of the coursework while I'm still living and working in Korea. I start next semester with "Grammar: Meaning and Discourse". fun, eh?

... I wanted to spend the day taking pictures around campus (our leaves are still lovely colours) but of course, since it's the weekend, it's cloudy and gross.

That's all.

STRETCH......

Since finding myself to be just around the corner from old age, I have joined a Yoga class. The martial arts offered on every corner here seemed to be too daunting for my limited physical capabilities, (I was afraid I'd fall over), so I opted for a more sedate form of exercise. It was harder than I expected, but I feel pretty good now. However I must confess that even in yoga I fell over...while laying on my back. Yes, it's true.

In other news, my plant died from the rampant epidemic of "Drought --oops! -- then drown" in my home. The good news is that I got 6 new plants for my birthday. It'll be like a giant game of horticultural Survivor in my place. They're just waiting to see which plant will be 'voted off' next.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Just thought you'de like a look at my 'new hair'. Actually, it's just a wig for a birthday/dress-up party on Friday night. We had a good time, but a I had to wrestle a fierce pineapple on the fruit-plate to get the little mini-umbrella. (It looks better on me)

I've picked up a couple of quotes lately (okay, okay, my brother-in-law e-mailed 2/3rds of them to me ) and I thought that I'd better write down before I forget them, and now you get to read them too!

1) (Thanks, Walter) This one seems to sum up at least my style of Journal writing pretty well.

"People don't keep journals for themselves. They keep them for other people. Like a secret they don't want to tell but they want everyone to know." -Marilyn Manson ~ I never would have thought I'd be quoting Marilyn Manson, but there you have it.

2) I was a little tired coming home from Seoul a few weeks ago, and bust up laughing when I overheard this from a guy trying to impress the girl he was with...

"Oh, don't read that. That book is absolute garbage. It's not worth your time. Of course, I've never read it myself" (He was referring to the best selling novel Tuesdays With Morrie)

3) My 4 year old niece is a genius, and has managed to discern my hitherto most well kept secret....

"Does Auntie Janice live on that planet"? - Kaitlyn (while pointing to the Moon)

Sunday as Sunday should be...sort of.

What a lovely day. The sun was shining, a breeze was blowing, and I got to go to church for the first time in a while!

I went to the Gospel Service at Camp Walker with my friend Glenys. This was the first time I'd ever been to a black, southern, hand clappin' "Can I get a Witness?" kind of service. It was fabulous. The message was good and the members of the congregation were really friendly.

It was also the first time I'd been on an American military base. It was..... American. And Military. I had to go through a double guarded gate, but once I was inside it looked (and sounded) just like America. It was a bit of a shock to just walk through a gate and wind up in another country.

Anyway, it was a good day. I met lots of nice people, and saw another part of the city that I'd never been to before. I'm sure I'll do it again sometime.

As the leaves perform their gentle autumn dance and change colours, so to does my hair. Just like a diseased maple turns an unnaturally gross reddish hue, so has my hair turned a ghastly maroon shade.

I swear, I pointed to the colour swatch that was a light auburn...NOT K-car interior upholstery maroon. drat. Oh well, it's dramatic, and the cut's much nicer than that awful perm most of you had to look at over the summer. (sorry).

with the exception of me from the eyebrows up, everything here is good. My students (some of whom would rather drink than study) are sweating their way through midterm exams, and will emerge no worse for wear on the other side. My co-workers and I are enjoying cooler weather, and looking forward to our winter vacations. My kitty is spastic, and I like her most of the time.

I'm also reading a great book right now called "Still life with Rice". It's a Korean-American author, writing her grandmothers biography. It's a fantastic story, and really helps me understand a little bit more where on earth some of the older folks in this country are coming from. The generation gap here is huge. Changes that took 40 or 50 years to come about in Canada are taking place here in the span of 10 or 20 years. I wonder what the next decade will bring....

Some Good Advice

If you ever decide to ride your bike to the grocery store (because it's a perfectly beautiful autumn day), and your path is paved almost entirely in uneven cobblestones, and you plan to bring your groceries back in your Mary Poppins bike basket... don't buy eggs.

In other news, I haven't managed to kill either my cat OR my new plant yet. Both greenery and furrery are growing nicely. But my plant smells better....

And finally, I had my professional evaluation the other day. (My boss comes to observe one of my classes, and makes comments). Apparently, I have an "impeccable blackboard". I guess all those hours playing in the basement pretending I was a teacher and writing on the underside of the pingpong table really paid off.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
I hope you're all having a lovely holiday... unless you're not from Canada, in which case HA HA!!!

I travelled to Seoul with a group of friends on Saturday. We went our seperate ways during the day, then met at the Grand Hilton for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Thanksgiving Dinner. As you can tell from the title, it wasn't as cozy as home, but there was some fabulous turkey and all the usual fixin's (if you count fully dressed salmon as a usual Thanksgiving fixin.) Many of the Canucks present brought Korean friends with them, and you could hear explanations down the buffet line. "That's the turkey...yes, it's really a bird that big. It's like a giant chicken." "Those are brussel sprouts... don't take any." "Oh! Beets! Like we used to have at Grandmas. Don't get the juice on you". etc. etc.

On Sunday, we had ANOTHER dinner for 7 or 8 of us who wanted to pitch in to whip something up. The atmosphere was much closer to 'homelike', but there was no turkey...

I followed up a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend (the weather was also perfect) with a flu shot today. Now my arm hurts. ouch.

I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and loved ones nearby to share it (and the leftovers) with.

So, more about Kyoungju. For those interested in a speck of Asian history, I present the following snippet:

HISTORY BIT: A long long time ago, (about 100 BC) on a Continent far far away, (Asia) three l'il 'ol city-state type areas bickered, fought, and sought alliances with China. The runt of the litter (the Shilla kingdom) was seen to be the least interested in wealth or war. However, as the stories of Clifford the Big Red Dog will tell you, the runt of the litter sometimes turns out to be big stuff. It was the little Shilla kingdom that eventually united the three feuding Kingdoms and created the first unified Korea. Kyoungju was the Capital for 1,000 years during the Shilla period. That's a lot of history packed into one little city. It is often called "The Museum Without Walls" becuase you can't take 10 steps without tripping over a piece of history. (Well, in my case, I can't take 10 steps without tripping over my own two feet...but tripping over history is better).

'WHAT I DID THERE' BIT: I've been to Kyoungju before, so a few of the things I saw were repeats...but worth it. It was also great this time because it was Chuseok, or Korean Thankgiving. Everyone was at their family homes, so there weren't many tourists. We went to Sokuram, which is considered to be one of Asia's finest examples of Buddha. It's way up on top of a mountain, and he's got a big jewel in his forhead, so when the sun was rising or setting, you would be able to see it for miles around. The next stop was Bulguksa, a temple, which (like Sokuram) was built around 500 A.D. It's gorgeous, and has what is considered to be "The most beautiful wall in the world". It was pretty. It's contructed with large, smooth rocks and no mortar.

THEN - the bonus of the trip... we were walking around the lake after a rotating Italian dinner. (Rotating because the three of us couldn't decide what to order, so at 5 minute intervals, we'de pass our plates clockwise and enjoy 3 dishes instead of just one.) Anyway, we were stuffed and needed to walk it off. We came across an outdoor amphitheatre (is that redundant?) and sat down. As we looked around, it looked like the stage was being set up for a show! About 20 minutes later, a show of Korean folk and court dances started. It lasted an hour, was incredibly professional, and was FREE!! I assure you that my mouth was gaping through most of the performance... I looked just like a slack jawed yokel. The best of the best was "The Dance of the Three Drums". It's difficult to explain, so when Eva gets her pictures downloaded, I'll post one here. (Silly me thought "I don't need my camera, we're just going for dinner".)

And that was my weekend.

We spent a great weekend in Korea's historic city of KyoungJu. To keep me happy, we trolled through the museum (where this happy little buddha "with lively eyebrows" lives). We also saw some of the most incredible examples of Korean music and dance. It truly was one of those "wow, I can't believe I'm here" weekends. I'll tell you more about it when it's not past my bedtime. 

My Vacation, Part II
(Since Ben threatened me with Internet Extinction if I didn't write more soon)

On the other side of Canada, one will find a large forest called "the Maritimes". Etymologists tell me that that means it has something to do with water and oceans. My eyes tell me that it means it's full of trees and people I love.

In the few days I was there, I was blessed with the hospitality of Jen&Norm&Noah, and Mitch&Mel&Maren&Malcolm. I got to do (almost) all the things I liked to do in Moncton... Saturday morning at the market, Chapters with Sara, church service at the Pool, breakfast at Dora's with Jen and Jill, and Curry with the Marshalls, and the Superstore with Mel. It almost made me wonder why I ever left...

At the very very end of my summer I found myself in Ontari-ari-ari-o. There was much to be done in that particular province. First and foremost, I got to see my precious l'il niece and nephew. Infact, I didn't just get to see them, I also got to talk to them, and hug them and read them stories. I found out that the kid's show "Blues Clues" has a new (and more handsome) host, and that it is possible to memorize Dr.Seuss's "Bartholomew and the Ooblek" in only 127 readings. I found out that
walking to the mailbox can take a really long time when it's important to discover, pick up, examine, play with and carry home all the leaves, rocks, flowers and bugs along the way, and that goodnight kisses from little lips can make me want to cry.

I also found out that while eating sushi rolls in Korea is a pleasant experience, eating sushi rolls in Ontario will land you in the hospital for a day with a number of painful and unpleasant symptoms. Only, I forgot that I'd eaten the sushi until AFTER I got home from the hospital...where the doctor had told me, "It's either gas or appendicitis. Go home. If it gets worse, it's your appendix. If it gets better, it's gas". After 2 days of it not getting better, but not getting worse, we figured it was the sushi.

While in Ontario, I also went on a little road trip. I drove down to Brockville (city of my youth) and Kingston. In Brockville, I got to visit my wonder-friend Jay. He taught me how to spit when I was in highschool. Neither one of us have honed our skills lately. I guess we're growin' up. Still, it was fabulous to see him, and to finally meet his girlfriend. In Kingston, I saw Gord. We used to spend all day every day together when I was in highschool, but I haven't seen him in nearly 10 years. We went to the pond and caught frogs, then rode the ferry back and forth across the bay. It was just like old times.

I also had the joy of going with my sister and her kids to "The Farm". You know how there's always one place that you think of when you think of your childhood? A place where you can close your eyes and picture it so clearly that you can almost smell it? Eddie and Eleanor's farm is that place for me. Eleanor even spent the day before we got their baking loaves of fresh bread because "Janice liked my bread when she was little." And let me tell you, I still do! We had such a good day. We all climbed into the back of the truck and drove out to the bush to feed apples to the cows, and pet the new calf 'Silas'. We climbed hay bales with the kids, and ate pickled carrots with lunch (how I'd missed them).
And all the while, we got to visit with Eddie and Eleanor. I don't know how they've managed to stay the same, even though I've added 23 years since I lived there...

It was such a strange summer holiday. It was full of so many things I could never do if I still lived in Canada, and may never to again. It was peppered with so many hugs of greeting, only to be salted with so many tears of goodbyes.

Sorry, I'm getting a little sentimental. I think it's Diana Krall singing in the background and my cat sleeping on my lap that's making me too mellow to write anything perky. Anyway, that was my summer, and I loved it. Thanks to all who made it so wonderful.

Hi! I know I haven't finished my vacation details yet, but I thought I'd add a few words about how my new semester is shaping up. First, as you can see, I have a new friend. Her name is "Catticus". Apart from that, I had my 1st pottery class of the semester, and have chosen to teach an overtime writing class (8am every day). It's nice to be back, and I'm enjoying all my classes (I have a lot of repeat students from last semester), and I love my new apartment. ... oh, and we've had tons of rain from the typhoon that hit Japan, but no high winds. That's all for now. 

My Summer Holidays. Part One..... by Janice Hillmer.
(Please note: This essay is not in chronological order. Infact, it's not in any logical order at all)

This Summer, I went to Canada. Canada is a very cold country - even in the summer, because all the parents have control over the air conditioners. If you ever go to Canada, and there are any parents there at the time, bring a sweater. Canada is a lovely country which seperates the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. (If it didn't, the oceans would fight). The Pacific Ocean, being more agressive, requires huge mountain ranges to keep it from trying to attack the Atlantic.

It was nestled into a spot of land in the middle of these mountains that my relatives on my Mom's side decided to throw a family reunion. It was a terrific spot right on the banks of a little itty bitty , but clear as crystal river. There were about 60 of us enjoying a weekend of eating and talking and eating and visiting and eating and socializing... and nobody worried about that ol' Ocean trying to make its way across the continent. Although, if it had tried to make a move, that might have been okay - it would have doused the terrible fires raging through BC this summer. The fires didn't affect our reunion, but we could see the smoke sometimes while we were driving.

A couple of times, I dared to venture closer to the Ocean. Once, to visit Jodi and her new husband. We had a great time eating and visiting, and eating and going to see MacBeth. Nothing like a little bit of murder and mayhem to brighten up a Sunday afternoon. It was a good visit.

The next time I approached the Pacific was with my parents to visit Uncle Ken & Aunt Luella. Uncle Bert came over too, because we buried Grandma's ashes that week. It was hard because I miss her so much, but I was glad I could be there. The visit wasn't all sadness though (it just doesn't seem possible to stay sad for long with the family I've got!) We all went to see Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" ... and laughed so hard I thought my face was going to get stuck in a permanent toothy grin.

In the great battle between the Ocean's, there is also a vast bit of neutral territory called the "Prairies" . Infact, I think the prairies are themselves a big oceanic wannabe. They are flat lands covered with 'amber waves of grain'. I know the americans used the phrase in a song of theirs, but it must have been after seeing Canada's grain ocean. I loved driving through this part of Canada. You could see anything coming near the road for miles and miles. Not like the mountains where you never knew what was ready to pounce into your lane around the next corner.

Some of my relatives have chosen to live in this part of the country. These must be the relatives who hate to play 'hide and seek'. (an entirely useless enterprise in a place where there is nowhere to hide. As I said, you can see everything and anything for miles around). I was so happy to be able to spend a few days with my cousin's in Calgary. Calgary is much easier to get to than Bolivia, where they were living before. As always, it was great to see them and laugh a whole lot. Again, I was worried about the face-sticking problem. Fortunately, I'm still able to manage a scowl when necessary.

I also got to spend a whirlwind "Hi Mom! I'm home to do my laundry" visit in Regina where my folks have moved (Dad retired) to be closer to my mom's mom (in English, we call such a relation 'Gramma'). The stay in Regina was a flurry of activity as we all prepared to embark on the above mentioned travels and visits. I was really glad that in the midst of the activity, we were able to make a trip to Semens. My Grampa is buried there, and that trip made me cry too, since I still really miss my Grampa. We also went 'visiting' in the Semens cemetary ~ since the town is so small, Gramma knew lots of stories about the other folks buried there. On the way out, I also got to hear tons of stories about Gramma growing up in the Prairies. I loved it.

Okay, I've been at this for an hour, and if you're still reading it, you might want to make sure you haven't suffered eye strain. I've covered about 1/2 my vacation, and will finish up soon.