For those of you who may have been wondering about our rescue dog, Annie, she's doing fine and continuing to improve. We're a little worried about her hyperactivity--we've been trying to find a good balance of exercise and rest in order to keep her calm, but she continues to live up to her many nicknames (Spazzy, Whizzy . . . you get the idea).
From here on out, assume that no news is good news. Thanks for your well-wishes!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Pupdate Update!
Well, Annie, our little Korean rescue dog, made it through her two heartworm shots and is back at home being thoroughly pampered. The poor thing is completely wiped out, and still clearly sick (a dose of arsenic will do that to you), but at least now she's with her family. We were quite touched at how eager she was for us to hold her when we went to pick her up from the vet's.
We'll keep you posted--Annie's not out of the woods yet, since there's still a risk of blood clots, but she's through the worst part, and she's home.
Thanks for your well-wishes!
We'll keep you posted--Annie's not out of the woods yet, since there's still a risk of blood clots, but she's through the worst part, and she's home.
Thanks for your well-wishes!
Monday, February 18, 2008
Pupdate
Annie, our little Korean dog, is currently at the vet after receiving Shot #1 of heartworm treatment. She is slated for Shot 2 tomorrow. This is a risky procedure (the treatment for heartworm is derived from arsenic) and some dogs don't pull through. Even if they do, there is a risk of death from clots caused by the breaking-up heartworm bodies for the next several weeks. We cried at the vets when we left her for observation and we're hoping not to hear the phone ring - it would only be bad news.
Annie has had a rough life, but she is a sweet, sweet girl and really deserves some good luck for a change. If you have any nice vibes to spare for a loving little dog whose sole purpose in life, as far as we can tell, is to sit on people's legs and adore them (the people, not the legs), please send them Annie's way.
Annie has had a rough life, but she is a sweet, sweet girl and really deserves some good luck for a change. If you have any nice vibes to spare for a loving little dog whose sole purpose in life, as far as we can tell, is to sit on people's legs and adore them (the people, not the legs), please send them Annie's way.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Snapshot
Here's a short glance at what each of my classes is doing right now:
8th Grade: Salt dough maps of regions of Asia.
Challenges:
1. Food coloring is not available in Korean grocery stores. I begged green, yellow, and red food coloring off of the science teacher, but had no blue. Rivers and lakes will just have to be colored in.
2. Kids interpret "Work in pairs" time as "You can get away with speaking Korean" time. Points are coming off for this.
3. Salt dough doesn't have to be messy, but if eighth grade boys have any say in it, it will be. Interestingly enough, the boys are much more squeamish than the girls about getting dirty and mixing gooey squishy dough. This means they sort of whack at it and splash bits everywhere. Then, once they go to their desks, the girls take the dough and shape it into maps, and the boys make doughballs and fiddle with them, tearing them up and sticking them back together.
I wrote this sentence discussing my plight, but it came out sounding like a bad emo poem. So I reformatted it and offer it here:
Excessively enthusiastic pummeling
and thwacking of dough
scattered tiny little
dough-drops
into the wood grains of my floors.
Successes:
1. I debated whether or not to pre-make the dough, but I finally decided to have the kids do it. I think kids more and more are living in a ready-made world, where you buy clay and Play-dough pre-made and pre-colored. They all found the concept of mixing salt, flour, water, and dye to do it yourself quite amusing (if sometimes gross; see above).
2. The maps look awesome. I will try for pictures.
7th Grade: Trade and Trading Empires of the Middle Ages
Challenges:
1. A mishmash unit - we had to skip around the book a lot and talk about everything from the Mongols to the African Gold Kingdoms to the Byzantine Empire to the Vikings. Hard to keep it organized.
2. I don't actually care about the African Gold Kingdoms. This probably makes me a bad person. Sorry.
Successes:
Unit project, "A Medieval Merchant Job Fair." I had the students write a sales pitch and make a poster for their region (Byzantines, China, Arabs, Vikings, Hanseatic League, and Venetians) and then we voted on which group we'd like to trade for. I would have picked Venice, which got absolutely zero votes. Our landslide winner - the Hanseatic League. Go figure.
Bonus success: When my mother shared this story with my grandfather, he immediately said, without knowing the outcome, "They should pick the Hanseatic League." He may be 94 and almost 7,000 miles away, but he knows them better than I do.
Sixth Grade: Greek Gods and Goddesses
Challenges:
1. Explaining to kids, "Well, yes, Zeus is married to Hera, and Apollo is Zeus's son, but he's not actually Hera's son..."
2. Then trying to decide whether or not to mark "Zeus married many women" wrong on a quiz.
3. Trying to get the kids to say "Underworld" instead of "hell" because they're just so pumped to be able to say "hell" in school.
Successes:
Really cute posters of the symbols of various gods and goddesses that look very nice on my wall. Also, feeling like I've helped Justin out by getting the kids prepped and pumped for next week's Myths unit in his English class.
Fifth Grade: Significant moments in the Revolution (Trenton, Valley Forge, Saratoga)
Challenges:
1. Not laughing every time I say things like, "Nathan Hale spied for the Patriots," because I always want to add, "before Super Bowl XXXVIII."
Successes:
My Hessian ancestor, who fought for the British in the colonies before deserting to become a farmer in Pennsylvania, has attained cult status with the fifth grade. They are all very proud of him for ending up on the "right" side - I still get a kick out of how thoroughly these Korean kids have adopted the Patriots in this war. They all feel personally betrayed by Benedict Arnold. They were very disappointed to hear that he lived out his life in Britain and died of old age.
8th Grade: Salt dough maps of regions of Asia.
Challenges:
1. Food coloring is not available in Korean grocery stores. I begged green, yellow, and red food coloring off of the science teacher, but had no blue. Rivers and lakes will just have to be colored in.
2. Kids interpret "Work in pairs" time as "You can get away with speaking Korean" time. Points are coming off for this.
3. Salt dough doesn't have to be messy, but if eighth grade boys have any say in it, it will be. Interestingly enough, the boys are much more squeamish than the girls about getting dirty and mixing gooey squishy dough. This means they sort of whack at it and splash bits everywhere. Then, once they go to their desks, the girls take the dough and shape it into maps, and the boys make doughballs and fiddle with them, tearing them up and sticking them back together.
I wrote this sentence discussing my plight, but it came out sounding like a bad emo poem. So I reformatted it and offer it here:
Excessively enthusiastic pummeling
and thwacking of dough
scattered tiny little
dough-drops
into the wood grains of my floors.
Successes:
1. I debated whether or not to pre-make the dough, but I finally decided to have the kids do it. I think kids more and more are living in a ready-made world, where you buy clay and Play-dough pre-made and pre-colored. They all found the concept of mixing salt, flour, water, and dye to do it yourself quite amusing (if sometimes gross; see above).
2. The maps look awesome. I will try for pictures.
7th Grade: Trade and Trading Empires of the Middle Ages
Challenges:
1. A mishmash unit - we had to skip around the book a lot and talk about everything from the Mongols to the African Gold Kingdoms to the Byzantine Empire to the Vikings. Hard to keep it organized.
2. I don't actually care about the African Gold Kingdoms. This probably makes me a bad person. Sorry.
Successes:
Unit project, "A Medieval Merchant Job Fair." I had the students write a sales pitch and make a poster for their region (Byzantines, China, Arabs, Vikings, Hanseatic League, and Venetians) and then we voted on which group we'd like to trade for. I would have picked Venice, which got absolutely zero votes. Our landslide winner - the Hanseatic League. Go figure.
Bonus success: When my mother shared this story with my grandfather, he immediately said, without knowing the outcome, "They should pick the Hanseatic League." He may be 94 and almost 7,000 miles away, but he knows them better than I do.
Sixth Grade: Greek Gods and Goddesses
Challenges:
1. Explaining to kids, "Well, yes, Zeus is married to Hera, and Apollo is Zeus's son, but he's not actually Hera's son..."
2. Then trying to decide whether or not to mark "Zeus married many women" wrong on a quiz.
3. Trying to get the kids to say "Underworld" instead of "hell" because they're just so pumped to be able to say "hell" in school.
Successes:
Really cute posters of the symbols of various gods and goddesses that look very nice on my wall. Also, feeling like I've helped Justin out by getting the kids prepped and pumped for next week's Myths unit in his English class.
Fifth Grade: Significant moments in the Revolution (Trenton, Valley Forge, Saratoga)
Challenges:
1. Not laughing every time I say things like, "Nathan Hale spied for the Patriots," because I always want to add, "before Super Bowl XXXVIII."
Successes:
My Hessian ancestor, who fought for the British in the colonies before deserting to become a farmer in Pennsylvania, has attained cult status with the fifth grade. They are all very proud of him for ending up on the "right" side - I still get a kick out of how thoroughly these Korean kids have adopted the Patriots in this war. They all feel personally betrayed by Benedict Arnold. They were very disappointed to hear that he lived out his life in Britain and died of old age.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Valentine's Day, Korea Style
Korea has its own rough equivalent of Valentine's Day on Nov. 11: "Pepero Day," named for the Pocky-like cookie sticks that look a bit like 1s. But the Koreans aren't folks to pass up an opportunity to buy teachers stuff--it's one of their best qualities--so yesterday saw Nana and me showered with candy from the kids. Now, Nana and I don't usually celebrate Valentine's Day (at least not ON Valentine's Day--too much pressure, too much hassle) in any big way, and in general I think the holiday is a bit lame, but in my book, any holiday that puts a pile of chocolate on my desk is fine by me!
Namdaemun Fire
Just so you don't think we live under a rock here at School of ROK, yes, we have been following the recent saga of Namdaemun, the grand gate at the southern edge of old Seoul and Korea's official #1 national treasure, which burned down this week as a result of suspected arson. Before it burned, the gatehouse was the oldest wooden structure in Seoul, dating from the 15th century. Now that the arsonist has been caught, domestic news outlets are squashing the handful of early speculations that the culprit was either a) a drunken Japanese businessman, or b) a drunken American serviceman. For the record, the suspect is a 60-something Korean man with a history of arson. Xenophobia, much? Also, early reports called the fire minor, but apparently some less-than-stellar firefighting (and a complete lack of sprinklers in a building made entirely of wood?!?) let the blaze get out of control.
Good news, though: no one was hurt.
On another note, the fire is not quite as horrifying as it might seem to Westerners, as there is much less of a stigma surrounding rebuilding or remodeling historical buildings. Here, it seems to be more the idea and the historical appearance of the building that's important to preserve, rather than the physical structure itself. Which makes sense, in a way--a lot of old Western buildings, obviously, look much older (and therefore much different) than they did when they were in use.
Good news, though: no one was hurt.
On another note, the fire is not quite as horrifying as it might seem to Westerners, as there is much less of a stigma surrounding rebuilding or remodeling historical buildings. Here, it seems to be more the idea and the historical appearance of the building that's important to preserve, rather than the physical structure itself. Which makes sense, in a way--a lot of old Western buildings, obviously, look much older (and therefore much different) than they did when they were in use.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Puppy!
As I mentioned in a previous post, Nana and I schlepped off to Daejeon yesterday to help out at an animal shelter that's closing down. Well, we made it there and back again, and with a little friend in tow! She's a tiny (and I mean tiny) mutt named Annie (for now) who is about 5 years old and could be some kind of long-haired chihuahua mix.
The poor thing seems like she hadn't had a square meal and a good night's sleep in ages--she was the second-smallest dog at the shelter, which made her last in line at the food dish, and perpetually scared. But she's doing very well today, getting calmer and happier by the minute, and spending plenty of time asleep. The girl has had a rough go of it so far: she's got a mild (read: curable) case of heartworms for which she's starting treatment this week and an injured eyelid that will require minor surgery to repair. And on top of all that, a crazed ajumma tried to steal her from us on the subway last night! (Seriously--she unlatched Annie's carry-case and grabbed her. I had to physically push her away while Nana hung onto the dog for dear life. Conclusion: You know the old hippie quote about not trusting anyone over thirty? Bump the number up a couple decades, and for Korean public transportation, it's true . . .) Anyway, she's safely curled up in our apartment now, sleeping off some of her very stressful five years.
Below you can find some pictures from the trip. Funny: I took the pictures before we decided which pup to foster, and nearly all of them were of Annie anyway. The next-to-last pic below shows her after a much-needed shower. We'll try to post some more after pics once she's fattened up a bit and been groomed.
In the meantime, as you'll notice from that last shot, of course, there are still plenty of dogs at the shelter looking for foster homes and permanent homes. If you're living in Korea and have room in your home and your heart for one of these dogs, even if only for a few weeks or a few months, please check out this link. The shelter closes at the end of this month (Feb 2008) and any dogs not placed by then will be sent to the Daejeon pound, where they'll most likely be put down.
The poor thing seems like she hadn't had a square meal and a good night's sleep in ages--she was the second-smallest dog at the shelter, which made her last in line at the food dish, and perpetually scared. But she's doing very well today, getting calmer and happier by the minute, and spending plenty of time asleep. The girl has had a rough go of it so far: she's got a mild (read: curable) case of heartworms for which she's starting treatment this week and an injured eyelid that will require minor surgery to repair. And on top of all that, a crazed ajumma tried to steal her from us on the subway last night! (Seriously--she unlatched Annie's carry-case and grabbed her. I had to physically push her away while Nana hung onto the dog for dear life. Conclusion: You know the old hippie quote about not trusting anyone over thirty? Bump the number up a couple decades, and for Korean public transportation, it's true . . .) Anyway, she's safely curled up in our apartment now, sleeping off some of her very stressful five years.
Below you can find some pictures from the trip. Funny: I took the pictures before we decided which pup to foster, and nearly all of them were of Annie anyway. The next-to-last pic below shows her after a much-needed shower. We'll try to post some more after pics once she's fattened up a bit and been groomed.
In the meantime, as you'll notice from that last shot, of course, there are still plenty of dogs at the shelter looking for foster homes and permanent homes. If you're living in Korea and have room in your home and your heart for one of these dogs, even if only for a few weeks or a few months, please check out this link. The shelter closes at the end of this month (Feb 2008) and any dogs not placed by then will be sent to the Daejeon pound, where they'll most likely be put down.
Friday, February 8, 2008
The Year of the Rat: Seoul
As many of you may already know, yesterday marked the Lunar New Year, aka Seollal, here in Korea, as in the rest of East Asia. (It's widely known by the more historically accurate, if less politically correct, name of "Chinese New Year" in other parts of the world.) Lunar New Year is a pretty big deal here--other than Chuseok, I'm told it's the most important holiday of the Korean lunar year--marked by family gatherings and travel snafus across the peninsula. (Related: Winter storms have thrown a serious wrench in New Year celebrations in China, which has made headlines in US papers over the last couple of weeks.) Having no Korean relatives with whom we could celebrate, Nana and I did the next best thing: we trekked downtown to a special New Year exhibition at Namsangol Hanok Village that featured some traditional Korean food, fun, and games.
Namsangol Hanok Village is a complex of five restored traditional houses, or hanok (literally, "Korean house"). The houses themselves weren't terribly impressive--we'd gotten a closer and less-crowded look at hanok architecture on our visit to Queen Min's birthplace--but the place was jumping: families, food samples, and even a crazy gymnastics performance!
First stop was a station for traditional Korean games, one of which seems to involve launching stony-faced middle-aged women three feet into the air. Behold, the ajumma toss (by the way, don't ask me why the video is sideways; my camera does this from time to time):
After declining to partake in this dangerous pastime, we wandered further into the complex, where we found what seemed to be some kind of wish-tree--people were writing stuff on little bits of colored paper and tying them to long lines of string. Very pretty, but I couldn't find any information that wasn't in Korean--any readers have any idea what this is?
We also stumbled upon a display on the traditional hanbok, worn on important holidays like News Years. There were a bunch of kids, and a few adults, in hanbok, but I was reluctant to take any pictures, since I didn't want folks to feel like they were on display.
Near the hanbok display was a booth selling traditional New Years goodies. Out front was this guy whacking rice cake dough with a hammer--to delicious effect, I might add, and I didn't even really like rice cakes before! He would also stand aside to let guests take a few whacks of their own. More than once, I had to duck a gob of goo sent flying through the air while I filmed, but unfortunately you'll have to content yourself with a photo, since the videos didn't turn out.
In addition to the rice cakes, the peanut thingamajiggers were also delicious, as Nana can attest.
Namsangol is right at the foot of Namsan, a high and largely unpopulated hill that juts up in the middle of Seoul, and the wind there makes it great for flying New Years kites, many of which we saw in action in a plaza further up the hill. Below you'll find a shot of kites with Namsan and N'Seoul Tower in the background, and further below a simple shot of kites against the blue.
The upper portion of the park also featured a very imposing time capsule, to be opened in about 400 years to celebrate the anniversary of Seoul's millenial. Cool fact: Nana could read half of the dedications from Seoul's sister cities (English, Spanish, and Chinese).
Last but not least: a crazy gymnastics/circus stunt exhibition at the bottom of the hill, featuring a Korean tightrope walker and a troupe of girls who could ride eight on a bike, roller skate, and sit on their heads while hanging from their teeth. (You'll have to take my word from it--we were too far away for me to get a good pic.) Here's a clip of the tightrope walker, who apparently has a crotch of steel (guys, prepare to gape in horror):
Well, that about sums up our New Years. Next up: a trip to Daejeon to foster a puppy! Here's hoping everything goes off without a hitch . . .
Namsangol Hanok Village is a complex of five restored traditional houses, or hanok (literally, "Korean house"). The houses themselves weren't terribly impressive--we'd gotten a closer and less-crowded look at hanok architecture on our visit to Queen Min's birthplace--but the place was jumping: families, food samples, and even a crazy gymnastics performance!
First stop was a station for traditional Korean games, one of which seems to involve launching stony-faced middle-aged women three feet into the air. Behold, the ajumma toss (by the way, don't ask me why the video is sideways; my camera does this from time to time):
After declining to partake in this dangerous pastime, we wandered further into the complex, where we found what seemed to be some kind of wish-tree--people were writing stuff on little bits of colored paper and tying them to long lines of string. Very pretty, but I couldn't find any information that wasn't in Korean--any readers have any idea what this is?
We also stumbled upon a display on the traditional hanbok, worn on important holidays like News Years. There were a bunch of kids, and a few adults, in hanbok, but I was reluctant to take any pictures, since I didn't want folks to feel like they were on display.
Near the hanbok display was a booth selling traditional New Years goodies. Out front was this guy whacking rice cake dough with a hammer--to delicious effect, I might add, and I didn't even really like rice cakes before! He would also stand aside to let guests take a few whacks of their own. More than once, I had to duck a gob of goo sent flying through the air while I filmed, but unfortunately you'll have to content yourself with a photo, since the videos didn't turn out.
In addition to the rice cakes, the peanut thingamajiggers were also delicious, as Nana can attest.
Namsangol is right at the foot of Namsan, a high and largely unpopulated hill that juts up in the middle of Seoul, and the wind there makes it great for flying New Years kites, many of which we saw in action in a plaza further up the hill. Below you'll find a shot of kites with Namsan and N'Seoul Tower in the background, and further below a simple shot of kites against the blue.
The upper portion of the park also featured a very imposing time capsule, to be opened in about 400 years to celebrate the anniversary of Seoul's millenial. Cool fact: Nana could read half of the dedications from Seoul's sister cities (English, Spanish, and Chinese).
Last but not least: a crazy gymnastics/circus stunt exhibition at the bottom of the hill, featuring a Korean tightrope walker and a troupe of girls who could ride eight on a bike, roller skate, and sit on their heads while hanging from their teeth. (You'll have to take my word from it--we were too far away for me to get a good pic.) Here's a clip of the tightrope walker, who apparently has a crotch of steel (guys, prepare to gape in horror):Well, that about sums up our New Years. Next up: a trip to Daejeon to foster a puppy! Here's hoping everything goes off without a hitch . . .
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Justin Eats Weird Stuff For Your Pleasure: Ski Snacks
Yes, that is a waffle. What you can't see is that it's oozing with apple butter. I didn't know they even HAD apple butter in Korea! What a totally awesome idea for a slopeside snack.Nana, for her part, stuck with the more traditional churro, favorite of stoned shredders everywhere:
MMMMmmm.
Cell Phone: Fourth Time is NOT the Charm
Yes, another day, another trek out to Nowon to put minutes on the cellphone--and another round rejection by SK Telecom, which seems NEVER to be open. Honestly--how does a business even survive if it's so darned hard to buy its services? I mean, we've been trying for months now to add a few thousand won to their revenue stream. What does a guy have to do?
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Elevator Discovery!
Yes, Nana and I are back safely from another successful weekend, but more importantly: Did you know that you can cancel calls on Korean elevators by pressing the floor button again? For example: You stumble into an elevator weak from a day of skiing, inadvertently brushing every darned button in the place. Normally, this would mean stopping at every single floor and staring stupidly at an empty hall for ten seconds. In Korea, though, all you have to do is press (for a second time) the floors you don't want! Of course, the technology, however mind-boggling, is a double-edged sword: you could just as easily brush the button for your desired floor and wind up on Mars or something. But on the whole, I wish I could say the same for elevators in the States.
Time permitting, look for two new installments of Justin Eats Weird Stuff For Your Pleasure this week!
Time permitting, look for two new installments of Justin Eats Weird Stuff For Your Pleasure this week!
Friday, February 1, 2008
Ski Weekend Redux
Nana and I will be heading up to Vivaldi Park again this weekend, so we'll be out of touch for a few days. Expect a post from us Sunday night, replete with more mountainside shenanigans.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
School of ROK poll; Please vote!
Vegetable soup accidentally left on counter for 24 hours: safe or not safe?
Although, seeing as our dinner was conveyor-belt sushi eaten in the basement of a department store, maybe this is kind of a dumb question.
Although, seeing as our dinner was conveyor-belt sushi eaten in the basement of a department store, maybe this is kind of a dumb question.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Puppy Peril
I have no idea how many weiguk here in Korea are reading our blog (if they are, they're certainly not posting comments), but if any of y'all are out there, Nana and I have heard tell of some dogs in Daejeon who are in serious need. A large no-kill shelter in Daejeon is being shut down on February 28th, and the volunteers there are desperately looking for people who can adopt or foster one or more of the dogs. Any dogs left at the shelter after the 28th will be sent to the Daejeon pound and likely euthanized if no homes can be found for them. Nana and I are hoping to foster, as are (possibly) some of our colleagues at the school, but that will still leave the shelter with a good four or five dozen dogs on its hands. If there's any way you can help, check out this link (I know it says the shelter closed in October--the Feb. 28th date is a last-ditch extension) or and send a note to the e-mail address listed there. (NB: I'm not about to shoot some well-meaning fellow's e-mail address across the web.)
In the meantime, Nana and I will be trying to figure out a way to get down to Daejeon and help out. Our little place and two walks a day may not be the best life for a puppy, but it sure as heck beats the alternative. Wish us luck!
In the meantime, Nana and I will be trying to figure out a way to get down to Daejeon and help out. Our little place and two walks a day may not be the best life for a puppy, but it sure as heck beats the alternative. Wish us luck!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
OMGHOLYCRAP Part III: "Worthy," indeed!
While I was back home, several people asked about the status of "my" romance novel - aka, Carla Kelly's upcoming romance novel in which the heroine has been bestowed with my name (for earlier installments in the OMGHOLYCRAP series, see here and here.) The title of the book has been approved - it will now officially be Worthy, after the hero Oliver Worthy (Massie, after the heroine, would have been my personal choice, but I suppose the secondary meanings are a tad more limited). And as to its release, here is the very latest word from Ms. Kelly herself:
Hi, Nana. Just wanted you to know that "our" book has been approved by the publisher. I'm thinking it will be out next November or December.
Hi, Nana. Just wanted you to know that "our" book has been approved by the publisher. I'm thinking it will be out next November or December.
And I'm thinking I'd better get moving on Book 2!
Thanks again for the loan of your name.
Best,
Carla
Everybody, mark your calendars! I expect absolutely everybody I've ever met to purchase at least one copy of this book. All the cool kids will be laughing at the sex scenes with my name in it.* You don't want to be uncool, do you?
I didn't think so.
*Note: book may or may not have sex scenes. I promise nothing.
Everybody, mark your calendars! I expect absolutely everybody I've ever met to purchase at least one copy of this book. All the cool kids will be laughing at the sex scenes with my name in it.* You don't want to be uncool, do you?
I didn't think so.
*Note: book may or may not have sex scenes. I promise nothing.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Mailing/Shipping Address
Nana and I have had several inquiries about sending letters and/or care packages here to Seoul. If you're interested in sending something to us, the best thing to do is to send it to the school--we can't get packages here at the apartment, and our mailboxes aren't really secure.
To reach us at the school:
Justin/ Nana
Asia-Pacific International School
820 Wolgye 2-dong
Nowon-gu, Seoul, 139-724
South Korea
As for postage, the USPS has a flat-rate international airmail box as well as flat-rate international air-mail envelopes. You can find basic rate info here.
As for contents, food is by far the most useful thing to us--when you have a mild pepper allergy like Nana does, it's really hard to keep a healthy diet when 80% of the local food is super-spicy. Some items that we use almost every day:
Manischewitz dry soup packets
Rice-R-Roni
macaroni and cheese
whole-grain pasta
energy bars (especially Powerbar Harvest)
instant oatmeal
(Remember, perishables and liquids are strictly verboten.)
Thanks so much, everyone, for being so interested in sending us stuff!
To reach us at the school:
Justin/ Nana
Asia-Pacific International School
820 Wolgye 2-dong
Nowon-gu, Seoul, 139-724
South Korea
As for postage, the USPS has a flat-rate international airmail box as well as flat-rate international air-mail envelopes. You can find basic rate info here.
As for contents, food is by far the most useful thing to us--when you have a mild pepper allergy like Nana does, it's really hard to keep a healthy diet when 80% of the local food is super-spicy. Some items that we use almost every day:
Manischewitz dry soup packets
Rice-R-Roni
macaroni and cheese
whole-grain pasta
energy bars (especially Powerbar Harvest)
instant oatmeal
(Remember, perishables and liquids are strictly verboten.)
Thanks so much, everyone, for being so interested in sending us stuff!
Friday, January 25, 2008
General Robert E. Kim
Teaching 5th Grade about the Second Continental Congress:
Me: So the resolution on independence couldn't be introduced by somebody from Massachusetts. It had to come from someone from another colony. And the man for the job, from the colony of Virginia, was Richard Henry Lee.
Student (sounding puzzled): Was he Korean?
Me: So the resolution on independence couldn't be introduced by somebody from Massachusetts. It had to come from someone from another colony. And the man for the job, from the colony of Virginia, was Richard Henry Lee.
Student (sounding puzzled): Was he Korean?
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Ski Trip: Vivaldi Park
As some of you may have heard (here or here), Nana and I went on a short ski trip with Dr. Kim this weekend, to Vivaldi Park, about an hour and a half east of Seoul. (Vivaldi Park is owned and operated by the same folks as Sol Beach, where we stayed on our East Coast tour.)
The first part of the adventure involved me DRIVING (gads!) Dr. Kim's car (double gads!) at night, while trying to follow both Dr. Kim's stealth Dodge pickup and our car's Korean GPS (kudos to Nana for figuring that contraption out). On the bright side, the trip did involve a long stop for a giant country-style Korean dinner: spicy stir-fried pork and big bowls of barley topped with tofu and assorted veggies.
So, Vivaldi Park. If we can take Vivaldi Park to be anything remotely representative, then skiing in Korea is so different from skiing in the States that it's hard to know where to start. First of all, Koreans ski (or board--honestly, the skier/boarder breakdown was about 50/50) like they hike, which is to say that they dress the part no matter how little actual skiing or hiking they plan to do. (Though this person in a cow suit would beg to differ--she's taken the apparent trend towards wearing cartoon-animal ski hats to a new and disturbing place.)
Also, night skiing seems to be more popular than day skiing (the techno-fetish?), and the vast majority of Korean skiers seem to stick to the beginner slopes, which also fits with the dress-the-part no-matter-what theme.
Anyway, take a look at this (shamefully low-quality video) of the hill: a writhing mass of humanity at the bottom, desolation on the more advanced slopes at the top.
The obsessive technojoy also spilled over into the lift system: below you can see Vivaldi Park's utterly unnecessary gondola, which serves the dual purpose of looking cool and helping drunk people get back down the hill without stepping into their skis, and below that the insane conveyor belts they had to help people get on the lifts.
Bonus: These crazy air-guns you could use to blow the snow out of your skis. . .
As for the skiing itself, it went pretty well. The place had a couple nice runs, and the mountain was nearly deserted for most of the morning. More importantly, the knee held up, and Nana made some pretty huge strides. She even managed somehow to pick up a flock of little Korean ducklings in a lift line, who then proceeded to follow her as she made her increasingly graceful S-curves down the slope.
(As evidenced by this clip, Koreans seem to ski like they drive: you can see several near-disasters, including a snowboarder careening in from the right.)
Anyway, overall, the trip was a huge success, dotted with important firsts: my first time driving in Korea, our first trip to a zzimzilbang (more on that later? maybe?), and Nana's first time having fun on skis. Here you can see me beaming with pride, and below, the celebratory hot chocolate I promised Nana if she got through the day.
The first part of the adventure involved me DRIVING (gads!) Dr. Kim's car (double gads!) at night, while trying to follow both Dr. Kim's stealth Dodge pickup and our car's Korean GPS (kudos to Nana for figuring that contraption out). On the bright side, the trip did involve a long stop for a giant country-style Korean dinner: spicy stir-fried pork and big bowls of barley topped with tofu and assorted veggies.
So, Vivaldi Park. If we can take Vivaldi Park to be anything remotely representative, then skiing in Korea is so different from skiing in the States that it's hard to know where to start. First of all, Koreans ski (or board--honestly, the skier/boarder breakdown was about 50/50) like they hike, which is to say that they dress the part no matter how little actual skiing or hiking they plan to do. (Though this person in a cow suit would beg to differ--she's taken the apparent trend towards wearing cartoon-animal ski hats to a new and disturbing place.)
Also, night skiing seems to be more popular than day skiing (the techno-fetish?), and the vast majority of Korean skiers seem to stick to the beginner slopes, which also fits with the dress-the-part no-matter-what theme.
Anyway, take a look at this (shamefully low-quality video) of the hill: a writhing mass of humanity at the bottom, desolation on the more advanced slopes at the top.
The obsessive technojoy also spilled over into the lift system: below you can see Vivaldi Park's utterly unnecessary gondola, which serves the dual purpose of looking cool and helping drunk people get back down the hill without stepping into their skis, and below that the insane conveyor belts they had to help people get on the lifts.
Bonus: These crazy air-guns you could use to blow the snow out of your skis. . .
As for the skiing itself, it went pretty well. The place had a couple nice runs, and the mountain was nearly deserted for most of the morning. More importantly, the knee held up, and Nana made some pretty huge strides. She even managed somehow to pick up a flock of little Korean ducklings in a lift line, who then proceeded to follow her as she made her increasingly graceful S-curves down the slope.
(As evidenced by this clip, Koreans seem to ski like they drive: you can see several near-disasters, including a snowboarder careening in from the right.)
Anyway, overall, the trip was a huge success, dotted with important firsts: my first time driving in Korea, our first trip to a zzimzilbang (more on that later? maybe?), and Nana's first time having fun on skis. Here you can see me beaming with pride, and below, the celebratory hot chocolate I promised Nana if she got through the day.
Update
Apologies for the lack of posts this week, but it's been a doozy. The semester just ended on Friday, so grades are due, and we're getting a bunch of new students in on Monday. Add to that the fact that we were trying to get enough planned for this coming week so that we could go on a weekend ski trip (I'm working on the post) and there just wasn't time to write.
Just know that we survived the week AND the weekend, which was no small feat, considering that I DROVE (yes, I drove--eat my international driver's permit!) all the way to the mountains and back (with Korean GPS, no less).
Just know that we survived the week AND the weekend, which was no small feat, considering that I DROVE (yes, I drove--eat my international driver's permit!) all the way to the mountains and back (with Korean GPS, no less).
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