Adventures in Downgrades...

Just an addendum to last night's post. First, was a night of house-hunting in dreamland. Next, there was a search for an apartment in dreamland. Last night found me dreaming I was sleeping in a tent eating M&Ms. Will tonight be a cardboard box, or a tree limb?

Adventures in Absolutely Nothing...

After much anticipation, the 5-day Chuseok holiday is upon us. Instead of battling the teeming masses of humanity descending on every flight, train, bus and highway, I've chosen to stay home, relax and get caught up on my "I'll do that later" list. I have spent the last 2 days fluttering between the sofa (watching movies, Murder She Wrote, and an unending stream of CSI episodes on a 48+ hour CSI Marathon on one of the Korean channels), cleaning my balcony (Good heavens, how long has that plant been dead?, Eww, what kind of bug is that and how long has it been dead? What on earth is in that box, and why have I been keeping it?), reading and playing Scrabulous. As a result, there hasn't been much Bloogabler material. (Ha, I meant to write Bloggable, but Bloogabler is such a bubbly tasting word, I left it in for you to enjoy too.)

As is often the case when my days are routine, my nights are not. Two night ago I dreamed I was house-hunting. I found a delightful place with a pink kitchen, a rooftop garden with a view of the bay, and the option to either descend into the basement via the stairs, or the carpeted slide. Last night, I dreamed I was looking for an apartment. After finding a suitable place, I went to the grocery store. My purchases came to $19.06, so I paid $20 and waited for my $3.25 in change. The clerk refused to give me my change. It wasn't the $3.25 that she disputed (somehow, both of us and the cash register agreed that that was the correct amount). No, her rationale was "If I give everyone change, I won't have any money left in my till." I was furious. I was entitled to $3.25 change, and she couldn't just keep it! I wrestled her out of the way, grabbed a $3 bill and a quarter from the cash register, and was on my way.

I woke up with a strong determination to send my sub-conscious back to Math class.

Adventures in Rhythm ...

Some of you may be a bit bemused by the title of this post. Everyone know I have no rhythm. However, one of the things I really enjoy about the job I have is that every semester, the rhythm of my life changes. Every semester, I get a new schedule, and the first week or two are quite hectic: finding classrooms hidden in different buildings around campus, meeting new students, finding times to fit in things like lunch and the gym. In the midst of this semi-annual upheaval, patterns start to develop, and the rhythm of each week starts to take on a distinct beat. As I'm focusing on getting stuff done, and remembering where I'm supposed to be at what time, I start to notice certain things just seem to be happening at certain times. This autumn, I have discovered a new rhythm that I really enjoy. After I get home from my last class each day, I put the kettle on. While the water is boiling, I change into my comfy house-clothes and prepare my teapot. As the tea is steeping, I either water the plants or hang up a load of laundry. As I sip my cup of tea, I take out my school folder, and finish any residual bits of paperwork I've left floating about all day in "I'll Do It Later Land". Then I finish my tea as I shut down my work-brain and rev up my groovin' and chillin' brain. Last week, as I was discovering this new ritual which had found its way into my days, I thought to myself "What a lovely way to remember to water the plants!"

An aside: Yesterday was the first day in over a week that we saw the sun. It's been pouring rain everyday since the semester started at the end of August. That's quite something, considering July is the rainy season.

Things I Never Thought...

Yes, I know I've been quite un-post-ish for the past . I've been enjoying a fantastic trip home, but thought I'd better sit down and share with you some precious moments from my conversations with my niece and nephew. Over the past week, I've said some things I never thought I'd say. I'm particularly amazed that each utterance was actually context appropriate.

1. "Logan, watch where you're pointing that unicorn." This was spoken only seconds before the inflatable unicorn Logan won at the fair found its way into the unsuspecting crotch of a man walking by.

2. "Kaitlyn, I'm having trouble throwing a cotton-ball at the dolphin with a unicorn in my hand." What, you can't figure out the context of this one? We were playing cotton-ball baseball using the inflatable fair prizes as bats, of course.

3. (My personal favourite.) "Logan, please don't lick my cheese bag." That one's pretty straight forward, and means exactly what it says.

Adventures in Murphy and His Dumb Law...

Most of the time, my experiences with the service industry in Korea have been quite pleasant. These past couple of weeks though have sent my angry "Grrrrrr-o-Meter" soaring.

Episode 1:
I went downtown to Cell-Phone Alley with my friend HeeJin to get a new cell phone. It's a whole street lined with shops that sell cells. They all look pretty much the same, and sell exactly the same phones. The first shop we entered showed me a model with the features I wanted (English menu, Korean-English dictionary) and told me it would cost $192. The second shop we entered flatly said they wouldn't sell a phone to a foreigner. The third shop said they could terminate my contract with my current company (even though the phone was in a Korean friend's name), sign me up with a new company, and give me a new (very sweet) phone for free!

Competition between the 3 major cell phone companies is so stiff, that they're giving new phones away for free if people change carriers. Needless to say, I switched carriers, got a snazzy new phone...and discovered the next day that it didn't have a dictionary. Since that was the only feature I'd actually asked for, HeeJin called the shop to report the problem. We were told to bring it back sometime that week and exchange it, so we made the 1.5 hour trip (one-way) on Wednesday night, only to have the guy tell us the promotion was over for the month, and he couldn't do anything about it until June. Luckily, June started on Friday. We made the trip again on Saturday, only to discover that in order to get another phone, I'd have to switch carriers again...to a company that won't let a foreigner have a phone in their own name.

To make a loooooong, frustrating story short, I now have another new phone, with the company I started with, and still not in my name.

Whew, that story took longer than I thought. Episode 2 will have to wait. (Episode 2 is also not resolved yet, so I might wait until the story has an ending.)

Adventures in two completely unrelated things...

The Daegu University Student Spring Festival just wrapped up last night. On the main stage during the evening was what Tracy assured me was a 'spinning' demonstration. Since the only spinning I know involves a wooden wheel and sheep shavings, what was happening on the stage looked more like synchronized stationary bike pedaling. I can't believe people do that for fun/exercise/entertainment. Since I'm not a big fan of stationary bikes to begin with, I can't imagine combining such an activity with my complete lack of rhythm and coordination. Dancing and cycling...the worst of both worlds!!

The other thought I had was while I watched (Yes, I'm sorry to say I did watch) the season finale of The Bachelor. I was thinking, "If the Bachelor was filmed in Utah, would he really have to choose between the final two contestants?" Couldn't he just marry 'em both? Something the network might want to think about. (Or something Fox could pick up. Or is it already on Fox? I have no idea.)

It's a lovely day today, and a holiday to boot, so I'm going to pull myself away from the computer and finish my coffee on the balcony.

Adventures in Odds'n'Ends...

I guess it's high time for an update. I have a few things to share today.

1. Happy 40th Anniversary to my Mom and Dad.

2. Remember that brave plant that had the fortitude to bloom in my house? I'm afraid I repaid its bravery today by sucking up one of its robust leaves in my vacuum. I think I scared it.

3. We went for lunch at the Mexican restaurant yesterday. The food was good, and it was really nice to have some good ol' Canadian poutine with it. The unfortunate part is that we all shared and tasted each others orders, and I don't think the combination of Mole Enchiladas, Burritos, Poutine and brownies sat well afterwards. Even so, it's worth a repeat.

4. We're planning a 1980s birthday bash for Saturday. Does anyone remember what we ate at 80s parties? I can just remember hot dogs and chips from our birthday parties. Are there any grown-ups out there who ate grown-up 80s food at grown-up 80s parties?

5. Eli's little kitty, who was on deaths door this time last week, has made an amazing recovery. Catticus was down the hall sniffing enthusiastically at Eli's door and can't wait for Clio to get her shots so she can come over and play.

6. I've decided that numbered or bulleted lists, while easy to write and read, are the stylistic equivalent to being served a Twinkie for dessert at a 5-star restaurant. It's just not classy, and more than a little disappointing. I apologize. However, on the bright side, numbered lists don't taste like socks, or make you fat. I suppose that's some consolation.

That's all. I'm off to finish cleaning, and see if I can't find some legwarmers or stirrup pants.

Adventures in yet more Texas-caused headshaking...

Whilst driving to the vet tonight, my friends and I were discussing carbon offsetting as a way to reduce our carbon footprints. (For more information on carbon offsetting, check out Carbon Footprint here. I was amazed that my flight home this summer was going to produce about 2,000 kg of CO2!) During the conversation, one of my friends mentioned that some seminaries in the US now have coined the phrase "Creation protection" instead of just "Environmental Protection" like everyone else is using. I wondered why they were distancing themselves like that. Is it because some Christian groups have got it into their heads that only hippies and granolies protect the environment? Perhaps not, perhaps I'm being overly sensitive.

When I got home, I decided to google "Creation Protection". The first thing I came across was a seminar being held at a church in Texas. I realize I know nothing about this church, it's mission or it's beliefs, so the following criticism may be made in haste. Even so, one of the seminar topics started that sad ol' resigned headshaking:

The Great Moral Issues of Our Times
Should global warming be a moral issue for Christians? This discussion takes up the debate as to whether or not the focus of Christians should be solely on a core set of predefined moral issues or whether Christians should look issues such as poverty, hunger and environmental protection as moral issues as well.

Ignoring the utterly ridiculous bit about focusing "solely on a core set of predefined moral issues", I wondered how far off base is a church that actually has to ask if issues such as poverty, hunger and environmental protection should be moral issues. I am just hoping and praying that the person leading the seminar either asked it as a rhetorical question, or else stated unequivocally in the seminar that yes, indeed, poverty and hunger should be priorities for the church.

This post sounds much more vitriolic than I'd intended. In some ways, I'm grateful that at least the issues are being discussed. In other ways, I'm sad that there's an underlying assumption that if poverty, hunger and environmental protection really aren't moral issues, then the church doesn't have a responsibility to act on them.

As you can tell, I'm getting disheartened. For all my church-going readers, can you help balance my perspective by telling me things that your congregations are doing to alleviate poverty and hunger in your area? For all my non-church going readers, are you involved in any projects to help do the same?

Thanks.

Adventures in bloomers...

For those of you familiar with my horribly un-green thumb, you'll be pleased to know that a green leafy plant I bought now has TWO pretty white flowers on it. It's the first time I've bought a plant without flowers that has actually grown some. Very good sign.

In other news, I just finished reading John Stackhouse's book Timbit Nation: A Hitchhikers view of Canada. (John Stackhouse from the Globe and Mail, not from Regent College). It provided an interesting appraisal of Canadians and their country. I've met many people who have much in common with the nice (and some not-so-nice) folks who gave him a lift. It also made me a little nostalgic for the Canada of my youth...and oddly enough, the Canada of my parents' and grandparents' youth. Is it possible to be nostalgic for something you haven't experienced? [ I suppose if Soul Asylum can be homesick for a home they've never had, I can be nostalgic for a past I've never had]. I've just put it down, and am sleepy, so I don't actually have much else to say about it. As with most books, it usually takes me a day or two to process, then I likely won't bother writing about it again. (Unless it's for a course, and I have a paper due.)

I've now plucked "The Queen of the South" off the communal shelf, but I know nothing about it. I guess I'll find out tomorrow if it's worth going beyond the first chapter.

Adventures in Surprising Combinations...

Before I actually get to the purpose of this post, I thought it would be nice to tell you all how lovely it was to fall asleep last night. My bedroom window was open, so I could hear rain pounding against my balcony windows, in a soothing swoosh,swoosh, drip, splat sort of way. My room was full of the sweet aroma of my blooming Jasmine plant, and crisp fabric-softener softened pillow cases. It was just one of those super-pleasant, spring is coming kind of sleeps. Ahhhh.

This morning, when I woke up and checked my e-mail, I discovered an advertisement forwarded by one of the other teachers. To might delight, a Mexican restaurant has opened in Gyeongsan (very close to my home!) and as I perused the menu, I was astonished to find poutine on the menu of a Mexican restaurant. Apparently, one of the co-owners is Canadian, and couldn't resist adding it to the menu. I hope to go try it out sometime this week. I'll let you know how it is!

Adventures in Revolutions...

Back at the beginning of February, I mentioned I was reading The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. If you have ever been frustrated, put off, or disenchanted with the Christian Church in North America, it's well worth the read. I should have been finished it long ago, but I put it down for a while to stew. I picked it up again last weekend, and was struck by this quote from Kaj Munk, a Danish pastor killed by the Gestapo in 1944:

"... remember the signs of the Christian Church have been the Lion, the Lamb, the Dove, and the Fish ... but never the chameleon."

I fear that in an attempt to seem more appealing, the church in North America has become a chameleon. Some are changing to seem trendy and hip, others to become more like the glossy mega-churches who place a higher value on a new sound system than they do on feeding the poor, or fighting for justice in their own neighbourhoods. Just a thought.

Adventures in Wishing I was Surprised...

I read the following headline this morning, and while I shook my head, I must confess that considering the state the article hails from, I wasn't surprised.

"Texas bill makes it easier for the blind to hunt with guns"

Adventures in a Blooming Campus...

Last year at this time (well, technically this time last year was two weeks later than it is this year), there was only one nice day to get some shots of cherry blossoms on campus, and my camera battery let me down. This time, I'm happy to say, I spent yesterday walking around campus snapping away. Well, I guess that really, a digital camera doesn't snap; but to say that I spent yesterday wzzhring away just doesn't have the same appeal.

I thought y'all might like to take a peek at what I see on my way to work every day. Loverly, ain't it?

Adventures in Misadventure...

Last weekend was indeed a comedy of errors.

The Expectation:
A few friends and I would take a mini-road trip to Andong (about an hour and a half away). There, we would have dinner at a delicious galbi restaurant. We would stay at the Windmill hotel, take long relaxing baths in the whirlpool tubs, and go hiking around the adjacent lake. The next day, we would find a museum or folk village to explore for an hour or so before heading home.

Rise and Shine:
On the day of departure, I got up around 7 o'clock. It was still as dark as night outside. By 9 o'clock, the rain, thunder and lightening had begun. Eventually, the storm abated, and 3 of us loaded ourselves into the car. As soon as we got off campus, it started to hail. Undaunted, we began our trip as all good road trips should begin: with breakfast at McDonald's. I have never in my life had such slow service. We were the only 3 customers in the joint, yet I'm convinced a carton of expired yogurt could have moved faster than the waif behind the counter.

Andong! :
After a rocky start, but a good Egg McMuffin, and a little more hail, we made it to Andong. We drove straight to the hotel to unpack and settle in, only to discover that the hotel has gone out of business. Gone. Kaput. Abandoned. Stalwart travelers that we were, we made our way to the galbi restaurant to recoup and refuel. When we got there, we were the only customers around. The woman who owns the place remembered us from last time, and invited us to stay at her place next time we're in town. She was so happy to see us, she actually sat down next to me and not only cooked our food for us, but FED IT TO US too! It was more than a little odd.

The Mountain Cabin:
Will full bellies, we set out to remedy our accommodation difficulties. We found an ad for a mountain cabin that looked nice. (Hiking was still on our agenda, now that the rain had cleared.) We called, asked for rates, asked if they had a bathtub, and asked if they had room for the night. Receiving an acceptable answer to all of the above, we set of down the highway. Then up a hill...around a bend...through a village...up, up, up into the mountain and deep deep deep into the woods. We found the cabin, grabbed our bags and headed for the front desk; the empty front desk. We called the number again, and were informed that there was a special event on at the cabin this weekend, and they were all booked up. Right. Thanks. So we drove back out of the woods, back down the mountain, back through the village, back around the bend, back down the hill and onto the highway.

The Seaside Hotel:
Eventually, after driving back to Andong, through Andong and out of Andong again, we wound up in YoungDuk. We found a seaside hotel that looked promising. We went to the front desk and asked our standard round of questions: rates, bathtub, room for the night. We were good to go. We hauled our stuff up into the room, flopped on the beds, looked gloomily at the tubless shower, and had a cup of tea. By this point, the day was nearly spent, and we were looking forward to a nice walk on the beach, in lieu of a hike through the woods, the next morning.

The Next Morning:
Rising early-ish, we threw open the curtains to enjoy our ocean view. All we could see was noxious yellow sand. (For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you'll know all about this seasonal phenomenon. If you're not familiar with it, check out my post from April 18th of last year.) The sand levels were rated 'hazardous', and residents were warned to stay indoors with all doors and windows closed. We closed the window, watched a movie on TV in our hotel room, checked out and drove straight home.

The Icing on the Cake:
I sat down on Monday to chronicle this fun, entertaining, but disaster of a trip in my blog. Three sentences from the end, my computer froze and I lost the whole thing.

Adventures in Modern Dentistry...

It was time. I hadn't been to the dentist in a while (since I lived in Daejeon, and had a wisdom tooth removed), and figured it was time for a check-up. One of my co-workers recommended a place downtown. So, on a lovely Thursday afternoon, I headed off to see the dentist. I had memories of my dentist in Canada, with Escher's* prints on the ceiling for a little visual stimulation during your visit. The one at the top of this post is the one I remember most. My dentist today was a little more hi-tech. Mounted on the front of each chair assembly, there was a flatscreen TV with satellite. I was even given control of the remote! However, I only caught about 3 minutes of TV before a green cloth with a hole cut out for my mouth was placed over my face. Another nice thing about this particular dentist was the anaesthetic rinse I got to swoosh and gargle with first, so the cleaning wouldn't be so uncomfortable. It was awesome. My tongue was all numb.

After all was said and done, the dentist said I had nice, strong, healthy teeth. Hooray!! I don't have to go back for another 6 months! However, he has a fascinating book called, if I remember correctly, The Illustrated History of Dentistry. I only got to the 1st page (the downside of extreeeeeeeemly minimal wait times in Korean medical clinics), so I actually wouldn't mind popping in again just to sit in the waiting area and thumb through the book. There was a full-color photo of ancient Incan teeth with turquoise inlays - way cooler than body piercing. Speaking of which, I got a new belly-ring today. I'm off to boil it and try it on.

(ooooh, just noticed my paragraph structure above. I'd flunk any student in my writing class that started a paragraph talking about teeth, spent most of the paragraph discussing a book, and then closing the whole thing off with a belly button. Terrible form.)

* I couldn't remember Escher's name, so I just googled "famous drawings", and found the right site on my 2nd try. Amazing thing, this internet.

Adventures in Stellar Test Questions...

I came across this article on Yahoo! News. I laughed all the way through. I never had to take a driving test in China, but I remember what the traffic was like there. After reading this question from the traffic theory test, I think I know why:

"If a motor vehicle is passing through an intersection without a traffic light or traffic sign, should it give right of way to vehicles that have a green light?"

There are some other fascinating questions on the test. It's worth a peek at if you get a chance.

Adventures in Irony...

Tonight, we're going to watch a 2-hour episode of The Biggest Loser; we're going to order-in some fried chicken and a pizza to tide us over.

I just don't understand how my brain works. I can play with the cat during Survivor, I can paint my nails during CSI, I can knit during Law & Order...but I can't watch The Biggest Loser without snacks. I just. don't. get it.

Adventures in a Tad Too Much Twang...

I had oringinally planned to title the post "Adventures in Mean God...", however, being a huge fan of alliteration, and not such a big fan of promoting dubious theology, I opted for the twang thang.

Since I have yet to remember to take my own tunes down to the car, I find myself listening to AFN (American Forces Network) Radio when I'm on the road. Most of the time, they play a reasonably good mix of tunes. Sunday afternoons however, are devoted to the Country Music Countdown. This afternoon, my ear being unaccustomed to the twangs, warbles and contractions present in country songs, I misheard the lyrics of a certain ditty. I heard "There's nothin' in this world that can't be done by a Mean God... / He rules the world with His staff and rod. Mean God." I was not impressed. By mid-song though, I had discovered that Mean God, was actually Me'n'God. So the lyrics should read "There's nothin' in this world that can't be done by me and God." Even though my brain finally figured out the Me'n'God bit, my ear still refused to hear the difference. I continued to hear Mean God. I was happier when the song ended and moved on to something like: "That was Mama, in Ti-a-juaaaaaaana. She won't admit she smoked mar-i-juaaaaaaaana. That was Maaaaama, 'fore she was a MaMaaaaaaa." I'm pretty sure I didn't mis-hear those lyrics.

Mind you, for all that, I was actually happiest when I pulled into my parking spot and turned the radio off! Now though, the joy at shutting the radio off has turned into a bit of concern that I can't turn my brain off. Both song are still synapsing in my brain, and I find myself oscilating between "Meeeeeeeeen God" and "Marijuaaaaaaaana in Tiajuaaaaaaaaana." I'm going to see if I can find some Simon and Garfunkle to put an end to all this twangy mayhem.

Adventures in Turned Tables...

When I was growing up in Ontario, every year around this time, I would hear a conversation between my Dad and his mom. The conversation would always go something like this:

Dad (in Ontario): We got another (1/6/8) feet of snow last night.
Grandma (in Victoria): Three new (tulips/daffodils/crocuses) are up in the garden this morning.

And so, with my Grandma and her garden in mind, I have the following to say to all of you digging out from last week's storm: The cherry blossoms on campus are starting to bloom.

Adventures in a Fine Looking Family...





As requested, I've uploaded the pictures I took of the picture frames I made a while back. The top one is from the January picture in the calendar my local bank gave me for Christmas. The cut-out piece was big enough to use as a frame for a smaller picture, and I wound up with three pictures framed in the same, as you can see in the 2nd picture. The third one(s) are all cut from Our Canada magazine. I was lucky to find 2 identical pictures that were the right size to use for Kaitlyn and Logan's photos. I've started clipping and saving any interesting pictures from newspapers or magazines to use in future frames. Super cheap, and not-so-bad-lookin'!