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.