Interesting...

OK, This one appears to identify how I feel... But regardless of what it says, I'll bet it says the same thing for everyone...

Your Score: A Bit Of Both

You are 40% Calvin and 60% Hobbes

Calvin & Hobbes, like a scruffy yin and yang, are in perfect balance within you. Like Calvin, you're weird, a bit insecure, and can be a trouble-maker. But like Hobbes, you're down to earth and sensitive. It's a risk to say it here, after just a ten question test, but I'll bet you're smarter than most. Both Calvin and Hobbes are crafty, clever characters, and any one made from equal parts of each is a force to be reckoned with.

Link: The Calvin Or Hobbes Test written by gwendolynbooks on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Sex, Drugs, and Norebang

Korea is lacking in nothing. I finally can recognize a drug store when I see one. The picture is of the hangul writing that is displayed on every pharmacy. I still don't know what it means in English, but if I need aspirin or something for my bellyache I can find it here.

I came very close to going to a Norebang (karaoke) last night, but the crowd got weird so I went home early to get some sleep. I cant recognize their sign either so I'd have to rely on friends to help me find one.

I chose the title of this post for no reason. Perhaps I wanted to get your attention? Did it work? ;-)

Sorry, no yellow machine mayhem...

Just a boring dinner and sleep at home.

More yellow machine mayhem coming soon...

Whew, I survived today and now it is tonight! Yeah! I have always worn my profession on my sleeve and that is a nasty habit that I had to break. I am happy to say that I am no longer a work-aholic. I love me time and can't get enough of it. I really need to make a career out of fun, maybe become a funologist, but then that would become work then I'd fall off the wagon and become a work-aholic again... Argh... Why the vicious circles... OK, I got the phone call... It's yellow machine mayhem time. 8-) I love Thursday nights!

Sleep is a good thing and so are three hour lunches

Why? Because even fretful sleep is still sleep--And when life gets in the way of a good nights sleep, any sleep at all is better than none. The challenge is fitting the other more, appropriate need in the same amount of time... Food. Time for it. I am afraid to tell as it is not exotic enough to be mentionable on this blog... I gotta eat... Later.

Silence is a timewarp and mimes are freaks

I know, I am being quirky and philosophical right now, but I gotta get this out of my system. I have never been content with pregnant pauses... Ever. And even far less patient when reduced to the likeness of a mime in Paris that only knows Greek. Which just reminded me of Bastile day 2006 in Paris when my step dad walked up to a French Police officer inquiring why the bridge over the Seine river was closed [for fireworks] and exclaimed in frustration, "Doesn't anyone speak English in this country?" It's OK, it was his first trip outside the US and a big culture shock for him. I give him credit, and loved every minute of our time together in Paris. But I digress...

I am in Korea and I hear language all around me, but feel as though I am talking to myself all day long. At work I even have resorted to answering my own questions or arranging the limited vocabulary of my students into a comprehensible sentence while guessing about 99.9% of what they might be wanting to communicate. I have been wrong on so many occasions it makes me sick. Now I am regretting ever playing hooky for my theater class at university... Wait a minute, I am a business major. No wonder I su'huck at miming.

Seriously I want to learn the language and I want to learn it now!!! I am dying to have a conversation with the locals in my current locale because I have an insatiable appetite for connecting with others. I don't know if it is because I crave approval, attention, or just really want to appreciate the people and place where I am at right now. For the record, I don't care, I just need intelligent conversation in any language but without the charades. If I ever get a Pictionary game for a birthday or Christmas present I think I will self destruct.

I have been reading a dogeared copy of Oswald Chambers' "My Utmost for His Highest." I am still contemplating todays musings and the thought that "God's silences are His answers." If this is a gift from above than I am in a timewarp and I'm not receiving the message. What's missing here? I'd try miming it out, but I'm afraid I'd get that answer wrong too because we all know I su'huck at miming.

The world is my oyster, but I like sushi. Why can't the world be my sushi?

Flashback 2003. When I made the decision to move to the South Pacific to do some development work on an archipelagan paradise, and decompress from the madness of life in Southern California I thought that things would be the same when I returned. Because I was from Southern California I thought I would be able just drop back into my scene, my life as I knew it, just two years later. I never expected to experience all that I did and be able to sort things out to the point of having life make sense. Seeing the world has been mind blowing, and living in another is culture a real trip. It has been four years now since I left the US and in the last 4 years I have only existed in the US for 7 months for short periods on four separate occasions. 9 October 2007 was the anniversary of my departure from the normal, the routine, the glib, and all other things I took for granted. If my travels broaden my perspective anymore there will be a canyon where my head once was. I do know one thing and that is that I do not cherish the good memories enough and I let the head splitting ones get into the way...Not anymore...

I am gonna let go of the notion that my life is anything but normal and routine. I kind of do mis that little place where I had goals, thought about what was next, knew the path I was on, where I was going, and what I was doing. Life abroad has had some of those moments, but they have been all to brief. The Pacific Islands were everything I expected and more. When I arrived the first time it scared the hell out of me, when I arrived the second time it was like I never left. I recall saying on many occasions that I was privileged to say "I get to call this work." There were difficult times and times it seemed like the sweetest dream that I did not want to wake up from--I guess adaptation to ones environment is possible. When I went back the second time to my idyllic world in the Pacific I was on a two week holiday that turned into a one year adventure I will never forget.

Now I find myself in Korea and another environment to adjust to and everything is just dandy... Sorry, old habits are hard to break. ;-) Seriously, I have good days and bad ones and the last 24 hours have been a kind of hellish. I am not a good sick person, I live on rushes of adrenaline that come from experiences and when something robs me of my fix of it, like a stomach ache (or the pit in ones stomach that one gets when they just did something stupid), then I just need down time, then the down time turns into an introspective acid trip (Not that I have ever tried acid mom, Honest.) that makes me want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head and turn the world around me off.

The sun is rising and in about an hour I'll get to get my morning cup of goodness from Dunkin Donuts. It is other ritual in my life that I fear the day will come when I will arrive in a foreign country only to find that I forgot to pack emergency rations and Juan Valdez is nowhere to be found. About two minutes ago a thought hit me, things can change in a day. I am a writer, but I usually write my updates in email form and force them on unsuspecting readers whose address was in my contact database, but blogging is different. It's is my world, my oyster, my sushi and you have a choice as to when and if you peek into the window of my world so excuse me if I say what's on my mind, this is my world after all. ;-) Just be gentle with me if you respond cause I am not in my comfort zone yet here.

Thank you for reading though, no seriously, thanks for reading. Tonight is Thursday and I am gonna go out with some of my Korean friends and have some fun that might include increasing my collection of random things that come out of the yellow machine. Seriously, I am not so sure it is the yellow machine as much as it is the fun of loitering outside a seven eleven while playing the yellow machine that is the bigger rush. I think it takes me back to a nostalgic place in high school in a bygone era where one could loiter outside a seven eleven in Southern California, up until the cops came. In Korea loitering anywheres but at home is a national pastime, houses are for sleeping and ones dong is for loitering. I know if I stay any longer in here without some good loitering time I am gonna go ballistic or is it postal? No, that is not it... It's, "I am gonna get cabin fever."

Over the weekend I will be all over Seoul like a bad habit. It has become a scene that I am liking more and more. I need to take more pictures of all the stuff that happens when I am there, but in this too I try to capture moments in some sort of facade and need to get to the brass tacks, and just be bold and take pictures with reckless abandonment.

The Trash Fairy - Revealed!

Last night we had a cold snap that caused me to turn on the heater. I am still trying to get the hang of the controls and over heated my apartment and nearly burnt my feet when I got out of bed (more on the heating system later). So I decided to open a window and get some fresh air and when I did I heard the clinging of glass outside my apartment. I was relieved because I knew the Trash Fairy was paying my building a visit in spite of me snapping a picture of her the day before. You see, it's bad luck if you get caught taking a picture of the Trash Fairy. She has been known to avoid her duties as punishment to anyone snapping a picture of her; if that happened I'd freak out. So, nonetheless this picture was taken while walking down the street on my way back from lunch. There they were, two of them filling up their carts with the cardboard from the local supermarket.

Seafood delivery truck

It doesn't get any fresher than this. It is a Seafood delivery truck. The tank on the back is an aquarium and inside are fish, squid, and other shellfish that will become someones dinner tonight. I spotted this find in Seoul the day I got lost in Seoul before my first date with my new Korean girlfriend. Basically the truck comes and empties its tanks with a net into a host of tanks outside the restaurant where the diner chooses the fish they want to eat. I have never seen a truck like this, perhaps it is the first time, or maybe it is just a Korean thing. I do not know, but it did peak my curiosity so I thought I'd share it here.

To prove that there really are fish in the tanks, I am including another picture here where they can be seen kind of clearly. I really have no idea why I am amused by this, but this is my blog so just deal with it already. See the little fish in the window of the truck? There are half dead fish in that window and you could be eating them for dinner at a Korean restaurant near you. 8-) If you are a vegetarian, I am sorry.

Mmmm... Yellow Machine Fun?

When in Rome, do as the Romans... This is a testimony to the random things that I have experienced. It is funny, stupid, and one of the many random and stupid things I will do in Korea that I probably would not do elsewhere. It is a claw machine with prizes in the bottom and the players challenge is to locate the claw above the prize of their choosing and hope for the best. My average cost per win is USD$0.75 per prize. Now I have a collection of random lighters, watches, stuffed animals, and vitamins. The funny part is I don't know why I continue to play, but most Korean's out after 10:30PM at night can be found using one of these machines. Have too much soju? This machine becomes a challenge that must be met to prove that you are a better drinker than your mates. Bored around 9:30PM when the kids leaving school are met by their parents? Play the yellow machine to an audience of kids in front of the the local 7-11 and you will be a hero if you give your prize to them.

Sauna, Massage Rooms, and Beauty Shops (Seoul's Best #32)

Saunas in Korea are known as public bath houses where the women and men each have their own areas and are given a key for a locker for their clothes. They cost anywheres from around USD$4.00 to USD$14.00 and most include a Jimjilbang (sleeping room) where after a shower and soak one can sleep overnight on the floor of the sleeping room on a thin mat with a block for a pillow. There really isn't a way to describe the demographic of the customer base because Koreans of all ages go to public bath houses. They offer a wide range of services including massage, haircuts, and shoe cleaning and repair.

The one in my area is a real family affair. Father and son, youngsters out on the piss wanting to soak and sleep of the liquor before heading home, even the teenager wanting to relax after a long night of playing online video games at the local PC Room all frequent public baths. The hard part is finding one as Saunas, Massage Rooms, and Beauty Shops all use the same sign, a spinning cylindrical barbershop pole.

For the foreigner it can be quite intimidating if you're modest because, well, once inside clothes are not allowed. I was ushered to a locker told to take my clothes off while the usher watched, and was not given a towel. Once the clothes were inside he locked the locker and walked off with the key and pointed to the shower room where I was told to take a shower before getting in the hot tub. Once in the hot tub I relaxed and soaked away my aches and pains. I never noticed how much good a hot tub could be with my bum leg; it loosened up all the muscles in my lower back and improved my stride. After the soak I showered again, and went on a search for a towel; I found a stack of tea towels and proceed to the sleeping room to check that out.

Inside the sleeping room there are vinyl covered foam exercise mats and a vinyl covered brick for a pillow. On the right there is a rack of hospital gowns hanging in the corner, just grab one of those short and thin gowns put it on and grab a blanket and lay down on a mat and sleep. It is not the most comfortable accommodation, but it is cheap at USD$4.00 per night. Prices range from USD$4.00 to USD$14.00. The best scenario for using one is when you go to Seoul to see a movie and miss the last bus and can't afford the taxi home.

Massage rooms are similar to Saunas as you can sleep overnight and usually have a masseuse of the opposite sex. It is hard to tell where to find them because they too use the mysterious spinning cylindrical barbershop pole for a sign. I have been told that if they have two spinning barbershop poles, like in the picture above, it is a designated massage parlor, but times have changed so now it is a bit random. Many places do not provide service to foreigners and I do not know why, they just don't. Prices range from USD$55.00 to USD$80.00.

I haven't had a haircut in almost two months and I am scared. Why you ask? Well, because the beauty shops here use the mysterious spinning cylindrical barbershop pole for a sign. I went into one for a hair cut and walked out with a foot massage and shorter toenails. I am not going to give up on getting a good haircut, it is just taking longer than I would like, or perhaps I am too picky.

The random things I say...

cause people to laugh at me and I don't know why. In Vanuatu it was my clever way of explaining to my village that I needed to leave church early because the manioc laplap I ate the night before has given me gas and I was too embarrassed to pass it on a wooden pew in an echoey church. Hey, I did not know that there was a word in Bislama for flatulation. I looked all the possibilities up in the dictionary and found none so I went back to my training; in the anatomy lesson I learned that everything has an ass and it means the bottom or backside of something. So I simply told my village that I had to leave church early because my ass was singing out ["Mi aot long joij from se as blong me i wantem sing aot bigwan."].

Here it is a bit different. My new Korean girlfriend laughs at the strangest things I say. On our second date she drove me home and paid the toll to get from Seoul to the city where I am which is south of Seoul. As she was paying for the toll I noticed at the toll booth that they had a T-Money RFID payment pad. So upon noticing this I pulled out my prepaid transportation card and say, "Oh, T-money! Can I use this to pay for the toll?" After she paid the bill at the toll both she burst into laughter, and kept laughing all the way to my house occasionally asking me to say it again... "T-money." Now she just grunts and says, "Your so cute! Say T-money again."

Yesterday, on our third date we went for a walk around my dong, and I was explaining to her that I wanted to go a certain way because earlier in the week I noticed that a business shut down and they were doing some renovations on the store front and I wanted to see what the new business was going to be. She did not understand my fascination with the speed in which one business can shut down and another open; so I told her the story about TwoTwo's Chicken. That store used to be a shoe repair shop. My co-worker spotted a pair of shoes he really wanted from there on a Monday and on Thursday it was transformed into TwoTwo's Chicken. He walked in scratching his head and asked if they had a pair of shoes he could buy and the people working there said, "Yes. Chicken? Beer?" The shoes were gone forever. To this my new Korean girlfriend laughed and said, "T-money and TwoTwo's. Ughhh.... You are so cute!" And then proceeded to laugh at me.

As she departed she gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek. I put her in her car and she asked me to call her so she could show me that my number comes up on her phone as "T-money." I don't get it, but I can take comfort in the fact that if the locals are laughing at me I must be doing something right.