Friday 31 July 2015

Fruit, Flowers, Trees, and a Garden

At my friends' house in the country in Gangwondo (it was hot there this week, but cooler than in Gangneung, the closest city):

A pear tree with the small pears bagged (for protection), a usual practice with many fruits in Korea

The grapes are starting to change color


Yes, the 2nd picture is one plant

The garden

A walnut tree

View of neighbors' fields

A chestnut tree


One of several pumpkin/squash plants

Closeup of a 2nd walnut tree

Summer Vacation Week

From last Tuesday, a pork cutlet lunch ($6 each)--good but not great:


Friday 24 July 2015

Videos: Removed from the World

If you have ever thought about "getting away from it all"--not in the sense of an all-inclusive island getaway, but rather something more extreme and perhaps profound--then watch these three videos:

Bicycling
"The Thousand Year Journey: Oregon to Patagonia":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usb2435vSZA


Sailing
"Twenty Eight Feet: life on a little wooden boat":

https://vimeo.com/94842405


Hunting
"You really have no idea where your meat comes from":

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/383622/you-really-have-no-idea-where-your-meat-comes-from/

Saturday 18 July 2015

How to Beat the Summer Heat

With a public water fountain, of course!





Lunch Today

I revisited the same fish restaurant that I went to several weeks ago:




Very good!

Friday 17 July 2015

Things Happen in Threes

Before coming to Korea to teach I lived and taught in Japan for a year and  half.

One day, in the rather small city I lived in, I was walking on the sidewalk when I saw a policeman bend over and throw a metal bucket of water onto the street's curb.

Curious, I changed my path and looked down.

It seemed that he was washing blood from the street.

A few days later I was walking on a sidewalk in a different part of the same town when I saw a motorist arguing with another policeman.  They were both standing in front of a car, a car which seemed to have dried blood on the front bumper.

I told both of these things to a Japanese friend, and she seemed full of anguish.  She told me that things "always happen in threes".

I thought nothing of it.

However, 2 days later I was walking up a side street, narrow, with a blind intersection.

The corners of the buildings at the intersection meant that you couldn't see any oncoming cars, so there were those rounded mirrors placed strategically.

A boy on a bicycle, wearing a high school uniform, passed me.

I was looking straight at him as he rode into the intersection.

He didn't look at the mirrors.

A car from the right side, traveling too fast, suddenly appeared and crashed into the boy's bike.

He flew off the bike, crushed the car's windshield, and was thrown off next to a wall.

This all happened in a split second.

I ran ahead to see if I could help the boy, but he lay broken on the ground, and I was afraid to touch him.

The sound of an ambulance was already in the air. (There was a fire station just two blocks away.)

The police also came quickly, and though there was an obvious language barrier, I tried to tell them that both parties were at fault.

They seemed more interested in taking tape measurements than in talking to me.

I had nightmares and/or didn't sleep for a week.

Sometime during that awful period I remembered what my friend had said: "Things happen in three's". 

Seoul Timelapse

A bit repetitive, but overall nicely done.

It's 3:16 long:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/short-film-showcase/timelapse-south-koreas-stunning-seoul

Saturday 11 July 2015

Students' Personalized Writing: Article

If you are a teacher or student interested in the power of personalized writing, read this article:

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/07/10/419202925/the-writing-assignment-that-changes-lives

Mori Shabu

I went to a shabu-shabu & buffet restaurant called Mori Shabu (in Pyeongchon).  It was quite good; I ate too much (obviously a hazard of buffet restaurants) . . .




The place . . . the buffet area is in the background


 Shabu-shabu



with beef added



A plate of meat (duck and pork), kimchi, and veggies



In the middle is a small bowl of cold noodles (buckwheat)

Friday 3 July 2015

Jetman Video

"Young Feathers": flying in Dubai (app. 11 min.):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=39&v=Czy0pXRRZcs