Welcome Casey and Chieko!

Casey and Chieko just moved from Tokyo. After a few shopping sprees, they bought a bunch of stuff for their apartment not too far from our place.

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Tokyo during the Spring break

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Rockin' little robots!

These little robots were made by Phil (and I helped him with a couple of the models). They are custom-made from parts found at a local electronics store and run on button batteries. Very cool!

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Earthquake Survival

Here's an interesting article that someone sent me about getting through an earthquake. I found it interesting since I'm living here in the land of quakes.

Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the" triangle of life". The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured.

The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building. They are everywhere. I trained the Fire Department of Trujillo (population 750,000) in how to survive, take care of their families, and to rescue others in earthquakes.

Pain in the Bun!

You'd probably be surprised. It's hard to make a hamburger here in Japan. Buns for hamburgers are very rare in these parts and if you find them, they're often mixed in with other types of buns or have weird things in them. We got lucky!

Demolition

The Japanese move fast to tear stuff down around here.

Preparing wedding invitations

Casey and Chieko in Town

Casey and Chieko stayed the night this weekend to check out some apartments. The found one only about 15 minutes walk from where we live. I believe they'll be moving in next month!

Snowshoeing

I took off to the mountains today. Got cabin fever big time. So, I went up to the bamboo forest - about a 20 minute walk from my apartment.

Flying Pig to the rescue!

Here's a million dollar idea that I missed out on... taking Costco online for foreigners around Japan. These guys were thinking. You place an order through an ingeniously designed site that has you buying to fill up boxes to keep you shipping costs down. Then they go to Costco's and buy your stuff then ship it to your doorstep. It's not cheap, they don't have a huge selection of stuff, but they do offer a great service and it is a great convenience. Where else can you get 3 KG of spicy cheese sauce for your nachos?

Yakitori

Got lazy lastnight and decided it was time to go out for some yakitori!

2005 Darwin Awards

When his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up in Long Beach, California, would-be robber James Elliot did something that can only inspire wonder. He peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again. This time it worked.....

And now, the honorable mentions:

2. The chef at a hotel in Switzerland lost a finger in a meat-cutting machine and, after a little shopping around, submitted a claim to his insurance company. The company expecting negligence sent out one of its men to have a look for himself. He tried the machine and he also lost a finger. The chef's claim was approved.

3. A man who shoveled snow for an hour to clear a space for his car during a blizzard in Chicago returned with his vehicle to find a woman had taken the space. Understandably, he shot her.

4. After stopping for drinks at an illegal bar, a Zimbabwean bus driver found that the 20 mental patients he was supposed to be transporting from Harare to Bulawayo had escaped. Not wanting to admit his incompetence, the driver went to a nearby bus stop and offered everyone waiting there a free ride. He then delivered the passengers to the mental hospital, telling the staff that the patients were very excitable and prone to bizarre fantasies. The deception wasn't discovered for 3 days.

5. An American teenager was in the hospital recovering from serious head wounds received from an oncoming train. When asked how he received the injuries, the lad told police that he was simply trying to see how close he could get his head to a moving train before he was hit.

6. A man walked into a Louisiana Circle-K, put a $20 bill on the counter, and asked for change. When the clerk opened the cash drawer, the man pulled a gun and asked for all the cash in the register, which the clerk promptly provided. The man took the cash from the clerk and fled, leaving the $20 bill on the counter. The total amount of cash he got from the drawer...$15. (If someone points a gun at you and! gives you money, is a crime committed?)

7. Seems an Arkansas guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a cinderblock through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the cinderblock and heaved it over his head at the window. The cinderblock bounced back and hit the would-be thief on the head, knocking him unconscious. The liquor store window was made of Plexiglas. The whole event was caught on videotape.

8. As a female shopper exited a New York convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately, and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the snatcher. Within minutes, the police apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the car and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes, officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from."

9. The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5 a.m., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away.

******A 5-STAR STUPIDITY AWARD WINNER*****

10. When a man attempted to siphon gasoline from a motor home parked on a Seattle street, he got much more than he bargained for. Police arrived at the scene to find a very sick man curled up next to a motor home near spilled sewage. A police spokesman said that the man admitted to trying to steal gasoline and plugged his siphon hose into the motor home's sewage tank by mistake. The owner of the vehicle declined to press charges, saying that it was the best laugh he'd ever had.

Happy New Year!

I got to celebrate New Year's Day in a typical Korean fashion. The Lee's celebrate New Year's on January 1st, along with about half of Seoul's residents, from what I could make out. Many folks still observe the Chinese calendar for the New Year.

Our day began with a formal ceremony in front of Hyun-joo's parents. Then we played a game called "Yut-nori" followed by "Go-Stop". There were meals through out the day. In fact I had to sit out the last meal because I just couldn't think of eating any more.



The formal ceremony required the children (and their significant others) to bow before their parents and wish them a Happy New Year, "Sehe-bok-mani-ba-duseyo". It took me about 20 practice run-thru's to get that line straight. Even then I could only say it like a four-year old when the time came. BUT I did it. Hyun-joo's father then said some blessings and gave each of us some money for the New Year!




The game "Yut-nori" was played with four sticks that were thrown to determine how many places game pieces could be moved on a circular game board. You could either move one, two, three, four, five, or back one space depending how the sticks fell. If one of the sticks fell out of the playing area (a towel on the floor), then you lost your turn - a very disgraceful outcome I came to learn. We played in three teams of two with two game pieces each. There was big money to be won - each game profited the winners with 30,000 won, about $30. An interesting thing about this game is that it is only played on New Year's Day.


"Go-stop" was equally profitable to the winners in much smaller increments. This game uses cards that are very similar to Japanese Hana-fuda, but played with different rules. I won't explain them, but it was complicated enough that I needed to rely on Hyun-joo for our winnings.



The rest of the day was spent hanging out with family, much like an American Christmas day with feasting that reminded me of Thanksgiving back home.

New Glasses!

First we got up "early" to go to lunch with Hyun-joo's family's friends. The parents live in Waikiki and their son lives in Philadelphia. Both families had lots to celebrate since their son has recently become engaged as well.



After that wonderful Japanese lunch, we took off to the jewelery store to get Hyun-joo's ring fixed. Unfortunately we had to wait 30 minutes for the jeweler to show up, but once he arrived the job only took him 2 minutes!



Then Hyun-joo and I took off to Namdaemun to look around for new glasses. I was interested in getting a second set because mine don't fit me that well. I love them, but I heard that you could find perscription lenses really inexpensively in Korea. And the rumors were right! I bought a new pair of Calvin Klein Titanium frames with lenses for only $200! Wassup?!!



Finally we swung by TGI Friday's for some chow and went to check out an old hang-out of Hyun-joo's: a sweet live Jazz club not far away. It was Funk night and the music was crankin'.

War Museum of Korea

After lunch with Na-young and Han-gyu, we all went over to the War Museum. It is located right next to Itaewon, not far from the Seoul Tower.



There are three distinct levels spread over a huge area. The lowest level covers neo-lithic until pre-Occupied Korean times. The second level covers recent history and the third level basically covers current deployment of the ROK.



We didn't really know how big the place was and ended up spending more time in the lowest level. Han-gyu and Na-young had to take off only a quarter of the way through the museum. Hyun-joo and I briskly walked through the rest of the exhibits.



Give yourselves at least three hours to go through the entire museum. The exhibits are pretty good with multimedia, replicas, and decommissioned samples from Korea's past conflicts.



The museum really gave the impression that out of 5000 years of successfully repelling foreign invaders, Japan's outrageous occupation of Korea is a very dark page in their history. Koizumi's gesturing at Yakusuni Shrine to appease the far right in Japan, not suprisingly offends the Korean sense of decency.



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KONG

After hanging out with Ja-young in Insadong, Hyun-joo and I raced over two subway lines to get to the COEX Mall for our showtime. We picked up tickets earlier this week and we just barely made it to the start of the movie.



I though it was very entertaining, a little over the top (even for a movie like this), told the story well, and was casted very well. I can't wait to see what kind of project Peter Jackson takes on next!

Shopping at Insadong

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We went to Insadong today to buy some gifts and meet up with Ja-young. Insadong is a great market place for folks looking to buy traditional Korean gifts and handicrafts. There are good restaurants and street-side vendors as well. You won't be able to do much haggling, but I don't mind since I'm not a big fan of the whole process.

Lotte World

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Hyun-joo and I spent a FULL day at "Lotte World". It's an indoor/outdoor amusement park in downtown Seoul. I highly recommend the place. Here was our hitlist:

1. The Conquistador
2. Atlantis Rollercoaster
3. Gyro Drop
4. Gyro Spin
5. Drunken Teacups
6. The Flume Ride
7. The Pharos's Fury
8. Sinbad's (bad) Adventures
9. Bungie Drop (Hyun-joo only)
10. The Monorail

Kickn' it in Korea... Kristmas Style

I still can't believe it takes 12 hours to fly a few hundred miles. Seoul is so close to Kanazawa if you look at the map, but it seems that traveling anywhere from Kanazawa isn't easy. Well, the weather has been pretty crappy.



HJ and I left a little late. I drove HJ and the luggage to the local bus stop and planned to walk to the station since it's only a 10 min walk. The roads were horrible and I slid around on the street in my dress shoes. I was lucky not to fall in the slush.



The flight from Komatsu airport was delayed over an hour, but we were finally able to take off. It was great to be back in Seoul. I could smell the calbi, brugolgi, and other treats from around the city.



I practiced "anya-hasosa-yo" all the way home. I was determined to greet HJ's parents properly. You should have heard me. It was perfect Korean. Of course I blew it once I saw her parents. Man, I know how my students feel. My mouth totally froze. The pressure was too great. Talk about an affective filter. Thankfully her parents didn't seem to hold it against me. They're great.



We've been having a nice time. HJ's Dad already planned out a bunch of stuff for the week. Unfortunately the DMZ is off the schedule since we needed to apply 3 months in advance for permission to head up there. Oh well. Next time. There's a music concert planned. A day at the church for Christmas. Time with HJ's sisters and their significant others. I'm looking forward to the rest of my stay here.







I thought I would be a little more stressed out, but I feel very comfortable and they're making me feel right at home. I know my parents would kill to get a chance to eat like I've been eating. I even got to eat dolsot-bibimbap for lunch!



I gotta remember to take more pictures. It'll be relatively easy to get them on the web I think. I hope they have a USB cable here for me to use. I should have brought one myself. Speaking of which, I gotta remember to bring some Korean plug adapters as well. I forget that they use the round plugs here!



Merry Christmas... where ever you are!

New snow tires for everyone!

I tried out my new "snow tires" today: a brand new pair of rubber boots to keep my legs warm and dry as I march to school each morning. The slushy snow is a bitch, but much more tolerable now that I have my boots. I just throw on a pair of slippers when I get to my classes and all's well.



When I got home, I shoveled out in front of my car - out into the street. I didn't bother as much with the stuff around the car since my back has been bothering me a bit. It was slow going. I've been using this small plastic thing that Hannah and Tyson gave us when the left us with the car. When I finished with the shoveling, I went around back and grabbed my snow tires and chucked them into the back of the car. It was time to get them on the car. Unfortunately, I got stuck not more than six feet out of the driveway. I knew the worst snow would be there. Our road, like many in these parts, doesn't get plowed and no one dares to shovel the roads in front of our apartment. So the guy next door was nice enough to give me a hand and we got my car out after a few minutes. Then, I drove to Yellow Hat, a service center. They said they wouldn't change my tires since they were closing in 30 minutes. So, I ended up chaning my front tires right in their parking lot. It was a pain in the ass, but I finally finished. The new tires make all the difference. I hope to get chains too, but they're freaking expensive here. I'm looking at least a hundred dollars! That's like a third of the price I paid for the car! Oh, well.



We've been getting snow every day now for the past week. It's incredible. This is a totally different season than last year. I can't wait to go snowboarding!



Well, only a few more days of classes left and then off to the icebox of Korea. Boy, I'll be missing the chance to go diving this year. I guess there's next summer.