Hanoi pics

Here are a couple pics from our trip to Hanoi:

Another Quideo

St. Paddy's Day

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:

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

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

Little Drummer Boy

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

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.