Man On a Wire

Man on a wire, pulling a wire.

Korean Safety Regulations

There have been many times since coming to Korea I question the way that things are done in Korea. As a foreigner this is a natural response to all the things invading the senses that are different from what I am used to. In this questioning I am not saying that the things that I question are being done wrong I am just saying that I am not used to it.

Korean safety regulations are something that I question almost on a daily basis. Many of the things that I have seen being done at various work sites I have encountered have caused me to ask my self "In what third world country would this be ok?"

Here is something I came across the other day. On the one side you have Kitty PC Zone filled with little kids playing computer games with out any adult supervision. While it is my opinion that there are better things to be using your time for, I certainly do not question the place of internet cafes in Korea.

But rotate 180 degrees and a potentially interesting senario is revealed. Not five meters the the internet cafe filled with unattended kids is door leading to a construction site. This in itself is not a big deal except that this is all on the sixth floor. Through the door is a narrow plank leading to the adjacent building with only flimsy caution tape to break your fall should you lose your balance.

Will it take one curious child to change Korean safety regulations? Only time will tell...

Scrap Metal

About a month ago now some workers started building a structure over a creek I cross on my way to work, that looked to be a bridge right beside a structure that already was a bridge.

It was puzzling at first because it just seemed like they were going to a lot of work to strategically place a bunch of scrap metal. But I didn't have to wait long, with in a week of anchoring what I now know are the support beams the bridge was finished, walking path and all. Like a large highly organized pile of scrap metal, all of it neatly fitted together and properly engineered(I think) to look like a bridge.

Shortly after the "new" bridge was up they set to work tearing down the old bridge. I heard them working all morning and I really wanted to see it so in the name of learning, I took my class along to watch. No pictures of the time unfortunately.

They made quick work of it. This is how it looks now:

Fog

I woke up this morning to fog so thick that I had to take a picture of it.

Corean Combine

For those interested I went back in the evening to take a few pictures of the combine.

Harvest Time

I have never worked on a farm, I have never lived on a farm, yet farming is something that fascinates me. I find the art of providing food through working the ground very admirable. Thankfully I have been able to experience bits and pieces of what it is like to be a farmer. Growing up, my uncle would spend time with me on the farm, patiently allowing me to follow him and watch him. I would learn in this way until his three wheeler needed some attention, at which point I would make sure that it was working alright by racing it around the yard.

One of my favorite times on the farm was harvest time. It is a time where everything that you have done over the past year comes together. All the planning, all the hours on a tractor, all the hours fixing the tractor, all the seed and fertilizer, all the time spent waiting; all the work comes together when the field turns a golden hue.

To farmers this golden hue means that it is time to pull on the combines and prepare for endless hours of riding up and down the fields. To me as a kid it meant that I would get to eat pizza from a restaurant, drink all the soda I wanted and I wouldn't even have to wait an hour before going swimming in pools of grain. It was a glorious time.

I am reminded of this as I ride past fields of rice that, to my surprise, have turned that familiar golden hue. Having seen how harvesting works in Canada I was curious to see how they harvest rice here in Korea. I was fortunate enough to see a field being harvested the other day as I was out riding, so I stopped to have a look.

I parked the bike and walked over to where one of the harvesters was resting and said hello. She said hello and a whole lot more that I did not understand but she was smiling so I took that as a welcome to sit down. She seemed a little bit curious as to why a foreigner would want to watch but I assume she thought I was harmless as she didn't raise a fuss. I took it in for the better part of an hour until the combine stopped working and it was time to move on.

The fields here are unbelievably small compared to back home but their combines are built to match. Here are a few pictures taken by my phone from where I was sitting at watching:

Outburst

There is no way to break this lightly so I will just come out and say it, "My nephew is a chubster." I know it may seem a little unprovoked but it needs to be said. Some of you might be wondering, "Why does it need to be said? What is the cause of this outburst? What did he ever do to you? After all he is only a few days old."

If that is what you thought, you picked up on something important, the fact that he is only a few hours old. This is my way of discreetly announcing that "I am an uncle". If you're like me, when most people say this to me, my first though is, "Who cares?" but this case is different because the person who is saying it is me. As a result, I care.

I know you will probably be lining up to congratulate me and that is very nice of you. But I will tell you right now that I had very little, if anything, to do with it.

This is an almost direct quote from the biological father, "Caleb Henry Vrolijk was born at 11:40AM on October 3, 2011.  He's a big baby(think fat basketball player) at 21" tall and weighing in at a whopping 9lbs. 7oz!"


They even let me hold him regardless of the distance(thanks to my school for the ink). Let me tell you "soft as a baby's bottom" could just as well be "soft as a sheet of 20 lb card stock."

Congrats to you, brother and sister, may he bring you as much joy as you brought your parents...