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?

Adventures in Quick Naps...

I got home yesterday shortly before 1pm, and since my pottery class doesn't start until 2pm, I changed into my potting clothes, and flaked out on my bed for a quick 5-minute rest (I can't really fall asleep in 5 minutes, so these rests don't usually turn into naps). The cat curled up next to me, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up with the residue of some kind of Mermaid and Potato dream clearing itself from my brain. I stretched and looked at my watch, thinking I'd better hurry if I was going to make it to pottery on time. Wasn't I more than a little surprised to realize that 3.5 hours had passed! I'd missed pottery AND 1/2 of Oprah. On the other hand, I'm really glad to have a job where a 3 hour mid-afternoon snooze doesn't get me fired! I'll enjoy it while I can.

Adventures in Mischief Perpetrated upon William Blake...

(If you've never read William Blake's Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, you should take a look at "The Lamb" and "The Tiger" before reading this post. It won't take long; you can Google 'em.)

I was curled up with my l'il cat this morning, and found myself quoting William Blake. Sadly, my cat is neither a lamb, nor a tiger, so my renditions needed to be altered. This was the result, with prolific apologies to Mr.Blake:

On Good Days ~
(From 'The Lamb')

Little kitty, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life, and bid thee purr
Coating all my pants with fur;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender meow,
Sounding better than a cow?
Little kitty, who made thee?
Does thou know who made thee?

On Bad Days ~
(From 'The Tiger')

Kitty, kitty, taking flight
In the kitchen at midnight,
What imaginary fly
will you chase ‘til dawn is nigh?

Kitty, kitty, sharp'ning claws
On the furniture at all hours, (If you say this bit with a fake accent, it rhymes)
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? (Just like Blake himself expected these last two lines to rhyme)

Happy 80th Birthday!

Yup, Her Majesty is celebrating her 80th Birthday. I don't really have much to say about it, I just figured I would mention it. I've always been a fan of the monarchy, although I think is has more to do with a fascination for the gowns and glitter than for the job itself. Either way, I think the Queen has managed to hold on to a tough job with poise and dignity for a really long time. Having said all that, I honestly don't know the lady very well. Oh, sure, we've had tea together a few times, and there was that time in '99 that I lent her five bucks, because she 'forgot her purse at the palace', but beyond that, we're not all that close.

When I was a kid and had to clean the bathroom, I used to imagine that the Queen was going to stop by. It was on those days that I actually scrubbed all the nooks and crannies I could find...until I got bored and switched to pretending I was a TV commercial and I'd try to sell myself some shampoo instead. Once in a while, I'd imagine the Queen stopped by and I would try to sell her some shampoo. It never occured to me that she might not be in the market for 1/2 a bottle of Pert Plus. Maybe I should have sent her some for her birthday. It's got to make a better gift than the two black beavers Canada gave her once. At least shampoo is practical. What was my country thinking??

Adventures in Yellow Dust...
Spring is such a conflicted time here in Korea. On one hand, the cherry blossoms are fluttering to the ground like pink snow and the lilacs are starting to produce their gentle purple fragrance. On the other hand, China has started exporting it's noxious yellow dust. Every spring, wind picks it up from the Gobi Desert and hurls it across the Yellow Sea directly into the lungs, eyes, teeth and icecream cones of the residents of South Korea. From the picture above, you can see one of the storms that passed over the Korean peninsula recently. (It's the big dusty looking swoosh to the right of the picture...yup, there it is. You've found it now. The big mass of yuck that's not clouds, water or land.) From my perspective (ie, not one from a satelite) it just looks like a hazy, hazy day. However, don't let those tiny particles fool you into thinking they're harmless. The icky bits (particles) in today's dust were 2-3x higher than what US officials consider a 'hazardous' health concern. That's in Daegu. Seoul had twice as many icky bits. We usually get several dust storms a season, and hopefully we'll get rain tomorrow to dampen the spirits of this latest one before either my lungs or my icecream become permanently damaged.

Adventures in Pottery...

Tomorrow is Thursday ~ my favourite day of the week. Even though I have an early class, I finish teaching at noon, then head off to pottery class. The picture on the left is the largest/least wobbly piece I've made in the past 3 years. (And yes, since the flowers in it are green and blossoming, you can be sure they are fake.) I'm thrilled that so far this semester, none of my pottery has cracked, wobbled, toppled, warped or contracted a horrible case of the uglies. There are still many weeks to go before the semester is over at which point the pieces will face unforseen traumas lurking in the glazing/firing process. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though. So far, so good.

Adventures in New Furniture...

I've had my eye on this little table for a few months now, and finally decided to pick it up. I figured it would be a nice Korean souvenir when I (eventually) go back to Canada.

As you can see, there are 20 tiny little drawers filling the top 1/2 of the table. A word of advice, if you ever find yourself with 20 little drawers in a table in your foyer...don't put anything personal in any of them. Almost every person through my door has said "Ooooh, what cute drawers. Is there anything in them?" and they start opening the drawers at random.
I keep some spare keys, decks of playing cards and some gum in some of the drawers. I think I'll put a door prize in one drawer, and everyone who comes to visit gets to choose a drawer and try and find the prize. That'll be fun. Furniture and Fun all in one ~ what a buy.

Adventures in weather forcasts...

I checked the weather forcast tonight before heading off to bed. Next week is just not looking good:

Today	Tomorrow	Tue	Wed	Thu	6-10 Day
Rain Late High: 18° Low: 11°	Rain High: 16° Low: 10°	Light Rain High: 20° Low: 10°	AM Showers High: 22° Low: 10°	Showers High: 15° Low: 7°

Adventures in blossoms...

Cherry blossoms have finally erupted all over campus. I took my camera to class today, and the battery died before I even took my first picture, so the lovely photo on the left isn't mine.

I heard from one of my co-workers that some folks in Korea are trying to discourage cherry blossom festivals (very popular events this time of year!) because when the Japanese occupied Korea, they uprooted all traces of Korea's national flower, the Rose-of-Sharon. In an effort to demoralize Koreans, the Japanese replaced the Rose-of-Sharon with cherry trees. As a result, some Koreans equate the blossoms with the Japanese occupation, and don't think it's a cause for celebration. I tried to find some information about the story in the English newspaper here, but haven't found anything of that nature yet. No matter what the origins of the trees in this country, they are still lovely and I'll continue to enjoy them as long as they're in bloom.

Adventures in Template Changes...

After nearly 2.5 years of blogging bliss, I decided it was time for a change. (At this point, an observant reader will be thinking "Hmmm, baked cookies yesterday, washed all the dishes, and chose to change Blog settings... sounds like procrastination to me!" ) Such an astute observation would be quite accurate. I've got a stack of marking to tackle.

In the process of changing the template, I deleted some links to people that haven't updated their blogs in months (ahem!) and I added a link to a Pucca website. Pucca is the adorable l'il animated character above. Her website has some interesting little cartoons on it.

I hope you like the new look. If not, I'm sure you'll either get used to it, or stop reading. I hope you get used to it. I would be awfully sad to lose your readership.

Adventures in the Perils of Cookie Cooking...

Cookies are lovely
warm moist delicious velvet
breathe taste devour

There, that's my Cookie Haiku. I've jotted down that poetic nightmare (I think I can here the gasps of horror coming from Japan as I write) to illustrate the point that people don't usually discuss the perils of cookie making. My hips know the danger all too well, but by the time they realize what's going on, it's too late.

This evening after dinner, I decided to bake cookies. Tracy was at my house, so she did the stirring and mixing, I did the sifting and measuring. It's now well after 10:00pm and getting closer to bedtime...Tracy has gone home, the dishes have been washed and over 1/2 the batter is still left waiting for the oven. You see, the major problem is that I only have a toaster oven. The recipe that comes on the back of the econo-bag of Chipits is not meant to be baked six small cookies at a time. Even after doing our best to decrease the amount of cookie dough that would need to be baked (yum), we didn't even make a dent. I'm also feeling a little sick from all the sugary buttery batter in my belly. (Say that last bit out loud. It's fun.) So here I am, quite literally sick and tired, and my hips are just saying "I told you so."

Adventures in Odd Places to Stick Your Head...

This is a picuture of Catticus' latest favourite spot. When I'm working (or playing) at the computer, she'll leap up ontop of the CPU (?), turn her back on me, and stick her head down between the wall and the back of the computer. She'll stay that way for up to an hour. I can't tell if she's looking at something or sleeping. Whenever I try to peek, she turns her head and meows at me. Occasionally, she'll sit up and lick the pictures of my niece and nephew, then stick her noggin back down the crevice. Do you think I should start looking for a cat psychologist?

Adventures in biking...

Since spring has (sort of) arrived, I've been riding my bike to and from classes. It's nice to be out on the road with the wind in my face. It's not nice to be wearing sticky lip gloss and winding up with a swarm of little flies stuck to my lips when I get to the bottom of the hill.

Adventures in (ahem!) Spring...

After a few days of warm breezes, warm sun, and warm yellow dust I was convinced that Spring was making its way across the Korean peninsula.

Today, a gentle rain shower greeted me at 7:35 a.m. as I headed out the door. I took a large umbrella, but didn't throw on a jacket over my business suit. I figured I would be warm enough. I spent the next three hours staring out the window of my classroom wishing my classes a "Merry Christmas!" as impossibly huge snowflakes filled the air. Unbelievable. I think I might postpone the scavenger hunt I was going to do with my classes next week.

On a brighter note, today was my first day back at pottery class since last semester. It was nice to get my hands dirty again.

Adventures in Acupuncture Part II...

So here's the scoop. A friend of mine here is going to an acupuncturist on a regular basis to relieve some pains she's having. I went with her earlier this week, mostly because I was curious. I had a little crick in my neck and thought I'd see what could be done about it. (Since then I've learned that you can also get 'diet acupuncture' which might be worth a shot!) Anyway, the doctor speaks as much English as I do Korean, but I managed to tell him what the trouble was. He recomended hot packs and massages (what a nice treatment plan!) then led me into the treatment room.

My friend's procedure was already underway as I positioned myself face-down on a vacant treatment cot. The doctor then stuck me with pins; I didn't feel them go in at all. It was entirely painless. Then they put a nice heat lamp on me; similar to the ones they use to keep chicken burgers warm at fast food restaurants. After about 20 minutes, the nurse took the pins out and pulled over an octopusesque contraption with little suction cups all over it. She stuck the cups to my shoulders and I twitched and spasmed merrily for several minutes. Finally, the doctor came back and pinched and tweaked and karate chopped all the sore spots. That was the end of my acupuncture adventure. I'm going back tomorrow to see if he can do something about the pain in my feet (stupid work shoes).

Adventures in Acupuncture...

Part I:

I went for my very first acupuncture treatment! I'd tell you more, but it's bedtime. More details will follow in Part II.

Adventures in Dreams Coming True...

2 Years ago, at the beginning of the semester, I had a dream that my class started in 5 minutes; however, I was in a gas station in Saskatchewan and was a little frantic that I might be late.

1 1/2 years ago, at the beginning of the semester, I had a dream that my class started in 5 minutes; however, the Art building had been remodelled to resemble the catacombs. I couldn't find my class in the warren of wet stone walls lit with torches.

Last semester I had a dream that I showed up on time for my class, but was expected to teach Phys. Ed. (right.)

This morning at 11:40 as I was preparing to head to my 12:00 class I got a phone call from my boss...my 12:00 class actually starts at 11:00. Oops. It turned out to be a scheduling error (my schedule said 12:00, the student schedule said 11:00). Nonetheless, after 2 years of dreaming about it, I finally missed a class.

And so the semester begins.

Adventures in 3000 readers...

I just noticed that the next person to visit my Blog will be my 3000th visitor. Congratulations to you!!! Leave me a comment and tell me who you are ~ maybe I'll send you a postcard to commemorate the occassion. (Yes, I know I have way too many m's and c's and s's in the 3 words before my bracketed aside began. Even though recognizing my poor spelling in no way justifies it.)

Adventures in the demise of a Vacation...

Yup, tomorrow the intrepid and courageous teachers of DaeguDae start another semester. Last night we had our staff orientation dinner (fabulous buffet) and everyone got caught up on everyone else's vacations. Today Mike Peacock came to visit and we hung out downtown. After he left, I treated myself to a great manicure (with little white flowers painted on the ring-finger nails.) Then, to top off the evening, a group of us gathered around for Jen's Bacardi Rum Cake and Bahama Mama's ~ directly from Nassau iteself. We also looked at her pictures from the Bahamas and Karin and Angelika's pictures of Cambodia and Vietnam. Everything looked so warm and tropical and sunny. Now, I'm wondering why on earth I'm in Korea. It snowed here this morning. Anyway, we all bid adieu to our vacations and are gearing up to start classes tomorrow morning. I can't believe I've been at this job for 2 years already.

So, farewell Winter Vacation, and hello Spring Semester.