A Hoot Full of Hollers

Well, it's definitely still not spring. I had it on good authority (my neighbor) that it would start getting warm towards late March, alas here we are, post-Ides, and nothing but gray skies and borderline freezing mercury.

Of course I can't whine too much, as I awoke to a very unexpected blanket of snow last week. It supposedly snows once every few years here, but this was our second round. The dreary cold has been taking it's toll, but it's not every day you wake up to snow and icicles in central Texas so I bundled up and went on a lomo expedition...

I think that's an owl's house up there. We've heard some scattered hootin' at night (the hollerin' was from us).

Here are some other pictures I took on the bus with my new camera... I spent every Wednesday last month traveling to Daegu, two hours away, to get some much needed dental work done. It ended up being literally a fraction of the cost of what it would have been in the states (we're talking $250 for a gold crown vs. $1,000), and the dentist was as efficient and professional as any back home. Point being, if you need any dental work and are planning on doing a spot of traveling, come take advantage of Korea's attempt at becoming a medical tourism destination. Anyway, this was one of those long, boring bus rides. Gives you an idea of what the countryside looks like, which you see plenty of going from city to city.It's a lot prettier sprinkled with snow.

One of many small country schools.

Cold, dead rice paddies. They look so lovely in the fall, then they're harvested and left with sad little stumps.

Love that I caught the sign. Not easy to do when you have one of the 'confident' bus drivers...

That's the one. He's very friendly, but my god does he love pretending he's a Nascar driver. Going around those narrow country roads gets pretty hair-raising sometimes, especially when the driver is holding on and yawning while going 60 mph around a hairpin turn.

Last weekend, our friend threw her birthday party at a bullfight. I was really excited about going, but hadn't factored in some unforeseen drawbacks. For example, the epic trek there (inner-town commutes are impossible without a car or paying out the wazoo for a taxi, so a bus to the nearest city and then to said town is the only option), the unfortunate ratio of tourists to natives (I realize I am one of them, but when all you hear is your own language in a foreign country it's a bit disheartening), and finally my inability to comfortably watch animals fight, no matter how natural and ancient the tradition may be. The centuries-old sport is based on the bulls defending their grazing territory, and subsequently being trained by their owners, having come to realize the benefit a winner. Obviously, it's not based around the same goal, but it's still not as cruel as most other sports which take advantage of the temperament of these animals. Most notably, one from my own home state... Yeehaw.

Damn you, Disney and your adorable personification of all animals, great and small...

Of course, I got over all this, and started picking winners. I was on a roll- if only they had a sportsbook in Cheongdo, South Korea (one that isn't infested with mob bosses and hookers). I had a corndog, Dunny had a chicken. Oh, that's right- a whole chicken, served up in an old jerky bag. Guess I can't pretend to be too concerned with animal welfare...

I also don't mean to say that it was just a bunch of whitie's hootin' and hollerin' at some cowpokes. It was mostly old Korean people, but seeing, on average, one white person per day (yeah, that'd be Dunny) it's a bit shocking to be surrounded by a mob of them.

Finally, a shot of the stadium post-testosterone blow out (referencing the bulls, not the fine young men in uniform, of course).

I may not have appreciated Spring as much in my life, of course that could be due to the fact that Texas goes straight from winter to summer... Nevertheless, buds are starting to open their eyes all over town, and if I keep talking about how much I want it to come, it'll be gone. Next time I post I should have piles of pretty foreign flower pictures!

Lovely

So what do you think? Just put the new header up- not sure if it's the one, but being my first attempt, and after putting so much dern effort into trying to figure out the HTML (when all I needed to do was click a few buttons...), it'll probably be the one for at least a little while. Considering all I have is Paint and Picasa, I think I did alright. I used two of the shots I took around our 'hood with my diana mini and plopped the little Victorian gal in the middle.

Of course, now it's too pretty for a silly little blurb about myself, so I figured balancing it out with an equally pretty poem was the way to go. I've had these lines scribbled on note paper tacked to my fridge for a few years now, and it still makes an impression on me each time I glance at it. So, in honor of the lovely new Wonderblog, please enjoy the (very) full length of Mr. Blake's

Auguries of Innocence

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.

A dove-house fill'd with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro' all its regions.
A dog starv'd at his master's gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.

A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.

A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm'd for fight
Does the rising sun affright.

Every wolf's and lion's howl
Raises from hell a human soul.

The wild deer, wand'ring here and there,
Keeps the human soul from care.
The lamb misus'd breeds public strife,
And yet forgives the butcher's knife.

The bat that flits at close of eve
Has left the brain that won't believe.
The owl that calls upon the night
Speaks the unbeliever's fright.

He who shall hurt the little wren
Shall never be belov'd by men.
He who the ox to wrath has mov'd
Shall never be by woman lov'd.

The wanton boy that kills the fly
Shall feel the spider's enmity.
He who torments the chafer's sprite
Weaves a bower in endless night.

The caterpillar on the leaf
Repeats to thee thy mother's grief.
Kill not the moth nor butterfly,
For the last judgement draweth nigh.

He who shall train the horse to war
Shall never pass the polar bar.
The beggar's dog and widow's cat,
Feed them and thou wilt grow fat.

The gnat that sings his summer's song
Poison gets from slander's tongue.
The poison of the snake and newt
Is the sweat of envy's foot.

The poison of the honey bee
Is the artist's jealousy.

The prince's robes and beggar's rags
Are toadstools on the miser's bags.
A truth that's told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And when this we rightly know,
Thro' the world we safely go.

Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine.
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.

The babe is more than swaddling bands;
Every farmer understands.
Every tear from every eye
Becomes a babe in eternity;

This is caught by females bright,
And return'd to its own delight.
The bleat, the bark, bellow, and roar,
Are waves that beat on heaven's shore.

The babe that weeps the rod beneath
Writes revenge in realms of death.
The beggar's rags, fluttering in air,
Does to rags the heavens tear.

The soldier, arm'd with sword and gun,
Palsied strikes the summer's sun.
The poor man's farthing is worth more
Than all the gold on Afric's shore.

One mite wrung from the lab'rer's hands
Shall buy and sell the miser's lands;
Or, if protected from on high,
Does that whole nation sell and buy.

He who mocks the infant's faith
Shall be mock'd in age and death.
He who shall teach the child to doubt
The rotting grave shall ne'er get out.

He who respects the infant's faith
Triumphs over hell and death.
The child's toys and the old man's reasons
Are the fruits of the two seasons.

The questioner, who sits so sly,
Shall never know how to reply.
He who replies to words of doubt
Doth put the light of knowledge out.

The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caesar's laurel crown.
Nought can deform the human race
Like to the armour's iron brace.

When gold and gems adorn the plow,
To peaceful arts shall envy bow.
A riddle, or the cricket's cry,
Is to doubt a fit reply.

The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.

If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.
To be in a passion you good may do,
But no good if a passion is in you.

The whore and gambler, by the state
Licensed, build that nation's fate.
The harlot's cry from street to street
Shall weave old England's winding-sheet.

The winner's shout, the loser's curse,
Dance before dead England's hearse.

Every night and every morn
Some to misery are born,
Every morn and every night
Some are born to sweet delight.

Some are born to sweet delight,
Some are born to endless night.

We are led to believe a lie
When we see not thro' the eye,
Which was born in a night to perish in a night,
When the soul slept in beams of light.

God appears, and God is light,
To those poor souls who dwell in night;
But does a human form display
To those who dwell in realms of day.
♥

Back in Action

Well, I've been quite the lazy blogger, but I'm starting to get back into the old routine of life now that our winter break is over, so hopefully this will follow suit!

There hasn't been a ton of activity in our neck of the woods due to the frigid weather, and my camera has been in and out of commission lately, but I've accumulated a few tidbits that I can throw together for a little 'winter montage' of sorts!

After Thanksgiving, the teachers with year-long contracts all converged in Seoul for another orientation, or 'Mid-Training'. They put us up in a nice hotel and took us to see some more Korean-y stuff, including but not limited to...

Seoul Tower:






It was obviously too misty to see much from the top, but there were a few breaks in the clouds. I really just enjoyed the hanging sculptures. There were a handful scattered around the area and it added a eerie ethereal feel to the place along with the mist. I love how the third picture came out- I didn't even realize I caught the flag in it until later.

They also took us back to the cooking school- this time to learn how to make kimchi stew and seafood pancakes. I'll be honest and say I wasn't too thrilled about the menu, but they both came out delicious. I have to say I am quickly becoming a fan of, and even addicted to, some of this Korean cuisine. It's so simple and organic, and it's pretty much all made of the same types of ingredients (rice, cabbage/kimchi, seaweed, soybeans, etc.), but you would be amazed how many things can be done to just those four things alone! You can tell there are a few centuries of trial and error under their belts, err... plastic aprons.




Later into one of the evenings, I apparently agreed to the plan of going bungee jumping the next day, and couldn't find my way out of it...





The first one is me trying to hide the panic and fear, and the third having accepted my fate and allowing the adrenaline to, apparently, suck all of the color out of my face...

It was an adventure in itself trying to get to the 'resort', aka side of the road hotel with a jumping tower next to it... After finally meeting up with everybody at the subway station, we realized we had two hours before they closed at sunset... and were about 2 hours away. The subway came just in time, as did the bus, and the van that took us to the resort was waiting for us at the bus station, just as the sun was setting. It was a jump or get out of the way situation at the top, which was good so no one could think about it (although there were some seriously concerned faces up there, including mine). I was the second to last person to go, and at that point it was about 5 minutes from being completely dark out. It was a blast, though, and I would definitely do it again... probably..

Christmas was lovely. Dunny made a delicious feta and bacon stuffed chicken dish, and I made a no-bake apple pie. Our tree was a creation of D's little ones:






As you can tell, he was very proud of his tree. Those classy paper stockings are my handy work. Our town put up a light-tree in the park just like Zilker! It was slightly smaller than the original, but definitely still exciting! I made hot cocoa and we brought it to the park on Christmas Eve. About as close as we could get to a real Christmas, and I think we did alright!

I just bought a great new camera, as well as a Diana Mini for those fun artsy shots, so I will definitely (ok, hopefully) be posting more often now. I have to show off somewhere!

It's a Wonderful Life!

Did everyone have a tryptophantastic turkey day?!

When we first arrived in Korea, we spent a lot of time discovering the glories of it's gas stations. Snack foods seemingly so familiar, yet so disappointingly surprising ('peanut butter sandwiches' where by peanut butter they meant peanut mousse, ice cream sandwiches made from beans, etc). Then, of course, there are drinks of the same nature (what I thought was delicious fruit cocktail, turned out to be a less-than-refreshing corn liquid), and then there are the oddities you feel you probably should avoid, yet are drawn to like a kid in a spicy fish-candy store (dried squid of every variety {yes, there are many varieties of dried squid}, a tube of gray matter labeled cheese sausage, canned silkworm pupa, you get the idea). In general, I think it's safest to stick with your instinct. However, while searching for a last minute dinner in those first few weeks, I discovered one of these oddities and bought it, thinking, or rather hoping, it was turkey. It was too big to be a chicken, but too small to be anything else I could think of, but I decided to give it a shot. Upon cracking it open and determining it to be edible enough, I cooked it up, and despite it's mysterious nature, turned out to be pretty tasty. So, being the closest thing to turkey I've seen since leaving it's natural habitat for the other side of the World, this little mystery meat became our T-day main course, as overseen by Chef Dunny. There aren't a ton of herbs to be had here (at all), so he stuffed it with ginger, onions and garlic, and sure enough it came out pretty darn good!




Doesn't look so appetizing, guess I should practice my 'food styling' skills. I was in charge of the cheese plate (little sticks of colby jack, also courtesy of the gas station- the only place to find cheese for some reason, walnuts, and crackers), spinach salad, (somebody's) homemade rolls, and mashed sweet taters, which I'm especially proud of.


I used this recipe for orange ginger mashed sweet potatoes, and kicked it up a notch, pretty much by putting more of everything in it, as well as fresh ginger and walnuts (and a wee bit of margarine and salt, being the good southern gal that I am. I know, margarine is blasphemous, but it's sadly our only option).

And here's the final product! Complete with D's hand and foot turkey he created with his students during Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok) in October. You gotta love the dining chair/feather pillow combo.

Yeah, I know. Nerd alert. We have a lot of time on our hands. A little taste of home, and I'm a very proud (and thankful) gal.

Finally, following the mandatory food coma, I whipped up some apple cider! Straight from the orchard (to the press, to the bottle, to the store, to my shopping bag) and into the pot, with cinnamon, brown sugar and rum to top off the lovely night of comforts. I had plans for a no-bake apple pie (made with digestives in place of graham crackers, ha), but sadly it never came to fruition (wink).

I'm about to settle in to watch 'It's a Wonderful Life', and I can't possibly think of a better phrase to sum up my disposition.

Merry Happy!

"Fighting!"

Anyeong! Life's still truckin' on here, although things seem to be slowing slightly as it gets colder... (and it has definitely been getting colder.) There have been a few outings worth mention, though, so that's where we're headed.

Recently we were taken on a 'cultural experience' field trip by the coordinators of our program. We certainly did experience a lot of Korean culture, starting with...

...smashing rice to make dduk, rice cakes rolled in bean powder:

(tastes pretty much like it sounds)

...picking cabbage and making kimchi with it:

You rinse with salt, stuff with salt, let it soak overnight and rub with spicy salt the next day. (No wonder it's so delicious... well, an acquired kind of delicious)

...digging up and roasting sweet potatoes:

(we had so much fun digging them up, I didn't get a picture. We must have picked three pounds of taters, though.)

...trying our hand at traditional-style arts and crafts:

(getting a little too into the flower smashing craft)

...as well as at this addictive volleyball/kickball combo game:


The farm owners made a huge meal for us, complete with whole roasted pig.

It was devoured at light speed. After dinner, the boys even put the skin back on the fire and crispi-fied it for bonfire snacks. The little old couple seemed a bit shocked- I guess they haven't experienced the wonders of the Amazing American Appetite.

After dinner, they had a little 'talent show', and Dunny performed. I can't seem to get the video to work on here, though, so if you would like to see it it is on my Facebook page. (He was the best, but I don't think anyone's surprised I say that)

Later in the evening, seven or so of the boys and I played some poker... I'd like to let my dad know that I won. Both rounds. Ha! Ya taught me well, Pops! Boy, were there some bruised egos sulking around after that.

The most fun, yet somewhat embarrassing, part was when the farm owner pulled us aside to make traditional wedding ceremony crowns for us. (No big news, I promise! We're just the only couple in the group.) Made of leaves held together with toothpicks, adorned with flowers, and complete with flower petal make-up, we were quite a sight.




I say embarrassing because the lady made us pose for 10 minutes with everyone watching. We eventually just started doing prom poses. It made me giggle.


She was a super sweet lady, though, and all around we had a great time.


Last weekend, for some ungodly reason, we decided to push ourselves to the edge of health and sanity by hiking up a mountain Saturday morning, and then immediately jumping on a bus to travel 3 hours to Busan for a friend's birthday that night. I'm still physically paying for it, but it was definitely worth it.

This is the view of Gayasan Mountain from Haeinsa, the temple at the base of it.


And three hours later, this is the view from the top:

We found a quiet little ledge on the opposite side of the mountain to rest our weary dogs. "Fighting" is an English phrase Koreans use all the time. Basically, it means 'Suck it up'. I've been telling it to myself for the past few days while walking with peg legs and sore knees. It hasn't helped.

There's a video on Facebook of this, as well. It was hard to capture it on film as it was a bit hazy, but it was a breathtaking 360 degree view of the beautiful rolling hills you are constantly surrounded by here. Just a wonderful way to start a weekend, sore muscles and all.