Hello to all my loyal (and other) followers (whom I think I can count on one or two hands),
It's another Sunday eve and I've got another pot 'o grub on the stove which is periodically boiling over (because I always fill it up too much, just like when I'm making salad) and making sizzling sounds on the burner as I write and listen to Open Air on CPR.org as usual.
This was the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend and you know how the NPR shows take a break and play "best of" stuff for holidays so they can have a vacation? Well, not exactly like that, but related to that, I'm going to take this opportunity to go back and catch up with some pics I think I haven't found a context to share in the past and use them as a way to avoid posting anything new, which hasn't really happened since I feel like I'm going into a state of suspended animation (aka hibernation or "estivation" according to my Environmental Science textbook). Long story short, I'm burrowing down in the mud for the season here and wishing you all the season's best!
(Note: I do have one highlight I'm looking forward to in the near future, which is seeing my boys, their mother, and her partner in Thailand over Xmas for about 10 days. More about that eventually fates willing?)
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| A picture from the time before I had a bike when this was a long way for me to go away from campus (by foot). It looks so clear in retrospect. I can rarely ever see those towers so distinctly anymore. The highway is under construction and though I haven't been back to check out this particular location the stretch near our school has progressed immensely. The story I heard was that they originally they were going to 'cover it' (the highway) but then to save money they decided not to but then the school complained (because it runs right in front of the school and would be noisy and smelly) so now they're back to building a cover over it. I should take and show a pic of that. Note to self. |
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| This is from my first trip on the subway/train between here and Seoul. I only went as far as the Gimpo area, which has another airport (used for other kinds of flights than utilize Incheon International? To more closely neighboring countries? I'm not sure). But again it was before I had a bike so it was easier to get to grocery shopping than walking all the way into my local town (Cheongna) center. I was solo and felt very empowered when I realized I could read this sign as a place to sit down and have a beer. Wow, I'm some sort of Korean-understanding prodigy!, or maybe it's my high school Latin experience or the time I spend traveling in Europe which aided my understanding. Any way you look at it I felt empowered to interpret this sign correctly. I've since learned that most places you can't just go order a beer at any old time. Most "bars" don't open until about 7-8 p.m. and before that you can't get any alcohol unless you're ordering food with it (which is usually super-crappy, like fried-something). What's up with that? Happily they make an exception for ignorant foreigners who don't know any better. |
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| Another pic from the 'old days' before I had my bike. I may have shown this pic before but I like it. It was from the 'old days' when my only choice was to journey on foot and I got covered in sweat after 5 minutes. |
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| Don't remember if I've shown this before or not. It used to represent a typical lunch for me (dinner is not quite so appetizing). But for second term I chose the "vegetarian option" because for some reason the vegetarians get fish as a substitute for meat sometimes and I had fish envy. So far (80% through the term) we've gotten fish exactly twice. So next term I'll go back to the "regular" (non-vegetarian) option. |
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| Completely lost track now of which pictures I've used before and which I haven't but this is a nice one and if I can't remember it I'm guessing you can't either. |
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| My drying rack. Continues to look similar except now more plates/dishes to used alcohol container ratio as I've begun buying my alcohol in greater bulk. |
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| Lots of octopus going on here. About eight times as much as you'd expect. That's a power of three joke in base 2! Har har har! |
Well, looking back I see I have lots to be thankful for, including the facts that a) I'm still alive and b) I have Netflix and YouTube and c) I've been fortunate enough to have a chance to explore a distant foreign country and so far no nuclear bombs have gone off except at home where the presidential election took an unexpected turn.
My dinner now smells delicious and I'm ready to dish myself out some and check out another episode of something escapist. Until next time, best to all and to all a wonderful night!
Chris
