Give me the keys, I'll drive...

Vacation

2010-12-19T16:30:00.001+09:00

Testing my new blogger app for the iPhone.

Vacation

2010-12-15T22:37:00.002+09:00

We are about to go on vacation again. We are excited. We are heading to KL tomorrow and are going to have dinner with our friends James and Malia. We taught with James in Cambodia. He now teaches in KL which is where he met his fiance Malia. They were kind enough to house us last year when we came through KL.

Friday afternoon we are headed to Phnom Penh for a bit to catch up with friends and visit some old haunts. It should be a blast! Our friends James and Anita are super cool and have a son just the same age as Q. They met once when they were super young so it will be neat to have them meet again.

Then we are headed to Bangkok for a bit. We plan on taking Q to the hospital were he was born and if possible dropping in on the doctor who delivered him. The aquarium, a boat cruise, and maybe a water park are also in the cards. For sure we are going to hit some of our favorite restaurants and we'll definitely get some shopping in.

Then we are on to Krabi to catch up with friends with whom we taught with in Korea. We are super stoked to visit with these folks in such a pristine setting.

Vespa

2010-10-12T19:45:00.005+09:00

Here are a couple pics of some of the Vespas we looked at this weekend.

Here are a couple pics of some of the Vespas we looked at this weekend.

Bahasa Indonesian

2010-10-07T22:41:00.004+09:00

Tonight we had our first Bahasa Indonesian lesson. Bahasa means language so we obviously had our first Indonesian language lesson. We are both taking a language class with a couple other teachers. We are staggering classes so that couples can split times and one can go to class while the other stays at home with the kids. It seemed to work out really well, at least for the first time. As far as languages go it seems to be pretty straight forward. No difficult tonal sounds or tenses to figure out. That said it's still going to be a lot of work to become at least conversational.

Today we bought tickets to the International Food Fair this Saturday night. It is supposed to be a good time with plenty of tasty treats and free beer. Free beer, how could you go wrong?

I dislocated my shoulder this week on our Tuesday ride. It was a freaky incident. I went down and my shoulder made a crunching cracking sound. I was sure I broke my collar bone because when I righted myself I couldn't move my arm and it was hanging at a funny angle. It almost immediately popped back in so I was lucky in that respect. I took a couple minutes to gather myself and then was able to get back on the bike. Luckily it was happened close to a main road and in 25 minutes or so we were home.

I rang the camp Dr. and she said to come right down. She had a look at me and thought that everything looked fairly normal and sent me on my way with a couple anti-inflammatories. She rang me up the next day and asked if I wouldn't mind coming down for some x-rays. They had just gotten in some new equipment and she said I could come down and get some x-rays taken if I so desired. I thought it would give me some peace of mind after such a hard fall. The sound my shoulder made was like nothing I had ever heard before in all my years of crashing.

I was standing with the x-ray technician in the x-ray room 3 minutes after showing up at the clinic. I think the time I waited to be seen was less time than It took for him to figure out how to properly set up the equipment. They took a couple x-rays of my shoulder from different angles and everyone of them looked good. It seems it's just going to be a matter of waiting for things to heal.

There's a Vespa show and sale this Saturday that I might try to check out since I will not be able to make our Saturday ride. I might take the camera, well see.

Stag

2010-09-30T20:12:00.002+09:00

Our friend Ben back in Korea is getting married in a couple weeks. His friends are throwing him a Stag party tomorrow night. I got an email asking me to make a short movie telling the groom to be that he needed to do something. I was at a loss so I asked Q to help me out and this is what he came up with.

Settling In

2010-09-27T22:15:00.004+09:00

Well we finally feel like we're settling in our new house, job, city, country. We've gotten word that our shipment has arrived in Jakarta and are waiting to hear that it is in transit to Balikpapan. Our house still feels a bit like a hotel with bare walls and bland furniture. We are looking forward to making our apartment more homey by adding all our little trinkets, pictures, books and such. Many of the things that will be arriving were in storage for two years so it's almost like getting them for the first time.

I haven't gotten out to take many pictures as it's been pretty busy since we got here. I plan on getting out and snapping some pics of the extended neighborhood sometime in the next couple weeks. We are heading to Bali in about three weeks and you can be sure I'll get some pics there.

The MTB riding has been great. I have been getting out most weeks at least two days. I've taken the last week off due to a shoulder injury. I hope to be on the mend and plan on getting back out for a ride tomorrow afternoon.

We had a nice summer visiting with family and friends. Q and I were able to head to the east coast where he was able to spend some QT with his cousin Gray and I was able to spend some QT with my sister Steph and my brother Otto and his wife Nancy. My other sister Siovhan and her two daughters were able to come to Tucson for a visit as well. As always it was great to see everyone.

Last Friday a bunch of us went out for a night on the town to celebrate a coworkers birthday. It was a good time but we were all a bit groggy the next day. It was the first time I have hit the town since arriving in the first week of August. I haven't been out that late in a long, long time. The birthday boy happens to be the music teacher at the school I work at and therefore is Q's music teacher. We all piled in the car to go from one bar to another when he told this story.

The other day in class right in the middle of things Q raises his hand. I asked him what he wanted and he said this " Um um... my dad says that I rock.......... the party." To which Adam said "Well I bet you do".

The music teacehr got a kick out of it and so did I.

Christmas Eve Day

2009-12-25T17:43:00.001+09:00

On the day of Christmas Eve we decided to go to have lunch at the Tanjung Rhu Resort. The resort is located on a pristine beach looking out towards Thailand. One of the unique features of this particular beach is the artificially created sandbar that you can walk out into the cove on. After a super tasty lunch we walked out on the sandbar for a bit before heading up the beach to find some shade and toss the frisbee. Here are some pics from our disc throwing session and one from the entrance to the resort looking out toward the beach. I'll have more pics of the beach up in a bit.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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More Langkawi Pics

2009-12-22T23:57:00.001+09:00

Today we rented scooters and decided to zip up the coast to the Langkawi Cable Car which takes you up to the top of the second highest peak on Langkawi. Upon arrival we were surprised to find a two hour wait to get into a gondola and head to the top of the mountain. It was really hot and we didn't fell like sitting in the hot sun for two hours so we decided to try our luck again on Thursday. It looked pretty awesome though. The gondola takes you right up the side of the mountain which I think would be more accurately described as a cliff.

Since we postponed our gondola trip we decided to check out the petting zoo instead. There were two kinds of animals, deer and rabbits. You could by the same food and feed it to both, which we did.

On our way back Jen got into a little fender bender with a car which lucky enough turned out to be quite minor. One of the pics in todays lot is her sitting on the hood with the owner of the car she ran into. Lucky for everyone we were laughing about it by lunch.

If you notice in another pic Liz is sitting by a sign that warns of jellyfish. She was stung last night and had to go to the hospital. It was a brutally painful ordeal but she is finally recovering. What a bummer!

We finished the evening in the same manner in which we have since arriving; having dinner on the beach while the sun set into the ocean.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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First Day in Langkawi

2009-12-20T22:12:00.001+09:00

Here are some pics from our first day in Langkawi. From the looks of it I think we'll be able to tough it out here for the next week.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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KL

2009-12-18T23:02:00.001+09:00

An article on visiting KL while we're visiting KL:http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/travel/20hours.html

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Batu Caves

2009-12-18T19:34:00.001+09:00

Here are some pics from our trip to Batu Cave today. To reach the cave you must climb 272 steps. It was well worth the climb even though we had to deal with some mischievous monkeys.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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New Inner City Bike Design

2009-11-10T14:40:00.001+09:00

Interesting looking bike design: http://www.jruiter.com/jruiter/conceptsLatest.php

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A Couple More Pics

2009-11-03T21:38:00.001+09:00

Here are a couple more pics from the weekend.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Halloween

2009-11-03T21:24:00.001+09:00

Of course Halloween was a big event for Q. I think it's the first Halloween where he kind of understands what is going on. J, Q, our friend Ben and I all hopped in the car and went down to the Halloween store. It may sound like no big deal, and it really isn't, but it is a bit of an undertaking going into the city. Anytime you have to drive into the city it ends up taking most of the day. Mostly this is OK because you end up getting a tasty meal somewhere along the way and seeing some cool stuff.

It only took us about 20 minutes to locate the Halloween store after arriving in the neighborhood, or dong as it's called in Korea. This might seem like a long time, but trying to read poorly written directions in Korean posed a bit of a challenge. Ben and I had actually been to the exact store last year but things in the neighborhood had changed and it was dark the last time we were there. Needless to say it was a success and we all left with costumes.

Although we did celebrate Halloween at school we didn't go out on Halloween proper. We all were feeling a bit run down so we decided to take it easy and stay in. It was predicted to be in the low 30's by Monday so we decided to get out while we could still enjoy the weather. On Sunday we went for brunch at one of our favorite restaurants in the neighborhood and then out for a picnic later in the afternoon.

Oh I should mention that we got Beatles Rock Band. It is cooler than I would like to admit. Q likes it, especially "Yellow Submarine" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

These are some pics from the last week.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Homebrew Pics

2009-10-27T10:23:00.001+09:00

A couple pics from the latest homebrew. One pic is of the ingredients for this batch and one pic is of the wort being chilled with my new wort chiller.

The recipe is called "White Mountain Wit" and includes coriander, sweet and bitter orange peels, plain wheat malt, Belgian candy sugar, oatmeal, and Mt. Hood hops.

The wort chiller took the temperature of the wort from around 200* F to 75* F in about 20 minutes. Sweet!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Homebrew

2009-10-25T15:17:00.004+09:00

The "White Mountain Wit" is underway...

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Singapore II

2009-10-22T21:56:00.007+09:00

I was back in Singapore for a tech workshop last week. It was another pleasant experience. I was able to see more of Singapore this time than ever before. I think this was actually my longest stay there.

I went to Singapore with a fellow elementary tech teacher. He was a great travel companion and I thouroughly enjoyed hanging out with him. We managed a nice mix of work and leisure throughout the week.

We actually went out for beers (imagine that) with our instructor on the second night (Thursday) of our workshop. Needless to say we were a bit foggy eyed Friday morning; but we muscled through and weren't too much worse for the wear. We learned some really cool stuff that I am definitely going to use in my classroom. I have actually already started applying some of what we learned. You may see some of the stuff bleed into this site in the coming weeks. I also was able to brush up on some Photoshop skills that I haven't used in quite some time. I haven't used Photoshop for a bit as I run most of my images through Aperture.

It was the Indian holiday of Diwali and the Indian community was out celebrating. We were walking through a park in the Little India section of Singapore and some guys invited us to sit with them. They were very generous and shared some plumb brandy and snacks with us.

Other notable spots we were able to take in were: Arab Street, China town, Boat Quay, Clarke Quay, and the expat bars & restaurants on Holland Ave.

Here are some pics from the week.

Singapore / Borneo Vacation

2009-10-02T12:45:00.012+09:00

Well as you can tell from the pics we went to the zoo while in Singapore last week. I'm not a huge fan of zoos but I have to say it was probably the coolest zoo I've ever been to. The way the zoo is set up makes you feel like you are in the animals natural habitat... somewhat. At least as close as I or most people will ever be to some of these animals. There are very few cages, most animals are in enclosures that are separated from zoo visitors by motes.

The orangutans and other primates were kept up in trees using a series of wires wrapped around the tree trunks. I wondered if the wires were electrified or it just posed an impassible dilemma for them. Whichever, it worked like a charm.

In other areas there was nothing separating you from the animals. For example, inside the kangaroo enclosure there was nothing separating you from the kangaroos. There was a small wooden pole fence keeping zoo goers on the walking path but the kangaroos were free to roam wherever they chose. The kangaroos hopped over or ducked under the fence railing at will.

WIth some of the more dangerous animals the animals were kept at bay using water ponds or quite big, open, impassable spaces. It was cool nonetheless not having a cage to have to peer through. In reality the space was welcome. When you are looking at a tiger that could easily eat you for lunch it comforting to have a bit of distance between you and it's huge flesh ripping fangs.

The weekend we were in Singapore was actually the same weekend as the Singapore F1 race was being held. Our hotel was so close to the race you could here the cars as they practiced and raced. The whining of the engine was very unique. Even Q clued into the noise and asked what it was. The race is run on a track that is set up using existing roads right downtown. I was surprised to learn that the Singapore F1 was one of only two F1 night races. The actual race was held the night before we left. We watched it live from our hotel room. We could hit mute on the TV and actually hear the race cars; even through our closed hotel window.

We left Singapore and headed to the Indonesian side of Borneo to visit with our friends the Fullertons who live in Balikpapan. They are a teaching couple that we taught with in Cambodia. Brent was someone who I rode motorcycles with while we lived in Phnom Penh.

They have two children who of course Q thought were the coolest kids in the world. They were super cool with him and made him feel right at home. Actually the whole family made us feel right at home. We know it's an inconvenience to have someone stay with you but they made us feel extremely comfortable and welcome.

One day while Brent, Cheryl and kids went to school we decided to visit a orangutan/sunbear sanctuary about an hours drive north of the city. You can check it out here. Or just look at the pictures below.

Someone at the school the Fullertons work at arranged for us to have a tour the orangutan and sunbear rehab facilities. It is a very cool place. You can see that there is a lodge you can stay at which is very cool as well. While visiting you have the option of volunteering and helping out or just relaxing in a unique environment. I can say that I would recommend Samboja to anyone who is passing through southeastern Borneo.

I'm off for a MTB ride after work. Fall is definitely here and the weather is cool but pleasant. The leaves are just staring to change and the trails are prime for riding.

Back in the Saddle

2009-08-24T22:07:00.004+09:00

We are back in Korea and back at work. We hit some turbulence, both literal and figuratively, on our way back. We had an unexpected overnight in LA. We made it back without to much fuss, just in time to go back to work.

We were too busy to get jet-lag so in that respect it worked out well. We are all settling in well. Q is having tons of fun in the nursery which has even more kids in it this year.

We had a blast this summer hanging and taking trips with family. Here are a couple pics from the moto trip Bryan and I took up to meet everyone in Nutrioso.

This past Saturday we went to an outdoor concert sponsored by a local Mexican restaurant. They actually had a real live mariachi band that played. A band made up of teachers working at our school played as well. They're called Seoulfinger. After the festivities ended a bunch of teachers went out in the Gangnam area where we were to a Canadian microbrewery called Big Rock. Tasty brews!

On Sunday we met up with Jen, Rich and their two boys at the skate-park across the street from out house. Here are some pics.

It looks like a whole month of work before we get our next break. It will be tough but I think we can make it.

T-town

2009-07-04T08:20:00.002+09:00

We are here in Tucson spending time with friends and family. I just got back from a training at the Disneyland Hotel and Conference Center. I was able to get a couple hours in at California Adventure which was fun. We'll be here for the next couple weeks.

Here are some pics from our summer.

Best Foot Forward

2009-05-23T18:58:00.004+09:00

This weeks has been a rough one. First I sprained my ankle pretty badly playing hoops on Monday. Here is a picture of it today (Saturday), 5 days later.

I have been on crutches all week. I went to the emergency room on Monday night to get my ankle x-rayed. I wanted to be sure that there wasn't bone damage. There wasn't so I made an appointment to see an ortho on Thursday. He looked me over and told me to come back in a week. He was thorough and explained things to me in good English. I have to wear a brace for at least another week. The swelling has gone down immensely in the last 24 hours. I think keeping off it and icing it regularly has helped a lot.

On top of that J has come down with a pretty bad cold. She feels like crud but in true form barely complains at all.

We fly back to the states in 3 weeks. I'm participating in a training all this week so I really only have 2 weeks left of teaching.

Time flies when your having fun.

Jet-lagging

2009-05-13T20:49:00.008+09:00

Much has transpired since my last post. We went out for a nice long weekend trip to an island off the west coast of Korea. Here are some pics from our trip:

It was nice to get out of town for a bit and spend time with people away from work.

This past weekend I went to Tubac, AZ to attend a friends wedding. I flew into Tucson on Thursday night and flew out early Monday morning. It was a quick trip but definitely worth it. Here are some pics from the weekend.

The wedding was great opportunity to catch up with friends as well meet some interesting new people. My trip back was fraught with delays and missed flights; mainly due to precautionary measures concerning a certain pig illness. In the end I made it home only 4 hours late which wasn't so bad.

I was also able to get out on the Kawasaki for a brief introductory ride. I have to say it is everything that I hoped it would be and I look forward to putting some miles on it this summer.

I'm jet-lagged and off to bed.

Hanging with the Boys

2009-04-25T13:52:00.009+09:00

J is in Doha attending a conference so it's been boys time for the past couple of days. J is attending the conference with Jesika who is also a kinder teachers at KIS. They both were lucky enough to spend some time with our friends Kris and Wendy who are currently living in Doha.

Last night Q and I had Hugo and Ben over over for chicken and beer. (Quinn mainly stuck to apple juice, milk and potatoes) Hugo's wife is with J so it only made sense that we hung out together as well. Ben brought some of his homebrew with him which added to what I already had in the fridge. We spent the night chewing the fat and sampling our selection of homebrews which included 2 IPA's, a Belgian and a lager.

Today I awoke to Quinn standing beside my bed telling me it was time to "wake up daddy". So I did. After having breakfast we decided to go for a walk. It was mid fifties and overcast, perfect weather for a hike. There's a wooded area a stones throw from our apartment so we decided to head there. Here are some pics of our walk.

B-day Party

2009-04-19T19:51:00.006+09:00

Here are some pics from today's festivities:

This is a puppet show I helped put on. The kids seemed to dig it.

As you can see the noise makers were a big hit.

The party was a combined party for a bunch of kids born within a couple weeks of each other. Each child got a cupcake with a candle. Here is Quinn blowing out his candles.

Yummy...

Haircut

2009-04-18T23:29:00.009+09:00

Today we took Quinn for his first haircut. I've cut his hair once before but it was just a trim to reduce the mullet he was sporting. Today he got his first full on haircut. I got my hair cut first so Quinn could see all that the process entailed. Julia was describing things as they happened and he was taking it all in. We chose to go to a hair shop that catered to little ones. They even had a chair in the shape of a car complete with a TV showing cartoons directly in front.

None of this appealed to Quinn when it came down to go time. He was content to sit on my lap though. He did remarkably well I have to say. He actually sat still and let the barber cut his hair while I moved his head this way and that. The barber took it very seriously and really spent some time getting it just right. Here are some pictures from our experience.

The "man's" shop:

Here I am inspecting the barber's armpit:

Notice not only the sweet haircut but the gold scissors hanging from the pimpin' gold chain:

The seal of approval:

Two freshly shorn gentlemen:

Tomorrow we have a B-day party. Pictures to follow.

Rocket Launch Fever

2009-04-04T22:24:00.002+09:00

It seems the big news lately is all about the impending "rocket" or "satellite" launch by North Korea. The launch should be taking place in the next day or two. I think the most irked country seems to be Japan as the rocket will be passing through their airspace. They have stated that they have dispatched a big ship or two that could shoot down any rocket or debris that may violate Japanese airspace. I guess we will have to wait and see.

J is heading to Doha in a couple weeks for a conference. An added bonus is that we have friends there who she will be able to catch up with.

I am still stoked on our Hanoi trip and the fact that we got to catch up with our friends there. Here is a link to an article in the NYT about Hanoi. It was as if the author was on our trip. We did not do everything the author did, but quite a bit. If you stand in our friends front yard you can hit the Intercontinental with a stone, or water balloon if you prefer.

I'm still getting used to traveling with a little on in tow but I'm coming around. We have plenty of friends to get advice from in the area which is nice.

In an unrelated note spring is rearing its head. We are starting to see blossoms here and there and temperatures are starting to climb into the 50's F. We are all eagerly awaiting warmer weather.

Another busy week. The school has asked me to take pictures for the school website so I got a day off to do that this week. I also took a day off after going to see Oasis on Wed. night. Although it may sound like I didn't work much this week I was very busy. I was at school on both days that I wasn't teaching and I had to write sub plans for the days I was out. Not super fun. On top of all that report cards are due.

I think J and I are going to do a triathlon with a friend in about a month. I am going to swim, J is going to bike, and our friend is going to run. I guess I better get in the pool.

Adios

Hanoi pics

2009-03-30T22:35:00.002+09:00

Here are a couple pics from our trip to Hanoi:

Another Quideo

2009-03-18T18:42:00.002+09:00

St. Paddy's Day

2009-03-15T20:32:00.013+09:00

This weekend our school co-sponsored a St. Paddy's bash at a bar called Stompers in Iteawon. Some members of our staff are in a band called Boondeggi. They rocked the house all night long. Boondeggi, if you are curious, is the name of silk worm larvae that is served at road side stands here in Korea. I've never actually tried it but I plan to some day.

Our school represented well and was out in force. We really have a great staff who enjoy having a good time. Iteawon is an interesting place. It is right next to an army base so you have many shops catering to foreigners. On one side that is a bonus because it is an area that I can go to and actually find clothes or shoes that are the proper size.

The bar is located in an area referred to as "Hooker Hill". Although no ladies of the night frequent this particular establishment you have to walk by quite a few shady bars with blacked out windows and interesting names. You can imagine the clientele that an army base would provide.

This was our first time out in Iteawon at night. It was definitely different than any other area that we have been to. We saw more expats last night than we have probably in our entire time in Korea. It was a trip to see Americans in their early twenties out getting smashed. It kind of reminded me of college in a way except most of these kids chose the military over college. Korea doesn't provide you with a lot of variety so to see young Americans out and dressed to the nines was a trip. The drunk loud American really sticks out here.

A not so special special:

A fellow brewer also named Ben:

J hangin with some of the crew:

Yesterday I brewed up another batch of homebrew. This time I brewed up a Belgian style ale that should be quite interesting. So far everything seems to be going to plan. I am toying with the idea of trying to employ a two stage fermentation process. I still have a couple days before I have to decide.

Here are the ingredients and a sweet reference book I read more than I probably should:

A week from today we head to Hanoi to visit our friends. We are super excited. Hopefully before we leave we will be able to visit our friends Marc and Mel who are coming to Seoul next weekend.

Our friend Ben who we are going to visit in Hanoi is a wildlife biologist. His specialty is Gibbons. He is going to take us a place called Cat Ba where he has friends who work. Here is the link if you want to check it out here I can already tell I'm going to dig it. He mentioned that there is also some climbing nearby as well. You can check that out here.

Check it out:

2009-03-03T19:44:00.002+09:00

This weekend I got together with two other of my fellow home brewers to sample the fruits of our labor. I have to say all the brews turned out really well. We spent the night discussing the finer traits of each brew. We are in for round two in the next week or so.

We have been busy toiling away at the salt mines. This week we have parent conferences which are always mentally exhausting. It will be nice to have them out of the way.

Quinn has had the opportunity to hang with out with our friends boys often. He is getting to know them well and they him. He enjoys spending time with the older kids and they are all so patient with him it's great.

We are getting excited to be heading to Vietnam in a couple of weeks to visit our friends Ben, Michelle and their son Tane. It will be nice to get away for a bit and a big bonus to hang out with good friends.

Adios

2009-02-25T14:17:00.002+09:00

Here are a couple pics from the weekend. Snowboarding on Saturday and a 10k on Sunday.

Little Drummer Boy

2009-02-10T19:13:00.007+09:00

Saturday night we got a sitter and went to a surprise party for one of our friends. She was genuinely surprised so it started off good and got better from there. It was mostly attended by people we work with which is fine as we work with some groovy people. The liquor was flowing and people were letting their hair down so to speak. One huge bonus is that it was in the same apartment complex that we live in so it was a five minute walk home.

Sunday I got a call from a buddy and fellow brewer that his brew was ready to bottle. Q and I hopped in the car and zipped over to his apartment to lend a hand. He is brewing up a nicely hopped IPA. He juiced up the alcohol level by adding some sugar at the start of the process so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. All in all we have bottled around 15 gallons of brew in the last week. 5 gallons each of nut brown, IPA and an amber. Next up for me is a Belgian style ale. Here are some pics of Ben bottling up the IPA.

This brew may look a little dark for those of you familiar with IPA. It will "clear" in the next week or so and become a bit lighter. I'll be sure to get some pics of it once it is ready.

While we were there Q decided to rock out on Ben's electric drums. Here are some pics of that:

Adios,

Ski Trip

2009-01-31T22:44:00.004+09:00

Early Wednesday morning we set out for the Seoul Station train terminal. We left the house for the bus stop a little after 5:30 am with bags in tow. It was a brisk cold morning but we were adequately bundled. Our bus, the 5500-1, arrived and we boarded. We lugged ourselves and our luggage on and plopped down in the first available seats. We settled in and arrived about 45 minutes later at Seoul Station, well, sort of. We arrived at the bus stop near Seoul Station. We could see Seoul Station but it was across the street, a major street mind you. So we did what you normally do when you want to get across a major street downtown, we dropped into the subway and walked under (across) the street. We popped out right in front of where we needed to be and proceeded into the station. As we were walking in the door we spotted some people who were headed up to ski as well. They had already picked up everyone's tickets and we were all set. Nice!

Once everyone was accounted for there were quick runs for coffee (Dunkin Doughnuts) and a breakfast sandwiches (McDonalds). When the time arrived we made our way to the platform and boarded our train bound for High1 Ski Resort. Once aboard we settled in for our 5 hour ride. A cribbage board was broken out and games ensued.

Upon arrival we were picked up by a hotel shuttle and whisked away to the mountain-side condo where we would be spending the next couple days. We settled in to our 2 bedroom condo which we were sharing with two other 5th grade teachers. The other 5th grade teacher named Ben and I decided to hit the slopes for some night skiing. We boarded from 5 until about 9. Of course I stacked on the first run and banged up my elbow. I could feel that it was not right but decided to not look at it until we got back to the room. When we arrived at the room hours later I unveiled my injury and to my chagrin found a nice egg shaped bubble on my elbow. I iced it a bit and the swelling went down. By the next morning it was almost undetectable. It's still a bit swollen but doesn't seem to be too worse for the wear.

The next morning Julia hit the slopes in the am and I went out the for the afternoon. The next morning the weather turned and it was snowing and foggy. We spent the morning getting ready to go and I hit the slopes solo in the afternoon. Visibility was about 15 feet with high winds which in turn discouraged most to stay off the steeper runs. This meant that I had them almost to myself. I skied for a couple hours almost completely alone. It was sweet.

We could not have lucked out and spent our vacation with anyone more cool than the people we were with. One couple have two boys who were super cool with Q. They spent an amazing amount of time just hanging out with him and making him feel part of the crew. Here is a pic of them on the train.

Of course no trip wold be complete without some drama. The short version is that on departure half of us ended up at the wrong train station. Here is that half, at the wrong station.

I'm sure you would be happy to know that we all ended on the right train after all was said and done. We all celebrated a good week of skiing with brews and cards on the way home. Here is a pic of us upon arrival.

I have no idea who that Korean guy is on the far right but I do know that I would give him a high five for totally jumping in a random picture.

Snow Day

2009-01-24T12:27:00.002+09:00

This morning we awoke to more snow on the ground. This snow was a bit more significant than any snow we have gotten this year. We had some breakfast and Q and I headed down to play around a bit. Here are some pics from our adventures:

Today we are just lounging around taking advantage of the time to work on getting the house in order. We don't have much planned for the next few days. Yesterday was down in the teens, brutally cold with a nice wind to really let you know whose boss.

We leave for our ski trip on Wednesday morning bright and early. We catch a 7:30 train at Seoul Station downtown so we will probably leave our house about 5:30am. I'm excited to get out of the city for a bit and see the countryside even though it will be covered in snow.

We have been enjoying our Wii more than I would like to admit. We have had friends over to play various games. Julia is actually playing Guitar Hero right now. She destroys me every time we play. Some other really fun games are tennis and darts. The whole concept behind the Wii a really cool. If you've never played it I recommend doing so.

Adios,

Electronics Wonderland

2009-01-21T08:06:00.001+09:00

This weekend we hopped in the car and headed to an area called Yongsan to visit the famed Yongsan electronics market. On our way we swung buy and picked up our friend Ben who would be our trusty navigator. After Ben joined us we steered our trusty Hyundai onto the toll-road and pointed her north. We made it a couple kilometers before we hit traffic which slowed us to a crawl. We spent the next almost two hours creeping northward before being freed from the grips of traffic.

Once we approached the Han river we exited national road 1 and headed west on national road 88, or Olympic Expressway. (Seoul hosted the 88 Olympics) We kept missing bridge exits. One exit would be on the left side of the highway and then the next bridge exit would be on the right side of the highway. In then end it worked out for the best as we found a bridge that dropped us right where we wanted to be.

We found a parking garage, parked and started to explore the area. Our friend Ben took us to his “Game Guy” so we could look at a gaming consol. We looked around and decided to on a Nintendo Wii. After this we went over the main electronics mall to look around. It was insane!! Floor after floor, shop after shop of everything electronic. It was all super clean and well organized. Many camera shops had the added bonus of selling used stuff as well. Most of the time you couldn’t tell what was new and what was used because it was in such good condition.

All this shopping made us hungry so we found a nice Italian restaurant to have some dinner. It was very tasty and the bill was only 20 bucks for all four of us. The picture of J, Ben and Q is at said Italian joint.

After dinner we snooped around a bit more before heading home. Upon returning home we immediately hooked up the Wii and played games for a couple hours. I have to say, (and am a bit ashamed) the Wii is really fun. The games are quite interactive, short, and fun. It’s a very social instrument.

I can’t speak for J, but I will definitely be heading back to the electronics market.

1979 KZ650D

2009-01-20T11:33:00.000+09:00

Some pics of my new motorycle

Back in Seoul

2009-01-08T16:25:00.002+09:00

I am sitting at school killing time before I walk down to the subway to meet some friends for an evening of informal Korean language class. I could wait for the 5:20 staff bus to take me to the subway station, but I want to get a little fresh air so I'll walk. A fellow teacher usually walks home to his apartment from school which also happens to be very near to the subway stop I am meeting friends at so I will probably stroll down with him. It usually takes only about 15 minutes or so depending if you catch the light or not.

Korean class basically is a couple teachers going to a fellow teachers house and trying to speak some Korean. One teacher in attendance is an American born Korean who helps us try to expand our Korean vocabulary. As you can imagine she has an amazing amount of patients when it comes to helping us. She helps us try to pronounce things correctly and answers all of our questions no matter how irrelevant or silly they may be.

Gotta boogie. I'll leave you with a picture taken from the front porch of a buddies ranch.

Christmas Quimages

2008-12-28T02:56:00.009+09:00

Here is Q opening some presents:

A pic from Christmas Eve:

Here is Q playing with his trains:

Here is Q visiting the horses who live up the street from Grandma.

Here are some pics from a hike in Pima Canyon we took with our buddy BP:

Beer School Santa

2008-12-06T14:00:00.005+09:00

Today we went to a nice Christmas party for kids. Our friends hosted a gift exchange at their house. I have never been with so many kids in such a small space before. Overall it was a big success. Santa even made an appearance to hand out gifts.

The party started at the same time Q's nap was supposed to start. He was falling asleep as we pulled up. We gathered our stuff and headed in at which time Q immediately lost it. I think he was still a bit groggy from his 5 minute nap or something. It took him a bit but he got it together and ended up having a good time. Most of the kids took turns losing their shit and then coming back around to enjoying themselves.

Of course when Santa arrived a couple kids freaked out. Q was ok with Santa until he sat on his lap. Then he was not ok with Santa. Here is a pic for you amusement.

Here are some pics of the kids in present mode:

You can see Q in the back enjoying his present on the couch. He got some sort of drawing device that is back lit and requires batteries. We have yet to use it to its fullest potential as we still need to put batteries in it. I figure if we don' use batteries for awhile when we do put them in it will be like getting a whole new gift again.

Tonight we are heading to our staff Christmas party for grown ups. On The Boarder Mexican restaurant is catering so it should be tasty.

Last night a couple friends and I hopped on the subway and ventured back to the homebrewig shop called Beer School. Luckily this time it was open.(This time I called ahead to make sure) In Seoul it is OK to drink in public so we got a couple Heinekens for the trip. The owner of Beer School loves beer so he teaches anyone who is interested how to make home brew. He has a descent selection of supplies and ingredients. For 20 bucks he'll walk you through the process, feed you some tasty grub, and give you a liter of home brew he's made. We each chose a different style of brew to try and all shared with each other. Tasty!!

Here are some pics from our session:

Here Ben is crying tears of joy.

Notice the intense concentration and focus.

Here we are awaiting our tasting session.

Notice the smiles.

Mmmmmm.

Picture Parade

2008-12-02T19:16:00.006+09:00

Some of the folks we work with like to play practical jokes. A fourth grade teacher who works a couple doors down from me likes to photoshop people into pictures for a humorous effect. Here is an example:

I retaliated with this one:

Then he came out with this one which was funny because it includes our principal and some other staff members who share a good sense of humor.

Then I pulled out the clincher. He new he was up against a superior and promptly retired after this one. The other person in this is another 5th grade teacher. The original picture was actually some friends of ours in Cambodia.

I think the text on the picture makes this one super sweet. It was already there, I couldn't write anything that beautiful.

Adios,

A Relaxing Week

2008-11-23T10:37:00.004+09:00

This week has generally been a relaxing one. We had three days of work, only two with students. We had to report to school on Wed for staff development. The purpose of the day was to get a jump on the upcoming WASC accreditation process. The staff was put into teams and given a schedule. The "work" was split up with fun activities. Some of these included navigating huge inflatable obstacle courses as well as scooter racing. Each team rotated and competed against other teams throughout the day. It broke up the monotony of revisiting the WASC process. To give you an idea of how involved the process is we don't have to be done until the spring of 2010.

On Thursday we hopped in the car and ventured to an area called Iteawon where we stumbled on a great Mexican food restaurant. While we ate Q ran around the restaurant entertaining the wait staff. They were letting Q take ornaments off the Christmas tree which he was setting down on the floor and booting across the room. They thought it was hilarious. After a tasty meal we decided to get in a little shopping. Iteawon is a very touristy area so we thought we may get some stuff for the house or possibly find some western sized clothes. As we exited "Amigos" we were bummed to find that the weather had turned sour and it was now snowing enough to need an umbrella or waterproof gear; neither of which we had. We deliberated a bit and decided to pack it in and call it a day.

We backtracked to the car, which by the way was parked in the worlds smallest underground parking garage. It had precisely 7 parking spaces. We aimed for home and were on our way. Of course within three minutes it cleared up and stopped snowing.

Friday we took Q in for his 18 month check up complete with a couple immunizations. After driving up and down the street and then walking around the building that contained the doctors office a couple times we found it. We were basically holding the doctor's business card up and trying to find a sign that matched. Although I am slowly learning the Korean alphabet I am still basically illiterate. It makes it difficult to find things when you can't read.

The doctor said Q is doing well and according to the Asian growth charts he is quite average. According to the US charts he's in the 20% region.

After the Q's check up we went off in search of the "Aquarium". We eventually found it and went in to check it out. Here are some pics from our visit.

If you look at the people on the right you can see that Q was almost as much of an attraction as the marine life. People are fascinated by light haired fair skinned wee ones.

It is actually a really nice aquarium. We will definitely be returning.

Quinn is used to people getting in his face and wanting to touch him and hold him. If he doesn't want someone to touch or hold him he just tells them no at which time most people are courteous and don't push it. At times I have been pushing him down the street in his stroller and he's waiving and saying hello to complete strangers as we pass. He thinks it's hilarious as do they.

After the aquarium we b-lined it to a B-day party for the daughter of some fellow teachers. Q had a great time and enjoyed playing with their cat.

Yesterday I got out for a ride with a buddy on a trail he dubbed "Happy Hour". Here is a Google image it the ride:

This week it's back to work. We have three weeks until winter break and our visit back to AZ. We are very excited and looking forward to the seeing everyone.

Adios,

Beer School

2008-11-11T20:16:00.005+09:00

J had a successful week at her volleyball tournament. Despite having the minimum number of players (meaning she had no subs) her team placed 5 among 12 teams. On top of that she didn't have her star player and many of her starters. The girls really stepped up to the plate and did a great job. Many of the other coaches commented on how tough her team was. Each girl had to play every second of every game. Sometimes three games in a single day. Most games were comprised of 5 individual sets, each to 25 points. The team won the best sportsmanship award. Nicely done!!

This Saturday I met up with a couple friends to seek out the beer school to see what lessons it could teach us. We hopped on the subway and a couple of interchanges later we got off. We decided to check out a huge vegetable market in route since we were passing so close. It was huge, awesome and cheap! It is a wholesale market where restaurants by there veggies that is also open to the public. My buddy Ron who was with us said he had come a couple day earlier by subway. He had to take a cab home because the 20 dollars he spent bought him so many vegetables he couldn't carry them all.

After that we consulted the rudimentary map I had cobbled together and headed off with visions of airlocks, brewers yeast and carboys in our minds. After a couple trips around the block we stumbled upon the Beer School only to realize that it was in fact closed. Of course there where no hours posted or day of operation. We decided to grab a bite and then head back.

We found what appeared to be a suitable place for lunch. It turned out to be an incredibly tasty endeavor. After lunch we returned to Beer School only to find that school was still not in session. Not to be deterred we decided that we at least could do a little research on the subject so we flagged a cab, squeezed 5 in and headed to an area that has a huge market. It was the first what I call "Asian"style market that I have been to since coming to Korea. A huge open air market where you can get anything under the sun. I say motorcycle jackets, used shoes, silk worm pupae, new and used clothing, sunglasses, snow boarding helmets, trinkets as well as anything and everything else you could imagine. After wandering around for a while we went in search of a place to find a libation. We came upon an establishment called the USA bar. We thought that we'd check it out and found it to be a little on the expensive side. We decided that we should do a tequila shot in honor of North America (only Canadians and Americans present) and move on. After we ceremoniously saluted our homeland we moved on. We all five hopped in a cab and headed to an area called Sinchon. Therein lie the famous request bars. These are the bars that are stacked with actual records that you could make requests from. We hung out for abit before some of the party headed for home.

Those of us who were left went in search of sushi. We found what appeared to be a suitable restaurant and proceed to stuff our face with fish. After we felt good and fat we headed out for more request bars. I won't go into details to protect the guilty. I'll just say that there was plenty of loud singing and rough and tumble behavior; some of which resulted in random bruising and socks exiting via the cab window.

Sunday I went on a bike ride with a buddy. It was nice to get out and exercise. I felt much better afterward.

Next week we have autumn break. YEAH! Nothing planned yet but there is still time.

I'll leave you with some Quimages. One is him in his weightlifter pants and the other is him in a jacket he just had to put on. He is holding a cool truck Molly sent him in one of the photos. He loves the truck because it makes noise and is a wind up. You can probably tell he was he was a bit cranky in the jacket photo. I still think it is a hilarious photo nonetheless.

Adios

Election Night

2008-11-04T21:06:00.003+09:00

I thought before I head to bed I'll go and check out interactive electoral vote maps on the internet...again. After running through possible scenarios it seems to me that there is almost no way that John McCain can win. But you never know, depending on which poll you listen to it could be a landslide or a close race. The problem with polls are, who are they calling? Most polls only call people who have voted in recent elections. If you have been reading the news you know that record numbers of people have registered and will be voting for the first time.(or at least the first time in a long time) It should be interesting nonetheless.

In other news I am heading to a home brew shop this weekend with some buddies to see about getting a home brew kit up and running. I have a feeling some olfactory/taste bud exercise will ensue.

Adios,

Kung Fu Donught

2008-11-02T20:02:00.010+09:00

This week as you know was Halloween. Halloween is always a good time it seems. Quinn dressed up as Steven Seagal. The ladies in the nursery took them trick or treating around the school. He and the other little ones came by my room in the morning for some treats. The trick was left up to the ladies as they had to pull something out to get him out of the room without a freak out. He wanted to stay pretty bad. Halloween is a write off anyways so I was very close to telling them to just let him stay and have him spend the day with the class. Good judgment got the better of me and he was off. Anyway here is a picture of my class in full costume.

I have provided a picture of Steven Seagal for you here:

And here is a picture of Quinn as Steven Seagal:
Ahh... Now you see the resemblance.

On Saturday the social committee at school hosted a Halloween extravaganza. The kids really had a blast. Lucky for us it was at our apartment building. On the fifth floor of our building there is a common area that is shared by all 4 buildings. It is quite a nice area because you can go outside and not have to deal with street traffic. There are rooms in each of the four buildings on the 5th floor that residents can use. The school rented one out and that is where the "party" was located. All the kids hung out together and did kid stuff. At one point they all went trick or treating at each teacher apartment. They had a blast of course. After trick or treating there were some games for the kids. One game was the "doughnut on a string" game where you have to eat the doughnut off the string without using your hands. The older kids went first; Q was watching intently as he thought he might be next. Smart chap because he was next. He was an observant cat because not once did he try to use his hands. It was classic. Here are some Quimages of the event:

Here is Q's best friend Emma giving it a go. Q was offering moral support.

After the festivities wound down it was time for a little adult party time. The school partnered with SIS, another international school, to have a big blowout Halloween bash. Earlier in the week I went to a costume store with a fellow teacher who just so happens to be named Ben. The only thing I found that would fit was a Bruce Lee outfit. It was sweet so I purchased it. (I found it a bit difficult to get a cab while wearing it. Not sure why?) The party was fun; even complete with live music. Here is a pic of Bruce.. err me and another teacher Derrick.

I thought I would throw in a pic of the band looking a bit ghostly on Halloween.
J is away for a weeklong V-ball tournament. I know it is hard for her to be away for Quinn for so long so send her good vibes.

Adios

Fixie Love

2008-10-28T21:02:00.003+09:00

Well I have been riding to work about three days a week for since my dad brought my fixie to Seoul. I have been enjoying it more than I thought. My Tucson commute was about the same mileage as my commute here in Seoul. My main commuter bike in Tucson was a fixie as well but I wasn't able to ride to work along a beautiful river.(complete with ducks)

Sometimes when I was feeling lazy or my legs needed a break I would ride my road bike which provided the luxury of gears. My roadbike was light, stiff, comfortable and fast. It was practically effortless compared to the fixie. Why then you may ask do I ride a fixie? Well riding a fixie is a totally different experience. Different bikes provide different riding experiences. Just imagine the disparity between a Ford F-150 pickup truck and a Lexus sedan and you may begin to understand the difference in the ride characteristics of different bikes.

There are many variables that go into the "ride" of a bike. Geometry is of course a big determining factor as is material. If you want a super stiff unforgiving ride you would get a bike made from aluminum. Having said that, you have many options in what type or mixture of aluminum make up the tubes of your bike; ultimately depending on what your "ride" goal is. Different compounds can be mixed in with the aluminum to make the metal more or less flexible or forgiving. Another material used to build bikes is carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is stiff yet absorbs and dampens vibrations while being extremely light. Steel is forgiving and springy, yet a bit heavier. Titanium is tough, light and flexy which can be used to its advantage when a bike is designed correctly.

When it comes down to it I have preferences for each type of bike that I ride. For a full suspension MTB I want the stiffest material I can get. There are many pivots on a full suspension MTB and that is going to provide opportunity for the frame to flex. I want the frame to be as stiff as possible on a full suspension bike because the suspension can soak up all the bumps for me.

A hardtail on the other hand must be made of steel or titanium. These metals would provide enough forgiveness. I would actually go so far as to say that there are specific steel tubes that I would prefer over others. Different grades of steel provide a varying range of ride qualities, some of which I prefer over others.

Road bikes for me have to be a mixture of aluminum and carbon. That way you get the best of both worlds. Stiff and compliant all at the same time and in the right ways.

For a fixie I would definitely have to say steel. I have had some fixies that have been too flexy but I would still stick with steel. Specialized has released an aluminum fixie recently and which looks like no fun to ride. My current fixie is fairly stiff but at the expense of being a bit of a dead fish. The tubes are beefier which is nice because it cuts down on flex (when a bike flexes it sucks the power away from your pedal stroke) but the steel is low grade so the ride quality is nothing to write home about. (even though I am right now) Having said that I enjoy riding it immensely.

The only time I feel it flex is when I'm pulling Q's trailer and I'm climbing the hill up to school. The hill is very steep. It is not easy to climb even on days when I am feeling good. It is a nice way to start the day though. Riding it on a fixie you have to push as hard as you can because if you go too slow you will loose your momentum and when that happens your up a creek without a paddle.

The other reason I like riding a fixie is that you can't stop peddling while your moving. It demands total concentration. I normally don't ride with breaks but since I have Q in the trailer and I would be coming down the hill from school(in traffic) I installed a front break. It helps to control speed.While riding a fixie if you want to slow down you have to push back on the pedals as they come up and pull up on them as they go down. It not only takes work to start but also to slow down and stop.

The ride to work is along a really nice river where other biker are out as well as runners, Rollerblades, walkers etc. I have been meaning to bring the camera and snap a couple pics on my way in but I always forget. I'll try and remember in the next couple weeks.

This morning when I left it was 39* F. Just a taste of what's to come I'm sure.

Enough about bikes I need to go to bed.

Random

2008-10-27T19:26:00.002+09:00

I got the most random email tonight on my school account. Here it is:

Dear Mr. Sheridan

Hello, I changed your chair due to original your chair was fixed by our vendor so, if you have any questions let me know. Did you lost your name tag next to front door? Let me know about this and thank you.

I have no idea what the heck he is talking about. I can't wait until tomorrow to see 1) what he was talking about and 2) who he thought he was talking to.

Here is a pic of the Q-man.

I'm tired so I'm off to bed. More later.

Leap of Faith

2008-10-20T18:37:00.005+09:00

Of course another busy week. Our new/used car was delivered to the school at the end of last week. It arrived without incident and was more or less in the exact shape as when we bought it. I was half expecting to have the car arrive with a different motor, a seat missing, four bald tires or something of the sort. But it arrived, it started when I turned the ignition, and Q and I drove it home without even getting lost. Overall it was a success.

J had an overnight V-ball trip on Friday/Saturday. It was the first time she has been away from Q overnight since he was born. The team did really well. J will tell you all about it I'm sure. She has a couple games this week and next before leaving for a week long tournament. So in essence this past weekend was just preparing her for the week-long hiatus from Q.

On Sunday we decided to load the family in the car and head out for some excitement. We went to our neighborhood Mexican restaurant and had treated ourselves to some Korean style TexMex. It was actually better than it sounds. The chef went a little overboard with the cinnamon but I still enjoyed it.

After lunch we scooted (that is what you do in our car because it's so small) over to Yuldong Park to meet up with friends for some bungee jumping. For some reason or another it was a very busy day for the bungee jumping operation. We ended up waiting to jump for quite some time. (By quite some time I mean like over 2 hours) This was tempered by company and the fact that people were making occasional beer runs. It was blast as those of you who have bungee'd know. The jumpers ran the gamut of age and gender. It was fun watching everyone get really nervous but still take the plunge when it came time to leap off the edge. Here is a comic I made of a couple of the jumpers. I left the "thought" balloons blank and posted a hard copy of this in the staff lounge and asked people to fill in the balloons with what they think was going through the minds of the jumpers at the moment represented in the photo.
Here is what we look like standing on the ground.

We got our tickets home this past week as well. We will be arriving on the 13th of December and staying through the 1st of January. Drop us a line and let us know if you'll be around.

I got a great email from Bryan about some motorcycle riding he's been doing which planted the seed of a short moto trip in my mind during our time back home. Now I just need to figure out where to go. Somewhere warm I'm thinking.

We need to name our car and are open to suggestions. I know it is hard to name a car without ever seeing it but just imagine a small silver hatchback. I'll try and get some pics up soon.

Adios,

Auto-update

2008-10-12T18:57:00.002+09:00

Julia had a very buys week. She had a weekday game and didn't get home until late. Of course she had to go to work the next day which included practice of course. She had a game Friday and Saturday as well. The team won the game on Saturday which was cool. She was also able to visit with our friends Stu and Sheree for a short bit on Friday while at their school.

While she was at her game I went car shopping again. Our friends Lauren and Sarah were kind enough to babysit for us. Car used shopping here is very different than what I've experienced in the states. As you pull up to the lot (more on this in a minute) you are immediately surrounded by men trying to get your attention and your approval to let them show you around. We already had someone lined up; someone at the school had a cousin or something of the sort. We drove around back and found a spot. A person from the business office at our school was assigned to take us and help us out. He told us to hop out so we could find the office meet our cousin salesman.

We exited the car and stood staring at what was sort of a stripped down parking garage. It was constructed almost entirely metal. The main girders were sprayed with what looked like fire retardant. We climbed the stairs (which looked temporary) to the fourth floor. There in a corner of the structure were about 25 tiny offices crammed with about 6 or 7 desks. We negotiated our way to the very back corner and entered an office. We were greeted and our "guide" spoke with what appeared to be the head boss and a salesman. After a couple minutes we were off and hunting for cars.

There were three separate parties looking for cars. None of the cars have prices posted on them. They all have the year make and model posted along with the number of kilometers they have. The salesman has to call someone to find out the price for each car.

In many places the cars were stacked 4 or 5 deep. If you wanted to look at one of the cars in the back you had to shimmy in between the cars and try and get the door open without smacking the car beside. As you can imagine it was quite an ordeal if you wanted to test drive one of the cars in the last row. All of the cars in front had to be moved in order to allow the back car to exit. At one point we even went across the street to an identical "lot". There literally hundreds if not thousands of cars packed into every nook and cranny of these structures.

I'll spare you the details and just tell you after two weekends, many phone call and a couple trips back and forth across the street everyone found cars. The other two parties found their cars last weekend and went back to pick up their new used cars as I tagged along with hopes of finding one for myself. As luck would have it I found a car the exact car I was looking for this weekend. They even offered to deliver it to the school so I wouldn't have to go all the way back to the lot.

I'll get some pics up as soon as I get the car home.

Underpants Dance

2008-10-06T20:16:00.000+09:00

Whilst

2008-10-03T19:25:00.003+09:00

I have a few friends who use the word whilst. I have never used the word whilst before because if I did I thought I might have to beat myself up. I thought it was time to "face my Vader" and have used this word three times in the past three minutes and I can say that I have not yet kicked my own ass. I feel as though I'm pushing my luck so I better move on.

Tomorrow I'm doing something that I'm not all that happy about. I'm going to look at used cars. It's not that I'm unhappy about the process, I'm just not happy about owning another car. Although we have been doing quite well without one we have felt the limitations every now and then. Now that the temperature is on the downturn it might make it a bit more inconvenient to sit and wait for a bus. From what I hear it can get pretty darn cold and I just think it would be easier for all of us to hop in a car and head directly to our destination in heated comfort.

Even if we do buy a car we actually don't plan on using it daily or even on a weekly basis. But there will be times when we want to visit friends who live an hour or so away and we would rather jump in a car and head on our way.

From what I hear you can get a good used car for under $2 grand US. I know someone who actually drives a car they bought for $400 US. Your options are basically Hyundai, Kia, and Daewoo.

J is at another V-ball game tonight. Her team won!! She has to wait for the boys team to play before they can all get on the bus and take the 2 hour trip home. That should put her back around 10ish. Brutal.

I'm working on some video of Q, or some Quideo if you will. (now you understand why we chose the name) Or more truthfully I'm thinking of working on some video of Q. I have some raw footage I just need to edit it down. Anyone who has ever edited video knows what a labor intensive and time consuming process it is. Add a little man constantly trying to get at and poke the computer your working on and it gets clost to impossible to make much progress. But sometime soon I hope to get some video up.

Adios,

Pros and Cons

2008-09-24T20:15:00.002+09:00

Lately I have been thinking about what I like and dislike about Korea. So I decided to write it down and share it with everyone who reads the blog. (All two of you)

Always break the bad news first so here are the things that I don' like in no particular order:

Generally Korea is expensive. (of course this is relative) There are certain things that are even more expensive than the States. A watermelon for example is 20 US dollars. Beer is another commodity that is really expensive. A decent beer at a restaurant or bar will run you at least 7 bucks, over two a piece in the supermarket. Western food is at minimum 15 dollars a plate.

This may sound a little obvious but not many people here speak even a little English. In Cambodia you could almost always find someone in whatever vicinity you found yourself in that spoke a little English. On top of that Khmer was not that difficult to pronounce and understand.

Conversely I have found Korean very difficult to pick up. (granted I haven't put that much effort into it) It's not a simple language to pronounce and understand. On top of that it is rude in Korea to get to the point directly so most people are very ambiguous when they talk which makes it more of a challenge.

We live far from the city center so it takes us about an hour to get into the city when we want to go. Granted this includes hailing a cab, waiting for the bus etc. but that is all part of getting where we want to go.

It is also expensive to fly in and out of Korea. I miss the days of 90 dollar round trip flights to Thailand.

Korea is pretty monoculture. It has been a closed society for quite a while and people are very aware of what their neighbors are doing and feel they have to do the same. This of course is a generalization but nonetheless an observation I have made in my limited experience.

I miss riding my motorcycle.

We miss our family and friends.

OK now for the things I like:

Korea is a very modern city and as such it is easy to get what you need. If you want something you can usually find it fairly easily.

We don't have to worry that much about getting sick. The restaurants are usually really clean and the water is not really bad. Some people we work with drink straight from the tap. I don't do that in the States so I'm not doing it here. We just run it through a Britta filter, just like the States. The real reason the water issue is nice is that when we give Q a bath we don't have to be hyper conscious about him getting a little tiny bit of water in his mouth when he is splashing around.

Health care is also top notch and inexpensive.

The public transportation is safe, reliable, and inexpensive. We are getting to know the bus and subway system. They have bus only lanes on the expressways so even when traffic is bad the buses cruise right along.

There is mountain biking 10 minutes from the apartment. I started to GPS the trails in my area and have a plan to do some more exploratory sessions this weekend.

There is a sauna/bath house in the basement of our apartment building. It is huge and sweet. This will be the topic of a separate post.

The school we work so far has been bueno. The admin has been super supportive and the people we work with are A++. We are treated with respect and our ideas and opinions are valued. They are only concerned about our well being but the well being of Q man. It nice to know that he is being looked out for even when we are not around.

We make more money than we did in the states.

The air is clean and we have access to open space very close to our apartment. There is a river path that we can follow to school, and if we wanted to, all the way into Seoul. There is also a skate park and rock climbing wall across the street. And of course the trail system a short ride away.

Korean food is cheap and plentiful. Some friends recommended a great restaurant across the street. We went the other night and dinner for four people with beers came to 23 US.

Overall the people have been really friendly. Especially when they see Q. He of course loves the attention and makes new friends all the time. Last week J needed to have something done at the bank but doesn't get home from practice until 6 every night. I tried to do it for her but the bank would not let me. I explained the situation and they told me to come back at a little after 6 the next night. They waited for an hour and a half after they closed so that J could get her stuff taken care of. Over the top customer service. I have had this type of service on a number of occasions. I think it comes down to people being solution oriented. People seem to take pride in getting things done.

Tomorrow is Thursday and one day closer to the weekend and maybe some bungee. I'm off to bed...

2008-09-22T20:37:00.005+09:00

Today was our first day back at work after a really nice weeklong vacation. One thing cool about going back to work was realizing I was glad to see my coworkers. It made me realize again that I work with some really cool people. My students were well behaved to boot.

I ran into Julia on the 4th floor, which doesn’t usually happen since kinder is located on the 2nd, and everything she needs is either on her floor or below. She looked a bit concerned so I suspected something was not right. She told me that Quinn took a header face first on the ground. He has started running everywhere and scoots around at a good clip. I don’t think the rest of his reflexes have caught up with his new found foot speed. Anyway he was zipping along and next thing you know he was spread eagle on the floor and had used his face to break his fall. Like they say, like father like son; the only difference is that he wasn’t on a bike. He knocked a tooth loose, busted his lip, and scared the poop out of himself. He was bummed that he might loose a tooth that he actually just got in the last week.

The nursery ladies were beside themselves. They rushed him to the school nurse who immediately made an appointment at the dentist’s office. Julia took the afternoon off and went with him to the dentist’s office since Q didn’t bring his wallet and probably couldn’t pay for it himself. The dentist looked at it and said it was fine and would either fix it self or die and fall out. The appointment costs a whopping 10 bucks.

During our break the upstairs neighbors and we split a sitter and went into town to an area called Itaewon. Itaewon is an area near one of the military bases just north of the river. When it was built I’m sure it was outside of town but now has been swallowed by a booming metropolis. The area has a ton of great shopping (read cheap) and a good selection of western style restaurants and bars. We found some cool wall hangings for the apartment as well as neat toy for Q. It even has shops that specialize in “plus” sizes, which in addition to large girthed can also mean tall. We had a really good burger and fries and cruised about the shops for a couple hours. Here are our friends Brian and Gisella.

We hopped a bus back to our area and took it a couple more stops than where we got on to see where it went. It dropped us off and we waited for a cab. It seemed that all the cabs were avoiding this area for some reason so we jumped back on a bus and rode it a bit further. We got off up the road a bit and tried again but were unsuccessful in finding a cab. We could see our apartment off in the distance so we just decided to hoof it. It was actually not that bad of a walk. It probably took between 20-30 minutes.

This past Saturday Q went to his friend’s B-day party. The party was actually for his friend’s older sister but he didn’t mind. He got the B-day girl a sweet bubble gun that shot bubbles and flashed bright colors. It was a big hit.

Yesterday we bought Julia a bike at our neighborhood shop. It is a sweet Raleigh. Now we can ride to work if we want, get the groceries, ride up to visit friends, or just tool around and enjoy the nice weather. I’ll get some pics of J riding her new bike up soon.

I think some bungee jumping might be in the near future stay tuned.

Vacation Mode

2008-09-15T10:39:00.006+09:00

Aahhhh it feels good to be on vacation. I was completely and totally ready to have a break. It has been go go go since we got here. Now we have a week to do all the things that we have been wanting to do. Or we can choose to do nothing at all and rest up.

So far the break seems to have gotten of to a good start. We have been engaging in good mixture of relaxing, fun, chill and non-stressful activities. I got a good ride in on Saturday before going out to meet with friends that evening. We also had a chance to walk around the neighborhood a bit more and take mental stock of the restaurants and shops. There are an abundance of coffee shops which is good. The earliest doesn't open until 8 AM, not so good. It was a great day to walk around the hood as 70% of the shops were closed and most of the residents were out of the city visiting relatives. We could meander along taking our time to notice all the things you miss when there are hordes of people, cyclists, rollerbladers, baby-strollers, motos and any number of other wheeled contraptions whizzing about as you navigate the sidewalks.

Saturday night I met some buddies for a night out on the town. We met up at Jeongja station and hopped a bus into the city. 40 minutes later we were there, almost where we wanted to be. A short taxi ride and we had arrived at our destination, which to be honest was not anywhere specifically. We were in an area called Sinchon which was more or less our generic destination. We took stock of the wants of the group and decided to for Mexican food.

A short walk ensued and, with bubbling enthusiasm we arrived at a Mexican food restaurant. Then someone threw us a curve ball. It was closed for the holiday. Ooohhhhh. Not to fret, we moved on to Korean food. Our trusty guide BH took us to a great little dive he knew of. It was cheap, tasty and the service was great. Here is a pic of our dinning local.

After filling our bellies we hopped from bar to bar for a couple hours. We mostly stuck to bars that had massive libraries of vinyl records behind the bar from which patrons could request songs. It was really cool to see and even cooler to here great songs being played off vinyl. Here are a couple of such establishments.

Notice the little slips of paper on which you scribble your request.

Check out the LP's lining the wall behind the bar.
We nicknamed this guy the Asian John Belushi, or AJB.
Ahhh, nothing like a Lowenbrau.

Classic.

Sunday J, Q and I hopped in a taxi, then in a bus and went into the city to visit with our friends Stu, Sheree and their two daughters. We walked around sightseeing and spent a couple hours just shooting the breeze. It was great to see them and catch up. They are great people and we are excited to have the opportunity to hang out with them again. Here are some pics from our outing.

Today has been a lazy day. We took a walk this morning down by the river near our apartment. I'll post some photos in a bit.

The only thing we have planned is to check out the Indian food restaurant in our neighborhood later with our upstairs neighbors the Longbothoms. I am crossing my fingers that it is open.

Adios,

A Couple Pics

2008-09-13T15:34:00.006+09:00

Here are a couple pics of late:
Here is J and Q walking by a flowery field next to our apartment on their way to the coffee shop.

Here is the Q-man helping me put together the fixie.

Here he is doing his impression of Buckethead the guitarist.

Adios,

Party Time

2008-09-08T19:00:00.004+09:00

Well this Saturday we had a school social that was co-sponsored by another international school here in Seoul. It was at a groovy bar called "New York Bar". It had cool features like a huge fish tank in the ceiling and a bird cage surrounded by a fish tank.

When it comes to going out we have been switching babysitting duties. One weekend Julia goes out and one weekend I go out. It works out well unless we want to hang out together. We have had numerous offers from other teachers willing to babysit but the only problem is that they all go to the socials as well. So this weekend we took the plunge and hired a service. The school researched a couple places and passed on their numbers to us. I called up and talked to a gentleman who spoke great English about the ins and outs of his service. He was very accommodating and informative and was able to schedule a sitter to arrive at our house at 5:30. We were not leaving until at least 7 but we thought it would be a good idea for all of use to hang out and get to know each other. Especially Quinn. I wouldn't want him waking up only to find a complete stranger in the house.

He seemed to like her right off the bat. She seemed to have that natural ability with kids and I think that put him at ease as well. He also like the fact that she paid complete and total attention to only him. It was nice because we were able to get some stuff done and get ready while she kept Q occupied. We told her we would be back by 11 and headed out.

It was great to get to go out together and hang out with our new friends and colleagues. We arrived at the NYB after wandering the block for a couple minutes feeling lost. One of the first people we ran into was our principal who was carrying around a bottle of tequila. A great way to start a party! It was great to be out and enjoying time with our new friends together. We stayed until about 10:15 at which time we hopped back on the subway and headed home. We arrived at our door at almost exactly 11:00. Not bad.

The sitter said that Q slept well. She seemed happy, we were happy, Q was happy.

The next morning I went for a bike ride in search of some trails in my area. After searching and climbing for a little over an hour I actually found some trails. As it turns out I climbed around the backside of the mountain and came up on the mountain top from the opposite direction of the trails. I chatted for a bit with a nice Korean man who spoke good English about the trail network. I got a general understanding of what went where. I took pictures of the trail signs so I can translate them and find out where they lead. I had a great ride down, down, down and was popped out not 2 miles from our apartment. Now that I know where to access the trail system I will definitely be exploring it in the upcoming months.

Today I was able to ride the fixie to work. It took about 30 minutes to get there and 20 to get back. As always it was a pleasant way to begin and end the workday. The kicker is climbing the hill to the school. The school is built on the side of a hill and it is a pretty steep climb up.

We had a great outing to Yuldong park. We hung out on the grass and watched the bungee jumpers leap off and bounce around. We decided that we need to get together a "Park Pack" that is stocked with all the essentials needed for a successful outing. There are a ton of cool parks in the city to take advantage of. Of course I forgot to bring my camera. Julia reminded me...on the subway...a little late. Next time.

4 days to vacation!!

On The Move

2008-09-06T17:23:00.003+09:00

Wow it feels like we have been full throttle all week. Tuesday made the whole week feel extra long because we didn't get home until after 10 pm. It was the school's curriculum night. The parents had a chance to come by and see what we are doing in the classroom.

Our upstairs neighbors both work in the high school whose curriculum night was two nights later. We swapped babysitting duties with them which worked out super well.

Speaking of babysitters we are breaking new ground tonight and have hired a babysitter. She works for an organization that was recommended by the school. We had her come by a little early so we could all hang out together and Quinn could feel a little more comfortable when we leave him with a total stranger. Actually he will be asleep by the time we leave and never know the difference.

Another big event this week was my dad stopping by for a couple hours. As I mentioned he had a long layover and hopped a shuttle into town. He was going to ship my bike from Jakarta for me because the airline would not let him only check it through to Seoul. He checked again at the airport in Tucson and they told him the same thing again. He checked again in LA and they were able to do it for him. YES. So he lugged it onto the shuttle for me and met me at a subway stop near our house. We came to our apartment so he could shower and then took a taxi to school where I gave him a whirlwind tour of the facilities. He was able to see J and Q for a couple minutes before we had to hop back in a taxi and head back to the shuttle drop off/pick up spot.

It was great to see him and to get my bike was a nice bonus.

Kudos to Bryan for getting my bike packed up as well as making and attaching some sweet handles to the boxes. They came in handy when I had to carry it from the subway station to the apartment.

Julia had a volleyball game this Friday. I took Q to watch the first three games. They lost the first and then won the next three. There were quite a few people watching and cheering on KIS. J did a superb job of coaching the girls to victory and of course everyone was very stoked with a win.

Another big bonus this week is that we both got cellphones. YEAH.

We have a week long holiday starting in one week. I am very ready for it. But then again I am always ready for vacation.

I'll try and get some pics tomorrow and get them up.

Adios

Visitor

2008-09-03T18:46:00.003+09:00

This week has been a busy one. Last night we had curriculum night and didn't get home until after 10:00. I was a bit tired today but I'm sure that J was had it worse. She had her first game tonight. Who knows what time she will get home tonight. Hopefully she will get home with enough time to chill out a bit before hitting the sack. Another bummer for her is that she has to go to work tomorrow. I am taking the day off to hang out with my Pops. He has a very long layover tomorrow so the plan is that he's going to hop on an airport shuttle to our area of town. I look forward to seeing him and showing him around.

Another bonus of my dad coming through is that he is bringing my fixed gear with him. He can't partially check it so he has to ship it to me from Jakarta. Not a big deal as it will save me around 400 bucks. Gotta love that.

Speaking of bikes I found a really cool bike shop this past weekend. On top of having a sweet shop the owner speaks great English. The name of the shop is Plush. I was so excited to find it partly it stocks fixed gear bikes and parts.

J just walked in and informed me that the team lost. It went to five games and she said the girls did great. GO KIS!!

Adios,

Busy

2008-08-26T21:23:00.007+09:00

This weekend we went on a search mission. We were in search of (reminds me of that old show by the same name) an English language book store. We got two totally different directions from two different people. Luckily they were in relatively the same area so we could explore both options. I have to say it was not that much of an adventure because we found it straight away.

While there Quinn decided to wander around and make some new friends. He grabbed a couple books off the shelf and decided that he really needed to show them to people. He just walked up to total strangers as proud as a peacock and showed them his books. We left after spending about 45 minutes and 150 dollars.

Close to the bookstore was a large grass area where people were hanging out enjoying the beautiful weather. Here is a pic of Q enjoying the installation art.

There were fountains for the kids to enjoy. Q was mildly interested until he was splashed at which point he lost all interest. Here he is surveying the scene.
Q was more interested in the group of guys racing around their gas powered remote control cars. The cars were really loud and he did not quite know what to make of them at first. We sat and watched the cars race around and go off jumps for about 10 minutes or so. He told me he wants one.

Because we don't have a car most of our trips involve public transportation. The subway is a really convenient way to get around. Most people are very courteous and accommodation when they see that you are traveling with a little one. Since we live at the southernmost section of the subway line it gets less crowded the closer we get to home. Here is a pic of J and Q waiting to catch a ride home.

Using the stroller poses one small problem. Like the name implies the subway is mostly underground which means you need to climb stairs to get to street level. Fortunately there are elevators at almost all of the stops. We usually squeeze in with all the old ladies and their plastic bags for the one story ride up. Here is a pic of us waiting.
Finally here is a pic of J and Q leaving the Bojeong subway stop near our apartment. Notice who everyone is watching. Can't go anywhere unoticed, especially with a blond headed baby.
Adios

changing addresses

2008-08-21T21:04:00.000+09:00

Thinking about changing addresses so I'm testing out this new space.