Soap Cake

One of the kids at school has a brother. He had his 1st birthday this week. To celebrate his mom gave all the teachers a huge cake of soap. You can see from the picture that it fills a 9" tile.

As we all know, nothing says "My son is 1." like "I love you!" written on a huge cake of soap...

My Garden: Typhoon Edition

It has been a while since I updated you on my garden and I had better do it now because it may be the last time. For the past few days it has been raining and the word on the street is that a typhoon is passing through. Cool. However this has not gone over as well with my plants, they have been suffering quite a bit in fact as they are in the direct path of falling rain.

You can see from the pictures that they are quite flooded. It only occurred to me a few days in to the typhoon that I could take the plants in to my patio. That is where they are currently and I will do my best to nurse them back to health. You can also see one of my pea plants has a bud that is turning in to a pea pod and that my planters are too small!

Driving All the Way to the Bank

This past week I decided that the time had come to transfer some money back home. The exchange rate was good and I had been here a few months which meant my money was starting to pile up the way it always does. I took Annabelle to work on Tuesday hoping to make a dash to the bank during a spare but the rain showed up and make me think another day might be better.

I waited till Thursday but the wet weather continued so I asked another teacher if I could borrow her car. Sure said she without incurring as to whether or not I possessed the proper legal documents to drive in a foreign country. Thankfully so as I would be unable to fully answer her as I myself do not know.

This was my first time driving in five months let alone in another country. Never the less I made my way out in to the wild lawless jungle other wise known as driving in Korea. It turned out to be pretty alright, just point the car in the direction you desire to go and the road opens up.

I got to the bank and made my way to the special room that they had built for me.

They made me wait, can you believe that?!? I was at first a little upset but upon their return I heard their reason, they had just had a baby. We celebrated with a cigar while my money was being transfered.(What actually happened was that they were in the washroom and instead of cigars we celebrated by charging me tax on money that had already been taxed...)

After that was done I weaved my way to Angel in Us Coffee, to pick up a few smoothies for my co-teachers. Seeing that it was a pretty busy street, I decided to pretend to be Korean and park where ever I wanted to, which just so happened to be in the middle of the road.

After I ordered the smoothies, I ran out to the car, turned it around and parked the same way on the other side of the street. Normally I would feel terrible for doing thing but they literally do this all the time in Korea. If you look closely in the picture you can see that there is a car parked the exact same way right in front of me.

In no time the smoothies were done and I was weaving my way back to the school. No arrests and no deaths in what I would describe as success.

Rice Field Update

After my first post about farming rice in Korea(found here) I meant to keep you updated with pictures so that you could see what happens to a rice field as it "grows up". Unfortunately due to not making it a priority I have neglected that task. A few weeks ago, from the bus, I saw that the field was brown but quickly forgot about going back and taking a picture.

So finally on my way home from Okpo this week I thought of it and stopped by just in time to see the field being flooded. This is the second crop of the season on this piece of land.

From what I can gather of the little I have seen of rice farming, the fields are flooded and then they plant the little stocks of rice in to the soil below the water. Some still do it by hand while others have what sort of looks like a motorized wheel barrow. From what I saw of this field the water had been drained after planting and was now being flooded again. Wait an unknown amount of time, drain, and harvest.

It's that simple... I think.

Real Rock

I have mentioned to you a number of times now that I have started climbing with a couple of others in the area on a weekly. Every Wednesday we make our way to a sport wall in Tongyeong, a 30 minute drive. For the others this is just practice to keep in shape for the weekends when they travel to where ever it is not raining to climb some real rock.

The thought of climbing real rock interested my very much but until this past weekend I had been unable to do so. This past weekend they invited me along(as they have done every weekend) to climb on Geumseong-dong, which on the mountain in the middle of Busan, a city about an hour away depending on how backed up the traffic is.

Geumseong-dong is a neat area of Busan as it is a lush green forest covered mountain that is protected from development. There is a small mountain village, similar to the way it was a hundred years ago, as well as a section of "the great wall of Korea" all in the forested area, all surrounded by Korea's second largest city. All this with only one narrow two lane road snaking through it which makes for some close calls with buses.

By the time we arrived, there was quite a crew already climbing which was neat to see. There were probably about 30-40 people and of them climbers we were the only foreigners, or waygooks as we are referred to by Koreans. The amount of people was not a problem though as there were two different climbing areas with quite a number of climbs at each area. Most of the people were climbing on the upper part so we made our way down to the lower one where there wer only a couple of other people but no one climbing.

We set up, and started our day of climbing. One of the things I really enjoy about climbing is that while it is a very physically challenging time it is also very relaxed. You can set personal goals and work toward accomplishing them at your own pace. While your not climbing you can relax and encourage the others on their climb. I ended up only climbing three different routes all day, (I tried each one a number of times) but I left with sore muscles and the feeling I had accomplished something.

Here are a few pictures of the day.

The only route I cleaned.

Cash Box

Mike's belay glasses allow him to keep his eye's on the climber even though it looks like he is staring at the wall.

Tim top.

Mike almost top.

Can you see the hand holds?

Market Day goes Turtle Boat

For our third field trip of the year we went to HomePlus, the local super store, for something called Market Day. The idea behind Market Day was to educate the students on how to navigate the grocery store using English words and phrases. Those of you who know me, know that I love everything about grocery stores, whether it be bargin hunting or just walking around looking at the packaging. Let me tell you, it is completely different when you are trying to watch and corral little kids.

All things considered it went reasonably alright, and since it didn't take the whole day we made our way to the local Ship Building Museum across the island. It was a nice place that I would need not return to unless traveling through with Annabelle. Out front they had a little park where we ate our lunch. We also ended up find some ants and giving them enough food to keep them through the winter.

After we had finished eating we made our way in to the museum, the one building had this great big play structure that was built to vaguely resemble a ship yard. The kids loved it almost as much as the teachers did. It gave us a bit of a break part of which I used to relieve myself. Upon entering the stall I notice a keypad with buttons beside the seat this made me very curious but I restrained myself until the job was done. To my disappointment the buttons brought no response, or so I though...

As I was exiting the stall there was a mechanical whir and I turned around to see a tube extending in to it's function as a bidet. I dove to the side just in time to miss the surprisingly large fountain. I kid you not it sprayed almost to my eye level, thankfully it was a solid stream and I didn't get myself embarrassingly wet.

After that experience I thought my day would be bland... Little did I know that a brand new turtle boat was being delivered to the docks outside at that very moment. While we were still in the museum one of the employees came and said something to one of the other teachers, I had no idea what he had said but she immediately told everyone to follow her.

Far out in the bay we could see what the "excitement" was all about, a brand new turtle boat was coming in to port and we were the first people to see it. There was a camera crew out and at least 25 other people so I knew it was an important event in the history of Korea. It was actually pretty good, the students got in to it with some yelling and chanting which got every one in the mood.

The excitement continued to build the closer it got. The boat looked fantastic and everything was going well until the person in the turtle boat threw the rope to the tug that was guiding it in to the sea.

The guy had one chance to throw a rope to the dock and save it but he shanked and threw it straight in to the water. As a result they ended up missing the dock.

From here things got really excited which is a little unfortunate as it was also time for us to go home. You can see all the people on the boat wondering what to do next. Had we stayed I might be able to share some Korean sailor talk as there was plenty to go around and tell you how the story ended.

This is how we left it, drifting towards a boat.

The School on the Way

There is this school that is on my way to work, I passed it everyday for the past two months. It is a very small, plain building. Seeing that much of Korea is all about show, I have always wondered how it stays open. I would guess as with any other successful business it would need some exceptional employees, then probably a cutting edge curriculum, magnificent management and last but not least, clear communication.

Something must have gone wrong, this past week I noticed that the doors had been ripped out...

That is the life of a Korean private school.

New Doo

Those of you that I have talked with recently know that the wolverine growing on my head was completely out of control. I first noticed it over a month ago but I just ignored it, seeing it continued to grow I decided something needed to be done. I have hemmed and hawed about what to do with it and the longer I waited the bigger it got.

The thing about wolverines is that they are rare here in Korea as a result not very many people know how to take care of them.  When ever I brought up the topic there was someone who had experienced destruction and was willing to share, too short, uneven, the opposite of what was asked for and just plain bad. I have heard of more tragedies than Shakespeare could write in one hundred lifetimes. Needless to say I was not overly excited by the prospect of having my own story to share.

But seeing that something had to be done I made my way over to a hair place that I had been told had head massages with you haircut. Worst case senario my head would feel much better than it looked. After a short wait they showed me to a chair and asked what I wanted,

I tried to explain as best I could. After a few blank expressions they pulled out a book and started flipping through, "Point" they said. None of the pictures looked like something I wanted to have on my head and so I took a risk and just said shorter. "Shorter?" they asked. I nodded, closed my eyes and held my breath. They cut for a while and then told me to follow them to another place where I got my hair washed and my head massaged. Then they cut until they said finished at which point I opened my eyes and took a breath.

As you can see, it's not a lot shorter but it is also pretty alright.

Excitement!

I just received a package today, the contents of which have me very excited! First off getting a package, no matter what is inside, is always a treat, thanks mom and dad for sending it, really appreciate it. Today I found my climbing gear, which will be very much used as some cool dudes here have invited me to climb with them on a weekly basis. I will tell you about that one day.

There was other cool stuff in it as well but what got me really excited was this:

Decals for Annabelle!!! One of these for each side and then a real nice looking one for the middle. Annabelle is going to be so delighted! When she first sees them she will blush and giggle a bit in a shy, and embarrassed but really cute kind of way. I know that she will absolutely love them! I'll take a picture of her wearing them next time we go out.

Big thanks to the friend who made it, let's call him Jon Monkman, you know who you are, both Annabelle and I appreciate you. He was also the man behind my cloning that I wrote about a few days ago, class act.

My World 2.0

I guess that it is about time that I tell you that I have a clone. He(I?) was fabricated in mid-February by a friend as a gift for my sister. Since there is not a lot of information about clones out there let me answer a few of your questions. I can always read my(other?) mind, so I know what I am thinking but I can not sense what the other me is sensing. This means that I can not see, hear, taste, touch or smell what the other me is experiencing.

The cloning process is not very advanced which meant that the clone had to be done so that it came out wearing clothes, which was in the best interest of everyone. Unfortunately I did not think ahead so far as to dress for Canadian weather so I have not been able to get out as much as I would like to. But it has now finally gotten warm enough for me to be outside and so my sister decided that we should go on a trip. Because I can't see through my other eyes we took some pictures. Here are a few of them.

First I visited my old job, look at how happy they were to see me...

I stopped by the house to visit my old roommates, look at how happy they were to see me...

Stopped by the Forks.

We saw at least 5 flags, none of them being from Korea.

Visited my brother and sister.

 Came home to do some deal hunting...  the cloning process must be pretty accurate.

It was great to see the old haunts again, thanks for taking me out Amy.

What is Brown and not Prickly?

A Jeju Island chocolate with cactus fruit filling in the middle. That's right cactus fruit. I got a slice the other day and found it to be more delicious than the one with orange filling. I have had the fruit back in the day but I can not recall if the taste was similar. Even if the taste was not at all the same, every day I get exotic chocolate for free is a good day. That is, of course, assuming that nothing bad happens on the same day.

Dear My Dad

Dear Dad,

I don't have anything clever to say but here is a card I made specially for you. I love you! Happy Father's Day!

Love Your Son,
Douglas

Visiting Mexico in Korea

This past weekend Annabelle and I took the trip of a life-time. I say that because we might never again be able to go off the island again as a result of the trip. I was invited by a couple of nice fellows that in addition to being nice, are very kindhearted. You might be saying those are the same things but the dictionary says otherwise. Regardless of that the destination for me was Masan. They had plans to go up the East coast as far as time would allow, but they were also riding a 650 and a 750.

We set off after work on Friday night with a plan to have supper 100 km away in Masan. While we were still in town we realized what a trek it would be. From one set of lights to the next Annabelle and I got up to 7000 rpm in fifth gear. I mentioned that to the others and they just groaned.

After some complaining from Annabelle, I decided it best to stay below 9000 rpm. Red line is at 10,000. That would mean the fastest that I would be able to go was 95 km/h. This was fine by me, but it bound the throttle hands of the others to a much lower pace than they would have liked to travel at. As I mentioned earlier they were both nice and kindhearted.

Navigating in Korea is fairly simple if your destination is large and you stick to the main roads. Both of which were the case on this leg of our trip. All of the major signs are in both Korean and English. The only issue comes when a signs for an upcoming turn off will appear right at the last minute, leaving you no time to react. This was the situation we found ourselves in just out side Masan as the road suddenly forked. Only after the fork did we see signs that we were headed for an expressway which on which motorcycles are not allowed.

We stopped at the toll booth and the lady came out put her arms in an X and said no over and over. She motioned us to go through, so we went forward and pulled over to discuss our options. After a few minutes of looking at maps we decided that it would be safest and easiest to continue on the expressway as there was no place to turn around. We turned off a few kilometers down the road and after a number of map checks we pulled over at our supper destination.

After a short gander down a walking street and a left down an alley we had made it to Mexico! The excitement comes from the fact that Mexican food is one of the least available foods in Korea and I have been craving it. We took a hold of the menus and started to drool in a fashion similar to a fire hose when pointed at a burning building. Everything on the menu looked so fantastically delicious that my dependant personality disorder was kicking in big time(I was going to have a hard time making a decision). Thankfully the others felt the same way and all of the dishes came in multiple sets so we ordered four dishes. We did not leave hungry. We all agreed that had we been back home the food would rate as mediocre, but then again we are a long home. For Mexican food in Korea, it was delicious.

After dinner, seeing as it was already after 11:00, we made our way to our sleeping accommodations. This involved riding out of the city, finding a small road, from there turning off on to a field road and following it until we found a patch of fallow ground big enough for our tent and bivy. We woke up to find that it was indeed an alright spot.

After a breakfast of Korean cool-aid and crackers we packed up and parted ways, they continued North East while I headed for home. Before starting out I had thought it a good idea to check the oil after that hard riding that had occurred the night before and was I ever glad that I did. Annabelle had been so thirsty no oil showed up on her gauge. I quickly emptied the remains of the quart of oil I carry in my bag but even with that her readings were below the low line.

This meant that the first order of business was to find something for Annabelle to drink. Through this I learned something, no gas stations in Korea(that I stopped at) carry oil, even the deceptively named Haeundae Oilbank. After a few while of riding I stopped again to ask and was directed to the next town where I found a great little shop that had Annabelle's second favorite beverage in stock.

Having drank her fill, we continued along our way looking for the 77, a piece of highway that, on a map, looked like a good road. The town we had ended up in happened to be the town where the 77 started, what a stroke of luck... We turned on and were greeted with a sign saying "Scenic Road of Korea" which meant that it had to be good. It did not disappoint. The winding road brought fantastic views of the coast. From riding right along side the sea to seeing glimpses of water while slicing through turns a couple hundred feet up, with only mirrors to show the sharpness of the curves.

This is the map of our journey, the yellow shows the way out, stopping just short of Masan and the pink shows the way home.

After this trip Annabelle and I have officially travelled over 1,000 km's together! If you can't tell, our relationship is getting pretty serious.

Stewing

Made a swell veggie stew the other day. Some tomato, a cucumber, some bell pepper, some Korean pepper, tomato sauce, some spices and lots of cheese. The taste was nothing to write home about but doesn't it just look swell?

Trip to the Furniture Store

As you may know, for the past few months I have been looking for some furniture, namely a couch for my house so that I have a place for guests to sit. I mentioned this to my bosses and they said that they would be on the look out for one at their apartments. What they mean by that is that if some one is throwing out a couch they will pick it up for me. Fun fact for those looking to come to Korea, this is the way many apartments for English teachers in Korea are filled.

Anyways few weeks ago a friend of mine mentioned that he had seen a chair dumped beside his school and while it was not good enough for him, said it might be good enough for me. He's a real pal... I said I would have a look. After inspecting it to make sure nothing was living or growing in it, and seeing that it looked sufficient for my needs, I decided it would be nice to take it home.

Not having a truck and being there with Annabelle I figured the only way to get it home would be to put it in a cab and have him follow me home. We sat and waited, no cabs. 2 minutes later I had had enough of waiting, and having seen, in my travels, motorcycles being used as trucks, decided that we could figure it out our selves. So with Annabelle's co-operation, and some careful driving, I now have a "new" chair in my "living room".

Annabelle deserves all the credit and so I will give it to her. Her actions would prompt me to call her huge, but I remember the last time I called a girl that... let me tell you, I learned my lesson. Instead I will call her graceful.

Annabelle, you are so graceful.



How did I learn this lesson?

Once upon a time I spent a year studying in the rocky mountains of Colorado. The program I was enrolled in included one afternoon a week scheduled as a work day. In the first couple of weeks I was paired up with a girl, I'll call her Sam. Being one of the smaller girls I questioned how much work we would get done, as our job was to line a walking path with small logs, using the trees that had been felled in the area.

She did a fantastic job and so I wanted to encourage her. Now I am not the best with words, especially around those of the opposite gender, even more especially if they are cute and I don't know them very well. As a result what ended up coming out of my mouth was, "You are huge!" Good one... Long story short, she was a cool girl and after a "what did you just say?", didn't give me too hard a time about it. Lesson learned.