Adventures in The Secret...

Apparently, there's been a buzz lately about the DVD/book "The Secret". I hadn't heard anything about it until it was on Oprah yesterday. From what I gathered, it's all about this NEWLY DISCOVERED, amazing secret to living a satisfying life. As I watched though, all I could think was "Hey - that's not newly discovered! It's plagiarism!" Some examples:

1) You should forgive people that have hurt you. Hmmm, where have I heard that before? Oh, yes, the Bible. (Luke 11:4)

2) You should be grateful for all the circumstances in your life. Hmmm, where have I heard that before? Oh, yes, the Bible. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

3) You should project 'good energy' (ie be cheerful). Hmmm, where have I heard that before? Oh, yes, the Bible. (Proverbs 17:22)

Now, I certainly agree with all the things above. I have no objections to encouraging people to be thankful, forgiving and cheerful. I do object to the makers of 'The Secret' stealing the bullet points from the plan God created for us; instead of giving credit where credit is due, casting God aside in favour or "the Universe", "a higher power" and "a [random, unnamed]spiritual force".

It's like having a conversation like this:

Joe: "Hey, a strong wind in a funnel shape destroyed my house."
Sam: "Really? A tornado destroyed your house?"
Joe: "No, no, not a tornado. It was a big funnel cloud and a strong strong wind."
Sam: "Joe, that's a tornado."
Joe: "It couldn't have been. I KNOW it wasn't a tornado, but it was just like in the Wizard of Oz."
Sam: "Joe, you're a moron."

Adventures in the Best Salad Ever...

Yes, it's true - not only are you getting 2 posts in one day, you're also getting a delicious and nutritious recipe. It's been on page 112 of my favourite cookbook for years, but I've always passed it by because it looked 'boring' and 'dull'. However, I had some cabbage to use up, and had most of these ingredients on hand. My mouth was so pleasantly surprised. Without further ado, here it is........

Vietnamese Chicken Salad (from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook)

Cook and debone:
1 lb. chicken pieces (extra nice if cooked with some Anise seeds)
Place in a serving bowl:
3-4 cups cabbage, chopped in thin slices
Add:
1 tsp salt
Rub salt in cabbage and let stand a few minutes.
Add:
1 1/2 T. vinegar
1 T. sugar
3 green onions, chopped
3 sprigs of cilantro or parsley, finely chopped
chicken meat, chopped
1/2 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
black and red ground pepper to taste.
Mix and serve

I've also made it with some sauteed shitake mushrooms or diced red peppers.

Adventures in the Up-Side of Global Warming...

While I fully understand that climate change is a serious challenge, I still find it difficult to complain about such wonderful weather. As I check the weather reports from home (Moncton -17, Ottawa -17, Regina -27) I'm glad I chose to stay in Korea this winter (Daegu +17). These pictures were taken this afternoon during an impromptu BBQ down at the duck pond. The weather has been glorious for the past week, and even though we've all been having a good time and spending as much time outdoors as possible, there's still a lingering uneasiness about such warmth in February. It's similar to the feeling you get when you're staring at that huge slice of French Chocolate Silk Pie on your plate: you're going to enjoy it 100%, even though you know it can't be good for you and you're surely going to pay for it later.

Adventures in Time to Read...

I had thought that 4 1/2 weeks of vacation with no plans to go anywhere might get a little dull. Not at all! I've had some time to get some "Gee, I should do that sometime" things done, and I've had lots of time to read - with no pressure to put the book down and turn out the light at an appropriate bedtime. I polished off a paperback novel at 1:40 Monday morning - forgetting of course that I had committed to a Superbowl Breakfast at 7:30. Not to worry, I'm on vacation, and went back to bed after breakfast was over.

Having been immersed in entertaining rubbish for a couple of days, I switched to non-fiction. I now have 3 books on the go, and can't decide which to focus on. I'm 1/2 way through Out of Poverty and Into Something More Comfortable by John Stackhouse. It's an interesting read, looking at the remarkable difference in results between multi-million dollar aid schemes and grass-roots micro credit. It's also nice to get a Canadian perspective on what some of CIDA's money has funded. Hmm, describing it that way makes it seem a little heavy, but it's not. It's full of very human examples at each end of the spectrum; however, I've read it before, so I might put it aside until I'm done the others.

The others: The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne, looks at a radical alternative for Christians seeking to live like Christ commanded; not like wealthy suburban churches suggest. I'm impressed by his compassion and fairness. It's not a tirade against the rich for not sharing with the poor, it's a compelling reminder that Christians were never expected to settle in and get comfortable with the status quo. The second book I'm working on is The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs. I just got it in the mail yesterday, so I've only read the forward (by Bono!), the introduction and a little bit of the first chapter. As a bigwig in the world of Economists (I can't believe I bought a book about global economics) he says that it is possible to eliminate extreme poverty (ie put an end to 20,000 people dying EVERY DAY from extreme poverty) by the year 2025. I got the book because I agree with him that ending the war on terror would be a bi-product of ending extreme poverty. Since I have absolutely no evidence to back that up, I thought I'd read something credible that might provide some.

Well, I've rambled long enough, and it's time to go to the gym. Enjoy your day, and if you happen to see any of those titles in your friendly neighbourhood library, bookstore or friend's bookshelf, please look through them.

Adventures in....Adventures in...Adventures in...

For once, my lack of posts isn't the result of plain laziness. This time, my lack of posts is the direct result of postus interruptus. I've sat down at least once a day to whip up something witty and amusing to write (that would be a change, wouldn't it!?) and have been interrupted each time. Between people on the phone and at the door, I've gotten about 3 words written each time, and been called away from my computer. Now then, here is the post you've all been waiting for.

Thanks to everyone who suggested names for the car. After driving her around for awhile, and testing all the names as we went, she responded favourably to "Bridget". Like Bridget Jones, she's not-so-young, she's not-so-tiny, and she has a few 'wobbly bits' and some rather interesting quirks. Even so, she's solid and reliable - and if she can attract Mark Darcy, all the better. So, my dear, curious, readers (Ahem, Melanie), her name is Bridget. Also, to satisfy my dear, curious, parents, I took her to the mechanic yesterday for a "Please-don't-tell-me-I-bought-a-lemon-waiting- to-happen" check-up. The good news is he said I didn't get snowed. I paid a decent price for a decent car with a good engine. The not-so-good news is that the full 2-hour tune-up, complete fluid changes and a few replacement parts cost about $200. The nice thing is that the mechanic took a look at Bridget, made a list of what needed to be done, told me how much each thing would cost, and showed me where/why/how each thing was in need of fixin'. After the work was done, he showed me again where a shiny new part replaced the old one. He was very nice, and I'm hoping I won't have to see him for another 10,000 km - when it'll be time for an oil change.

Okay, enough about the car. She's now purchased, insured, registered and tuned-up. Now all I have to do is take her to Costco on Friday, and her Jedi training will be complete.

One quick word about the weather and I'm off to give my house a good holiday scrub-down. When I went to register Bridget on Monday, I drove home with my jacket on the passenger seat and my window rolled down and the radio on. It was like spring!! It's below freezing today (I think), but still not so bad.

Adventures in Automobile Ownership...

I've just purchased my very first very own car! I'm pretty excited about it. It's a 1995 Hyundai Euro-Accent with standard transmission. I bought it yesterday, and took it around campus today to get used to how it handles while parking, reversing, etc. As you can see from the pictures, it came with some rather unfortunate band-aid decals, which, like real-life band-aids, don't seem particularly anxious to be removed. I don't mind them though. At least I won't forget which car is mine! I haven't decided on a name for it yet. Perhaps if you have any ideas, you could leave a comment and make a suggestion! I've been toying with "Vera", "Daisy" (as in Oopsy-daisy!), and "Margarita"...however, upon reflection, naming a car after a cocktail probably isn't wise. Unless any of you have a better suggestion, I think she might be a Daisy. Let me know before Wednesday. I figure she should have her name before she's registered. (Not like they'll actually ask, it just seems appropriate.)

Adventures in ...um... not much of anything...

I realize I've become a little lax in my postings. I figured I should put something up today, just so you don't give up on reading this blog entirely. I've also included a recent photo, so you know I'm still here. I actually took this picture since I got a haircut today - and this is what it looks like. I'm not sure if it's the cut or the camera that makes my nose look so big. There are 2 current bang trends here in Korea. Since most stylists find it inconceivable to buck current trends, I had a choice of: (a) the full-length curtain, which can also double as sunglasses, a veil or a hiding place for unruly eyebrows, or (b) short-short bangs, similar to the ones preschoolers are prone to give themselves when left alone with a pair of scissors. Since I had no desire to walk around with my eyebrows raised in a perpetual expression of surprise, hoping to shorten the distance across the vast expanse of forehead, I went with the full-curtain option.

In other news, I'm enjoying my holiday teaching schedule (2 hours of TOEIC and 2 hours of Writing Composition per day). My students are great, and the time goes by really quickly. I'll be teaching them for another 2 weeks, and then I have February off. I'll fill you in on my vacation plans as I make them. Right now, I'm planning a 3-day ski trip, a 3-day trip to Seoul, and a 1-day trip to the dentist.

Adventures in a Korean DMV...

Yes indeed, this afternoon was completely eaten up on a trip to the DLA (Driver's License Agency). Unlike trips to such places in Canada, the afternoon was not eaten up standing in line. It was eaten up on the 1.5 hour bus ride to get there. Once I got there, I quickly made my way to the "Foreigners and Army only" line. As the only person in the building that qualified for that line, my wait was quite short. It took about 5 minutes to get my photos, current license and passport all sorted out and fill in the forms, then another 5 minutes for a physical exam (an eye test and some deep knee bends), then another 5 minutes to unite the results of the physical with the rest of my paperwork. After that, I bought a can of iced tea at the little snack bar (yes, a snack bar INSIDE the building...take note Canada - it's a great idea!) and sat, read my book and waited for 30 minutes for my license to be made. I signed for it, put it in my wallet, and hopped back on the bus for the long ride home.

The license is valid until 2016. I'm hoping I'll be home and have a Canadian license again before this one needs to be renewed.

Oh, and Happy New Year, everybody.

Merry Christmas to all...

As odd as it was to wake up on Christmas morning to the sound of construction workers hard at work, and warm breezes wafting through an open window, the day itself turned out to be a festive, joyful time. I hope you'll all enjoy a very Merry Christmas.

Adventures in Janice's "Vanishing Veggie" Chicken Stew...

I made this sort of by accident a few weeks ago, when I needed to get some more veggies into me, but didn't want to know I was eating 'em. I managed to trick myself, and have made this recipe twice since then.

1. Forget to take any meat out of the freezer.
2. Come home hungry.
3. In a large pot, sautee some crushed garlic (about a tablespoon full) and a chopped onion (or wilting onion remnant, as the case may be) in as little oil as possible.
4. Once the onions and garlic are fragrant, and not burnt, pour 2-4 cups of water into the big pot, chuck in some chicken or mushroom buillion. (I can't get chicken buillion here, so I use one precious OXO packet from home, and one mushroom packet from here.)
5. Take 1-2 ziploc baggies of frozen chicken out of the freezer. Pry the baggie off and dump the chicken into the pot.
6. As the chicken is thawing/boiling, wash yesterday's dishes.
7. Grab 2-3 ziploc baggies of frozen veggies out of the freezer. (I use the mix from Costco, with the huge pieces of broccoli, cauliflower, and some orange things that aren't carrots.) At this point, your options are plentiful. (a) You can toss the veggies in with the chicken, but you have to fish them out with a seive later. (b) You can put the veggies in a colander, and set it over the boiling chicken, to steam 'em. (c) You can boil them in a separate pot, and dump the veggie water into the chicken pot later. However you choose to do it, you need to cook the veggies.
8. Toss some potato chunks into the chicken pot.
9. When the chicken is 1/2 cooked, grab your tongs and kitchen scissors, and cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
10. Put the cooked veggies in the blender, and whizzzz 'em up. Pour the pureed veggies into the chicken stew.
11. Add copious amounts of red and/or black pepper, along with some salt. LOTS of pepper.
12. Make some dumplings (some flour, some baking powder, some salt, some butter and some water or milk).
13. Drop the dumplings into the stew. Put the lid on.
14. Wash the dumpling dishes.
15. Voila. The stew should be ready to eat. It's even nice with a little bit of sour cream on it.

It makes a nice chicken stew, with a thick broth, and you can't even see the broccoli. You can make it without the dumplings, but why would you want to?

Adventures in owning an idiotic, highstrung pet...

Today was hectic. I'm sure all of you up to your eyeballs in Christmas preparations can understand. After working from 10-5, I came home, took some more cold medication, sneezed, coughed, coughed some more, and blew my nose. After that routine was over, I washed my hands carefully, and proceeded to whip up a batch of shortbread cookies. As usual, about 1/3 of the batch ended up in my stomach, (and yes, I got a stomachache) and 2/3 of the batch were carefully shaped, baked and decorated. 1/2 of the cookies were for tonight's Christmas Angel party, and the other 1/2 were going to be taken to other gatherings later in the week. Everything went smoothy until after the party was over. My idiotic cat freaked out when I was bringing my Christmas tree back into the house (it had been used to decorate the party room). Just because she doesn't see shiny, glimmering, decorated trees prancing through the livingroom on a regular basis was no reason for her to hurl herself, in a panic, onto the kitchen table, right smack onto the 2nd plate of cookies. Next thing I know, I've got a kitchen floor full of broken, cat-hairy cookies, christmas tree ornaments, and a now-calm purring kitty. Stupid cat.

Adventures in 1sts and 2nds...

This past weekend had some memorable firsts (and seconds).

1. Saturday afternoon. I caught my 2nd cold of the season.

2. Saturday evening. I ate cow brains for the 1st time.
We were at a nice restaurant, and one of the side dishes consisted of some kim (dried, salted seaweed), some crushed garlic, some sesame oil, and a mild, pinkish, squishy substance. After taking several bites, I said "This is good - Mike, try some!". Mike, being more cautious that I am, actually asked our friends what it was.

3. Sunday Morning. The 1st snowfall of the year! Hooray! It had all melted by noon, but it was nice to wake up to.

4. Sunday afternoon. I attended my 2nd traditional Korean wedding. John and HeeJin got married in the beautiful (but cold!) traditional village in ...um...I forget the name of the place. GimHei? I don't remember, but it was lovely.

Adventures in Bucolic Children...

In response the the exam question "It is better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big city. Do you agree or disagree? Use specific reasons and examples to develop your essay.", one of my students repeatedly used the term 'bucolic children'. "Bucolic?", I thought, a puzzled look furrowing my rather unruly brow. Judging by the context, he didn't mean 'Beubonic', nor 'colic', nor 'broccoli'. I made a mental note to look it up, and promptly filed the mental note between "Pecans, while tasty and festive, do not a proper dinner make." and "Do something with my unruly eyebrows."

Later that evening, I tucked myself into bed with my daily crossword puzzle and a handful of pecans. As I worked on the crossword puzzle, I was stopped mid-pencil stroke by number 12 down. Bucolic. 5 letters long, and starting with an "R". Normally, it's strictly against policy to look up crossword clues in my dictionary. However, I retreived the mental note, and decided to look up the word not for the sake of my crossword, but for the sake of my student. Very noble. I jumped out of bed, grabbed my dictionary, and looked up 'bucolic'. I then jumped back into bed, grabbed my pencil and filled in #12 Down: R-U-R-A-L.


Just out of curiosity, how many of you, my dear readers, knew what 'bucolic' meant before you got to the last line of my story?

Adventures in Everything Else But...

I realize I've been post-less for a while. I could blame it on being busy, which would be partly true, since the semester is wrapping up and many things need to be done in the next 2 weeks. However, that excuse wouldn't be entirely true. A sad, sad, sad amount of my on-line time this week has been spent in (a) making on-line snowflakes, thanks to a link on the Mealey's blog, and (b) following the on-line drama of Noah's hair. Friends from Moncton (who now live in the US) are debating whether or not to cut their youngest son's hair. Mom says 'yay', Dad says 'nay', and their blog readers have been weighing in to cast the final vote. It's like the American Idol of hair. Riveting. Both activities have been keeping me amused (and preoccupied) for days.

Today though, I'm back into the real world. My goal for the day is to mark 2 classes worth of exams, decorate for a friend's bridal shower, enjoy said bridal shower, and plan a 3 hour lesson for a highschool class tomorrow. Oh, and also print up a small map of Asia. During speaking exams, when the questions "Which is bigger, Korea or Singapore?" Half my students know the grammar to answer the sentence, but don't know the right answer. Also, on the exams I've marked, the question "What is the longest river in the world?" has elicited the responses: "Canada is the longest river in the world.", "The Han River is the longest river in the world.", and "I'm the longest river in the world." This semester I've also learned that "England is bigger than Canada.", "Mexico is hotter than Canada.", "Korea is the smallest country in the world." and "Tokyo is bigger than Korea." Sadly, these haven't been the result of confusing the two items being compared, they've been the result of a general lack of geography. Shocking.

Adventures in Blogiversaries...

I just realized I've been Blogging now for 3 years (and 2 days). I was just browsing through some of my first posts and realized I'd forgotten how cute the kindergarden kids could be. I don't miss teaching at that school at all, but I do wonder how some of the little kids are doing.

It's amazing how interesting (or procrastinative) it can be reading through dull little day-to-day blips from years ago. So many things that would normally be forgotten have now been recorded for posterity, so I can re-read them, then forget about them again and again and again.

I hope you've enjoyed reading 'em over the years. It's certainly a mish-mash of "random randomness at random times" to quote the byline of Ben's blog. Thanks for your readership!

Adventures in Bathroom Accessories...

1. My toilet paper roll holder was made by a Korean company: Bum Han.
2. During a nights sleep, my sense of humour seems to reset itself to somewhere around its kindergarden level. After my cup of coffee, my sense of humour tries to catch up with my real age, but it doesn't always succeed.
3. Sometimes, it makes me laugh a little that the word "Bum" is permanently etched above my -ahem- hygenic tissue roll.
4. Sorry you had to read this.

Adventures in Books...

For my birthday, I was given some gift certificates for an English book bookstore here. This past weekend, I used them to pick up a couple of titles that looked interesting. I've just finished reading the first little one, and it was fantastic. It was short, and simple, but it was written from such a unique perspective that it kept me interested. Even though I finished it yesterday, I've picked it up a few times today and read a page here and a page there - mostly because I don't want the story to be over. I keep hoping I might have accidentally missed a few pages the first time through, and might discover them if I pounce on the book (catching it off-guard, of course) and spring it open to a random page. So far, no luck.

I'd like to be able to tell you what book it is, but since I just got a copy of it for my sister for Christmas, I can't. Even so, I hope you're all enjoying a good book today.

Every November, Canadian schoolchildren are encouraged, persuaded, inticed and/or forced to memorize Lt.Col. John McCrae's poem "In Flanders' Fields". (Parents of schoolage kids - is this still a requirement?) Every November, Canadian war vetrans march through the streets to the local cenotaph and lay wreaths in memory of their fallen friends. Every November, regardless of our personal opinions, convictions or reservations about war itself, we are encouraged to show honour, respect and gratitude to those individuals who have fought, suffered and died for our safety and freedom. This November, I hope you'll sign a petition calling on the Prime Minister to offer a State Funeral to the family of the last veteran of the First World War resident in Canada. Only three Canadian veterans of the First World War remain. They are 106 and 105 years of age. You can find the petition here: www.dominion.ca/statefuneral .

After years of learning it, we should all remember the end of McCrae's poem... "If ye break faith with us who die/We shall not sleep though poppies grow/in Flanders' Fields". Neither should we break faith with those who survived fighting in Flanders' Fields. It's the least we can do.

Adventures in Quality Quality Control ...

The university is conducting an internal audit/quality control exercise this month. We were told to expect a staff member to show up to each of our classes with a checklist. We're supposed to sign the list to verify that we are actually teaching each class on time, and for the required 50 minutes.

How this has actually played out across campus is rather interesting. Some teachers have had the auditors arrive to each and every class, and stand outside the classroom until it's finished. Other teachers have had auditors come to ONE class, and had the teacher sign for all 7-9 classes that they teach. For those of us in the Engineering Department (where 6 of my 7 freshman classes are), the lists are on a table in the teacher's lounge for us to sign at our convenience. Now that's top-notch quality control.

Adventures in Gunpowder Plots...

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The gunpowder treason and plot
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

On November 5th, 1605, the plans of Guye Fawkes and his fellow conspirators to blow up the British parliament were thwarted. (Although the gunpowder was stored in barrels under parliament, by the looks of the gigantic pylon on his head, a great deal of gunpowder could have been stashed away beneath Fawkes' hat.) To this day, November 5th is marked by bonfires, fireworks and burning effigies of Guye "Guido" Fawkes. What an odd holiday. I'm not sure what perplexes me more: the holiday itself, or where on earth I learned that poem, and why do I still remember it!?

The day did improve (after the cat licked my 'do smooth.)

Adventures in being 30-something...

If the state of one's hair on the morn of one's birthday is any indication of the year to come, I'm in trouble.

Sorry for the scare folks. I'm off to brew a barrel of coffee; as you can see, I need it.

Adventures in Dysfunctional Appliances...

Last Thursday, my fridge made some really odd noises, then quit working. By noon on Monday, the repair person still hadn't come to fix it. Except for some of the meat and dairy items I was able to send to chill out with the neighbours (HA! Sorry about the dreadful pun.), everything else had to be chucked. About 2 hours after everything wound up in a trash bag, the repair guy came and fixed it. It seems that there's something on the underside of the fridge that sucks up things like dust and cat hair. Lots and lots of cat hair. Eventually, the fan thingy choked on cat hair and expired. The upside of the whole thing is that now the inside of my fridge and freezer are really clean. Tomorrow I'm going to go grocery shopping, and shave my cat.

Adventures in Daylight Saving Time...

Korea doesn't have Daylight Saving Time. My only way to get an extra hour of sleep tonight is to go to bed an hour early. Since I've spent about 8 or 9 hours on trains, busses and subways and me poor achin' feet over the past 2 days (I went to Seoul), I'm going to do just that. Goodnight.

Adventures in Arms Trade...

Hey folks, I'm swamped with a pile of midterm exams and papers to grade, but the following tidbit of information caught my eye. Since I'm a chronic procrastinator, I decided I should take a few minutes and share it with you.

Does anyone else find it odd that even though the current US government is so all-fired-up & gung-ho about fighting the war on terrorism, they were the ONLY country, out of 164 countries, to vote AGAINST a proposed UN international arms trade treaty that would help stop the export of arms to conflict zones and countries who are spending more money on arms than on development? I don't get it. One one hand, they're doing all they can to fight the war on terrorism. On the other hand, they're the only ones opposed to restricting the willy-nilly distribution of arms across the globe.

If you want to read the whole article, you can find it here. I confess I've got a bias, so feel free to read the article and tell me I'm off base. Go ahead.

Adventures in Autumn Descending like a bucket full of cold, wet leaves...

Wednesday, October 18th* - Wow, it's really warm and sunny. I can't believe how warm and sunny it is. Hey, what's that awful haze in the air? I'm starting to get a headache.

Thursday, October 19th - Why did I unpack Fall clothes? Why did I put away all my Summer clothes? I must have a T-shirt here somewhere, it's so warm. Hey, what's that awful haze in the air? Why do I have a nasty headache again? Ugh, I feel awful.

Friday, October 20th - It's so warm, oh yeah, it's so warm. Sandals again to day. It's too warm for socks. Really, what is that haze? I bet I'm going to get another headache this afternoon........yup, here's the headache. I'm going to bed. Drat, it's only 6pm. I don't care. I'm going to bed anyway.

Saturday, October 21st - It's midterm exam day, and I'm locked in a stale classroom for 6 hours with groups of stressed out and/or sick students. Oh well, at least it's warm and I'm wearin' sandals. Oooooh yeah, love the sandals. Hate the haze, love the sandals.

Sunday, October 22nd - Off to Daejeon for church. The sun is shinin', the haze is hazin', and the sandals are on. Hey, where did this rain come from? I wonder if it's raining in Daegu? I think I need to buy a new umbrella, since I left all 5 of my other ones at home. Hmmmm, I wonder if anyone needs a slightly-used umbrella for Christmas?

Monday, October 23rd - Wow it rained a lot last night. Oooooh - look!! The haze is gone!! The sun is shinin', the air is clear, and the sandals are.....drat. The sandals are going back in the cupboard, and the wooly socks are going on. Autumn has arrived in all her wet and chilly splendour. Huzzah.

*Some dates and events may have been changed to protect the forgetfulness of the author.

Sorry about a post concerning the weather. Since I spent most of last week with a nasty headache, and slept as much as possible, my only other options for my online ramble to amuse myself were:

(a) I bought Catticus a new brush, and she loves it.
(b) I bought Catticus a new collar, and she hates it.
(c) I bought myself a new toothbrush, and I'm ambivilent towards it.

Adventures in the Blogosphere ...

Long long ago, in a decade far, far away (1990's), a department store known as E-Mart opened in Korea to challenge the arrival of Wal-mart. Last spring, E-Mart declared department store victory as Wal-mart started preparing to retreat from Korea. Personally, I shop at E-Mart all the time. How often? Let's see...I went in the other day to pick up some lotus root, and realized my pants, shirt, jacket and undies were all from E-Mart. E-mart plays this sickly-sweet E-Mart jingle every hour on the hour, and there have been times, due to a lengthy shopping list, or a deeply rooted browsing-lust, that I've heard the "Happy, Happy, Happy E-Mart" song 3 times in an afternoon. If you open my kitchen drawer, you will see a plethora of yellow E-mart shopping bags. Infact, it is those bright yellow bags with a big, black, stylized "E" on them that prompted this posting.

"Why on earth would you write a blog about a plastic bag?" I can hear some of you asking. I can also hear some of you saying "Hooray!!! I can never get enough blogs about plastic bags!!" I worry about some of you.

To get to the point, I was checking out Rick Mercer's blog (www.rickmercer.blogspot.com) and he has recently posted another photo challenge. I was scrolling through the pictures of Joe Volpe like you've never seen him before, when I noticed that in one of the pictures he was holding an E-mart bag!! (With a baby in it, oddly enough, but an E-mart bag nonetheless.)

Okay, so it's not earth-shattering news, and it didn't make me think any lofty or profound thoughts. It made me think "Hey, that's an E-mart bag." It also make me think "Who the heck is Joe Volpe?" So before writing this post, I did some homework and found out he's the guy in the Liberal leadership race who will accept $5,400 from any infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers or other young'uns that feel compelled to donate to his campaign. Infact, my cat was on her way to the post office with a donation before I stopped her and reminded her that $5,400 could buy a whole lot of catnip.

Adventures in Knitting...

Every Wednesday night, a few of us ol' ladies gather for our weekly "Stich'n'B$%#ch". I'm currently working on an afghan...same one I was working on last year...and judging by the lack of progress, I must be doing more bitchin' than stitchin'. We all know I can't do 2 things at once.

A few weeks back, Glenys gave each of us a skein of beautiful wool that she had spun herself. Not having any needles of an appropriate size, I've put off starting a project with that wool. Today, I was in a stationary store on an un-related errand, and my eye caught a bag of knitting needles collecting dust on a shelf. I picked the two straightest ones, and added them to my other items. After paying for everything, I did some quick calculations, and discovered I had just paid a whopping $0.30 for a pair of knitting needles. I don't know what they usually go for, but I think that this pair was a bargain. Here's hoping they'll last the 8 years it will take me to finish the scarf.

In other news, nobody around here seems too concerned about North Korea's latest brouhaha. From what I can see from this persepective, CNN seems more concerned than anybody else.

Adventures in Iceland...

Iceland is such an incredible country. I loved the landscape the first time I saw it from an airplane window. I loved it even more after spending a few days touring around it. It's capital, Rekyavik, is absolutely the cleanest city I've ever been in. Everything is heated with geothermal water, and seems to run so efficiently. This morning, I noticed an article that reminded me of how much I like Iceland. Recently, all the streetlights in Rekyavik and surrounding towns were shut off for 1/2 an hour while an astronomer used a radio station to broadcast what citizens could see in the night sky. How cool is that? Police and public officials used the time to guage what might happen in the event of an unexpected blackout, while citizens used the time to appreciate the solar system. There were no crimes reported during the blackout. How awesome would it be for your city to turn off the streetlights for a little while, so people could look up and marvel at the stars. I think Rekyavik should make that an annual event.

Adventures in Not-So-Ordinary Days...

Today started out like any other Thursday, except I didn't eat breakfast. After my one-and-only class of the day finished at 11am, I was ready to head home for brunch, but I didn't. My friend Marietjie and I made our way to the Gumdo Hall instead. A local hospital is running a free physical check-up here on campus, and instead of paying $200 for a physical in Seoul, I figured I'd take advantage of the freebie here. As it turns out, my pee, hearing, eyesight, teeth and bloodpressure are all A-OK. I do need to lose a dozen kilograms, and I won't have the results of my blood test or chest X-ray for a while, but apparently I'm pretty healthy.

After lunch, I had a quick stop to make at the art building where I used to take pottery classes. One of the art students in the office there had asked Jen Jordan and I to sit for a few photographs last semester. She wanted to use the photos to practice painting portraits of non-asians. She told us that when she was finished the portraits, she would give each of us a pencil sketch of ourselves. I stopped by to pick up the pencil sketch, and discovered that there had either been a miscommunication, or the artist had changed her mind. I now have a fully framed oil painting of myself hanging on my wall! It even kind of looks like me.

After hanging the picture, I changed into a pair of Old Navy, just-below-the-waist, Large sweatpants ( just incase Santa is reading this), and an old T-shirt. Since then, my day has proceeded in it's usual Thursday afternoon fashion.

(10 minutes later...) yup. Still proceeding.

Adventures in Oddities...

I was just checking the news and chatting with Mom on-line before hitting the sack. In Yahoo!'s odd news section, I found something that I'm convinced is going to produce an awfully unpleasant dream in about 3 hours time...

Apparently, an Australian fan of the late Steve Irwin has decided to feed his newborn son's placenta to his pet goannas, "to bring his family closer to the giant lizards." If you want to read the whole article, you should be able to find it at http://ca.news.yahoo.com/odds
If you do want to read the whole article, you might also be interested in spending some time slapping yourself in the head with a spatula, or building a replica of Mount Rushmore with earwax. Either of the above activities would be more productive wastes of time. Gross. Really, really gross. G'night, and sweet placenta-free dreams.

Adventures in bucking the trend...

I recently read an article that indicated a correlation between how busy a person is, and how often they update their blogs. The article seemed to suggest that the busier a person is, the more infrequent their postings become. I don't think that's the case with me. I've done close to nothing that past little while - and I haven't posted, because there's not much to write about. I'm reluctant to sit down and tell you things like "I had corn." or "I bought milk." or "My cat is cute." Honestly, that's just nutty.

Also, for a good fourteen days, if I had attempted to write what was going on in my head, all you would have read would be "BANGbangBANGbangBANGbang." You see, a new dormitory is being built just outside my window. (Well, across the street from my window, but that's close enough.) For 2 weeks, the heavy drilling started at 7:00am at the latest, and continued until well past 5:00pm. The big BANG was the pounding of the drill itself. The little bang was the echo of the big BANG bouncing off the other dormitories. BANGbangBANGbangBANGbang. 9-10 hours a day, 7 days a week for two weeks. I couldn't listen to music in my apartment, because the percussion of the drill wasn't in sync with the percussion of my music. I couldn't read, watch TV, sleep or stretch without having BANGbangBANGbangBANGbang reverberating through my brain. Just as I was about to go truly mad, the drilling stopped and now I'm gently roused from my sleep every morning with the soft rumbling and beeping of big trucks. I hardly notice the trucks, they're like a soothing lullaby compared with incessant BANGbangBANGbangBANGbanging.

A brief disclaimer...

Just incase you're inclined to think I've turned into a simpleton based on my internal dialogue during my bike trip, I should mention that most of my mental resources were focused on (a) trying to stay upright, (b) trying not to get lost, (c) trying to encourage my legs to keep pedalling, (d) silently drinking in the beauty that God created on that little island.

So before you think I'm a complete dolt, remember that only a small part of my faculties were available for entertaining myself.

Thank-you.

Adventures in Internal Monologues...

Day One: Wow! What a beautiful coast line. You can see where the lava oozed into the sea and cooled in black, poeous blobs. The sky is so blue, and the ocean smells so...so...oceany! This is going to be an awesome trip. Hmm, my butt's getting a little sore.

Day Two: I smell bad. I hurt. My legs hurt, my arms hurt, my butt hurts. Whew ~ I smell REALLY bad. I wish the showers were open last night, or this morning at least. It's so hot, and I'm so tired. I think my legs could keep pedalling if my body could find a bit more energy to send their way. Ewww, I really do smell very bad. I'm glad I'm the slowest, so nobody has to pedal behind me.

Day Three: (Morning, I'm on my own. Jen and Annelie backtracked a kilometer to go to a sculpture park. I'd be lucky to make it around the island without spending time going backwards too.) I smell better, but I feel worse. I...just...can't...seem...to...find any energy. Stupid bike. Stupid rain. Stupid bike trip. Stupid Janice for coming on the Stupid bike trip. Stupid. Stupid. Stooooopid. Hmm, Stewwwwpid. I like stew. Stew. When I was in highschool I had a crush on a guy named Stu. I wonder what he's doing now. I bet he's not pushing a stupid bike up a stupid hill. That's it. I give up. I'm pushing the stupid bike all the way to Seogwipo (the next meeting point) then checking into a nice hotel with a pool and getting the bike shop to come fetch my bike. I'll meet Annelie and Jen at the airport on Thursday.

(5 hours later, after a nice rest, a nice lunch, a nice tour through the botanical gardens, and a nice cinnamon bun from Cinnabon) Amazing island. Perfect weather. I feel like I could pedal forever. Cruizin' down a hill. Cruizin', cruisin', cruisin'. Glad I'm wearing a helmet. Pushin' up a steep hill. Pushin', pushin', pushin'. Ooh, this is a really steep one. Having some trouble pushin'. Maybe I can get that taxi to take me to the top of the hill...hmmm... logistical problem of letting go of the bike to hail the cab...it's a REALLy steep hill. Darn, missed the moment. The taxi's gone and now I'm nearly to the top. Feelin' great, glad I didn't give up.

Day 4: Singin' "Queen" Lyrics: : I want to ride my bicycle / I want to ride my bike / I want to ride my bicycle ... Hmmm, those seem to be the only lyrics I know. I'll sing 'em again: I want to ride my bicycle / I want to ride my bike / I want to ride my bicycle ... etc. (As you can imagine, this made for a rather tedious, but upbeat day in my head.) I hope we stop for lunch soon.
(after lunch)
Sweet...we get to take a ferry to Udo island. Boats, boats, boats, I like boats.

Day 5: Spent the day on the beach on Udo island, so didn't have any internal biking monologues going on.

Day 6: Oh my goodness, I can't believe this is our last day! I'm glad I told Jen and Annelie I'd go ahead when we got off the ferry. If I can get a bit of a head start while they buy more water, I won't be so far behind by the end of the day. What a beautiful morning. Hmm, my phone battery is dead and I have the tire pump. I hope Jen and Annelie don't run into any trouble. I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike... It's been a while, Jen and Annelie should have caught up by now. I wonder where they are...I'll wait for them at the next bench or shady curb I find. (30 minutes later) Okay, they really, really should have caught up by now. Oh! There's Annelie and.... uh-oh, it's just Annelie. (Jen did have a flat tire. After I gave Annelie the pump, and she gave me her cell phone, we decided it would be best if I kept on going. They were sure to catch up soon.) I like to ride my bicycle, I like to ride my bike... It's getting really hot, I'm going to pull over and rest at the next shady spot. (45 minutes later) It's sooo hot. Where oh where is the next shady spot?!? Looks like I'll have to keep on going. (30 minutes later) Uh-oh, I'm nearly out of water, and it's really hot. A Shady spot, a shady spot...my kingdom for a shady spot!! (30 minutes later) Finally!! A covenience store with a table and umbrella outside. I'll get a yogurt and a banana and wait here for Jen and Annelie. (Look at my map) Oh! I'm back in Jeju City! There's not much farther to go to the bike shop. Sweet. I can't believe how fast those kilometers flew by. I should go biking more often. What a great trip.

Adventures in Jeju Days...

Goodness, has it only been a week since we got back from the trip? It seems like ages ago. So much so infact that all I can remember about the Jeju days was that sometimes it rained, sometimes it didn't. Sometimes it was gorgeous and sunny, but not too hot. Sometimes it was really stinkin' hot. I'm afraid that now all the days have blurred, and I don't remember what happened when. The coastal road is so beautiful though, and it was nice to smell the sea air every day, and to see the waves crashing against the volcanic rock shore. Sometimes I thought it was like Iceland and Fundy colliding in the Pacific, and getting bits of Korea caught in the middle. Yup, just like that. Other times, when we rode past strings and strings of squid hanging up to dry along the road I forgot about Iceland and Fundy and just thought I was in Korea.

Sorry this is a short post, but I realized that besides "The weather was nice." and "I pedalled alot.", there's just not much to say about the days in Jeju.

Adventures in Jeju Nights...

The picture above obviously isn't at night, but it does show our bikes lined up along the road. We're on the other side of the street guzzling water like maniacs. The bike at the back was the one I rode.

Now, as promised, our nights on Jeju:

Night #1: Jen, faster than a speeding bullet made it to our checkpoint long before Annelie and I. She set up a tent, took a shower and read a few chapters before Annelie and I pulled up to the campsite at darkness fell. We pitched my tent, slapping away biting insects all the while. That task completed, Annelie and I took our sweaty, stinky, tired, grimy selves off the the shower building...that was closed!!! We turned on dejected heels and took our sweaty, stinky, tired, grimy selves back to the tents. After chatting for a while over our Corner Store dinner and congratulating ourselves on completing Day One, we fell exhausted into our tents. Even though the loud children (and their parents) in the tent next to ours were unfamiliar with the word "bedtime", we managed to get a few hours sleep. The showers were still closed at 7:00 the following morning, so Annelie and I got our sweaty, stinky, tired, grimy selves back on our bikes and hit the road for another day.

Night #2: With no campsite to be found for our second night, we pitched out tents on a beach, along with several other groups of biker/campers. Annelie and I finally found a functioning shower room and scrubbed off two days of sweat, and promptly replaced it with beach sand. During the night, rain and thunder woke us from our beachy dreams prompting us to pick up our tents and move them under an awning on the beach. A few minutes later, the wind was so fierce even under the awning, that the sides of my tent were blowing in, reducing my floor space by half. With Jen's help I moved the tent further under the awning and was soon sleeping soundly again.

Night #4: Unable to find a beach or a campsite, Jen went above and beyond and found us a lovely room in a place Korean's call a 'Pension'. It had a bedroom, livingroom/kitchen, and a bathroom. It also had a washing machine - which by this time was a welcome convenience. It's best feature however, was one of those "Rainmaker" showerheads. What a lovely treat. All three of us slept like babies.

Night #5&6: We stayed on Udo Island in a pretty, but HOT Minbak (A minbak is similar to a pension, but cheaper). Again, it was nice to be spared the disadvantages of rain, sand and noisy neighbours. I like camping, and I like bike trips, but I don't know if I like the two of them together.

Stay tuned later for Adventures in Jeju Days.

Adventures in Jeju...

I'm happy to say we're back safe and sound from our cycling trip around Jeju Island. You can see the road we took on the map. It's the road that goes around the circumference of the island. The scenery was gorgeous, the people were so friendly, my bum hurt for days on end, and my pinkie finger on my right hand seized up from clutching the handle bar for hours on end. My bum has since recovered, but my finger hasn't yet.

Unfortunately, with my finger out of commission, and our internet server to be shut down later today for maintenance, I won't be able to post again until somewhere around Tuesday. In the meantime, I'll let you know you'll be looking forward to a 3 part Jeju series. Part One: Jeju nights. Part Two: Jeju Days. Part Three: Janice's Jeju internal monologue.

Adventures in disgusting chores...

Once in a while, as the evening approaches and I emerge from a heat induced stupor, I realize that some out-of-the-ordinary chores in my house need to be tackled. There are the usual out-of-the-ordinary things like: sorting, organizing and dusting my bookshelves, de-crumbing my toaster oven, getting rid of the plants that were pronounced dead some time during Lent, and vacuuming all the cat hair out of the fan. Then, there is the once-a-month task of cleaning the bathroom drain. After years of putting it off as long as possible (until the water was up to my ankles by the end of my shower), I have since developed a very efficient system. I know, efficiency and I aren't usually on speaking terms, but this was necessary. So, if you ever find yourself in Korea with a clogged bathroom drain - and unless you're a bald person who only showers once a month, you will have one - here's what you'll need: a plastic glove, some paper towel, a set of wooden chopsticks and a specially trained and certified supervisor. (Catticus is a good one.) Put the glove on one hand, and pick up your chopsticks with the other. Use the chopsticks to pry the cover off the drain and extracate the big, black clogged filter. Then, holding the filter in your gloved hand, pull out the clogs with the chopsticks. (It's best if you pretend it's noodles and not gungy hanks of slimy wet hair.) Plop the gunk onto the paper towel. When you're finished, put the filter and cover back using your gloved hand. Then, pick up the soggy paper towel and chopsticks. Hold them firmly in your gloved hand, then pull off the glove over the gunk in your hand and toss the whole lot in the trash. Finished. You never actually have to touch anything slimy.

I know many of you are (a) really grossed out now, and (b) never going to have to try this at home. Even so, you should never underestimate the usefullness of a set of wooden chopsticks and a plastic glove. Think about it. I'm sure there are some "I don't wanna touch it" chores around your house. Next time you're faced with something slimy, reach for the chopsticks. They're not just for Chinese take-out anymore.

Adventures in stuff I've never done before...

5:28am: The sun is rising, the cats are fighting, the eyes are opening, dagnabbit I'm awake.

5:32am: I'm on my bike cycling through the morning mist while the dew is still on the rice in the paddy fields. I've never seen 5:30am from a bicycle before. I've seen it through car windows, plane windows, airport windows and tent flaps, but never from a bike. It's really quite pretty and serene. I'm breathing deeply and enjoying the silence. I should do this every day.

5:59am: What on earth was I thinking, and why didn't I eat breakfast first? I'm never doing this again. Oh good! I'm nearly home.

6:00am: Hooray! I have a witness!! Annelie's just walking out the door with watering jugs on her way to the garden and can testify to the fact that I was getting home from a bike ride at 6am.

6:01am: I decide (against the wishes of my stomach) to accompany Annelie to the garden.

6:30am: Home from the garden, scarfed down a yogurt, drank another 500ml of water. Decide never to go biking at 5:30am ever ever again.

6:45am: Mmmmm, back in bed. Should have stayed here all along.

10:15am: Mmmmm, waking up again after a nice, long nap. Thinking maybe I'll go biking at 5:30am again tomorrow.

You may be wondering "Why all the bike stuff all of a sudden?" You may also be wondering why the Vikings never managed to maintain their settlements in North America, but I can't answer that one. I can answer the bike question though: in a week and a half, I'll be joining an expedition of 3 young women for a bike ride around Jeju Island. The island is located off the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, and is really a volcano, so it's shaped like a cone. There's a 250km trail that goes around the circumference of the island and is apparently quite a nice way to spend a few days. Rumour has it that it can be done in 2-3 days. We're planning on 5 days, just in case. There are campsites all around the island, and the ocean is always close at hand if we need a swim to wash off the day's sweat and grime. The kicker is that until yesterday, I haven't biked more than 20-30 minutes at a stretch since about 1998. I usually just use my bike for transportation around campus, not for long bike rides.

Yes mom, I'll be wearing a helmet. (And probably also stuff a roll of Charmin down the back of my pants).

Adventures in ... Pink

I bought a new bike yesterday, and it was a sad, sad day in Janice Land when the only bike with the features I wanted was pink. If you look closely down near the pedal, there are rainbow coloured circles, and it says "SWEET". Hopefully after I get a black seat cover and handles, it won't look so much like Strawberry Shortcake should be riding it on her way to a tea party with Barbie. The good news is it has gears, which my old bike didn't. It was like riding around with the bike in 6th gear. I've also provided a close-up of some nifty accessories I got in Japan, including an umbrella holder and a cover for my basket (so certain hoodlums around here don't confuse my basket with a trash can). I've also got a light on the front that runs on the power I generate by pedaling.

I missed a good photo opportunity earlier this evening when both cats in my house were treated to a nice shampoo and shower. They were too quick for me afterwards and rushed off to lick themselves dry in private before I could capture their sad, soaked, scrawny selves on camera. Now I have to very soft, sweet smelling kitties who aren't talking to me this evening.

That's all for this hot and humid evening, and I promise never to post in this colour again.

Adventures in Japan...(Part III)

Before we left for Japan, I must admit I was a little worried about the cuisine. I'm skeptical of things like raw fish, green noodles and fermented salty plums. I needn't have worried. I was well fed during the trip.

I was terribly excited that Japan has Wendy's Hamburgers. I was happy to get a fix of Frosty's and non-McDonald's burgers. It was a treat I got to enjoy 3 times (twice in one day, my arteries are loathe to announce). Three times in ten days is a nasty fast-food wollop in 10 days, but I figure 3 times in one year isn't a bad deal...all 3 times just happened to be in one week.

I took a picture of the meal I purchased before getting on the train from Tokyo. These little 'lunch packs' are available at all train stations and come in handy when you're racing to catch a train and don't have time to stop for a meal. Even though it was cold, the beef was quite tasty, and the vegetables were nice (the brown stringy ones are bracken, not earthworms). The pine nuts on the rice was also a nice touch.

When we were in Sanda visiting Jen and Korey, we discovered a little thatched roof restaurant nestled into the woods beside a stream. It smelled so clean and fresh - like Canadian cottage country after an August thunderstorm, and as you can see from the pictures, all you could see around you was lush green, green, green. The noodles we had there were also delicious - and green, green, green! Soba, as the noodle dish is called, is supposed to be quite good for you. It was such a nice, surprising discovery tucked into the backwoods of Japan.

As tasty as Wendy's, Noodle houses and Train food were, the highlight meal was one that Jen's cousin treated us to. The restaurant itself was an incredible experience. The building was about 100 years old, and you would never know it was a restaurant from the outside. When you walk past, all you see is a doorway and a long flight of stairs going up. After removing our shoes, we were led up the staircase, down a hallway, down another flight of twisting stairs, then down to the end of another long hallway. The hallway had individual rooms along its length. We were led to a room at the end that had tatami mats on the floor, sliding wooden lattice-work doors, and a beautiful Japanese garden with a small pond just outside the floor-level window. In the middle of the room were two tables, each standing in a pit in the floor, so we sat on the floor, but our legs hung down into the pit. We sit on the floor alot in Korea, but my legs still get stiff or numb after a long meal. It was nice to trick my legs into thinking we were at a table. The meal itself was very tender beef, vegetables and tofu grilled by a skillful waitress right at the table. The atmosphere, presentation and flavours all combined to make what's likely to be the most (pleasantly) memorable meal of my life. (As you can see from the picture, I also got to drink Canada Dry Ginger Ale: another treat not obtainable in Korea).

Adventures in Japan... (Part II)

Our accomodations in Japan were always nice and clean. We stayed for a few nights in a Youth Hostel, a few nights with good friends who used to teach here but now teach in Japan, and a few nights in a Capsule Hotel. Originally designed for business men who missed the last train home - due to overwork, or overindulgence in the surrounding entertainment districts - these hotels offer everything you need for an "oops, I didn't plan to stay the night" night. While most capsule hotels cater only to men, a few cater exclusively to women, or, like the ones we stayed in, provide a 'women's only ' floor. In the picture on the bottom, you can see Jen's excitement over our unique-to-Japan (I think) sleeping arrangements and an overview of what the establishment looks like, while the picture on the top shows a closer view of what the inside of the capsule looks like. It's big enough to sit up in, and has a TV, a shelf, a light, a radio and an alarm clock. Although there are no doors on the capsules, there is a macrame curtain you can pull down and hook from the inside. The hotel provides clean sheets, pillow cases and pajamas. In the morning you can take a shower or bath in the bath house, where towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and body wash are provided. If you're really in a pinch, you can also buy a clean dress shirt, socks, and boxers at the counter downstairs. All in all, it's a clean, cheap place to spend the night. (Earplugs are suggested though - just in case.)

Adventures in Japan... (Part I)

My friend Jen and I arrived home last night after a 10-day adventure in Japan. Since I still have a week of vacation left with nothing planned, my next few posts will be re-capping my trip. Right off the top, let me say that I had a fantastic time and very much enjoyed the break. However, there are a few things I hope I will never ever do again...

1) Never start a vacation in a typhoon with a pair of canvas running shoes and a broken umbrella. Before we even reached the ferry terminal we were drenched and cold. By the time we arrived at the terminal, all the clothes I'd packed in my backpack were soggy, and we were dripping all over the floor.

2) When you board a ferry 2 hours after a typhoon has passed by and soaked you, don't think "Hey, a nice hot bath would be great right now." We were in the Japanese-style bath house onboard when we left the shelter of the harbour and hit open water. With a single heave, 1/2 the water in the tub splashed out onto the floor. Clinging to the side of the tub, we were tumbled and tossed and rocked and sloshed until we were queasy. I spent the rest of the night in my bunk willing my stomach to ride out the storm. By morning, the sea had calmed and we pulled into Fukuoka harbour around 8am, ready to catch the train to Kyoto.

3) After a night on a stormy sea, and a morning on a bullet train, don't expect your lunch menu to stay still when you finally sit down on something that doesn't pitch, toss, rock, sway or bump. By that time, my stomach was hunky-dory, but trying to convince the rest of my body that it was stationary was a bit tricky.

Adventures in Cognitive Leaping...

I couldn't sleep the other night, thanks to too much coffee, too much heat and too many neurons performing their synaptical dance. Instead of thinking of things to sooth, calm and lull myself, I ended up thinking about things that fascinate me. Not regular things like belly buttons and dryer lint, but things that really really fascinate me.

1) Cuneiform. Yes, that ancient stepping stone between expressing oneself through pictorgraphs, and expressing oneself through phonetic symbols. Imagine the cognitive leap between "I want to preserve information about a horse, so I'll draw a [stylized] representation of a horse" and "I want to preserve information about a horse, so I'll use a few arbitrary lines to represent it". In itself that's a pretty big leap...but then you've got to get all your educated buddies to recognize and conform to what your doing. Then, from that, comes the realization that by agreeing on arbitrary symbols, you can represent things other than nouns. All of a sudden you can start recording concepts like love, faith, adoration, and pride, for posterity. It's really amazing when you think about it.

2) Historical Fashion. In particular, the 18th and 19th Centuries can keep me occupied for hours. It's fun to make connections and see how changes in the political or social events of the time affect changes in fashion. Also, what moron invented the cinched corset, and why did women agree to wear it? And to think that the hoop skirt was actually considered a practical solution. Interesting.

3) Why on earth didn't I go into Museum Studies at university?

Adventures in Hecticicity

Yes, I said hecticicity. You know, when hecticification has occurred, resulting in a state of hecticicity. The word describes the final two weeks of the semester perfectly. Between setting, administering, grading and recording exams and scores, it's been a busy couple of weeks. The last two days have been especially busy with time divided between mind numbing paperwork and dealing with disgruntled students. ("I know I've earned a 'B', but why can't you give me an 'A' anyway?" or, worse yet, "I've earned an 'A', why did I get a 'C+'?"). I hate having to grade on a curve. Students with lower scores think they're entitled to a higher grade, just because there's space left in the 'A' section, and students with higher scores are punished with a rotten grade, even though they've earned an 'A'. Grrrrr.

After all that (and a lousy night's sleep on Thursday - stupid fighting alley cats) I didn't make it out of bed at 4 o'clock this morning to watch South Korea lose their chance at a spot in the Round of 16 in the World Cup. I woke up around 5, but didn't get up to watch the match. Campus was too quiet, so I knew we were losing. The first game we played was at 10pm, and we watched the game on a big screen in the Amphitheater. The next two games were at 4am. I got up to watch the first one, and ended up drifting off during the 2nd half, only to be awakened by a deafening roar coming from all the dormitories as Korea scored a tying goal. I didn't hear any roaring last night, so I knew South Korea bowed out of this years tournament with no goals in their final game. Luckily, England is still in the running, so I'm not left teamless in the next round. I'm still hoping Canada will eventually make it to a World Cup...haven't decades of dedicated Soccer Mom's been able to produce a winning national team yet? The first batch of 'em should be all grown up by now! C'mon guys, don't get your moms up at oh-dark-thirty in the morning for years, only to leave your nation stranded 18 years later!!

Since it's the fist day of my holidays, I'm still lounging (faffing, as my South African friends would say "faff" what a fun word.) in my pajamas contemplating a magnificent breakfast. I should let you in on a little secret though...I usually spend so long contemplating, that I get too hungry to make a magnificent breafast and end up with a bowl of cereal or a fruit smoothie. Sad, but true. Darn, and it just happened during the typing of that last paragraph. I think it was the parenthetical inclusion of 'faffing' that did it. Now I'm too hungry to make crepes with blueberry coulis. Cornflakes it is.

...why on earth do you guys keep reading this stuff????

Adventures in Aclimatization...

I now feel as though I've officially passed two very important milestones in my Korean adventure.

1) I must now have the right amount of kimchi, fermented soybean paste and tofu in my system to be attractive to Korean mosquitoes. This is my first year noticing multiple bites.

2) It's 31 degrees outside, and I wore a cardigan to class because I want to save my summer clothes for when it gets hot.

Adventures in Pyrotechnics...

The nice thing about living on a Korean campus is that there are fireworks to celebrate everything. This happens to be the 50th Anniversary of Daegu University, and celebrations kicked off tonight. Around 10:20pm, Catticus and I were sending off a couple of e-mails and getting ready to turn in for the night. Around 10:21pm, Catticus nearly fell of her perch as my windows rattled and the echo of the first boom faded away. I turned off the lights and headed for my balcony. My balcony has a perfect view of all campus fireworks displays. Tonight's display lasted about 15 minutes, and included some that I've never seen before. Some were shaped like hearts, and some just twinkled like gold dust. Next week is the student's festival, and there are usually fireworks both to open and close the ceremonies. I love fireworks. Catticus doesn't.

Adventures in Politics...

As you may have noticed, I don't blog about politics very often. It's usually because I have a tendency to tirade against idiocy - and then find out my facts are either incorrect or incomplete. I don't want my tirades against idocy to wind up being my own idiocy recorded for posterity. That being said, I think the connection below is pretty clear:

In 1998, hard-core Republicans were doing their best to oust Bill Clinton, by any means necessary. When asked "...why the Republicans would persue a course that was neither right nor constitutional, [Newt] Gingrich replied, 'Because we can.' ".*

I think there are thousands of folks in Afganistan and Iraq, thousands of folks who have had their phones monitored and thousands of folks who haven't seen an increase in mimimum wage since the Clinton Administration (...insert any other examples you can think of here) who illustrate exactly what happens when a group of people that act unconstitutionally when they're not in power are granted power. They wind up consistently ignoring both international and domestic laws...because they can.

*Clinton,Hillary. Living History. New York: Scribner, 2003.

Adventures in Citrus...

A parcel arrived today from my sister. Included in the wonder-box were some things I didn't have room for in my suitcase at Christmas. While I was in Canada, I was fascinated by all the new and exciting items filling the shelves at Shopper's Drug Mart*. One of the the things I picked up was some Crest Citrus Splash*. Today was the first time I tasted it, and now I have a dilemma. On one hand, I love the taste of it. It tastes like an orange Creamsicle*, so after dinner if I'm feeling like some dessert, I can just brush my teeth instead. Same taste, fewer calories and fights cavities! On the other hand, since I'm a fan of citrus, I also use Febreeze* citrus air freshener...so my new toothpaste also tastes like the smell of my bathroom when I'm trying to make it not smell like my bathroom. Korea has a pine flavoured toothpaste, which I simply can't use because it tastes like Pinsol* bathroom floor cleaner. I think I'll be okay if I don't brush my teeth immediately after using the air freshener, or I could keep my toothpaste in my fridge, so that when I brush my teeth I'll really feel like I'm having a snack. See, I told you it was a dilemma.

*Good Heavens, that's a lot of name brands in one Blog post!

Adventures in Livestock...

This morning as I was rushing down the hallway in the Agricultural College building, I was acosted by, and nearly tripped over, a chicken. It darted out of a supply cupboard, clucking and squaking like...well, like a chicken. (No surprise there really.) While all the other buildings on campus are generally wildlife free, it's not unusual to be visited by cats, birds, rabbits, or puppies in this particular building. I wonder what it was doing in the cupboard? Maybe I'll look for some fresh farm eggs next time I'm going by.

Adventures in Tree Climbing...

I was thrilled when my niece showed a proclivity for climbing trees. I felt that perhaps it was time for me to give up climbing trees, and be content to leave the height-defying arboreal acrobatics to the young. Then, I read this article about Keith Richards (guitarist for The Rolling Stones) climbing a tree at the age of 62. Okay, he eventually fell out of the tree and got a concussion, but the fact remains that he was climbing. I think I should be on the safe side if I stop climbing at ... oh, maybe ... 60. That still leaves me 30 good tree-climbing years. Maybe K and I can climb together next time I'm home. Wait a minute, now that I think of it, my great-grandmother fell out of a tree at a nearly great-grandmotherly age. Mom, how old was she?