The Week in Review

I'm for a 3 day work week -- at least once every six weeks or so.  It was pretty nice to have two 3 day work weeks though in a five weeks span.

We celebrated the Lunar New Year holiday on Monday of this last week -- that meant that Sunday - Tuesday were declared national holidays here in Korea.  I spent Saturday and Sunday doing the usual things like working out, visiting English Club friends, and going to church, along with a little family bonding too.  Monday, I spent a large portion of the day bonding with Korean family.  I learned how to play Korean Poker (sort of).  I didn't lose  but a few bucks, though I won a little bit at times.  I also ate a bunch of holiday-appropriate food, bonded with a few toddlers, and well ate more food.  

Tuesday was a nice day to do nothing.  Instead I decided to take a friend from church named Fritz to Palgong Mountain, which is about 30 minutes outside of the city where I live.  It's nice clean mountain air, which is really nice, even in the winter time too.  Fritz is from Indonesia, and had only been hiking once before at a mountain that's closer to the city center of Daegu.  We had a blast, but struggled on the way down.  This was due to the amount of snow at the top part. We were both wearing tennis shoes as well, which didn't make things too easy on us.  I busted my you know what twice, but got right back up like a trooper, and kept going.  

Anyway, there's about 15 minutes left in my Friday evening, so I'll give you a few pictures from the hike that Fritz and I took.  I did have to sleep in a super cold room last night -- my heat went bad for a night or two.  It turns out that a valve just needed to be flushed out, because one of our school's bus drivers came and fixed the problem really quickly this morning.  I kind of felt like a fool, but I can't exactly read all that Korean and still be able to fix everything in my apartment.  

Anyway, I'm gonna get a nice hot shower, and get to sleep really soon.  I plan to do a little housework tomorrow, and then enjoy the rest of the day with some good friends. 

Perfect example of small town America

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/era-big-boxes-day-little-guy-080317993.html

How stupid can one be???

I don't know how to react to this article:
http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/Owner_of_Dragged_Dog_Arrested_137941308.html

A little update on the doggy in KY

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greystone-Pet-Hospital/364020353750

Please check out all the progress that has been made -- amazing stuff!!

Yesterday, was the Lunar New Year holiday, so I'll post sometime today or tomorrow about that.  I'm kind of exhausted from a hike today.

Please Grab a Tissue for this one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0zue3MAtOA

this goes with the last post.

Something really sad from back home in BG

not Bulgaria this time, but Bowling Green, KY, USA.

Please watch and grab some tissue if you can.

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/One_of_the_Worst_Cases_of__137804568.html

Just wanted to share

this wonderful website on behalf of a friend in Bulgaria.  Nevena is a really nice lady I met last year while on a cycling tour of Sofia, Bulgaria, during my last night there.  Anyway, she is Senior expert "International Affairs" Department at Central Cooperative Union - Bulgaria.  


She posted a link to this website on her Facebook wall, and I wanted to share it with everyone out there. As we all know or should know, coops do a lot of good for the world around us.  
Take a look for yourself.


http://www.stories.coop/

God and My African Friends . . . .

Over the last few days I've really been trying to figure some things out.  It seems like once I walked into church, those things figured themselves out.  Besides Pastor Ken, I'm the only person whose native language is English.  It's humbling to see how nice and respectful everyone is, considering we represent possibly eight or nine different countries during one service.  Pastor Ken really is becoming like a big brother to me.

Today, I stayed for the fellowship time after the service.  This included discussion about Pastor Ken's sermon.  It was very cool to spend that time discussing the message with all of the Africans, as well as Kahn (from Pakistan).  Having discussion time with these people is just one of those things that makes you much prouder of who you are and where you come from.  Considering my education level is the lowest among everyone at the table (everyone is in Korea for some sort of research), I feel like I am becoming more intelligent -- at least for that hour or so out of my Sunday.  

Anyway, this post isn't great work, but I'm fine with that.  My beloved New Orleans Saints lost today, but I did some shopping.  I got bow tie pasta, fettuccine, linguine, and some blueberry energy bars that come with a blueberry plant --- STRANGE!!!   Instead of eating pasta for dinner, I had beef, eggs, and potatoes. 

 YUM YUM

 

Down in the River to Pray

Paulo Coelho

If you don't know you this man is, you better get to know his novels quickly.  Paulo Coelho is an International Bestselling Author.  He's best known for the book The Alchemist but another book I started reading is entitled The Fifth Mountain.   I haven't read but half of this book, but I am really enjoying it right now.  The story is about the biblical prophet Elijah.

One more book that is a collection of essays by Mr. Coelho, is called Like the Flowing River. This is also a wonderful piece to read as well.

Anyway, I just felt the need to share with everyone out there. Happy Hump Day!!

Expiration Dates

These things will get you a good deal when you're desperate for something.  Example: J.T. was in need of some protein, since that order from six weeks ago still hasn't arrived.  Well, I wanted some American brand of some sort.  Saturday morning after my breakfast with Ken, I decided to walk through this little market area that usually has random American brands, like Quaker, Smuckers, JIF, and Hershey's, to name a few.

I peeked in one window and found me some Optimum Whey protein -- great American brand. I walked in and asked the guy how much it was, and he explained to me in Korean that it was past expiration.  So, I took the thing from the shelf, and saw it was five months past the date. Understanding how well protein powders are packaged, I decided to negotiate a discount with the man.

I got half off at least.  So I ended up paying about 55 bucks for 10lbs worth of great stuff.  I also bought some Quaker Oats from the man too.  Success? Oh yeah.  I was worried that the stuff may not be good, but it turned out just fine. 

Learning to use my neighborhood properly

There are many places in this country where people sell fruits and veggies daily along the sidewalks.  Today, I needed (or really wanted) some bananas, strawberries, and sweet potatoes.  What did I do? Instead of going to the supermarket, I decided to just walk around my neighborhood.  I found one lady trying to get rid of some 'naners, since they were getting close to bad -- perfect for my protein shakes.  Then I walked up the street a little bit and found a man selling some really nice strawberries (for about 8 bucks), but they definitely look better than the ones at the super market.  I walked across the street and bought some sweet 'taters as well.  I should have bought the rest of my veggies there, but I went to the supermarket to get my sweet peppers instead.  This morning I was kind of a little mad at myself for not doing that any earlier in my time here.  I sometimes buy fruits on the street, but need to do more of it.

Drew Brees and God!!!

In some parts of the world on a given Sunday in the fall or winter, these two guys are very popular.  When I was working last year in Louisiana, I even remember people wearing Drew Brees jerseys to a local Methodist church.  I was a little stunned, but then I remembered where I was.  Personally, Drew Brees and God have made my Sundays pretty positive over the last few weeks.  Actually the latter has done a lot more for me lately.  Gotta give the man credit for leading to Pastor Ken -- incredibly classy man. 

Fingers crossed that I arrive in the USA, on Super Bowl Sunday, to witness both of these men doing some incredible work!

Christmas Day --- Now (New Year's Day)

Yeah, I'm horrible about typing on this thing.  Sadly I spend time on the internet reading meaningless articles about sports, or just looking at facebook, as well with no intentions.

My Christmas Day was a pretty good one, thanks to Pastor Ken, my Korean "big brother" and those lovely folks I call Korean family.  First off, I decided I wanted to attend a Korean church for once on Christmas Day.  That way I'd be able to hear an organ play in honor of Mr. Tom Moody.  I went to a local Presbyterian church here in town at 11:00, with a man I call Hyeong-nim (big brother).  He's the director of the Young Falcons of Daegu, and he's a good 'ole Presbo' as well.  I enjoyed the service, though I didn't understand half of what the pastor said -- since it was in a different language.  At least I was able to understand the hymns.  I then was introduced to the pastor and his wife in their office -- we even had a photo op.  After lunch in the basement area, I then was brought upstairs for tea and snacks for visiting folks.  Heck, I even got a set of fancy towels with the church's information on it.  That way, I definitely can't forget them.

When that service was over, I made my way back to the university, where I was the night before.  I had a great Christmas service there as well.  One of the younger members was even baptized during that service as well.  In honor of his baptism we had a wonderful feast.  One thing I've learned in my church life --- God definitely provides food.

Christmas night I went and visited my "Korean family" for a little bit.  I went with little sis Eun Byeol, and some of the girls in the neighborhood to drink some Korean rice wine.  We ate some random dishes as is Korean custom when one is having some drinks.  The girls wanted Christmas cake -- weird thing in Korea, so we went to Baskin Robbins and they bought a fancy cake.  Bakeries here make cakes for everything, but it seems that Christmas cakes were out in mass proportions this year. The girls went to a coffee shop and enjoyed their cake, while I went back to hang out with some of the other family members.  I was a little tired , so I didn't exactly last too much longer.

Last week I was off work on Monday and Tuesday.  So, I enjoyed the Monday fellowship lunch on campus with Pastor Ken and a few of the foreigners.  We had some wonderful discussion.  One of the Ethiopians posed a question to us : "What is it that really makes you happy inside?"  That was a tough one, but we all had some interesting answers.

On Tuesday, Pastor Ken and I met for lunch, and just discussed anything and everything on our minds. He even shared with me his story of how he was dying from Lymphoma when he was a teenager in Maryland -- quite moving to say the least.  He's also very smart in terms of business dealings and developments of products that could help the world.  There's even a job plan he has for our government in the 'ole USA, but I'm gonna share everything here.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were the last days of our "semester" at the academy.  We received new schedules on Friday, which I guess satisfied some of us.  I teach some rough days on Monday and Thursday, but Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday aren't so bad.  I don't have a dinner break this time, so I guess I'll be preparing food from home quite a bit during January.

I also spent those few days working on resolving my relationship with Annie too.  Somehow she decided that she would come see me this weekend in Daegu.  We actually broke up about ten days ago, since we were just experiencing some bumps in the road, and kind of gave up on each other.  I was delighted to have her come and visit, so I spent my Saturday morning watching UFC, and cleaning my apartment.  Before she arrived, I even went to a local flower shop and get a few roses to surprise her with.

So with the help of the man above, our relationship has been patched up very well.  First of all, I met her at the bus station with the flowers and she gave me a tremendously long hug.  Then, we had a nice long bus ride to my neighborhood.  Since I was lazy during the day, we made a visit to Home Plus, where I do my grocery shopping these days.  I spent about 60 bucks, 1/3 was on two bottles of wine.  I wanted wine, and it was New Year's Eve, so . . . perfect fit.  So New Year's Eve dinner consisted of a salad with beets, green and red bell peppers, spinach and carrots to name a few.  The main dish was what I shall call Duck Linguini -- my new favorite pasta with duck smothered in a tomato sauce with onions, and bell pepper once again.  Later to top some things off I covered some strawberries in white chocolate, and we drank champagne to toast the new year.

This morning I woke up about 45 minutes earlier than Annie, so I could prepare breakfast.  I made some scrambled egg dish that worked at well.  It consisted of chicken, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms.  I think cooked sliced some potatoes, and through them in a skillet with olive oil.  Then to top that off, I made some stuffed french toast with bananas, walnuts, and cream cheese.  I topped the french toast with some homemade banana syrup, and powdered sugar.

Since it was Sunday, I talked Annie into going to church with me.  She really, really enjoyed her time there today.  Today was a combined Korean/English service, since it was Communion Sunday.  Pastor Ken delivered the message, while his wife translated.  We even had some snacks after in honor of January birthdays.  When snack time was finished we played a Korean traditional game called Yutnori.  It was pretty fun.  Annie said the church was much different from what she expected, and she really thought the Korean pastor was pretty laid back for his job.  Later on she even told me it was the best experience that she has had here in Daegu.

Anyway I'm finished with this update for now.  Goodnight and Happy New Year to all.