Mail Art

My sister is an artist, and we are collaborating on a mail art project. Here's a photo of my fragments-in-process. I'm excited.

Surf's Up!

There are surfers in Korea! Here is one of them cutting a nice line at Haeundae Beach in Pusan. Coming from Canada, I'm pleasantly surprised by the warmth here. Back home it is 6 degrees Celsius, but here it is still above 20 degrees Celsius every day.

North Korea blew up a nuke!

So if bombs are ever dropped, I hope I'm at ground zero and instantly vapourized rather than being caught in a fallout zone. That said, kids rule and above is a concrete example of why they rule.

The Down-low lowdown on Ginseng

I finally decided to do something proactive about my health, so I invested in some Ginseng products. My choice of product perhaps is questionable, but we shall see. I bought some Korean Red Ginseng Wine (pictured above), and I have been indulging every day (not to the point of drunkenness, mind you). Despite the rash of Ginseng products available everywhere these days, overuse of ginseng can be hard on your heart. Medicine can be poison and vice versa like a certain french philosopher and others have noticed. Ginseng is supposed to be a good tonic when you are ill. I think my sinuses warranted a shot, and so far I have noticed a slight improvement. When I bought the wine, they threw a huge bag of ginseng candies my way as well. That happens a lot here: buy something get something free.

Thank goodness for the man-shaped root.

Are there cameras in money?

I get paid in cash! WTF???? This still blows me away. The Koreans love their cash money.

The Art of Rolling.

People roll many things: pizza dough, joints, meditation balls, dice, California, but I just learned how to roll one of my favourite Korean foods. All hail Kimbop! I am on my way to a volcanic island in the sea of Japan, and on the bus to the city that runs the ferry service which I will use to get to the island, I met this really nice Korean fellow Jae-yung. He put me up for the night and taught me how to make Kimbop!

I'm stoked.

When I first tried to make Kimbop, I tried sealing it with rice syrup, but he told me all you need is water! I guess the K.I.S.S. axiom (keep it simple stupid) was applicable. Of course, I failed miserably with the rice syrup, but now I know!

Subterranean Homesick Blues

I'm having the first bout of homesickness I've ever had despite all my travels. It seems as soon as I'm feeling physically better, the next day I feel crappy again. I think the pollution here is really bothering me and the air was especially bad (or so it seemed) yesterday and today. I want to feel healthy again.

I didn't even really have a longstanding home in Canada, but I miss my partner a lot. This run-down stuff is making me more irritable too.

I've heard that months 3-6 are the most difficult when teaching abroad. I have been here a little more than 4 months and much of the novelty has worn off I guess.
The picture above encapsulates my heightened awareness of time these days.

Traffic

Traffic here is crazy. I've almost been hit three times, and one time, I was shaken up so bad I had to lean up against a phone booth and catch my breath. No one stays on their side of the streets, almost everyone cuts corners, and traffic lights are not very visible and seem more like a guideline than the law.

As a country that has almost entirely reconstructed itself since the Korean War, Korea is a development success story. It does however have its share of growing pains. One such pain is the traffic! A culture that has only had the car as a commonly accessible commodity for three or four decades sure has been among the things that has taught me the value of human life, and its frailty beside these speeding behemoths.

My ex-professor and friend (or so I'd like to think lol) Dionne Brand recently won the Toronto Book Award for her novel What We All Long For. I must confess I haven't read it yet; I am more familiar with her poetry. I read her book of poems "Inventory" before I came to Korea and it was incredibly inspiring. It was one of the only pieces of art that motivated me to create myself in recent memory. Congratulations to Dionne and go buy her books! She's really, really good!

Miscelleria of Modernity (on your knees biotch)

Well, what do you know? After I write a blog about a magazine that doesn't pay me after I published in their rag, I get the freakin cheque and free copy sent within two freakin' days. I'm stunned. Obviously the new staff is PR savvy!

My neighbour keeps bringing me delicious Thai food cooked by his wife. I think he's trying to butter me up for something: a grand plan to blackmail our boss or something like that. I don't want anything to do with it really, but I secretly hope the gods wreak vengeance on behalf of my beleagured coworker (long story that involves some compromising info).

My lover wants to take a Tantric workshop and a dominate/surrender workshop. I think he wants to spice up our sex life or something. It's really a sweet gesture because I think he's thinking of me. I like to dominate people. Don't tell, please.

In case you're wondering, the photo below is of hundreds of baby jellyfish.