Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
I Just Can't Help Myself!
The last two days here have been so cold! This morning when I went to work it was 22 degrees! I was just sitting here e-mailing a friend that I don't know WHAT we're going to do when it gets really cold. And then, it happened!
Cory was minding his own business watching Kansas City play football. (They are going to lose, but he doesn't know that yet.) And out our huge 10 foot high window I saw . . . SNOW! Huge flakes! I let out a large gasp (which usually scares him because he thinks something is wrong) and ran to the window! We don't have the most scenic view - but I just had to share these pics!
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Bloggin' Hash
What the heck is bloggin' hash? It's a bit like Northland's "Mrs. Kimbrough's Casserole." There are some good ingredients, some nasty ingredients, and some "so-so" ingredients. Throw them all together and you get something that looks like a decent breakfast, but you're not sure if you should love it or vomit. (No offense Mrs. K.) By the way, most people hated it, but I kinda liked it. Anyhow, let's get down to business. I'll give you several snippits and pics today with stories about each of them.
1. Two weeks ago I lost my wallet. What was inside? My DL, Alien Registration Card, Credit Card, ATM card, LG discount card, Social Security Card, countless business cards, 35000 Won, some receipts, and various member cards (Delta, Blockbuster, Continental, etc.). What does this mean? I don't know. I was pretty upset about the whole thing. I had that duct tape wallet for almost two years! It was quality!!
It's not like I left it somewhere, it just fell out of my pocket while I was riding a bike to meet Jen. Five minutes later, I walked back to the place where it fell out and found only a few business cards and the most important thing, my Hunter's Safety Card. The wallet was gone. At least I'll be able to hunt when I go home. :) I've been able to replace most things without too much loss. The Driver's License and Social Security Card will prove to be a hassle, I think.
2. This weekend while I was out with Jen, I left my water bottle setting on the shelf of some store. I don't know where I left it, but it's no longer my bottle.
3. A few weeks ago Jen and I tried to go to an English service at a church we had
already visited. This particular service was in a different area of the church. Although we found the church perfectly, we couldn't find the room that the service was in. Since it was already 45 min. into the service, we decided we should probably just leave. We ended up doing some Christmas shopping after we got coffee and sat beside the Chunggi Chun River for a bit. See picture.
4. Koreans hate this number, it rhymes with death.
5. While we were out that day, we did some Christmas shopping for our parents (successfully, I might add). As we were walking around I saw this guy
and thought this was really funny. He's wearing chaps! 
Now, before you jump on my case, let me tell you that I didn't realize that he was most likely homeless until after I took this picture. I felt so bad for him. If I could have given him my pants without embarrassing my wife, I would have. There is a surprisingly large number of homeless people in Seoul. Most of them CHOOSE not to work, but some don't have a choice. I wonder what we can do for them.
What number are we on? 6. That same day of shopping we saw this!
The long arm of Bojo reaches halfway around the world. We stopped in the biggest bookstore I've seen in Korea and found these books. They had a whole shelf full of them. Go figure.
7. Don't worry, we're almost finished. This past weekend we went hiking up in Bukhansan National Park. It's beautiful AND close by. It took us 30 min. to get there and four hours to hike around in it. We barely scratched the surface! We climbed and climbed, and then we climbed down. It's beautiful up there. Here are a few pictures of our trip.
Well, that's about all I have for you. Oh wait, there's one more thing. I was looking around for my phone last night. (There's always a sinking feeling in my gut when I do that.) Anyhow, the search ended when I pulled the phone out of my cargo pants which were still in the washing machine. (My gut sank even lower.) I let it set out all night, put in my spare battery this morning, and called Jen's phone just to make sure it worked. What a relief. Three blunders in two weeks would be unforgivable. Let's keep it at two.
If you have any fun ideas to do inside on a butt-cold weekend, let me know. Today was below freezing most of the day. We would like to stay in when possible in conditions like these. Let me know what you do when it's cold.
1. Two weeks ago I lost my wallet. What was inside? My DL, Alien Registration Card, Credit Card, ATM card, LG discount card, Social Security Card, countless business cards, 35000 Won, some receipts, and various member cards (Delta, Blockbuster, Continental, etc.). What does this mean? I don't know. I was pretty upset about the whole thing. I had that duct tape wallet for almost two years! It was quality!!
It's not like I left it somewhere, it just fell out of my pocket while I was riding a bike to meet Jen. Five minutes later, I walked back to the place where it fell out and found only a few business cards and the most important thing, my Hunter's Safety Card. The wallet was gone. At least I'll be able to hunt when I go home. :) I've been able to replace most things without too much loss. The Driver's License and Social Security Card will prove to be a hassle, I think.
2. This weekend while I was out with Jen, I left my water bottle setting on the shelf of some store. I don't know where I left it, but it's no longer my bottle.
3. A few weeks ago Jen and I tried to go to an English service at a church we had
already visited. This particular service was in a different area of the church. Although we found the church perfectly, we couldn't find the room that the service was in. Since it was already 45 min. into the service, we decided we should probably just leave. We ended up doing some Christmas shopping after we got coffee and sat beside the Chunggi Chun River for a bit. See picture. 4. Koreans hate this number, it rhymes with death.
5. While we were out that day, we did some Christmas shopping for our parents (successfully, I might add). As we were walking around I saw this guy
and thought this was really funny. He's wearing chaps! 
Now, before you jump on my case, let me tell you that I didn't realize that he was most likely homeless until after I took this picture. I felt so bad for him. If I could have given him my pants without embarrassing my wife, I would have. There is a surprisingly large number of homeless people in Seoul. Most of them CHOOSE not to work, but some don't have a choice. I wonder what we can do for them.
What number are we on? 6. That same day of shopping we saw this!
The long arm of Bojo reaches halfway around the world. We stopped in the biggest bookstore I've seen in Korea and found these books. They had a whole shelf full of them. Go figure.7. Don't worry, we're almost finished. This past weekend we went hiking up in Bukhansan National Park. It's beautiful AND close by. It took us 30 min. to get there and four hours to hike around in it. We barely scratched the surface! We climbed and climbed, and then we climbed down. It's beautiful up there. Here are a few pictures of our trip.
Well, that's about all I have for you. Oh wait, there's one more thing. I was looking around for my phone last night. (There's always a sinking feeling in my gut when I do that.) Anyhow, the search ended when I pulled the phone out of my cargo pants which were still in the washing machine. (My gut sank even lower.) I let it set out all night, put in my spare battery this morning, and called Jen's phone just to make sure it worked. What a relief. Three blunders in two weeks would be unforgivable. Let's keep it at two.
If you have any fun ideas to do inside on a butt-cold weekend, let me know. Today was below freezing most of the day. We would like to stay in when possible in conditions like these. Let me know what you do when it's cold.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Happy Pepero Day!
I know, I know . . . we haven't updated the blog in so long! Ok, maybe it's only been 2 weeks, but it seems like a long time ago! So, where do we begin?
In America on November 11 we celebrate Veteran's Day, a day to honor and remember those who have fought for our freedom. Here in South Korea they celebrate quite a different holiday.
Apparently, because the date can be written 11/11 some middle school girls in Korea sometime in the early 90's were reminded of 4 sticks of Pepero. They exchanged the snack hoping that they would be as tall and slender as a stick of Pepero. In reality, most people believe that the company who produces this cookie stick dipped in chocolate created the holiday as a marketing ploy. Either way, I've decided I like the stuff!
It's celebrated mostly by young people and couples. Cory and I both received gifts of Pepero from some students, and I bought him a few boxes myself. While researching Pepero Day I also found that the custom here in Korea on Valentine's Day is for the woman to give to the man - not vice versa. Cory was quite happy. This will be the 2nd Valentine's Day in a row he has gotten out of it - claiming he doesn't know what to buy!
In general, we are both doing well. We both get cold quite often - our schools haven't turned on the heat yet. We are both keeping busy with classes and I still feel like I'm scrounging around to come up with flavorful American foods. Unfortunately we won't have much of a Thanksgiving celebration this year. The holiday is not recognized in Korea and most of the traditional things we eat aren't accessible. So - maybe meatloaf this year!
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