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.