somewhere in the world

my lg phone wont let me do ANYTHING. It will only let me write in the 'title' field. ''

2011-11-27T01:42:00.001+09:00

LG SUCKS

2011-11-27T01:41:00.000+09:00

some more small

2011-09-29T19:55:00.004+09:00

After more thinking (after the whole "I'm good at being small!" comment), Jeanne came up with, "I am good at making silly songs." She wrote that below the picture and then wrote down one of the silly songs that she had made up a while back. She sang it to me a month or so ago. TOOOO funny!!!! I'd post the video of it but don't have her permission. Maybe I'll get her to sing it and just get the audio of it. :)

"I am little I am small
and I talk a little bit
and I am very very cu te
and I am a butt shaker".

small

2011-09-29T19:26:00.002+09:00

One of my students, Jeanne, was doing a page in her writing home study book. The topic was, "What Are You Good At?" with space to draw a picture and a few lines to make a sentence or two about the picture. She wasn't sure what to do.
Jeanne: What am I good at?
Me: What are you good at?
Jeanne:.............ummmmm.
Me: Well? What are you good at?
(insert lightbulb over her head here and an 'I got it' look)
Jeanne: I'm good at being small!!!!
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Jeanne is in grade two and is the second smallest in her class. Too funny.

sea cucumber

2011-08-31T23:30:00.004+09:00

At Muuido we were informed that the funny pale orange sea cucumbers that are sometimes seen on the mud flats when the tide is out actually fluoresce.
How did we find that out? A couple of guys we met had wandered out on the mud flats a couple of nights earlier after having a few drinks and one either stepped on one or hit accidentally hit it with his foot causing it to light up. What a cool discovery!
We did get to see it ourselves. They are hard to find at night because there aren't that many of them to begin with. When the tide is well out, take a flashlight and go for a walk. They appear whitish on the dark mud in the light of the flashlight. With the lights out, when touched, they glow a greenish blue color. Love it!!!

Muuido once again

2011-08-28T00:00:00.004+09:00

I've been there before and I'll go again. I don't think I will ever get bored of Muuido. :)SunsetFreehand zoomed in shot of the moon.Wandering out past the mudflats to reach the distant knee deep water: the view back to the beach.On the way back to the beach, rescued a little dragonfly that was floating in the water. Half an hour later he was finally able to fly away. :)Tents on the beach. Love the teepee tent! Belonged to a Korean hippy family. They befriended us later that night. Said they saw me earlier and thought I was like a hippy. ^^

dalkgalbi

2011-08-14T15:32:00.003+09:00

I love dalkgalbi. It is a spicy chicken dish that is cooked in the middle of the table in a large pan. It has cabbage and some other vegetables and lots of spice. Delicious!!!!!

learning to write...

2011-06-16T00:02:00.005+09:00

This is when correcting students' work is actually fun. 4 yr old Lindsay was to trace the word giraffe and then write 'gems' and 'gel'. As she is still just learning to write the letters, THIS is what her 'gems' looked like:

Chichen Itza

2011-06-15T20:35:00.010+09:00

During a week vacation in Mexico, went on a tour of Chichen Itza. What an amazing place.

On the 2 hour drive our bus tour guide spoke about the area and the Mayan people. According to her, no one knows how many Mayans are still in the jungles because the government doesn't care and they aren't included in the census, nor do their villages get electricity or anything. Their main sources of income are from making and selling things to tourists, producing honey, etc. Orange flower covered trees were everywhere along the way!We stopped shortly before Chichen Itza at a large cenote where some people took a quick swim. Beautiful! I kinda wish we had more time there as I didn't want to jump in and out and then have to spend the rest of the day soggy. By the time we got to Chichen Itza it was so hot out. The buildings/structures are quite spread out so we were in the sun quite a bit. El Castillo or the Temple of Kukulkan:Our guide was horrible - a stuffy little man who spoke in a monotone voice and kept repeating the same things. It was as if he didn't know what else to say. He paused when we wanted to move on and quickly moved on when we would have wanted another moment. It would have been much better with a different, more animated guide. Other than the guide, Chichen Itza was amazing. Temple of the Warriors/Templo de los Guerreros:I've always heard about the ball park but I didn't realize it was that big!Nearby is the Tzompantl - a platform that held huge racks for displaying skulls of the sacrificed - captives of war or ritual sacrifices. Our guide said that the captain of the winning team from the ball games was sacrificed. That, of course, is speculation as no one really knows what happened back then.

It's hard to imagine what things were like there when it was alive with activity. As I do when I go to any historical place like that, I wish I could go back in time even for a moment just to see what it was like.
I put sunscreen on several times during the day, including 2 times in the hour or so that we wandered around Chichen Itza. My shoulders didn't burn, they just blistered!!!! White blisters sized from a pencil tip to a little pencil eraser. They didn't hurt so much and were very thin. Maybe my shoulders just got too hot? Once the blisters broke the next day they still didn't hurt, just peeled. Odd. It would have been much better to visit the cenote AFTER being out in the sun at Chichen Itza. A quick cooling dip would have been perfect. We did make that suggestion for future trips.
Now back at my home and over my Mexicoma (^.~) I LOVE my Chichen Itza purchase:It was the only one I saw the entire time that had these colors. Everything else was either bright rainbowy colors or just black/dark brown/white combinations.

Grape Juice

2011-05-09T00:44:00.003+09:00

It says,
"NO ANTISEPTIC AND DIRECTION, DID NOT PUT
IN THE PIGMENT, THE SUGAR AND THE
ARTIFICIAL ADDITIVE"
It also says, "Yugi podo kwajeum (13Brix) 100%". Any ideas what 13 Brix might mean? On the back it also says that of the 13 Brix, 68 Brix is from America, which is about 19.2%.Tasted okay, but not great.

Namsan in the Spring

2011-05-02T01:11:00.004+09:00

I live sort of on the side of Namsan, a mountain in the middle of Seoul on the top of which is Seoul (or Namsan) Tower. It's a nice place for walking when the weather's nice. Last weekend the cherry blossoms were still out in full force. Beautiful. It's an interesting contrast when some trees are covered in flowers and some are still dragging themselves out of winter mode.And of course Namsan has some fantastic views of Seoul.Inside the base of Namsan Tower there is a restaurant and store. Along the central wall, little tiles have been bought and decorated by friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, etc. I love it! Such a great idea.A gift. :) Did I ever mention that I LOVE giraffes?!!

More Spring Flowers

2011-05-02T00:44:00.003+09:00

They're all so beautiful!!! The magnolias smell SO good!!!!

diss

2011-04-20T23:31:00.003+09:00

The other day Lynn, a grade 4 student (though she's Korean, she goes to an international school and her English is better than her Korean), asked me if D-I-S-S was a bad word. I said no, diss is not a bad word but it is bad to do it to people. Then she replied that she had thought it might be a bad word because it "sounds like a bad word because it is a mix of P-I-S-S and D-I-C-K." (Yes, she was spelling the words out and not saying them because they are bad words).

learn some Korean???

2011-04-20T21:46:00.003+09:00

A book made by Koreans to help foreigners learn English.
Hmmmmm...It says, "Me there will be a possibility of carrying that it peels?
Huh?
Apparently the Korean actually means something along the lines of not being able to do something.
Maybe the "Capter I", "Capter II" and "Capter III" found at the top of every page might be a hint that it's not the best book to pick up in order to help you learn Korean.

spring flowers

2011-04-20T00:47:00.001+09:00

I LOVE THESE!!!!

Mmmmm... Meat.

2011-04-20T00:42:00.003+09:00

At Mapo Galbi in Hwajeong - they pour egg on kimchi and other stuff in a tray around the grill to cook. Yum.

Stupid birds.

2011-04-15T11:51:00.002+09:00

Ever been hit in the head by a bird? It doesn't feel good.

The other day I was walking to a taxi by Apgujeong station and all of a sudden WHACK, a pigeon smacked the side of my head with its wing as it flew up to the overpass. The side of my head hurt for the rest of the day!!!!

Stupid bird.

walking the dog

2011-02-06T20:02:00.006+09:00

Walking a dog in Haebangchon can be quite the task. Not only is it all steep hills, which are icy in the winter and sometimes strangely oily the rest of the year, there is salt and chemicals on the roads, there are no sidewalks, and there are bits of garbage everywhere. Little pieces of bone keep popping up everywhere. It's making me crazy!!

I have certainly been getting a lot of exercise lately, though. There are a few ways I usually walk through the area. The paths through Namsan park are great, some paved/boardwalk style, some dirt paths (too muddy right now). There's also the maze of streets and pathways through the residential area on the side of the mountain. One of my favorite walks is going up to the ridge and down the other side where there are ways too narrow for any cars and so are usually quite quiet. I think in any other country that type of area might be a bit more dangerous? Here are some pics to show some parts of my walk.Going down.That's a little house on the right. It looks short because it is lower on the hill.Turn the corner and you get to...Looking down.Looking back up at the stairs.Go to the left. Looking down over a more traditional style home below.A view of Seoul.Going down again.And around a corner.And around another corner:More stairs. Around the corner:Here is another picture that I took at this point.
Down a ways to more stairs:And so on...
A couple more pics from walking around Haebangchon.

PETS

2011-02-06T19:42:00.003+09:00

This is from an email that I received. Not sure who wrote it but I think it's great. :)

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE PETS, THIS IS A TRUE STORY. FOR THOSE THAT DON'T, IT'S STILL A TRUE STORY.
The following was found posted very low on a refrigerator door.
Dear Dogs and Cats: the dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food or dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.
I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out t the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.
for the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the know or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the bathroom door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.
The proper order for kissing is: kiss me first, then go smell the other dog's or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.
Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door: TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:
1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.
REMEMBER, dogs and cats are "better" than kids because they: 1. eat less, 2. don't ask for money all the time, 3. are easier to train, 4. normally come when called, 5. never ask to drive the car, 6. don't hang out with assholes, 7. don't smoke or drink, 8. don't want to wear your clothes, or buy the latest fashions, 9. don't criticize with the "eye roll" or muttered remarks, 10, don't need a gazillion dollars for college, and 11. if they get pregnant, you can sell their children. :)

Runa

2011-02-02T15:05:00.004+09:00

I'm trying to find a new home for Runa. She is such a sweet dog and if I had more time and energy I would try to convince the landlord to let me keep her. Also, I wish I could afford to send her home to Canada but it's quite a bit more than I can afford at the time (I was given a quote of 2,000,000 won, or a bit under $2000 Canadian). Very sad.
I am making posting for Runa on Animal Rescue Korea . If you don't want a big dog, they have plenty of other dogs listed that need homes, most of whom are in dog shelters. I don't want her to end up chained up all the time or stuck in a tiny apartment all the time.

If you are interested or know anyone interested, let me know.

[After her first bath at the vet. They put a cutesy little ribbon on her for some silly reason. Only in Korea?]

Moved.

2011-01-01T23:42:00.004+09:00

My winter vacation wasn't much of a vacation. Instead of relaxing and enjoying myself I spent all of it packing and moving and unpacking (which I haven't yet finished). I wanted to move and Christmas day the landlord made the decision easier by saying I either had to get rid of the dog or move. I still have to find a new home for the dog (that makes me so sad but it's hard to find a good home here that will allow dogs) but at least I'm out of the horrible home I was in before. The old home was good in the summer and fall because of the little outside rooftop area, but once it started to get colder the bigger problems started to show up. The landlord didn't get the heating floor mat that was promised, the living room (and sometimes kitchen) ceiling rained and water ran down the walls and behind the book shelves and sofa. [Black spots are mold - it was all over along this part of the wall/ceiling, and all along the floor and wall behind the sofa and book shelf.]The landlord's explanation - it's because of the difference in temperature. Her solution - open the door or windows for an hour or so every day. Ummmm... so I should make the inside the same as the outside in the winter???? When she decided that she didn't agree to provide heating for the living room??? Also, the water pipes froze so quickly that the hot water had to be running a little bit at all times when it was freezing out. That wouldn't be a bad thing if it were dryer or if the bathroom had a vent but it didn't so in order to use the bathroom I'd either need an umbrella or the bathroom ceiling had to be mopped from the dripping water. Ugh.
So I was told Christmas Day that I had to move. The next day I found a new home to move to, with Thursday being the moving day. Then Wednesday the new landlord decided she wanted to renovate the home instead and so changed her mind. Ack!!! So I found a new home on Wednesday and moved on Thursday. The new home is great except for the tiny bedroom. It's got a nice living room [still a tad disorganized] with a little balcony-ish outside space through large sliding windows, a decent kitchen , a wonderful bathroom - bathtubs in small apartments here are rare (although once again, no vents so the window has to be opened a little to let the steam out), and a nice back storage/utility area where the washing machine is.
It's been a stressful week but at least I'm in a much nicer home. :)
But... Now I need a vacation!!!!

Coca Cola Christmas

2010-12-22T22:22:00.002+09:00

Gangnam Christmas brought to you by Coca Cola.

more randoms in Apgujeong

2010-10-24T04:00:00.002+09:00

A random building with a board game cafe on the 2nd floor.I forget what kind of shop this was. Cars were coming so I had to move (there aren't sidewalks on the side streets).Not sure what this place is on the 2nd floor of this building. The drawings are backwards, so they're obviously meant to be seen from inside. The one with the guitar says things about dance and music: 'Dance Sports', 'Jazz' and 'Rock Music'. The one with the bottle says stuff about 'Tomato and (Sp?) Salad', 'Rhbarb Wine' and 'About a Soju'.The Barbie store opened a couple of years ago. It advertises cosmetics and shoes (not for kids). Went inside to see what it was all about. All I saw were some cute shoes and some very strange shoes. Not many shoes and no cosmetics. I wonder if they actually make any money.In front of Zoo Coffee.

Moroccan ? restaurant

2010-10-24T03:38:00.003+09:00

There is a little restaurant in Apgujeong called Rabat. The writing on the outside is only in Korean. The decor inside is very cool with each table being in a little tent-like area, some with bench seating, some floor seating. The food isn't very Moroccan but the decor sort of is. We tried a 'couple' meal. Salad, pasta, pizza and wine. The salad was fantastic and perfect for our hungry stomachs. The pasta great. The pizza was a bit too much. It tasted good but the bread was a bit on the sweet side and I could only handle a couple of pieces. I think if the pizza bread weren't so sweet I would have really liked it.

galbi

2010-10-09T18:39:00.002+09:00

This is how you eat galbi, or barbecued meat. It is cooked on a little grill in the middle of the table and cut up with scissors (you cook it yourself, obviously). You take a nice piece of lettuce, add rice, meat (dipped in a salt/sesame oil mixture or other type of sauce) and what ever else you like (onion, garlic, kimchi, etc), hen wrap it all up and pop it into your mouth. It's a bit of a mouthful, but definitely delicious.

randoms in Apgujeong

2010-10-02T01:18:00.003+09:00

Walking from the Coffee Bean where I sometimes meet a friend (which is very close to being across the street from the Coffee Bean near my work) to Apgujeong there are so many interesting things and buildings to see. I'll try to take some more pictures another time.The wall around Samwon Garden, the biggest and most famous (first class) galbi restaurant in Seoul.A new bar/cafe in Apgujeong: Che (since 2010).

Interesting.

Gyeongju part 1

2010-10-02T00:05:00.000+09:00

For summer vacation I decided I should try to see more of Korea while I'm still here. After the mud festival we headed down to Gyeongju. Gyeongju was capital of Korea, during the Silla Kingdom in the 7th to 9th centuries. Though a lot has been destroyed, there is still much to see. The most prominent being the tombs that are scattered within and around the city. Some are small, but some are quite large. According to a poster near the tombs, Tumuli numbers 90-114, and 151-155 (numbered during Japanese occupation) are earthen mounds. Larger ones have wooden chambers covered in stone and then earth while smaller tombs don't have mounds. One of the tombs that has been excavated, the Cheonmachong, (Heavenly Horse Tomb, named after ) is open to the public. The parks containing the tombs are quite large. Near the tombs there is a small forest. Inside used to be Banwolseong (Castle of the Crescent Moon). The only thing left is the Seokbinggo (a stone ice house) which has been rebuilt. Nearby is Cheomseongdae, which is the oldest astrological observatory in East Asia. Across from the main road we went to Anapji pond. It was made in 674 by King Munmu. The buildings burnt down in 935. The pond and 3 of the buildings were repaired and rebuilt in 1975 and many relics were found buried in the pond. From there we headed over to the Gyeongju National Museum. I love museums. I hated studying modern history in high school but I do love ancient and archaeological history.I think I started to make Zak crazy as every time I saw lotus flower pondseverywhere (lotus crops?) I would have to stop to take pictures. ESPECIALLY when a crane (the national animal of Korea) landed in one.Once back in the downtown area it was already well past lunch time and we were starving. We found an excessively cute (just my style) sandwich shop just off the main shopping street. It wasn't too expensive and the food and drinks were great. :) Definitely a possibility for another lunch. For dinner we found a nice little (sort of) Italian restaurant (also excessively cutesy) near the main shopping street near our hotel. Not too bad. The food was good but the house wine was one that I would probably use in cooking rather than drinking if I ever opened it at home.

typhoon

2010-09-02T12:05:00.004+09:00

I so wish I had my camera right now. I am feeling so lost without a working camera. Especially when things like this happen.
Last night we were visited by Typhoon Kompasu. I've been in Korea for a long time but have never felt a typhoon quite like this. Being in a little rooftop house is a bit of a different experience from living in a sheltered little studio suite. The windows were shaking and rattling all night and something was making a very loud groaning noise. Then the little storage room door flew open and started banging (only held closed by a little brick leaning against it). Then the bookshelf type shelves I had outside were ripped apart and the shelves were flying around bouncing off the railings. The chair outside is on wheels and was rolling around. Crash. Bang. Groan. Rattle. Someone must have come up at one point because when I went out to pick up the pieces of shelf to stop them they were already gone. To where, I'm not sure. And the chair was on its side. I knew someone had been up there because there were two more bricks holding the little storage room door. More banging and crashing. A window somewhere breaking (the home right across). And THEN a bigger noise. Opened the door to go out to see what had happened and couldn't open the door. Part of the roof was blocking the door. Half of the front room roof top had come off and some of the tile had come crashing down. The landlord's daughter-in-law was then up with another woman trying to tie thick ribbon-like string to hold the rest of the roof down. Oh. The 3 large kimchi pot lids are gone. As is the large mirror that was out there. Hmmm. Don't see any little pieces of mirror anywhere but did hear something that sounded like it broke.
Schools were postponed two hours so I finally got to try to go to sleep for a little bit once the wind slowly started to die down.
I'm tired.

Eeek!

2010-08-07T15:43:00.005+09:00

One night, I woke up in the middle of the night and felt something tickling my chest. I put my hand on my chest and then jumped up with a bit of an 'eek'. In the process I killed what had tickled me. After that, I couldn't get back to sleep as I kept imagining more as soon as I closed my eyes. Needless to say, the next day I bought a gift of a bunch of raid baits for them. THIS is the (not so little) little bugger that fell out of my shirt when I jumped.

Nice cockroach, eh?

Mud.

2010-08-07T15:00:00.005+09:00

Once again I went to the Boryeong Mud Festival. What could be more fun than lots of mud to play with, a nice sea to wash off in and a beautiful beach to relax on?! We played in mud during the day. Mud gets EVERYWHERE! Sometimes you even find more mud in your ears a week later! The stores (HERE's an example at the Family Mart that is next to the festival ground) and restaurants around are used to the couple of weeks of mud and don't mind being filled with drippy and muddy people. The money is all soggy and dirty but no one seems to mind.Then in the evening sat and enjoyed some drinks as well as the festival music. The last night of the festival there was a special rock concert: Kim KyungHo band, who I've known of since I first came to Korea. I've had one of his songs in my Ipod since I got it. After the concert they had the festival closing fireworks. Beautiful. Then we sat on the beach and enjoyed the rest of the evening. The lights shining on the beach are bluish. I love it!

random signs

2010-07-17T16:55:00.003+09:00

Some random signs near Sinchon. A live music bar called Be Full. A billiards club called Cock's Blue? Under a little pay by the hour room hotel called Barbie House?And then there's Sexy Bar (or Sexy Ba if you refer to the vertical sign).

clouds

2010-07-17T16:06:00.003+09:00

Cool cloud line taken from behind Yongsan Station, Seoul.

a wig from the brest bakery?

2010-07-03T01:13:00.005+09:00

I bought a lovely red wig at a little street vendor in Myungdong a while back to wear when ever another wig party happens. This is the bag that the guy put my wig in. Reusing bags, I see. Interesting bakery name. "BREST BAKERY"?? The Korean says "Beureiseuteu kwaja jeom" Basically breast snack (kwaja) shop.

Back on...

2010-07-02T15:14:00.002+09:00

I've been so busy the past couple of months I've neglected a lot of things. I'll be back on track soon. Just getting some things figured out and organized. Getting some posts updated is on my list of to do things for this weekend. :)

strawberries!!!

2010-04-24T23:34:00.006+09:00

Friday was field trip day at my kindy. We went to a strawberry farm.It took more than an hour to get there. Apparently there was an accident between a small bus and a car on the way but I didn't see it. Turns out that the accident was one of the buses from another branch. The front was smashed in and the car was very damaged. The bus driver was a little bit hurt but is okay. The kids are all okay (they all wear seatbelts), but were quite shaken up.Once at the farm we went into a large building full of picnic tables to wait for the little tour.Along one wall was a long table of strawberry, lettuce and other plants grown by hydroponics.The kids got a little antsy, of course, but were quite well behaved. The tour began with a little introduction. I can't tell you what was said since it was all in Korean. After the introduction we went into one of the very long greenhouses.It was a bit of a pick and eat tour. Yum! Fresh strawberries! They were so sweet and juicy.[Another picture here]
Some of the kids ended up covered in strawberry from head to toe. Too funny. Then it was back to the other building where the kids got to take turns mashing strawberries to make jam.After they each got their turn, it was lunch time. The kids all brought lunches and the school provided the teachers' lunches - kimbap. It would have been okay but it was fancy kimbap with sesame leaves in them and half of them had fish or fish eggs or little dried shrimp in them. Yuck! I had plenty to eat, though, as the kids had lots off great food to mooch. :D I even got a fruit by the foot!! (Can't easily get things like that here.)After lunch the kids had play time with bubbles and balls to kick around in a little yard. There were a few Jindo puppies in a cage to the side. I went over and ended up getting a lot of the kids interested in having their hands licked. At one point the adult Jindo at the other end of the yard ended up with one of the balls. It's the dog's ball now. A few puncture holes rendered it quite useless. There was a snack of bread with fresh warm strawberry jam. It was so delicious! The kids each got to take home one jar of freshly made jam and I will get a couple that I ordered on Monday. The teachers all got to take a container of strawberries for free. :) Then it was time to head back to Seoul where the parents would pick the kids up at pre-chosen spots. I got to go home a little early. What a great way to end a nice field trip day.

stretch!

2010-04-14T22:35:00.003+09:00

After the LOKO game on Sunday I saw this near the pitch.Hmmm. STRETCHING FOR HEIGHT. Do they think that stretching will make them much taller? I suppose it does give the apperance of making you a little taller by possibly getting rid of a slouch, but is that really making you taller? IF that is even what the sign is supposed to mean.

Not the typical doctor's office...

2010-04-14T22:04:00.005+09:00

This might look like just an ordinary building, unless you notice what one of the signs actually says.I remember seeing this sometime during my second year here in Korea, but didn't take a picture. After that I tried to find it again but for some reason, couldn't. I saw it once again last year, but my camera batteries were dead, so again, no picture. And again I looked for it along that same strip but again couldn't find it. Until today. I was walking to Starbucks and looked up and there it was. This time my camera was handy and fully charged. :) Just in case you can't read the sign, underneath the Korean it says,

"www.ANALSURGERY.co.kr"

Now, don't ask me what kind of doctor's office THAT's supposed to be, or why the heck they'd pick a website address like that. Makes you wonder. Apgujeong is full of plastic surgery clinics and dermatologist clinics. This is something a little different.

Happy Black Day!!!

2010-04-14T09:31:00.002+09:00

For those of you who aren't Korean holiday savvy, April 14th is Black Day. It is a day for single people that missed out on Valentines Day (February 14th - girls give chocolates to the boys) and White Day (March 14th - boys give candy to the girls). It is a day to go out and stuff yourself with jjajangmyun, a Korean 'Chinese' food that consists of super long thick noodles with a black bean sauce.

bathroom warning

2010-03-21T23:51:00.003+09:00

Says the toilet: A sign in a bar bathroom in Itaewon. There are often interesting signs like this.

Shoe Per Diem

2010-03-13T14:50:00.003+09:00

I post almost daily on another blog called Shoe Per Diem. It is what the name suggests. Pictures of feet/shoes to do with things done that day - places, things, food, what ever. There are 10 of us in 6 countries posting almost daily. Check it out. ^.~

salad

2010-03-13T14:17:00.003+09:00

Yesterday since I only taught for an hour (but had to be at work the full day), I went out for a nice lunch. I tried to go to Le Alaska, a little bakery cafe right beside where I used to live, but it was out of the panini bread so couldn't make the sandwich I wanted. I'll have to go back next time another time as I really want to try their sandwiches!!! Instead, I went to the Paris Croissant Kitchen. The menu there isn't great (for me) because almost everything had fish or seafood in it.The few things that weren't fishy, though, sounded great. I got the beef and mushroom salad.It was fantastic!

Mmmmm Cinnamon Latte

2010-03-13T13:31:00.004+09:00

Last year I bought myself a Mukka Express.It is a stove top latte maker made by Bialetti, an Italian company. It is fantastic. Water goes in the bottom, coffee grind in the middle, and milk in the top. It takes less than 5 minutes to get a 2 shot latte. The company has many different kinds of stove top espresso pots (2, 4, 6, etc shot pots) but this is the only one that does the latte (only one that you can put milk in). A couple of the higher end department stores here have them and Starbucks has one kind of pot - a 6 shot pot, which is too big for my liking. Right now I'd have no use for 6 shots of espresso. You can't adjust how much it makes. Too bad because it's cheaper than in the department store.After I got back from a long walk with Hopie, my friend's dog that I'm taking care of (check links to see pics and a video of Hopie if you like), I made myself a nice cinnamon latte (in one of my Starbucks mugs). One of the things I got for Christmas was a cinnamon sugar grinder (like a pepper grinder only with cinnamon sugar in it). I love it!! It's great for so many things. For my latte, I put some in the bottom of the cup before pouring and then some sprinkled on top.Yum!!!

snow and a dog

2010-03-10T23:50:00.007+09:00

Weather here in Seoul is strange. A couple of weeks ago we had such nice warm weather that made everyone think spring was on its way. That was followed by a not so nice very cold period that made us realize that the warmth was just a teaser. The past few days weren't too bad except they were a little chilly. Then yesterday it was cold and rainy. When I got on the subway to head home it was raining. When I got out, though, it was snowing. A lot. What?? This is my view out my little balcony window last night.

[with the flash][special night setting][with the flash][without the flash]

It snowed all night. Ugh.
[Seoul Tower in the distance, on Namsan][My home is sort of on the lower side of the mountain.]

Walking a dog on the hill in the snow can be dangerous. Several times he almost took me down. He was going nuts acting as if he had never seen snow before. Woo. White stuff. How exciting!! He was going in circles trying to scoop up snow as he went. He looked kind of funny, actually, wandering along with his jaw in the snow. Made me think of a snow plow. Hopi is a friend's dog. He (the dog) is staying with me for the month while his owner finds a new apartment. Hopi is a tiger skin/brindle (Hopi or Hogu) Jindo. The Jindo (진돗개) is a Korean hunting dog breed that originally came from Jindo Island. They are known for being brave and loyal. They are Korea's National Treasure #53.

The snow certainly does make everything look pretty.

nesting tea cups!!!

2010-02-24T00:37:00.002+09:00

I LOVE these!! They are so fun! 8 ounce nesting tea cups from Starbucks.

Les Baux again. :)

2010-02-21T21:08:00.003+09:00

On Friday Danielle and I had lunch at Les Baux again. I love that place! She had her spicy Arrabiata pasta that she had the previous time. I decided to try another dish. I had the Pomodoro Mozzarella pasta. Soooooo delicious!! The pickles.We both decided to try the rouge lemonade (red wine lemon ade).
I love the ades there as they are always freshly made.

gifts

2010-02-13T02:33:00.009+09:00

I got a couple of gifts this week, both from the same student!Yesterday I got a nice gift for the Lunar New Year or 설날 (it is Romanized as Seollal, but the Korean is actually written as Seolnal), one of the most important holidays in Korea.The paper Hanbok (Korean dress) is a card from Kerry. A letter from the mom is in the envelope. The purple ribbon gift contained a business card holder. The red bag wrap had a fancy cloth bag and a note book. I guess Kerry picked out a book for me that had a butterfly because she likes butterflies.Then today, it was Kerry's birthday party at school (and her sisters, but I don't teach her) and the gifts she brought for her classmates and teachers (goodie bag type gifts) was fancy soap. The students all got one bar. The main teachers each got two. They smell so nice!!!
One thing I find interesting in Korea is how everything is always wrapped. Even simple things are often wrapped very extravagantly.

weather

2010-02-12T00:13:00.003+09:00

The weather here is nuts. Yesterday it was pouring rain. Then I woke up today to snow which turned to sleet which turned back into snow. Sometimes today there were huge snowflakes. Other times it stopped. I'd prefer if it just all went away and let the sun do its job. ^.~The lovely view (would be better without all of the cables and wires) of Namsan Tower as I walked up Haebangchon on my way home.

Earthquake!!

2010-02-09T23:20:00.003+09:00

So, apparently there was an earthquake in Seoul here this evening. Why didn't I notice??? It happened around 6, so maybe I was in the taxi or in an elevator at the time. I've read it measured 3.3 and was centered just southwest of Seoul in Siheung, Gyeonggi province. I onlyr recently read in this not so old article that Seoul is SO not prepared for any major earthquakes. Luckily this one wasn't major.

Les Baux for lunch

2010-02-01T00:49:00.004+09:00

My friend Danielle and I went for lunch at one of my favorite Apgujeong restaurants, Les Baux.
(Lemonade and orangeade)Always good food.(My chicken and mushroom pasta with an olive oil sauce)

keychain

2010-01-26T23:39:00.009+09:00

One of my 7C class students (age 6, now Korean age 8) gave me this today.I'm not sure where she got it and when I asked her she just shrugged her shoulders. It was wrapped in a cute little envelope.
I think she had one to give to the main 7C teacher but I think she gave it to Billy, one of the boys in her class, instead.
LOL

Thanks, Chloe! *^^*

It's a "CHEAP JEWELL"??

Made in China??

Yummm... Pizza.

2010-01-26T00:00:00.007+09:00

Dinner at Nilli, an "Italian Bistro" in Apgujeong.
Caesar SaladFunghi Pizza
So delicious!!!
I love thin crust pizza!
*^^*

March 20th Holy Sites, the Dead Sea and Amman

2010-01-11T22:40:00.000+09:00

I had my small breakfast and then was off on my hotel arranged trip to the Dead Sea. There were 3 others with me on the trip - Margo, the Australian that I had previously met in Hamah in Syria, Kospi, from Argentina but working for Emirates Air and living in Dubai, and Rahul from India, working in Singapore. As all of the regular hotel drivers were on other day trips, the hotel arranged a taxi to take us around for the day.Our first stop was Madaba, a very Christian city, to see the Madaba Mosaic Map that was found under the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St George. The mosaic dates to around 560 AD. The mosaics were discovered in the late 1800s when a group of Christians settled in the area and as they were building, the maps were uncovered.The map shows all of the major biblical sites from Lebanon to Egypt and was made of more than 2 million pieces. Only about a third of the original map remains. When we arrived at the church we had to wait outside with all of the other tourists hoping to see the map. A church service was going on and the map was covered to protect it. Once the service was over and the map uncovered, they would let the groups of people in in the order they got there. Most of the people were in larger tour groups. We weren't the first to arrive but we were close to the door and the guy in charge seemed to be slightly interested in talking to me. He let us go in with the first group. All of the groups were limited to about 10 minutes in the church before they had to go to leave space for the next group. Because we were just a small group of four, we were allowed to take our time. The church is beautiful. The walls are covered in mosaic pictures of saints and biblical events and such.As I was wandering around the church looking at the mosaics, the guy in charge of keeping the visitors in order always seemed to be watching me. At one point he came up and started talking to me. He asked what I thought of the church. I said it was beautiful. His response: "Like you!" Ha ha ha ha ha. Nice.[Next to the church, a giant billboard of King Abdullah II]
Once we had our fill of the church, we headed to our next destination - Mount Nebo.

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the Lord showed him the whole land.... Then the Lord said to him, "This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it."
And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day on one knows where his grave is. --Deuteronomy 34:1-6
(That's from the bible for those that don't know. Borrowed from Sacred Destinations Mount Nebo.)

This is where Moses is said to have looked upon the Promised Land.[On the sign left to right: Hebron(65 km), Dead Sea, Herodium (47 km), Bethlehem (50 km), Qumran (25 km), Jerusalem Mt-of-Olives (46 km), Ramallah (52 km), Jericho (27 km), Nablus (66km), Lake Tiberias (106km)]Mount Nebo gives an amazing view. On Mount Nebo there are the ruins of a monastery and church, complete with mosaic floors and tombs below. The structures are currently being rebuilt, so unfortunately we couldn't go to that part of the mountain top. "The Abu Badd - Rolling stone used as a fortified door of a Byzantine Monastery in the old village of Faisaliyah, once known as Kufeir Abu Badd." [from the little sign beside it]Just a couple of turkeys wandering around the mountaintop. ^.~[Aerial view from Sacred Destinations] Our next stop was Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan, or Bethabara to see the baptism site - the place where Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. It took quite a while to actually get to the site. Our ride dropped us off and we bought tickets which included a ride to the site. The ticket I was given was in pieces. I looked at it and the guy said no problem. I said no, I wanted one that was in once piece. The driver then looked at me and said, "No problem." I said no, I wanted one that wasn't ripped because I wanted to put it in my album. He just kept repeating, "No problem." I was starting to get frustrated though trying not to show it. Finally he took the ticket and handed it back to the guy in the office who then proceeded to tape the pieces together. Argh! I said no, I wanted a new one. They looked at me as if I was nuts. I got a new one! Maybe it's just me, but I think everyone wants a complete ticket. It's not like it was a cheap one, either! 14 JD!
We had to wait about 15 minutes for our ride to come. It was a fairly windy and cool day and our ride was a partially covered truck with seats in the back. Sooooo cold and dusty. It took us quite a ways down a dirt road before dropping us off at the entrance to the area. We had to enter on a walking tour. It was a fairly good walk. Eventually we came across the old baptism site and the remnants of old churches. The spot where Jesus was baptized is front right with a little protective roof, and the roof in the background is protecting the mosaic floors and what is left of the churches (they were built on top of one another, which seems to have happened fairly often all over).[The Jordan River at the roof of a church in the distance - gold color, center just over the trees.]We then went to the newer Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist and the nearby new baptism site.Inside the church.
At the newer baptism site, there is a fairly large basin at which babies and young children are baptized. Adults are baptized in the river itself.
Touching the waters of the Jordan River. The Jordan river forms the border between Jordan and Israel.Directly across the river - Israel.
From there we made our way back to the visitors center (on the same little shuttle 'bus') and then we were off to the Dead Sea.A Bedouin camp on seen from the road.At the dead sea there are a couple of options for swimming or sitting on the beach. Tourists are generally taken to one of the resort beaches, at which you have to pay 12JD just to enter the gates (there are swimming pools inside, but why go to the Dead Sea to swim in a swimming pool right in front of the beaches???). We opted for the cheaper public beach (7JD). Our driver tried insisting several times that we go to the resort one. I have a feeling he would have gotten some sort of commission or something like that out of it had we gone there. As it was a bit chilly and none of us actually wanted to go for a swim, the public beach was the much better option. After a quick look at the beach and sea, we decided we were quite hungry. The only place that was open for us to eat was a large buffet at the entrance. It was ridiculously expensive for what it was. 10JD for a small lunch buffet at a public beach! I'd hate to find out what we would have payed at the resort restaurants then! Margo wasn't extremely hungry and didn't want anything more than just salad. The restaurant said she would still have to pay the full buffet price. She didn't want to be taken advantage of so she didn't eat. We ate and the driver ate (I think he convinced them to give him his for free or at a huge discount since I'm pretty sure he told them that he suggested the place to us). As we were still eating, Margo had the driver take her back to the car so she could rest a bit. We finished out food and then headed down to the water.We wandered around talking and watching the people. Some people were out having picnics, some were out to test the healing properties of the Dead Sea water and its mud. A couple of guys had covered themselves completely from head to toe in mud. If it were a bit warmer...It was interesting seeing women in their Hijabs wading in the water next to a foreign woman in a bikini. Quite the contrast. Not many people were swimming and to see a foreign woman in a bikini among all those who were completely covered up seemed a little wrong (you can see her if you look between the two guys standing on the beach just to the right of center). I figured it would be a shame to go there and not even touch the water so I went wading a bit. The entire edge of the sea is solid salt rock. You can even see the layers where it has been worn away. It is quite sharp in places where the top is salt crystals. Other places have been smoothed out by the water. Away from the waters edge the salt rock is broken into pieces in the sand. When I was finished giving my toes a salt water treatment, we made our way back to our taxi to find that both the driver and Margo had dozed off, with the air conditioner on. The battery had died! What to do? Give it a little push.A couple of guys came to help and since Rahul and Kospi were already at the back ready to push I was able to back up and capture proof of the incident. A bridge in Amman.
Back in Amman Kospi and I made plans to go out with a couple of other guys she had met previously (Philippe and Greg). We went to Hashem for dinner (where I had gone the night before for dinner), and then to the Blue Fig for some drinks. The Blue Fig was nice but certainly not cheap. It think most places in Jordan are not cheap when it comes to drinks. The Tiramisu cheesecake was fantastic!!

Goodbye snow!! Hello snow?????!!!! Argh.

2010-01-05T01:42:00.003+09:00

I am really not impressed. I left Canada and actually said, "Goodbye snow!!!!" on the way to the airport. Flight landed at the Incheon airport at around 4:30ish... to SNOW!!!! The recent snow fall in Korea is the heaviest since they started taking records in 1935 (and who knows how long before that). Took a while to get home - plane had to wait for snow to be cleared at the gate, the bus was super slow, dragging a suitcase through the snow is NOT fun (at least it wasn't too cold), waiting for a taxi for 20 minutes only to get one who doesn't know how to drive in the snow (do any of them???) kinda sucks (this one didn't seem to want to go any more than about 15 km/h and kept going on and off the gas making the whole car rock, making me feel quite ill) , and then a super cold apartment that still isn't warm. I got home, turned on the heat, curled up in a ball under my blankets with a heating pad and went to sleep. Woke up after a few hours. The floor is a bit warm but it's sure taking its time.
Back to work tomorrow. Ugh.

winter in Canada

2009-12-29T03:58:00.007+09:00

I'm back home in Canada for winter vacation.The last time I was home for Christmas was in 2005!!!! Too long.I love snow. Everything looks so beautiful when covered in snow and frost. [Hercules]Christmas day we took the dogs for a walk down the road.[Lily][Ivy][There are 4 dogs in this pic (the 5th, the little one, was left at home). I love that one is jumping over another. Good timing?]
It was a nice clear day, about -15 Celsius. Not bad.[Moi!! :) in my new jacket]I love snow.... except when I have to drive in/on it. NOT fun.

a treat

2009-12-03T00:13:00.006+09:00

November 11th is Remembrance Day in Canada, but it is Pepero Day in Korea. I think I've posted about this a few times before. Pepero is basically thin cookie sticks dipped in chocolate. November 11th is Pepero Day because, well, 11/11 supposedly looks like Pepero sticks. How creative. Pepero characters. Pepero songs. Pepero animation.
This year my school was closed that week so I didn't get many of the chocolate dipped cookie sticks.
Almost a week later one of my students did give me some fancy (gourmet) ones.These ones were quite tasty!! :)
The card thing on top says: "Special Gift" "wish you eternal happiness and the bless of health~!!"

mask

2009-12-02T23:40:00.005+09:00

With the swine flu getting more and more around, last week the school decided to bring in a new dress code - masks for everyone. All of the teachers and students must wear masks all day. Here are a few of my kids:[Justin][Brian][Ellen][maybe Thomas??? (one of the twins - forget which one was wearing the yellow mask that day. They keep changing day to day)]
It's a nice idea but doesn't really work. None of the kids wear them properly (most of the teachers as well) and many have stopped wearing them altogether. ALL of the kids keep touching their faces anyway, trying to sneak a nose pick here and there, taking the mask OFF to sneeze or cough, etc. Then they touch the tables, the classroom pencils and erasers and everything else. Many have them down just covering their mouth but not their nose, or just hanging on their chin. [In the pics of the kids above, I fixed their masks before taking the pics.]
Today I was watching my students. Only one had the mask covering her nose. The others had theirs down or rolled in a ball on the table. One kid had a pencil hanging from his nostril, another had a pencil in her mouth. Ugh. Also, while the kids are wearing masks during the day, during snack time and lunch time, the masks are put away and the kids are all sitting together at little tables, talking and breathing over each others' food and poking at each others' food at times.

What's the point???
As of this week I have stopped wearing one at all because it is impossible to teach phonics with a mask hiding my mouth and muffling the sound. You can't teach the proper way to make the 'th' sound without them seeing what I am doing, and without me seeing what they are doing to make the sound (there is nothing equivalent to the 'th' sound in Korean so it is sometimes difficult for them). They're quite uncomfortable anyway and make my face itchy.
Another thing the school has brought in is hand sanitizer. They have the kids using the stuff between classes. Well, the kids are getting used to using the hand sanitizer and some are getting obsessed with it. Apparently some of the other foreign teachers have seen some of the kids using sanitizer after going to the bathroom instead of washing their hands.
I think most of them will be getting immunized sometime the beginning of this month. See if they get rid of the masks then.

March 19th: Amman

2009-11-15T23:56:00.002+09:00

I'm still trying to finish posting about my trip earlier in the year but it is very time consuming. I'm working on it!!!
The bus drop off in Amman was not at any sort of station. It was in some sort of alley behind a small building, in a dirt lot. Hmmm. Odd. I didn't have any problems, though. Got my bag, headed to the main street and hopped into a taxi. I gave the taxi a business card for the Palace Hotel (I got the card from some of the people I met in Syria). He seemed to know what it was and started going. But then he kept stopping to ask for directions. Along the way, he said 10JD. I said WHAT?? NO! Meter. He said okay, 5 JD. I said NO. He said 4 JD. I said NO, Meter. Finally he stopped. I didn't see the hotel. I asked and he said it was on the other side of the street, back a little bit. He had passed the walk that was near it and didn't want to go and turn around and go back to drop me off closer to the hotel. He refused, even though I had my big back and small bag to carry, not to mention a knee that didn't seem to want to work. I got out, got my bags and paid him. It was quite a bit more than the meter rate. If I had smaller change I would have given him only what the meter said, as he was being a jerk. He drove away, almost knocking me over. Ack. I should have taken down his lisence plate number but was too tired and just wanted to get to the hotel. It was more than a block back!!!! Argh.

I was at the hotel by about 10 AM.
In the hotel I guess I was lucky as they had a single room w/bathroom left for 18JD/night. I say lucky as everyone I saw coming in after was told it was full, including a girl that came in with a reservation - they said the thought it was for the next day. I think they called a couple of other hotels for her to help find her a room. My room was okay but not fantastic. It was actually a double room with a private bathroom/shower. It was room #104 but to get to the room I had to go up to the 4th floor (3 on the elevator numbers, as it is 3 up), across the hall, out the door, along a balcony and then in a door to a long hallway. I think there are only 3 rooms in the hall and mine was at the end. It was a fairly cold room. The heater was on the opposite side of the room from the beds, under a drafty window. I had to use the blankets from both beds to stay warm. The Palace Hotel is fairly well known as a back packer hotel/hostel. It had Internet (for a fee, of course) on 6 computers in the lounge type area, which was great. Saved having to search for a Net cafe. The hotel let me have breakfast for free that morning. :) A simple breakfast but good; fairly standard from what I had been having in the Middle East.
After eating I went out to wander around a bit. I found the King Hussein Mosque. I didn't go in, though. I went through the fruit & vegetable market behind it and went up the hill.It was opposite the citadel hill, and so I had a good view of the citadel.I started making my way back down the hill, along another route. At one point, a group of guys started following me and making strange noises and laughing. I knew they were watching me... and making the noises at me. No matter what country, men are still men. I walked past the Wild Jordan Cafe, which looked fairly interesting, and down to the bottom of the hill and found the amphitheater. It is HUGE!!!I walked up the stairs and looked around. It held up to 6000 spectators!!! It would have been amazing to see how it was when it was built and used. On either side of the amphitheater, inside, are two little museums: the Museum of Popular Tradition and the Museum of Folklore, with clothes and tools and such. Not bad.Next to the amphitheater is the Odeon, a small theater that seated up to 500 people.From what I have read it is still sometimes used. From there I took a taxi to go up to the Citadel. For some reason, it took a long time to get him to understand where I wanted to go. I even pointed and he gave me a blank look. Eventually, though, he figured it out and I made it there. There are several structures on the top of the mountain of the Citadel: the Temple of Hercules which was possibly made by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius:a 5 meter deep cistern: what remains of a Byzantine Church, the ruins of the Umayyad Palace:the palace entrance and the Ummayad Mosque. The difference between the old and the refurbished is so well defined![THIS link has a little map and information of these places.] The small Archaeological Museum has quite a bit to see including pottery covered skullsThe info card says:

Plastered Skulls
It is thought that skulls of ancestors were kept in
Plaster to be worshiped by their descendents
Found at Jericho
Neolithic

jar babiesThe info card says:

Child Burial
The burial of infants in jars was a common custom in
Mesopotamia, Egypt and Palestine. The jar was generally
placed under living room floor possibly to keep the
child within the family circle
Ghassul
Chalcolithic

Anthropoid coffins:The info card says:

ANTHROPOID COFFINS
The five anthropoid coffins on display were discovered in 1966 in the grounds of the Raghadan Palace in Amman among other archaeological finds in a cistern-like tomb. Made of baked clay, with crushed pieces of pottery used as grits, each of them has four handles that were used to transport them from their place of manufacture to their place of use. One of them has 16 handles at the back arranged in two rows, apparently serving to elevate the coffin when laid horizontally.
At the place where the head of the deceased would rest, a lid was cut out. the lug handles, one on the lid and one on the body of the coffin, were placed so as to fasten the lid to the body. On two of these lids, there are portraits of the deceased. Note the pointed noses, the small, elongated eyes and the eyebrows arranged in such a wasy as to connect up with the outline of the face. The ears are large and prominent, the lips small and straight and the beards of a pronounced length. Two of the coffins have arms placed on the sides of the body.
When discovered, it was found that each coffin contained two or three skeletons.
Very few sites have shown this type of burial practice in Jordan and Palestine. These include Sahab, south of Amman, and Lachish, Tell al-Far'ah, Besan and Deir al-Balah in Palestine. This burial practice was in use from the 13th to the 7th Century BC.

pottery bombs (maybe?):and other such interesting things. From the info card:

Architectural Relief
young woman wearing a laurel wreath holds a
mask of Pan, the herdsmend's god, or of a Satyr. She
may be Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, or be part
of a frieze in honour of Dionysus, the god of wine
Alternatively she may be the muse Thaleia holding
a mask of Pappos (father), as in the comedies of the
poet Menander which were the most popular on the
ancient stage at that time.
Nabataean, first half of 1st century A.D
Limestone, from Petra

From the Citadel, the view of Amman is amazing, including a great view of the Roman Theater in the distance. I took a back route down the hill using stairs on one side near the Temple of Hercules. The stairs took me to one of the roads that winds along the side of the hill, along which I found other stairs to other roads. The sights along the way were very interesting, with old and new intermixed. Some buildings were being destroyed or just deserted and falling down. When I was almost at the bottom, a guy approached me and wanted to talk. He seemed decent enough so I decided to let him join me. Ahmed, an electronics engineer, is learning English. We walked for a while and then sat in the forum (the area in front of the Amphitheater) to have some tea. Then, since I was hungry, he took me to Hashems, a very famous little restaurant that only serves felafels and side dishes. It is said to be one of the oldest restaurants in Amman. It was SO delicious!!! And cheap!!!! I was so full by the time I finished but only payed a little more than 1 JD. After eating, he took me to Jabra, a cafe, for some coffee. An interesting place with a good atmosphere. A bit smoky, though, since it is a sheesha cafe. After we finished our coffee, Ahmed wanted to show me his favorite street in Amman, a little street just off of Rainbow Street. The whole area there is very wealthy. A huge part of Rainbow Street has cobblestones. I think they are trying to make it back into something of what it once was. [Here is a blog post I found that shows Rainbow Street in some detail: 360East.]
Then it was back to the hotel for me. I was sitting at the computers working on a post and adding pics when all of a sudden something went wrong and the whole post went blank. ACK!!!!! So much time wasted!!! Back in my hotel room, I froze. The room was soooooooooo cold. The little heater was right under the windows, which were not well sealed and which seemed to suck out any heat coming off of the heater. I had the blankets from both beds in the room on top of me and was still a bit cold. Not cool.

Chuseok and Namsangol Hanok Village

2009-11-10T22:50:00.000+09:00

October 4th, 2009
Since it was Chuseok I decided that I should do at least something Korean, as opposed to spending the entire weekend out all night and sleeping all day, which is what I did Thursday night, Friday night and part of Saturday night - not that that isn't a very Korean thing, as they seem to do that quite frequently, even on week nights (the drinking part, at least). So Sunday I got up at a fairly decent time and dragged my friend Revo to the Namsangol Hanok Village (남산골한옥마을), at the base of Namsan (san is mountain), near Chungmuro station. [hee hee. made him pose for me]The Namsan Hanok Village is comprised of 5 traditional Korean homes from the Joseon period that were moved there in 1998 when part of the army base was moved. [a kitchen][a kimchi hut - a kimchi pot is buried up to the lid and covered with this hut to keep it cooled]There are always traditional Korean activities to partake in but since it was Chuseok, there were even more. Revo wearing a Jige - a traditional Korean device for carrying things (wood, etc).A throwing game - throw a bean bag like thing through the hole.[making traditional Korean shoes/slippers]There were Korean crafts and games such as kite making, paper doll making (well, the painting part and giving them clothes, at least), fan painting, [Revo's fan][my fan :)]

mask making (using crepe paper on a pre-formed paper mask of varying designs such as traditional, cat, butterfly), and solpyeon (rice cake) making. [pounding the rice to make rice cake]There were plenty of other activities as well: trying on traditional clothes, ball tossing, and see-saw jumping (nolttwigi), which is typically a women's activity or sport. It is similar to the western see-saw only a bit longer and they stand on it rather than sitting, jumping in turn. The women literally fly and often do acrobatics while in the air. It is quite impressive, actually. Others are swinging (kunettwigi), which is also done standing up, spinning tops, arrow throwing, hoop rolling, demos of traditional Korean bow making and other such things.[kimchi etc pots and a persimmon tree][making dubu (tofu) I think]Of course, as well as the activities there are the homes to check out, some of which contain examples of the costumes that they wore.There are also traditional Korean characters to pose with. View of Namsan Tower from the Namsan Hanok Village:

swine flu, skirmishes with North Korea, etc...

2009-11-10T19:46:00.004+09:00

So, my school has closed its doors until Friday. 3 days off mid week. I'm certainly not complaining.
I wonder though how affective this is. A couple of students got the flu and the result is the school closing. So what happens if a couple more students end up with the flu next week or the following week or such? Do we close the school again? Korea has free flu shots for school children (grade 1 and up, but not kindergarten age because it is not part of mandatory education) that will be given in public schools across the country. The parents can opt out of having their child immunized if they want. Any children younger than that can be taken to family doctors for their shots. Public school teachers are next on the list (or at the same time?) for the shots. Foreigners have to wait, or so I've been told. I figure all of the hagwons should provide shots for the teachers. Why not? We see just as many kids as the regular teachers!
In an attempt to make kids remember to wash their hands and be careful, I think some parents are telling their children that if you get the flu, you will definitely die. I've been told that by several students. Interesting. I then explain to the kids that no, getting the flu doesn't mean you will die. Some will just not understand my explanations, though, or accept them if they do, since it's all in English, a foreign language to them, and of course, if it contradicts what their mommy tells them, what are they to believe? I suppose they will learn soon enough since all of them will at some point encounter someone who has had it, or will catch it themselves.
Today there was a bit of a fight between North and South Korean ships to the west. Sounds almost the same as the one that happened my first year in Korea, in 2002. A North Korean ship crossed the Northern Limit Line, that is the internationally agreed upon demarcation line in the Yellow Sea. North Korea doesn't agree with NLL and so every now and then crosses it. The incident in 2002 was a bit more serious, though, as it involved 2 North Korean ships, one of which was on fire on its way back up, and a South Korean ship sank as it was being towed back to shore. Several South Koreans died during the skirmish. I didn't really hear much about it, though, other than the first couple of reports.
There have been other incidents as well.
I wonder how much attention this newest fight will get with all of the attention being put on the swine flu.

Cookie

2009-10-16T00:22:00.002+09:00

Cookie from Laura J on Vimeo.

Cookie II from Laura J on Vimeo.

Chuseok

2009-10-06T20:59:00.007+09:00

Last weekend was Chuseok (추석 /Korean Thanksgiving). Chuseok, which I have posted about before, though with pictures and not as much detail, is one of the most important holidays in Korea (along with Seolnal, the Lunar New Year) and is a 3 day holiday. The main day (the middle of the 3) is August 15th on the Lunar calendar so it changes every year. Unfortunately it fell on a weekend this year, which meant only a 3 day weekend rather than a 4 or 5 day weekend that it often is. For Chuseok, Koreans (especially children) often dress up in their Hanbok (한복/ traditional Korean clothing) and visiting family is the norm. Women aren't always fond of these holidays because they are required to cook so many things. A big Korean dinner is not a simple affair and can take days of preparation due to all of the side dishes and such. During Chuseok, children bow to their elders (well, more of a prostration with the forhead touching the hands on the floor) and often get money in return. One of the most common special foods for Chuseok is songpyeon (송편), a rice cake stuffed with a number of things from sugar, sesame seeds, chestnut, and other such things. For the occasion, Thursday at my kindy was 'Hanbok Day'. The kids dressed up in their Hanboks (which seem to be getting fancier every year) and got to do several Korean activities including making songpyeon and playing jegichagi, a simple game similar to a hackey sack. The game is generally played with 4 people, passing it around trying to keep it from touching the ground.For the kids, the thing is tied to a string to help them keep it from going everywhere.I had my 6 yr old students for 30 minutes that day (each class 30 minutes). We didn't know until pretty much the day before that it was even Hanbok Day and were not told that we were expected to teach the kids something Korean (without any info or help), I had them coloring some simple pages I found on the Net. The kids didn't mind!! Hanok - Korean traditional house with a persimmon tree [coloring page]Hanbok - Korean traditional clothing [coloring page]
I colored along with them and most of them were trying, at least partly, to copy what I was doing.
If I didn't have other work to do that day I would have more pictures of the things they did.
more to come about Chuseok...

tshirt

2009-10-01T00:24:00.000+09:00

Today on a t-shirt:

DRINK
PEE
REPEAT

March 18th: Hama and bus to Amman [updated with pics and more; first posted 06-04-09]

2009-09-28T23:34:00.000+09:00

I got up early to have breakfast and get ready to meet Alaa' for some shopping - I wanted to try to find a little backgammon game board that I had seen in Aleppo but didn't buy. Backgammon seems to be quite popular everywhere over here - in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, ... I talked to Abdullah about the bus to Amman. I had him book me a ticket on the midnight bus and then went out to meet Alaa'. He wasn't there!!! I waited for quite a while, but he didn't show up. So I went in to call him. He had gotten busy with some family things and couldn't come early. He said he'd come after a couple of hours so then I had time to wait. I sat behind the reception counter with Margo, an older Australian/Estonian woman who had also been staying at the hotel and was going to Amman on the afternoon bus. She had been sick in bed the past few days. Poor woman! Abdullah was there talking with us for a while. We had tea, and then he left. We were brought fresh strawberries and such. :) Nice. Eventually I saw Alaa' outside (they have security cameras - one of the sidewalk outside the door, one of the stairway, one of the salon, and one of the restaurant/dining room).
Alaa' and I wandered for quite a while. We checked out several shops but either they didn't have them or they were bad quality or they were charging way too much. Finally we found one that I liked, with mother of pearl inlay. I paid 500 Syrian pounds (about $10US?). We then went to see some of the (ناعورة) norias of Hama. I love them!!!The Norias are along the Orontes River of Hama and are very old and big.

The Noria Al-Muhammadiyya is supposedly the largest noria in the world, as well as one of the oldest. According to an info board near the noria, it is 21 meters in diameter (about 69 feet) and was built around 763 AH (1361 CE). We walked around quite a bit checking out the norias.I think that is the 3 norias. Most of them had no posters or info boards so I can't really label the pictures other than how many were at a specific spot if there were more than one. We tried to get down to the 4 norias from the back side but couldn't, so went to the 4 norias restaurant. I had lunch, but as usual, he wasn't hungry. Also, he had a stomach ache. He had a special kind of tea that is supposedly good for stomach problems. I took a small taste of it. YUCK!!! It kinda tasted like stomach acid!! It was lemon with cumin. Not something I would ever want to taste again. After I ate, he talked to the manager about going to see the norias. They said there was no separate entry, and there was a gate, but we could jump over the gate if we wanted to get closer to the norias. Funny. We did just that. Out the back door of the restaurant to their patio and then over the gate that separated the patio from the norias.I'm not sure I mentioned it before, but the water REALLY stinks. Near the hotel area, the water is actually bubbling (with noxious gas?) and has a thick iridescent film on it. DISGUSTING!! It smells like human waste among other things. At the norias, it smells like sulfur. It is amazing that anything can live in it!!! Near the 4 norias, there were frogs living in the water. We stopped for a while to toss tiny pebbles to try to make the frogs jump (not to hit them, so you know). I went back to my hotel to rest and get my things ready. I watched a movie (Shining Through) and took a bit of a nap before going to sit in the salon for a while, with Cookie sitting on my knee chewing my pen, and then sleeping on my foot. :) A little later, I went out to pay for my bus ticket. They said the bus was at 12:30AM. Then I went back to Alaa's restaurant to have tea and say bye. We had some tea and sat and talked for a while. Then he got busy for a moment. While he was up, a guy from the next table came over and asked me to join them. He was with his fiancee and her mother. I said okay, for a short time. He siad he is the mayor of a village to the east of Hama. I'm not sure if I believed him or not. He spoke English quite well. His fiancee also spoke some English. She just started studying English literature in university. She is only 18!!!! The guy looked around 28 or 30. He was looking at me and watching me in an odd way. When Alaa' returned, I went back to join him. I had a cappuccino and we chatted some more. When it was time for me to go, he said he would try to see me off at the bus station but would probably be too busy. No problem.
I went back to the hotel to check out and wait a bit until it was time to go to the bus station. I was a little late leaving the hotel because I didn't have enough Syrian money - I paid the hotel bill but also had to have enough to pay the departure tax, so I had to change some money. I finally left the hotel at around 12:15 and got to the bus station in less than 10 minutes. With only a short time before the bus was to leave (according to what I was told), I thought I was in a hurry. I went to the office there, and the guy told me to sit and wait. What? There was a bus at the station that was almost ready to pull out. The guy took my passport to write down my info, and then disappeared in the back to make some tea for himself!! I was thinking what the heck is he doing??? The bus was pulling out. I looked worried, as when he came out and looked at me he said to relax, because the bus wasn't there yet and wouldn't go until 1. Grrrr. After he got my info and I got my passport back, I went out to find some water and a snack, then went back to the office to read my book. I had just sat down and opened my book when I looked up to find Alaa' sitting beside me. He had rushed to get there and had though he would have missed me. His friend from the restaurant had driven him on his motorcycle. He then stayed until my bus came. We went and got a tea and a cheese (salty Arabic cheese) sandwich for me since I really hadn't had anything for dinner. We had just started to drink the tea when the bus came, about 15 minutes early. Well, I had to go. The busses here don't wait until the departure time. When the bus pulled in, a bunch of people all of a sudden appeared. I'm not sure where they were waiting. I was put in the front seat behind the driver. A young guy tried to sit next to me but the driver shooed him away and told him to find another seat. Yay!! I had the whole 2 seats to myself. Good thing, as the bus was very old and not very comfortable. There was almost no leg room, but with the 2 seats, I could stretch my legs out. It was around a 7 hour bus ride. We stopped a while before the border at a little place where everyone had to pay a departure tax of 500 Syrian Pounds. Then it was back on the bus for a while longer. I slept between stops. I wish I had some warning before the stops or had some instruction as to what was going on, as each time I woke up, I felt very disoriented, and every time there was a stop, I sort of just had to follow everyone and figure out on my own what had to be done. First, there was the departure area where I had to go in and get a departure stamp. For some reason, the guy stood there looking at my passport for about 5 minutes before even starting to put it into the computer and stamp it. Not sure why. Then I sat on the bus for about 20 minutes waiting... not sure what for. After that, it was a short drive to the Jordanian immigration/entry section. First thing, all bags had to be taken off of the bus and out of the baggage storage to be opened and quickly inspected, and then put back on the bus. Then I had to go around to another building for the immigration procedures. I went to the VISA counter, where I was told to go to the immigration counter first. At the immigration counter, the guy looked at my passport, and told me to go to the VISA counter. That little look at the passport was apparently an important part of the procedure. I had to then run outside to another building to change money to pay for the VISA. Then it was no problem. I got the little VISA stamp and had the immigration guy stamp the arrival stamp and off I went back to find the bus (it moved to part in front of a little store). We waited there for almost half an hour!!! I guess it was breakfast time?? I wasn't yet hungry. I just wanted to sleep. After that there were no more stops until we reached Amman. Where we were dropped off was not at any bus station but just behind some building. Odd. I went out and quickly found a taxi to take me to the hotel I had chosen - the Palace Hotel. The driver took a while to understand the little map on the back of the business card I had. Then he didn't even drop me off near the hotel, but rather about a block past it on the other side. ARGH!! He didn't want to turn around to go back. Then he wouldn't give me all of my change. I didn't think he deserved a tip but he tipped himself with my money. GRRRRR.

March 17th: Aleppo and back to Hama [updated with pics and more; first posted 03-04-09]

2009-09-28T23:01:00.000+09:00

After getting ready in the morning, we checked out and I left my bags at reception so we could go out and see things in Aleppo.We went to the Citadel... but it was closed. :( It is closed Tuesdays.I was hungry so we sat at a nearby cafe so I could eat. Too much food, for too much money. You couldn't order a set. Everything is separate. I had a fried egg, yogurt (which they completely covered in olive oil), a cheese thing that was similar to a quesadilla only with a salty arabic cheese that was quite rubbery, and a tea. They brought olives on the side. It certainly wasn't worth 300 Syrian Pounds (only I was eating, as Alaa' wasn't hungry). Oh well. I was too hungry to wait. Then we walked through some of the old souqs. So nice. Like elsewhere, the souqs are in old caravanserais. Unfortunately not much was open, even at 10 AM. Because it was Tuesday??? In our wandering, we found the Medicine and Science Museum in Bimaristan (hospital/house of patients) Argun. It was a hospital and madhouse/asylum from the 14th until the 20th century, with a part for dangerous patients. Some of the rooms had displays showing the tools and such used. Some looked a bit scary!We tried to get into a nearby madrasa but it was closed... also because it was Tuesday. :(
We went to the Aleppo Museum. It TOO was closed. Tuesdays... why is everything there closed Tuesdays??? Why did Tuesday just happen to be the day that I spent in Aleppo??? ARGH!!We did manage to go to the Great Mosque of Aleppo. It is similar to the mosque in Damascus but of a smaller scale. Still very nice. Like at the one in Damascus, I had to wear a grey hooded robe (though this one really didn't fit very well and with my bag underneath it looked even stranger).[I love taking pics of the minarets of mosques. It's always so easy to get a beautiful shot.]My knee had started hurting several days before and was really getting bad. Not a good thing. I decided I should go back to Hama for a little rest (since the hotel there, the Riad, was so great and welcoming). We went back to the hotel and then went to the bus station to get tickets. We didn't have long to wait. I had to go to the bathroom and wouldn't be able to wait the whole bus trip so I left my bags with Alaa' and went on a search for it. I walked into the main part of the station where all of the offices are. I asked a guy where the bathroom was. He had no idea what I was saying. I asked for the WC. He still didn't understand. I asked for the toilets. He seemed to understand and said "Ah! Follow me!" He took me to one of the offices and tried to sell me bus tickets to some city I didn't know the name of. Argh!! All they want to do is sell bus tickets for the company they work for. That is how they make their money. I said no. Another guy in the office asked what I needed. I said I had to go to the bathroom. He said "Ah." and looked at the other guy, shook his head and said to follow him. This guy actually did understand. By the time I was finished it was time for the bus to go. Alaa' came to find me as the bus was in a different spot. Also, we had to go to the police office to get my ticket signed. Even though the ticket office took had my name and passport info, for some reason the police had to authorize it. They are very protective of the foreigners in Syria.
On the way home, Alaa' was amused by my paper folding. I have a habit of making things (paper cranes, paper boxes, paper stars, etc) with even little bits of paper (like gum wrappers and such). Once in Hama, I went to my hotel. I had a great welcome. The guy at the counter had a surprised look on his face and said to go take my bags off and relax for a bit. He called Abdullah who immediately came down and said I was just on time and had to follow him upstairs. He had made a large lunch for a couple of his friends and wanted me to join. They had finished the fish (which is fine by me since I don't eat fish), but there was still plenty of the rest of the dishes left (salad, fuul, eggplant, cauliflower, etc) that he had made from scratch. He said he sometimes likes to cook. It was all so delicious!!!Back in the salon to relax and write in my journal, Cookie was back on my knee. So cute.
At around 8 I went out for some dinner. I went to the restaurant that Alaa' works in. He is something like an accountant/cashier/manager. All he does is sign the receipts and later on balances the cash and receipts. Because of that, he could sit and talk. We had tea (or I had tea and he had the Turkish coffee that he seems to be addicted to). I then had dinner... chicken on rice with salad and fries (a bit of a bigger meal that what is on the menu) and a Nescafe with milk afterwards. When it was time for me to go, Alaa' refused to let me pay for my meal. :)

March 15th & 16th: Hama, new friends and Lattakia [updated with pics and more; first posted 03-04-09]

2009-09-14T23:02:00.001+09:00

Oh, I forgot to mention that while I was downstairs writing, Abdullah made me share his dinner - a burger (half) and some fries. Tasted great, but I ate too much that day. :S
I got up at 8 to get ready and have breakfast. After finishing my small breakfast, I went to my room to pack up my stuff as my plan was to leave around lunch time for Lattakia. While there, Abdullah called me to say I had to join him in the salon as he was having his breakfast of fuul (beans) and bread and such. He said I was in Syria and had to try the Syrian bean dish. Okay then. I had a second breakfast. It was so good!!! Once again I was eating too much. Ugh. Oh well. It was a good chance to try different things. After eating I went out to wander around Hamah, as I had yet to really do that. I went to the Azem Palace museum. It is small but nice. A man there sort of took me around and opened some doors for me. Even outside he kept saying photos were not allowed (there were only signs inside the rooms saying no photos). He would say no photos, then look around as if trying to be sneaky, and then say I could take a photo. He was actually telling me to take photos of certain things in some of the rooms, which I had no interest in taking photos of. Sort of like 'ooh! a window! picture okay!' I said no thanks and then he said no photos but okay for me to take photos. After a while it got kinda annoying but whatever. In the end, he was asking for a tip since he was letting me take pictures when he wasn't supposed to. It was all in order to get money, of course, which I knew right from the start. That seems to be the way it is everywhere over here. After I saw all there was to see in the museum, I wandered over to the nearest norias (water wheels). The water wheels in Hamah are amazing. There are so many of them!!! 17, to be exact, including the largest waterwheel in the world. They are very old, dating back to the Byzantine time, though of the course the wooden parts have been replaced fairly regularly to keep them running. Too bad I didn't get to see them actually moving (though it seems they can be VERY noisy!A street in the old quarter near the Azem Palace.While I was there taking pictures, a guy nearby asked if I wanted him to take a picture for me so that I could be in a picture. He seemed quite sincere (I always use my intuition and it has served me quite well), so I said okay. He kinda looks like Andrew McCarthy. Every time I looked at him it reminded me of the movies Pretty in Pink and Mannequin and I kind of laughed to myself. I walked with Alaa' for a while talking about all sorts of things - Syria, work, travel, etc. He spoke some English but not a lot. He took me to the big Hama Museum. It is big on the outside, but there is not much there to see. Then we went for coffee. I said I was going to Lattakia and he decided, if it was okay with me, he would join me to sort of show me around. He was enjoying my company. He called his co-worker/friend to get him to cover for work the next day (only one of them really has to be there at a time).
I went back to my hotel to check out and he went home to change and then picked me up at the hotel. We went to the bus station to get tickets, but the soonest bus was sold out and the next one was several hours away. So we decided to take a micro bus. Well, the micro bus that was there was already full and was just pulling out so we had to wait for the next one to fill up. They said maybe 30 minutes. That turned into a couple of hours. We were talking to 2 girls on the bus infront of us (we had the whole back seat because of my bag - I had to pay for the extra seat, which is really not much). They were both students, taking nursing in Lattakia. One of them, Fihal, had to go to the hospital by 5 to work. Eventually, after the bus was still not full, we all paid a little extra to make them go. Fihal was late for work as we didn't arrive until after 5. On the way, Rasha, the other girl, made arrangements for us to stay in a beach house (which they kept calling a chalet), as she knew someone that had one. It was fantastic and relaxing. The beach house was large, with 2 bedrooms (with 5 beds), a large living room with a view of the sea, and good sized kitchen (all on the 2nd floor). The Mediterranean Sea is beautiful! The next day we wandered along the shore and I got my feet wet. I can't go to the sea and not at least get my feet into it. ;) After talking a while, Alaa' decided he wanted to go to Aleppo, too. He lived in Aleppo for several years when he went to university, and wanted to show me around. Okay then. After leaving the beach house, we went to the train station to get tickets and leave my bags at the cafeteria (thank goodness they will store bags, as I didn't want to have to carry them around or sit there and wait the whole time). We had several hours to wander. We went along the corniche and down the steep side to the water's edge. So nice. The color of the water there was amazing!! I made Ali follow me and climb up a huge rock/hill, all vocanic rock, I think. On top, it was very windy. Though it was cold, it was very refreshing and the view was great. After sitting there for a while, we tried to get a hold of the girls again, but they were both busy. Rasha was on her way back to Hama already. Oh well.
On the way down the rock, Alaa' noticed that the heel of his shoe had at some point, fallen off. So our next activity was finding a cobbler to fix his shoe. As we searched, we stopped for a felafel sandwich for lunch... SO good. It took a while, but eventually we found a shoe repair shop in the downtown area. The place was literally a crack in the wall. The width of the room was only slightly wider than the guy's shoulders!! It was interesting watching him work. He did a great job of giving Alaa' two new heels. It only cost 50 Syrian pounds, which is about $1. The train to Aleppo was so nice. A lot of space, a smooth ride, and fairly fast. Definitely better than a bus ride! In Aleppo, we caught a taxi to the hotel that I had sort of picked out from my Lonely Planet Guide. It was absolutely horrible!!!! It smelled so bad, the paint was chipped and peeling off the walls. When they opened the door to a room to show it to me, all sorts of dust came flying off the walls. Yuck!!! We were out of there fairly quickly. Around the corner we found another hotel. It wasn't great but was much better than the other one, and cheaper. My room was very large, with my own bathroom/shower and heating. Alaa's room was nice but smaller, and no bathroom. He had to use the shared bathroom and shower with other rooms. Of course, his was cheaper.
For dinner, Alaa' took me to his favorite pizza place in Aleppo, a little place near the university called Mister Taster. The pizzas we had were sort of sampler pizzas with 3 kinds on one - 1/3rd mushroom, 1/3rd sausage/meat, and 1/3rd spicy chicken. It was delicious. Much better than I had expected.
I am still unable to upload any pictures. :( For some reason the computers here won't recognize my camera. I guess you'll just have to wait.

March 14th: More Crusader Castles! [updated with pics and more. first posted 02/04/09]

2009-09-13T16:06:00.000+09:00

I went on another trip arranged by the Riad Hotel. This one was to Qala'at Salah ad-Din (Saladin's Castle) and Qala'at al-Marqab. There were two others on the tour with me - Paolo from Italy and Mariko from Japan. Paolo has been studying for a month in Damascus. An interesting option if I decided I want to learn more Arabic. :) It is around 300Euros for a 1 month course, with home stay at around 200Euros for the month. Not bad.

It took a while to arrive at our first castle of the day. Qala'at al-Marqab, meaning 'Castle of the Watchtower', is built on an extinct volcano and is unique in that it is built using black basalt, making the whole castle black. It was originally built in 1062 by the Arabs and then sold to the Byzantines and added to. The Crusaders held the fort until Sultan Qala’un (of Egypt) won it in battle. Such an amazing place!!! The views of the Mediterranean sea and the surrounding countryside are fantastic. It took a long time to wander. The only bad thing about the day was the weather. It was SO windy. You could literally lean into the wind and not fall over. Especially in a few places around the castle that became pretty much wind tunnels. Going up on top of the walls and roofs was a bit scary. It felt like the wind was going to pick me up and carry me away. At one point going through the castle, we some how got separated. It is like a maze in there!!! I was glad I remembered to bring my flashlight! :) To one side of the castle are the remains of the village. Very nice. Unfortunately, I found that after being separated and the other two I was with didn't see that part. I'm not even sure where they disappeared to. I think they went around the outside of the wall. The village was so peaceful, though kinda sad. There were no people anywhere. I think we might have been the only tourists there at the time!!! The only others were the guards at the front entrance. Can't complain. I love not having to wait for people to move out of the way of my pictures. :) After a few hours of wandering it was time to move onto the next destination, Qala'at Salah ad-Din. We stopped at the opposite side of the valley at a little restaurant (with the most flamboyant waiter I've ever come across) for lunch and to take some pictures. We then spent a few hours wandering about the castle. Saladin's castle was originally built by the Phoenecians and then lost to Alexander the Great around 334 B.C. There is an ineteresting story as to how he did it. The Byzantines then took control in the 10th century A.D. In the 12th century, it fell into the hands of the Crusaders. Right from the beginning, the castle was continuously added to and improved, mostly by the Crusaders, so the structures in some places look quite different from others. In July 1188, Salah ad-Din/Saladin and his army then took the castle.Fantastic!! Built a top a ridge with very deep ravines on either side, it would not have been an easy castle to reach or attack!! Once again, I was thankful for remembering to bring my flashlight!! :)These giant rock balls were all over (that's my foot for a bit of size comparison). From the catapults, I assume? The view out the windows (looking down) was breathtaking and frightening (a tad high up for my liking). Along one side, because there was no ravine, they made one! It is about 28 meters deep. Imagine how long this would have taken to carve by hand!!!A pillar was left in the middle to support a bridge that could be raised or lowered. For some reason, there are several donkeys wandering around the area. Guess there is not exit for them to sneak out! Sometimes the stairs going up or down to places are rather worn and crumbly and quite scary. This set was very steep and narrow, as you can see - I have Paolo in front of me to show how narrow they are. Had to keep one hand on the wall to keep balance the entire way down. Yes, scary, probably a bit dangerous, but... my sense of adventure takes over. ;) I LOVE EXPLORING!!!Peace!! Part of a fountain.A skylight!More donkeys!! :) making a friend. :)The white one wasn't as friendly and ran as soon as we got near. Can you see it (in the photo above)???There is only one road in to get to the castle. It goes switchback down the other side of the ravine and up this side to reach the front entrance.View of the rest of the castle grounds.Some of the rocks used for the castles have fossils in them. Very cool.Looking up!!This sort of shows how deep the hand cut ravine is. That is the bridge pillar in the middle.Back in Hama I went for dinner with Mariko, back to Aspasia. I was very happy with their shish taouk (unlike my reaction to the other dish I had tried there). Once again I got free dessert. Just like last time, it was freshly made, only this time with chocolate ice-cream instead of vanilla. :)Back at the hotel it was time for me to update my journal. While writing, I had Cookie, Abdul's little bird, sitting on me. For some reason, she seemed to like me (or maybe it was just my pen she liked?). She slept on the tip of my shoe, climbed up my leg, sat on my knee chewing my pen, etc. A few times, I put her off, and she came right back. Funny. Cute. She doesn't like being touched, though. Abdul said she is still fairly new and has only ever gone on his knee!! The first time she went on my knee, she flew there from her cage (only a couple of feet away).

Anyway... I'm in Dahab now and it is getting late. I need to get up early tomorrow as I will start my diving course at 10 (and have to eat and do a few other things before then).

March 13th: Day trip to Dead Cities and Apamea [updated with pics and more; first posted 30/03/09]

2009-09-13T08:35:00.001+09:00

My ride was a 1952 Pontiac. Nice.First stop was the mosaic floor of (the church) Tayibat Al-Imam, which is one of the most important and intact mosaics in Syria. It is huge!!!The next stop was the mosaic museum. Syria has some amazing mosaics!!! They are made using tiny square shaped stones of different colors. Some have such amazing details! The museum is in an old Caravanserai. The first dead city I went to is Serjilla. It was quite eerie with the wind blowing across the moors and only a few people - all of whom were Syrians, mostly children. Wandering about the ruins was very interesting.I was amused by the children... though maybe not as much as they were amused by me!! It started out with one boy following me, then one by one more joined. They were polite, and would try their best not to be infront of me, or where I was taking pictures. One girl wanted a picture with me on her cellphone. By the time I finished my walk around the dead city, I had about a dozen kids following me. The first boy disappeared at one point and returned with a small turtle. Not sure where that came from. A couple of the girls kept asking my name and how are you, and saying nice to meet you. I think that is all they knew. Cute. The only picture I have of them is near the end when I turned around to take a picture of the dead city as a whole and they were all right there behind me.Next I went to the dead city of Al Bara. I only got to see a few things at this one as it seems to be a bit more spread out and is now all orchards. Al Bara is, I think, the most extensive of the dead cities. I saw 2 pyramid tombs (one big, one small) and one monastery. For some reason, the driver didn't want me to wander about any more of it. :( The area was amazing. As we drove, the landscape kept changing. In some areas, there were little red poppies everywhere. Very cool. Apamea (pronounced Afamea) was great. The ruins stretch along 1.8 km. When I arrived, another vehicle arrived. I was invited to join Dave and his guide (Farid?) on their walk through the area. Dave is traveling with the guide (and has traveled with the same guide in other countries at other times, including Turkey and Iran). I can't imagine how much a guide like that would cost!!

The Main Street
The main street stretched from north to south is about 2 km. Fifteen minor roads divided it from east to west. Huge columns 10 meters high lined the street on either side, each column was three meters distance from the other, followed by the shadowy porticoes and decorated also with columns having different carvines (spiral, square and circluar). Their crowns were decoreted with Hellenistic art. The columns which lined the two sides of the street number 1200. They were ornamented with beautiful squares.
[from a board at the entrance]

Here you can see some of the pipes of the aqueduct leading into resevoirs.The pillar in the middle of the road is sort of a roundabout/traffic circle. It is one of the main intersections of the road. That was the most informative tour I've ever been on!!! The things that Farid pointed out were fantastic, and some very interesting (the female - center of the floral decoration at top of pillar and male - many pillars later on the top genitalia up on the pillars, for example). Things that most people would never notice. The aqueduct systems there are very cool to see. Many things are still being uncovered and discovered in Apamea. a citadel/castle in the distance. You can see clothes lines hung up along the tops of the walls. Many Syrians have made home out of the remaining structures of this citadel. I think that would be a cool place to grow up (in a way). The Apamea Museum in the town nearby is small but nice. It is in an old caravanserai (as are the souqs everywhere here). On one side of the walk way through the building, there is a place to tie the animals, with a place for camp with a chimney opposite that. The museum is mostly just mosaics (with a few other artifacts thrown in here and there) from the surrounding areas. The man at the museum (said he was the curator/caretaker) explained that this would have contained the bones of a saint. They would put oil in a top hole and it would go through the bones and drip out of a little spout on the side. The holy oil was used to make a cross on the forehead and for other uses as well. The sign says, "A Holy Crave - In ts covering a hole to put in oil and mix with the bones of the sant and go out from sideway a holy oil. Its date 483A.D. From Hawarty"After the museum we stopped at an amphitheater. It is huge, but mostly crumbled and buried.
My day tour was supposed to include the Sheizar Citadel (castle) but didn't!!! My driver was going to turn in to it, but didn't and said it was closed. What??? He could have at least stopped outsided and I could have checked some of it out, even if it was just from the outside. I was quite angry, actually. The trip was not cheap since I was the only one. If I had known I wouldn't have been able to see everything, I would have waited and gone the next day (leaving earlier). GRRRR. The driver didn't even stop at any point for me to get lunch. By the time I got back to the hotel at around 4 I was starving (I had been told that I would get back after sunset in order to see everything). I went for a walk with Gilles, a fellow traveler staying at the hotel (met him on the trip to Krad des Chevaliers the previous day) for some chicken shawarma. We sat in the nearby park to eat and watch people go by. It is surprising how many fair skinned/haired Syrians there are. There were many very blond kids. Then we walked up to the Citadel. Not much up there. Pretty much just a park. The citadel/castle that used to be there was completely destroyed in earthquakes. A lot of it was either carried away to be used in construction elsewhere, or buried. There was, of course, a nice view of the entire city though. As usual I had people watching me, often saying hi. Funny. Back at the hotel, I sat in the salon to write in my journal. An older Jordanian man was staying at the hotel as well, and ever evening he was sitting in the salon to have tea. Sometimes he would talk to me a little bit, and I noticed him always watching me. Didn't bother me... maybe because I'm so used to being watched?? He came and sat next to me to talk. He said he was in Syria becasue of some problems. His wife was Syrian, and she had gone to Syria to visit her family. Only a couple days after she went, he got a phone call and had to rush to her side. Something to do with hitting her head. She was in a coma, and died shortly after. Very sad. That happened only a month ago and there are problems to do with money that are keeping hgim in Syria. As he talked to me, the man started crying. He asked if I'd have tea with him, but I was on my way out with Gilles and Nanci (another fellow traveler at the hotel) for dinner. We went to the Le Jardin Restaurant (belonging to the Cham hotel chain). It was okay but not as nice as I had thought it would be. I had shish taouk (always a safe option) and tea.

Cheonggyecheon

2009-08-22T18:20:00.002+09:00

For some reason I had thought I had already done a post of some sort on the Cheonggyecheon from when I had gone there in the winter a couple of years ago (they had it all lit up with lights). I guess I didn't, because now I cannot find it. :S

"Spring"
Spring, this sculpture at the Cheonggyecheon, was created by world-renouned artists Coosje Van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg. The idea for the exterior spiral was inspired from a shell rising upward like a pagoda. The vertical shape creates a dynamic atmosphere, representing the restored vitality of the stream and the cultural aspect of Seoul's urban development. Looking inside, two colorful ribbons, inspired from Korean traditional dress for women, stream loosely down, one a luminous blue, the other a peony red, representing the unity of opposites in nature an th human spirit.
Spring is the monument of the nature regenerated in Seoul and the symbol of the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project.
[from a plaque at the sculpture]

Also, the Korean national colors are blue and red. [pic from wikipedia]
The South Korean flag, or Taegukgi, has a blue and red yin-yang shape in the center, called a Taeguk. The Taeguk is also sometimes drawn with a yellow part added. In an older flag, the Taeguk was even more swirled, sort of like a snail shell. The Cheonggyecheon (청계천) or Cheonggye Stream is right down town Seoul, not far from City Hall. It is about 6 km long and is a natural stream that for many years (since the 1960s) was covered by a road and then an elevated expressway. Then, Lee MyungBak (currently the President of South Korea) became the mayor of Seoul and decided that the stream should be uncovered. It was a HUGE project that so many were opposed to, but it went on. The stream was finally finished in 2005 and since then, has been very popular in all seasons. In the winter, they have Christmas lights up and in the summer, people go and sit along the sides and children sometimes play in the water. The stream definitely doesn't have a natural look but it is very nice. Parades now end along the Cheonggyecheon. I remember last year after the St.Patrick's Day parade, they even turned the water green!!!! Not sure what they used to do that. I hope it was environmentally friendly! There ARE fish in the water (though not sure where they come from. The original stream source has mostly dried up or disappeared because of the city (the stream 'starts' at the Cheonggyecheon Plaza - up to that point, it is still all underground) so most of the water is actually pumped in from the subway systems and from the Han River (filtered, of course, to make it cleaner). So, after checking out Deoksugung and the City Hall (on July 22nd, during my summer vacation), I walked up to the Cheonggyecheon. It's a great place for a little walk or to sit and enjoy nice weather. At one point along, there were people all the way along the sides, dangling their feet in, listening to a street performer playing guitar and singing to one side. There were families and couples, groups of friends and several individuals as well. They mostly stayed along a line, sort of being tumbled sideways trying to stay.

Kinda cool watching them.Mojeongyo, the first of the 22 bridges that cross the Cheonggyecheon. Mojeongyo was originally the bridge of a fruit market street. The first section of the Cheonggyecheon, up to this bridge, is a special part called Palseokdam, which was built using stones from tiger eye stones found in all 8 provinces. In this section, the sides are built up an there are steps down to the water and walkways IN the water so people can walk in the water. All of the bridges along the Cheonggyecheon apparently have a story behind them. They were all destroyed when the stream was covered and have been re-built.[looking on down stream][looking back towards the start]
I walked quite a ways down the stream, stopping every now and again to watch the water, the fish, and the people (I love watching people watching!!). Then I crossed over and headed back again. I went to the Kyobo Bookstore, the largest book store in Seoul, which is in the basement of the Kyobo building just north of City Hall. Almost all of the bookstores in Seoul are huge. And I have a membership card for each of the large bookstore companies. No wonder my wallet is so thick!!! All of the large bookstores have at least a small English section. The Kyobo's is a bit bigger than some of the others. The best book store for English books in Seoul, though, is What The Book, in Itaewon. If they don't have it, they'll get it (they have stock in Seoul and in the US). They have a great website as well, and provide free delivery on purchases over 25,000won. Not bad. I must say that bookstores are an evil invention. I can't help but buy books and stationery (the bookstores here have huge sections with pens, stationery and office supplies) when ever I go. One might say I shouldn't go then unless I really need books or stationery, but alas, I can't keep myself from going. It's like some sort of magnetic force. I am drawn to them!! Books make me happy!! :)

Deoksugung, etc

2009-08-18T23:21:00.000+09:00

During summer vacation I spent a day wandering around down town Seoul. I started out just through the tunnel from where I live (the 3rd tunnel going under Namsan) in the Myungdong area. I went to the Bank of Korea Museum.I have always looked at the outside and wondered what it looked like inside. It is a beautiful building, built in 1912 by the Japanese.The museum is definitely worth a look. Very interesting. Did you know they shred old paper money and make things with it, such as parts for cars and blocks for flooring??? Did you know that there is such a thing as knife money??? There is even an entire wall covered in Notgeld (emergency money used in Germany, especially during the war - some examples)! Too bad I couldn't take pictures inside the museum other than the stairs.Then I went for a walk towards City Hall.[Sinsegae Department Store][Korea Post Tower]
I decided to finally check out Deoksugung, (덕수궁/Deoksu Palace/Palace of Virtuous Longevity). It is right in the middle of downtown Seoul, across from the City Hall. Deoksugung was originally the home of a brother of one of the kings, but then became the main palace in 1592 when all of the other palaces were damaged/destroyed in fires when the Japanese were invading (during the Seven Year War). It is one of "Five Grand Palaces" built by the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) in Korea, the others being Gyeongbokgung (경복궁/Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven or Palace of Shining Happiness, the largest/main palace, which is a little North of City Hall - I've been there a couple of times), Changdeokgung (창덕궁/Palace of Prospering Virtue, or Palace of Illustrious Virtue, which is near Anguk Station, to the west of Gyeongbokgung. I've been there a couple of times as well), Gyeonghuigung (경희궁/Palace of Serene Harmony, to the southwest of Gyeongbokgung/northwest of Deoksugung; it was completely destroyed by the Japanese and only a small part was rebuilt) and Changgyeonggung (창경궁/Palace of Flourishing Gladness, sort of attached to the east side of Changdeokgung). I guess I could mention that 'gung' is palace in Korean. [Taehanmun - Taehan Gate]
From a sign at the entrance:

On the site of Deoksugung were residential buildings of descendants of the royal family, including prince Wolsan (1454-1488), the older brother of King Seongjong (1469-1494), and high-ranking officials of the Joseon Dynasty. When all the palaces int eh capital were destroyed by fire during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, King Seonjo (1567-1608) used these residential buildings as a temporary palace. In 1611, this palace became a secondary palace named Gyeongungung when King Gwanghaegun (1608-1623) moved to Changdeokgung, which was rebuilt as the offical royal residence. From that time to the mid nineteenth century, Gyeongungung played no important role as a palace. In 1897, King gojong proclaimed the establishment of the Great Han Empire and became and emporer. Gyeongungung became the central palace of the Great Han Empire, and a number of new buildings befitting and imperial palace were built. As evidence of Gojong's determination to modernize the country, some of the buildings were built in a Western style. In the 1880s, the area around the palace was called Jeongneung-dong and was crowded with foreign legations and residences of missionaries, making expansion of the premises of Gyeongungung difficult. The premises eventually surrounded the already existing American, British and Russian legations, resulting in a very irregular layout. In 1907, the palace became the residence of the former King gojong after he relinquished the throne. The palace was renamed Deoksugung, and its prmises were reduced to make way for street widening. After Gojong passed away, Seonwonjeon in the northern section and Jungmyeongjeon in teh western section of the palace were sold, reducing the premises of the palace by one-third. In 1933, all of the buildings on the palace premises, except a few central buildings and Western-style buildings, were removed. The palace was then made a park and opened to the general public. The Junghwajeon area, the center of the palace premises, and the Western-style buildings including Jeonggwanheon and Seokjojeon, remain. Deoksugung was the symbolic center of resistance in the face of several national crises, including the Japanese invasion on 1592 and the difficulties during the closing years of the so-called Great Han Empire.

THIS is a good site to see the layout of the palace.I love the fact that this giant cat has it's little tongue sticking out!!!

Gwangmyeongmun was originally the south gate to Hamnyeongjeon,
sleeping quarters of the king. It was moved to its present location when the
west wing of Seokjojeon was expanded in 1938 to be used as an art museum of the
Yi Dynasty.Inside the gate are an automatic striking water clock called
Jagyeokru (National Treasure No. 229), the Bell of Heungcheonsa Temple forged in
1462 (Treasure No 1460) and a powerful wheeled cannon that can fire 100 arrows
at the same time using gunpowder. [from a sign in front of
the gate]

Singijeon Launcher Carriage
The singijeon is a weapon that was invented by Choe Museon at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty and improved in 1448. It is an iron-tipped bamboo arrow with a paper-gunpowder rocket attached to the rear. When the rocket was lit, the weapon would launch. There were a variety of types of these weapons, including large singijeon, medium singijeon, small singijeon and incendiary singijeon, but mostly small and medium singijeon were fired from the launcher carriage. The singijeon launcher was a wooden frame with holes 4.6 centimeters in diameter into which the small and medium singijeon were placed. When fired, the carriage that carried the launcher was aimed at the proper angle, and then all the singijeon fuses were gathered together and lit at once. The firing range of small singijeon was about 100 meters, while the medium singijeon could reach about 150 meters. It is the oldest weapon in the world for shich there is still a blueprint that was made when the weapon was constructed. [from a sign in front]

Heungcheonsa Bell
Treasure No. 1460
Heungcheonsa is a temple established by King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, in 1397, to pray for the repose of his Queen Sindeok's soul and to protect her tomb. In 1409 the tomb was movedo ut of the capital city, to the prese3nt location in Jeongjeung-dong, Seongbuk-gu. Aftgerward, Heungcheonsa remained as a royal family's administrative temple until 1510. The Heungcheonsa Bell was installed in 1462. Since Heungcheonsa was burned down in 1510, the bell was first moved to Gwanghwamun of Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1747, then to Changgyeonggung Palace, and finally to the present location. According to the inscription found on the bell, it was petitioned byt the royal family, such as prince Hyoryeong. It also belongs to the representative temple bells made in the early period of the Joseon Dynasty. [from sign in front of bell]

Borugak Jagyeongnu
National Treasure No. 229
The jagyeongnu is a water clock that was made in 1536. In 1434, Jang Yeongsil connected a device which automatically told the time to a water clock for the first time, creating jagyeongnu, which moved by itself. This clock ws used to keep the standard time of the Joseon Dynasty. The jagyeongnu of Borugak is an improved device built by Yu Jeon and others during the time of King Jungjong. The intricate and complex time-telling device is now gone, and only 3 water bowls and 2 cylindrical water containers remain. In the jagyeongnu, water flowed from the water bowls and gathered in the cylindrical containers. A stick in the containers, marked with time gradations, moved a leverage-principle apparatus, causing the metal beads attached to the apparatus to strike bells, drums, and gongs.
This jagyeongnu, which carries on the tradition of King Sejong, is a precious scientific cultural asset, being the oldest and largest water clock in teh world. It was originally located in Borugak in the palace of Changdeokgung, but it was moved here. The automatic time-telling device and other devices were lost sometime before the clock was moved. [from a sign in front]

View of Seokjojeon, one of the more modern buildings.
Looking towards Jeonghwajeon (the main throne room) through Jeonghwamun (Jeonghwa Gate). Guardians on the roof of Jeonghwamun.Both Jeonghwajeon and Jeonghwamun were burnt down in 1904 and then rebuilt in 1906. Because of that, it is the most recently built of all of the palace throne rooms. It is said that the original throne room was 2 floors high. The posts on either side show where different officials would stand during ceremonies. Notice the pigeon on the walk way?I stopped to take some pictures of the bird. It sat there for sooo long!! I wasn't sure if it was just resting or if it was injured, especially the way it was holding its wing a bit out to the side. But while I was taking pictures, all of a sudden it flew away, making a few Korean women that were checking it out jump out of their skin. LOL. I love these guys!! So ugly they're cute. Decorations on the stairs up to the throne room.The throne.The ceiling above the throne.There is a bit of a mix of old and new. Here is a view of a bit of both: the front corner of Jeonghwajeon, the throne room, with Seokjojeon in the distance, which now holds a sort of Royal Museum).An insense holder at the corner of Jeonghwajeon.Seogeodang (hall)This is how the rice paper doors/windows were stored out of the way to open the entire side of buildings.A chimney behind Jeukjodang. The chimney is from the ondol heating - there is a place to make fires under the floor, which heats up the entire floor, keeping the building warm in the winter.A back view of Jeukjodang.Deokhongjeon (hall)

Guardians on the roof.The little black spots in the air are dragonflies. :)A statue of King Sejong, the one that created Hangul, the Korean writing system.The Jidang (pond). It was around this pond that I found all of the cicadas (and the casings/shed skins) everywhere. I sat at a little cafe overlooking the pond and enjoyed an iced mocha and my book.After the palace, I headed over to the City Hall.I watched the children playing in the fountains and then headed onto the grassy area. City Hall is now completely surrounded and is under contstruction. They are trying to incorporate the old with the new. The original City Hall was built by the Japanese (in 1926) during the occupation. It had a similar feel to the other buildings from that time (the Bank of Korea is another one). THIS is what the new City Hall building will look like. I took a walk barefoot in the grassy area in front. Gotta love the feel of grass on bare feet. :) I was approached by a Mongolian student trying to sell me socks, and a Korean guy that is obsessed with traveling (though he hasn't really traveled much, but is PLANNING to travel) who talked my ear off for a good 15 minutes!! I couldn't get away with out being rude, and don't like to be rude, so just stood there looking around, responding every now and then until he seemed to run out of things to say, and then took my chance and said I had to go. I WAS going to sit on the grass for a bit and read, but he interrupted me. I think he just wanted a chance to practice his English (of course). View of another interesting building in the distance. Not sure what that one is (the one that bends). I headed orff in the direction of the Cheonggyecheon (Cheonggye stream). I'll save that for another post.

Cicadas (and a rat)

2009-08-12T23:47:00.008+09:00

It's been quite wet out the past couple of days. I think we caught the edge of the Typhoon that hit Taiwan. It's not surprising, though, as it is monsoon season. Today after work it had stopped raining so I walked from my work in Apgujeong to the Kim's Club (a very large grocery store) near the Goseok Terminal (Seoul bus terminal) It was just under an hour of walking. I should have taken more pictures, I suppose. When I walk I always try to take different random routes to where ever it is I am walking to in order to see what ever there is to see. The buildings, signs, shop names, kinds of shops, etc are all interesting to see. There are a couple of buildings I really want to take pictures of but I'll have to wait until it is not so over cast (and rainy).
One thing I have really noticed here and in China are the cicadas. Where I grew up, we don't have them. I had heard of them, of course, but had never heard or seen any until I came to Korea. They are SO LOUD!!!!!!! In the six years I have been here, I haven't really seen many but have certainly heard them! I love the sound they make (as long as it isn't right outside my window when I'm trying to sleep!). The first one I actually encountered wasn't until my 4th year or so when one was stuck in a classroom and the students and Korean teacher were freaking out. I had to rescue them, AND it. It wasn't until this year that I started seeing the casings/skins. They are absolutely EVERYWHERE!! [my finger is there for sizing]I first noticed them when I went to one of the palaces downtown during my first week of summer vacation (I had 2 wks).Now I am seeing them everywhere here; both the casings AND the adult cicadas.On a tree at Deoksugung (a palace). Can you see them? The one higher up is a bit hard to see. The lower one I noticed immediately.Here is a video to show how loud they are.

A cicada on a tree in Qingdao, China (taken the second week of my summer vacation).
Along where I was walking today, in one of the apartment complexes, the casings were all over the trees as if they were nuts or something (except they are on the trunks as well as all over the leaves).If you haven't seen them, they are hard to miss. They really are big.
On my walk today, I turned a corner and a little thing nearly ran over my foot. It ran into a little indent in the wall to hide, but there was no way out of it other than the way it came, sort of trapping it for my inspection. A young rat, about the size of my hamster, but not as cute. It's tail is obviously broken. Poor thing. With all the rain it was probably looking for a dry place to hide out.

Hamster

2009-07-12T22:33:00.006+09:00

I just couldn't help myself. I was walking to go to a book store and walked past a pet shop with hamster cages sitting outside and big signs. I took one look and for some (unrashional) reason, I decided I needed a hamster. I've decided to call her Bamboo. :)She was the smallest one in the cage. When I picked her up she just looked at me and tilted her head. Another one of the smaller ones (a white one) that I picked up started jumping and going crazy.Just after I got her:After a two weeks: She's sooo cute!! <3>

Hama and some Castles I [updated with pics and more; first posted 17/03/09]

2009-07-07T23:40:00.000+09:00

On the 12th I woke up at 7:45 to get ready. At about 8:15 I got a call from Abdullah at the reception asking if I wanted to join a trip to the Crac and another castle, leaving at 9. He had talked to Gilles, who was in the restaurant waiting to talk to me about it first, since we had sort of made plans to make our own way there. We decided it was a good opportunity since there would be 5 of us going, making it only 600 a person (they charge for the car not per person, so the total is divided by the number of people). I had to rush a little to eat my breakfast as I didn't get to the restaurant until after 8:30. Breakfast was similar to the breakfast at the other hotel, only there was more of everything.
We went on our trip in a small van. The others on the trip were Anthony, from England, and Len and Jill from Winnipeg, Canada. Len and Jill are on a 1 year trip around the world. They have some amazing stories to tell.

Our first stop was the Masyaf Citadel (Qala'at Masyaf). Amazing! It was my first time exploring an old castle, and certainly a good one. It is on of MANY huge medieval castles that dot the country.There IS a red poppy in this picture but it is a bit hard to see. It is just to the left of the wall, at the top of the stairs!! [looking up from down inside]I loved the stairs that are everywhere, going up into towers and buildings and down into the depths of the castle. It was there that I realized I forgot my flashlight. Note to self: ALWAYS take a flashlight when exploring old deserted castles!!![a ray of light entering the darkness][Light at the end of a tunnel]On the roof - a skylight!A lovely view - there were too many of these to count!! I love that the bird flew into view just as I took the picture. :)View of the city below. Wouldn't it be fantastic to grow up with a castle like this in your back yard??? The original structure is of Byzantine (Roman Empire) origins, with levels being added later over the years. I wandered for a couple of hours and could have used more.
Even the drive to the castle (and between castles) was great, as it is in the mountains (small mountains, as there is no tree line). All of the castles or Citadels are on top of mountains or very large hills. There were red poppies everywhere as we drove. I missed the single red poppy that the others saw within the citadel walls. :( (Though I missed it, I see that it is in a couple of pictures, including one above, where I mention it)Sheep!!
After we had our fill of Masyaf (or well, when we had to go in order to have time at our next destination), we hopped back into the van and headed for Krak des Chevaliers (Fortress/Castle of the Knights), the best castle in Syria and one of the most famous and important medieval military castles in the world.[You can see the castle on the hill in the distance.]As we neared the Krak (also sometimes spelled Crac), the landscape changed slightly. The poppies disappeared.We made a stop at the St. George Monastery (Deir Mar Jirjis/دير مار جرجس‎). Saint George was a soldier in the guard of Diocletian (if you remember Diocletian had a military camp and a bath in Palmyra in Syria).

From Wikipedia:
In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Eastern Catholic Churches. He is immortalized in the tale of Saint George and the Dragon and is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His memorial is celebrated on 23 April, and he is regarded as one of the most prominent military saints.
Saint George is the patron saint of Aragon, Catalonia, England, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal, and Russia, as well as the cities of Amersfoort, Beirut, Bteghrine, Cáceres (Spain), Ferrara, Freiburg, Genoa, Ljubljana, Gozo, Pomorie, Qormi, Lod, Barcelona and Moscow, as well as a wide range of professions, organizations, and disease sufferers.

The original monastery/convent was built sometime in the 5th century and then was added to up until the 20th century. HERE is a fairly good picture I found of the monastery from above, from a short distance.There are two churches within the monastery. One built in the 13th century and the other in 1857.We stopped opposite the citadel at a little restaurant for a lunch break. Gilles and I both opted to have the Mezze set (200 each - all appetizers - a couple of potato dishes, a cauliflower dish, olive dish, hummus dish, babaghanoush, bread, vegetables dish, pickles dish, and others.It took up the entire table!!!!! We only managed to finish about half of it by the time we were both full. Then it was time for the Krak des Chevaliers (meaning basically Fortress of the Knights, also known as Qal'at al Hosn/قلعة الحصن/حصن الأکراد‎). The original structure was built in 1031 and was then added to when the Knights Hospitaller made it their headquarters during the Crusades. They turned it into the largest Crusader fortress in the Holy Land.The place is absolutely amazing. It is so big and it is like a labrynth of rooms and passages.[writing above the main entrance][A balistraria/arrow loop/arrow slit - I love the term balistraria. Sounds much fancier than an arrow slit.]In books and reports about the castle, it held anywhere from 2000 to 5000 troops with their horses and equipment, and enough supplies for up to 5 years, with huge structures above ground and large storage areas dug into the rock below.[In the doorway you can see slits where a gate would have come down to block entry.][Looking up in the doorway, you can see where a gate/door would have been when the doorway was open.][The moat: used as a water supply.][The Arabic baths - there are actually doors on all four sides of the central area you can see.][Part of a Gothic Cloister][latrines!][view of the Arabic baths][A good view of the outer wall.][Notice the flowers that go all the way around the room about half way up!]I LOVE spiral staircases!!!!!Up Or Down?It is a very well preserved castle. I'd love to spend an entire day there wandering about!!! Again, I wished I had my flashlight. We wandered along some back passageways using my camera as a flashlight. A bit awkward, but certainly worth it.[In the underground storage areas.]After the Krak, we headed on a scenic drive through the mountains, back to the hotel.
We went for dinner to the 4 Norias' Restaurant. Not as fancy as the previous evening's restaurant, but the food was good. After dinner, on the way back to the hotel, I went for a walk with Len to the nearby market. He wanted to get some nuts and such for snacks, I just tagged along, but did end up getting some fruit. :) We walked through some of the market. I find markets in different countries very interesting. The fruits and vegetables, nuts, meat selections, etc are all something to look at (and take pictures of, of course).Mutton, anyone??