Post-Christmas Christmas Post

Why hello there, Daily T-shirt crowd. It's been awhile and I apologize for neglecting my faithful army of readers. As in Mom, Aunt Pam, and Grandma Czapla. I kid, I kid. I know there are at least 5 more people who may drunkenly remember to stumble on my blog during the wee hours of the upcoming New Year before passing out in their party clothes. This post is for you, friends.

So what have you missed during this fine holiday month of mine in Korea? Well, a week before Christmas I received a package from the faraway land of my natives in Demotte, Indiana. Unfortunately, I consumed the deliciously edible contents in 2 days and cannot provide you with pictures of those gifts. But you jerks can feast your eyes and mouths on salt and vinegar chips any time you want! Be thankful! Be verrrry, very thankful. Anyway, back to my Christmas presents. The Pops hooked. it. up. with TWO containers of salt and vinegar chips, one Brittle Nut Medley and one bag of roasted and salted almonds. Quadruple holler. In case you didn't know, Koreans don't do savory. Buy a bag of chips and it's bound to taste like frosted flakes. The other night, we ate at a pasta place and they served us cool whip with our garlic bread. WTF, Korea?! They like-uh the sweet here.

Within the package of AMURRKN goods was another prize, although inedible and initially frowned upon, it has proven its value every night at approximately 11 p.m.

Say what you will, judge if you must, frown with distaste. Sorry Mom but I did. Yes, it's true. They are Christmas pajama pants. I suspect of the Old Navy fleece variety. And when I tried them on in the comfort and privacy of my home, with a shock I realized I never wanted to take them off again. I thought of all the nights of sleeping when I hadn't had these pants. Wasted and gone, pitiful. These pj's are beyond perfection in softness and  comfort. And although wearing Christmas tree clothing may be out of fashion most of the year, I will wear them nonetheless. Because I love them. And I love Christmas. So deal with it. 

Other than that, Christmas Eve festivities consisted of a party at our friends' apartment around the corner, eating delicious food, and staying up til 6 a.m. playing Apples to Apples and Celebrity. Wicked fun. On Christmas night, we went to a yuuuuuge buffet in a fancy hotel with a lot of other waygooks (foreigners). Twas heavenly to eat a bit of turkey and stuffing and bread and butter. 

That's purty much it. New Year's is this weekend and as of this moment, no specific plans. The last couple of weeks have been kinda funky for me personally so send some lovin' thoughts or positive vibes my way if you wanna. E-mail would be even better. Missing y'all lots and lots! Merry post-Christmas from Korea!

Our lil tree. 

Me thinkin' about your faces. And my pajama pants. And Christmas. 

This Is Movie Clash

This is great news if you's a Clash fan. And if you're not.....it's never too late to start! Get yr daily dose in by listening to the track so graciously provided by me below. More rockin' than you'll ever be. 

CBC News - Music - Clash's London Calling goes from vinyl to video

November Daze

Dang, so November has come and gone in a blur. I pay attention to the calendar and still can't believe how fast the time goes by. In the last week, there have been a few instances of forgetting I'm in Korea. It's pretty awesome. The whole living-in-a-foreign-country thing is starting to feel not so foreign all the time.

So what have I been up to in November? Well, 2 weekends ago Michael and I took the bullet train to Seoul.
Riding the train is simply one of my favorite things. My nostalgia for it runs deep after my summer spent in Europa --and it reminded me of fulfilling a promise to myself that it would be a regular transportation option again sometime in life i.e. I need to move to Spain. Or Italy. Or France. Wherever. Taking the bullet train is the fancy way to Seoul: tickets cost around 100,000 won round trip but the ride only takes two and a half hours. Super plush, high class style. You know how we do.

Forgot to mention the reason for our over-nighter was to see Los Flaming Lips. Whaddya want from me? My life rules. We got in Saturday afternoon and hooked up with Michael's old pal Lazar. As in Jeff. As in Laser-Beam. He's awesome and hosted us well. He's been living in Korea going on 4 years and can actually speak/write/read Korean AND has Korean friends. That doesn't happen nearly as much as you'd expect so he's basically a celebrity. 

So happy to finally see fall colors!

Laser-beam and I walking to his casa. 

Roof-top of Laser's house in central Seoul. Lil hazy but still rad. 

So after grabbing some dinner, Jop-face and I headed to the show. Do I really need to say much here? It obviously ruled. Small cannon-things firing confetti. Huge balloons being hit around, eventually bursting and showering more confetti. Background video projection with  naked dancing women. Webcam on the mic so you could get a sweet view of Wayne Coyne's sweaty teeth. Giant gong. Koreans dressed up in matching orange outfits dancing on the side stage. Yuuuuuuge hands shooting green laser beams from the palms. We took some video but the sound quality is so abysmal I can't subject you to it.

What a sweet vibe they had. Wayne was really full of the love. Highly recommended. 

After the show, we met up with Laser-beam and his friend Laurie to go to a "hippy" bar. Here are a few other notable drinking spots we passed on the way. Oh, the humor of English in a foreign land. 

Mom, please note Michael took this photo. 

One of 7 locations in Seoul if you's a picky ho. 

I'd rather eat a sexy pig. 

We eventually made it to our destination in spite of the all the tempting spots along the way. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect when Laurie said it was a "hippy" bar but I was more than pleasantly surprised when we got there. It was underground and we had to takes our shoes off and put them in a miniature pillow-case type of bag at the door. The place was like some kind of hippy cave with lots of world beat playing. And it was super sweet actually. Something about dancing with your shoes off makes you feel like you're at home in your living room. We sat in this awesomely cozy cavernous floor space with lots of pillows and candles for light. Again, super sweet. The place was pretty chill when we arrived but was quite bumpin' by the time we left. I was in hardcore dance mode even though Michael could spin better deaf than the dj and there was a random drunk opportunist on the floor taking advantage of any girl unfortunate enough to accidentally bump into him. Thankfully I was sober and too quick for his inebriated groping attempts. My only gripe of the night was not taking better pictures of the place and only spending one night in Seoul! It's an awesome, yuuuuuuge city and I can't wait to go back. 

Sweet Korean interpretative dancer on the left, Laser-beam being weird with his nipple, Laurie and me. Photo courtesy of Jop-face.

Needless to say, Sunday came too soon and we were back on the train. At the station, we stopped to dig the sound of some sweet Peruvians playing magical tunes. It was awesome and really interesting for me to ponder their life over here. Michael gave them a "Que buena!" with his Spanish-speaking style and you could tell they really appreciated hearing it. Pretty cool. Take a soothing listen below. 

Until next time, Seoul.....

Daily T-shirt: MONEY IS BLOOD

"I keep looking forward to the day when music is a liquid they pour into your head." --Wayne Coyne

AMURRIKN BUFFET....Korea Style

So today, Michael and I went out to eat at a recommended spot from our Canadian coworkers. May I proudly present our dining experience at....Ashley American Grill and Salad!!!

Now now now, before the judging commences. Let me esssplain to you, this was not your standard American buffet. Sure, it had its similarities: classic salad, meat, pasta, and ice cream bars with your side of 3 pizzas to choose from. Okay, so it was basically the same. Although the experience was oddly comforting/reminiscent of an afternoon of stuffing my face after church with my family and then falling asleep to the classic rock samplings of The Drive in the conversion van ride home, it had its differences okay? I swear. In fact, let me document them visually for you here. 

Tea. But not your average sweet/unsweetened. 

The black vinegar is actually quite tasty! 

Okay, it's an unflattering photo but we're not all as photogenic as me. It's a pumpkin dessert with cherries and cherry sauce. And actually, really damn good. 

Fruit bar included apples, pineapples, lychee (on the left) and rambutan. Uhhhhh-mazing. 

And of course, what Korean/American fusion buffet wouldn't be complete without a WAFFLE BAR!

My waffle: raspberry jam with some sort of honey/syrup/almond/pecan/macadamia nut concontion. Muy bien. 

Michael's taste explosion waffle: chocolate, caramel, whipped cream, oatmeal raisin cookies, annnnd the grayish stuff to the left is actually Black Sesame Ice Cream. Interesssttting flavor. 

I opted for the apple sherbet. It was a wise choice. 

Lastly, I'll leave you with an image of what every Ponderosa, Shaky's, and Golden Corral sorely lack. Exquisite interior decorating. 

  

I've always thought fake chandeliers and flowers add a nice touch. 

Daily T-shirt: OLD BLACK BISCUIT

"The belly rules the mind."  ~Spanish Proverb

Big Foot

The days have been moving quickly here and I've been Lame-o Blogger Numero Uno for a few weeks running  now. I'm sure you've all been waiting with baited breath for my next post, right? Unfortunately, all that's happened is me punishing the Harry Potter series into completion.

The end. 

Bye. 

Kidding! As in kiiiiinnnd of kidding...but not really??? I did finish all 7 Harry Potter books in something like a month's time (embarrassing?) AND won half of a two-part bet concerning big reveals about Severus Snape and Albus Dumbeldore. Also, my knowledge of the following terms has potentially solidified my nerd status forever: muggle, horcrux, patronus, hippogriff, animagi, quidditch, snitch, dungbomb, etc. You can cross reference me here if you're a nerd too.

Oh well. It's been refreshing to vacate the non-fiction world for the last 2 months. I've read over ten awesome books since I've been here. However, I am missing the self growth/spiritual/unschooling/sustainability/industrial food system/occasionally political fiction web I had woven via my UT Courtesy Borrower and Austin Public Library cards. Me thinks a financially painful but necessary Amazon order is in the near future.

So the weather has finally made up it's mind and it seems the briskness of fall and impending winter is here to stay. We bought a small space heater and a thick comforter a la Gupo Market last weekend in submission to the change. Also, I've heard the heating bill can get atrocious so I'm reliving my senior year of college by keeping the heat off, wearing layers to bed under 3 blankets and blasting the space heater instead of lighting 40 candles this time around. Am I a cheap-ass or an energy-saver? Hmmm....difficult question.

The change in temperature has also pushed me into my first Korean shopping experiences (of the girly kind), which were instantly thwarted by an already somewhat-foreseen-but-nevertheless-embarrassing blow:

I have big feet. 

It's true. My sisters and Mom are laughing right now and if they were here I'd tell them to "shut up and leave me alone!" My Mom would then gawk at the bone that juts out at the back of my heel as a nonverbal sympathetic gesture of "it's not your fault, you were born that way!" as I storm off to my room to sulk in my heated waterbed and listen to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness for the tenth time in 2 days. Specifically tracks 5, 7, 11 , 12, and 13 of Dawn to Dusk if you must know. 

However it is no longer 1996 and in my formative years I have experienced the occasional awkwardness of seeing non-family people's faces when they notice my giant tootsies. Before coming to Korea, it was most recently witnessed doing roller derby, where I would surreptitiously put on my skates in a group of 30+ loud-mouth girls hoping no one would notice. It didn't happen til I became a Hellcat and the odds were against me: 10 or 11 girls around the track were more likely to notice than several. My favorite part of this experience is the almost always accompanying question of "How tall are you?"...."5'2"...I KNOW I have big feet, okay?"

Anyway, these moments don't occur that often and I'd like to think I'm on the mend with my big-foot issues. However, living in Korea has revealed my "situation" to me yet again and it wasn't something I was looking forward to. Koreans are tiny, you know? And with their tininess comes tiny feet. Tiny feet to match their tiny selves. 

Now, as you've had a proper trip down my big-footed memory lane, we can return to the original subject of my shopping experiences here. The change of weather has put me in recent need of a decent coat and a few more durable pairs of shoes. It's my misfortune that shoes here are friggin' cute to the max and uber-cheap. To boot (accidental pun, Margaret Smoller!), shoes are my favorite thing to shop for. It's depressing and as the weeks go by, I'm a bit more self-pitying about my shoe situation. I did happen to find a Zara, which I haven't shopped at since I was in Paris. My feeling-sorry-for-myself extended to purchasing a pair of boots at a price I've NEVER paid for a pair of shoes. And I ain't gonna tell you how much here. Oddly enough, they're closer to a cowboy boot than I ever got after 4 years in Texas and I freakin' love 'em...so to hell with it, right? They look pretty okay if you ask me.

At least I've found ONE place to buy a non-sneaker pair of shoes to get my lady-fill, even if they are a bit costly. Ain't no tiny Koreans gon' keep me from buying shoes for a whole year. 

As always, the ever-faithful Depeche Mode sums my angst up. Listen hard.

And for the record, I'm ONLY a size 9 people! i.e. MOM.

Daily T-shirt: QUITE GIRLISH

Home Sweet Home

Check out the apartment AND get a sweet view of my butt while climbing some stairs. 

Right on, Miss Adora....

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids | Video on TED.com

Workin' for the Weekend

So here I am to finally update you on a KOREA post, for those of you nerds who read this. Ha. Takes a nerd to know a nerd, my Mom would say. Neener neener Mom but I guess you're right. Well, I didn't think I had a very eventful weekend but then I did a short draft last night to jot down a few things and I thought, "dang! things were slightly eventful!"

First, Michael and I FINALLY got our Alien Registration Cards. These make us legit as in now we can get our own internet, cell phones, a bank account, AND I have a terrible photo that certifies me as an alien to boot! How appropriate. The lady who took the picture made me take off my earrings, put my hair behind both ears, and said not to smile. It reminded me of my unfortunate experience at the DeMotte DMV where on my 25th birthday the lady pushed my freshly cut bangs "to the side because they obstruct the view of your face" and told me "don't show your teeth when you smile now." She had to take two pictures although I can't imagine how the first one was worse than the one she gave me. Further proof that DeMotte may be more similar to a foreign country than I initially thought.

So yes, the beginning of October has been full of many pleasant firsts: the alien card, first paycheck to go with that brand spankin' new bank account, aaaaannnndddd my first Korean hair salon experience!

On my way to set up my bank account last week, an old lady handed me a coupon with a free shampoo sample for a hair salon a block away. I thought, "good enough for me!" and made a mental note to go for it Friday night after work. Since I am trying to grow my hair out, the speed of which is so slow no appropriate adverb exists, I was only in for a trim. Exactly two months to the day since the last time I had it done! (Aren't you proud, Mom?!) And believe it or not, the only blunder of the entire experience was my exchange with the counter girl who apparently wanted to put my bag in a locker while I got my hair cut, while I sat there, stupidly holding onto and searching my bag thinking she needed an i.d. of some sort. I don't know what the hell for. Anyway, the girl who ended up cutting my hair spoke enough English to get the point through my thick skull, took my bag, and gave me a great trim. She faintly smelled of beer and cigarettes but for some reason, I wasn't too worried and just kept my eyes shut the whole time. I had my hair blow-dried by TWO people ---luxurious---and then she gave me a flat-ironing job that made me look like the teacher I'm supposed to be in Korea. Weird. Although it's not customary to tip over here, I did anyway. She politely refused the first time (which IS customary) and then accepted. I can't stomach the idea of not tipping someone who has to touch another person in their job. They deserve it. At least I'm not a disgusting slob --points for me and her!

Saturday, Michael and I woke up to search for a non-dirt basketball court in Hwamyeong. Some Korean guys had pointed him in the general vicinity of one last week so we began our journey. We finally ended up at a huge building which I realized was a church on our elevator ride up. The court was not dirt but was rather lame --kind of carpeted and soaked from the previous night's rain. We were shooting around for not even ten minutes when the terrible but I-should-have-known-better inevitable happened: Pastor John came out to meet us and witnessed to us about Jesus for over an hour.

What was so horribly interesting about this experience in my mind were a few things:
1) no matter where you are in the world, there are always people who specialize in the ability to talk and talk and talk and talk and not care at all if the other person says a thing
2) that these people who talk and talk and talk and talk and talk would presume they could do so at great length about something as personal as religion or spirituality, to a complete stranger without their permission
3) that to boot, this guy was completely sexist and hardly made eye contact with me the entire time; apparently women are not worth saving. I was so relieved when Michael pointed this out after we left before I even mentioned it --he noticed it as much as I did. Pastor John did however look at me when relating the story of Adam and Eve and Eve being the first one tempted. He also told us about how he used to lie about his wife only having a high school education. She's since graduated from college.
4) and lastly, there is a Bible app for the iphone.

So after Pastor John had sufficiently buzz-killed our potential balling, we decided to head home. Michael still wanted to ball and ended up taking the hour-long subway ride to the sweet courts we knew about and I decided to grab a few tasty delights at the carnivale known as Gupo Market!

The Gupo is only two subway stops away from where we live and is one of the coolest, most action-packed places I've ever been to. It's basically an open air market that has everything you can imagine in the way of food, housewares, clothing, and yes, it's true, even a dog market. Luckily, I avoided the dog market on this voyage but I'm sure I'll run into it unexpectedly at some point. The place is a giant maze.

Seaweed? Anyone? Just a guess...

Under the sea assortment. 

  Tiny dead, dried fish. Michael and I got a small bowl of these for an appetizer a few weeks ago. I didn't try them. They were staring at me for too long. And yes, that's squid to the left. 

Vampires will not be tolerated. 

Mini-pools of frogs, fishies, and other apparently edible delights from water world.

That was basically my Saturday. And since this has turned into a mind-numbingly long post, I will keep Sunday as brief as possible. Two beaches in one day, another attempt at Mexican food (not too shabby), and me moving from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" to finishing the first 2 books of the Harry Potter series. That's right folks, I am teasingly diverse. 

Now check out these gorgeous mugs and continue missing me. 

Daily T-shirt: Be full of the confidence. 

"I slid from between the sheets and walked barefoot across the cold tile between the beds. I felt the tile with my feet and wondered how many times, how many thousand times, had I run a mop over this same tile floor and never felt it at all. That mopping seemed like a dream to me, like I couldn't exactly believe all those years of it had really happened. Only that cold linoleum under my feet was real right then, only that moment."   --Chief Bromden "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

R.P. McMurphy

Well, as I rapidly punished book three of the Stieg Larsson series in two days, it was time to move on to one of the books I brought with me that I hadn't read yet: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. This was a fine gift from one of my oldest friends, Graham Smith, and I can't thank him enough. Maybe this is a sentiment most avid readers feel but I find it impossible and pointless to explain ---really, that reading has changed my life. I'm reminded of Malcolm X's autobiography as I type. What a strong illustration of the point I'm trying to grasp at. Malcolm X said, "My alma mater is books, a good library...I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity." I struggle to think of a more amazing personal story of someone learning to read than his and really dig that quote.  

I've always loved to read but growing up in school, it would occasionally slip my mind that I had actual choices in the content I wanted to explore. Also, any reading that was required tended to bore and annoy me. In the last three years, what I've read has changed my life more than anything and I'm convinced the library is pretty much the coolest idea someone ever had. It's my favorite example of the world at work.  

Graham gave me "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as a gift quite awhile back. I had yet to read it until this week and finished it pretty quickly, as it's not a long book. I didn't want to weigh down my luggage with books so I tried to bring the small collection of unread books I owned and a few favorites. I've been here barely over a month and only have one book left to read of those I brought with. Thank the LAWD I found that Seomyeon bookstore with the decent selection of English books. 

I've posted the trailer for the movie version of the book, starring Jack Nicholson as McMurphy, directed by Milos Forman, and with what I consider brilliant music by Jack Nitzsche. Nitzsche has worked with Phil Spector, the Rolling Stones, and Neil Young to name a few. Michael said he thinks the eery-sounding effect I like so much in this music is a saw. I have no idea but it's straight up one of the coolest sounds I've heard in a long time. 

I had seen this movie a long time ago but was eager to watch it again after finishing the book. The movie is amazing but I'm still being loyal to the school of thought that books will outdo a film any day. There's just too much a movie can't capture and so much of what is lost onscreen makes for the finest details in the story. 

I'm not entirely sure how to articulate how or why this book was so provocative to me. My mind has been buzzing with it all week and I felt like crying and laughing the whole way through the book. The humor is amazing and McMurphy's character is quite the accidental hero. He is so powerful and perfect amongst a gang of "lunatics" in a mental institution. Apparently, Kesey got the idea for the book while working the night shift at a Veteran's Hospital in the 60's. He didn't believe that the patients there were insane but rather, that they were societal outcasts because they didn't fit into conventional ideas of how people were supposed to behave. This is clearly illustrated in the book by the all the interesting characters and McMurphy is the perfect person to draw out their similarities to the world rather than their differences. 

I'm sure there are a million more articulate breakdowns and analyses than what I'm fumbling around with here.  I can't quite get it all clear in my head --there are so many points to what Kesey is writing about. But it may be how funny the book is that slays me the most. When Chief Bromden and everyone are laughing in the book, I was too. So much. Read it if you haven't and then help me talk about it some more, will ya? 

"I sat there, feeling whole and good, sipping at a beer; I could hear the beer all the way down me ---zzzth, zzzth, like that. I had forgotten that there can be good sounds and tastes like the sound and taste of a beer going down. I took another big drink and started looking around me to see what else I had forgotten in twenty years." 

--The Chief

Uncle Shelby

Saw this video through a friend recently. Two of my favorite guys. 

Funny because a couple of weeks before I left Austin, Shel Silverstein had crossed my mind a few times and I decided to pick up some of his classics from the library. It'd been a long time but it's interesting how you can remember pictures through your child-self eyes so vividly. His illustrations were still very familiar. In the fifth grade, I had to memorize a poem in Mr. Shank's class and I picked Shel's "Twistable Turnable Man." I can still remember the last half of it now --I think in part because it has the type of rhyme you can say very quickly. My brain seems to retain things with a certain pace. I can still play much of the first Beethoven sonata I learned in sixth grade because of all the piano runs and the fast tempo.

Anyway, just a short, nostalgic post. I am hoping to keep this blog going post-Korea so I'm prepping you, dear reader, for the randomness that may lay ahead. Not all posts will be travel-related --look out!

I'll close with the first poem in "Where the Sidewalk Ends." I've just always loved it. Fun fact: Silverstein wrote "A Boy Named Sue," I had no idea. What a guy.

INVITATION

If you are a dreamer, come in, 

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, 

A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...

If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire

For we have some flax-golden tales to spin. 

Come in!

Come in!

Beachin', etc.

So Chuseok is over. Wah-wah. No more breaks for me until FEBRUARY. Ahhhh I don't want to think about it yet. Twas good while it lasted, that's for sure. Tuesday we went to Beomesa temple (see post #2 if you want), Wednesday was an attempted trip to Seomyeon. This was pretty much a bust as most businesses were closed for the holiday and it was raining like a mug outside. Just ask this guy.

But THURSDAY, this post is sponsored by the loveliness of Thursday. Visit to Gwangalli Beach. !!! !!!

Gwangalli is one of several (I think 9) beaches in Pusan. As soon as we turned the corner from the subway stop, I started skipping. I loves zee beach. It is so choice. (Sorry, I just watched Ferris Bueller the other night). But seriously, there is just something magical about water and sand and sun and access to all three simultaneously. This was evidenced in the overall feel of everyone hanging out there. So many lil kids, so many parents, everyone smiling, laughing, playing. It brings out the child in all of us, I suppose. The water was so beautiful and still a great temperature. Michael went in for a full dip but I wussed out and just ran around getting in to my knees. Shut it, it was still awesome.

What's interesting is that directly behind us is a looooong strip of coffee shop, bar, coffee shop, restaurant, coffee shop, lobster cage, coffee shop. You would never know it facing the water but as soon as you turn around, BAM.

I'm not sure but it seems deep. 

As it should be. No third wheels allowed. 

Michael loves this place. 

Dinner?

You are seeing double. I don't get it either. 

But actually do. You're supposed to. 

After noting via picture the spectacles of the street behind the beach, we continued our peaceful walk on the sand and encountered some interesting beach art. 

Michael pretending he likes books. 

Architecture forehead!

After I had sufficiently whined about being cold for long enough, Michael acquiesced and we headed to the local foreigner bar, HQ, ate a bad burrito (shame on us for attempting), and dominated Round 1 at trivia night. Unfortunately, our vehicle knowledge is limited so we ended up tied for 4th place by the end. Who the hell puts so many dang car questions in a trivia set?! Giant yawn. My useless knowledge of B-list celebrities would have owned! If only....

Today, we found a bookstore in Seomyeon with a pretty awesome foreign book selection a.k.a. English books! I picked up the third book in the Stieg Larsson series, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest, for around 8 bucks! I. am. so. friggin. excited. And excited in general that I don't have to kick my terrible reading habit. Bought a watch and a cutesy sweater for less than ten dollars. Awesome. I'm also going to be experiencing a legitimate fall for the first time in over 4 years since I moved to Austin. It's exciting and nostalgic at the same time. Jacket weather and me go hand in hand. 

Things are good. 

Daily T-shirt: THE REVOLUTION WILL BE FRANCHISED

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around every once in awhile, you could miss it." Ferris Bueller 

Baby Buddhas Inc.

Yesterday we decided to finally get zee butts in gear and see one of the many Buddhist temples in Pusan. From what I've read, almost half of Koreans claim no religious preference and the other half are Christian or Buddhist. The practice of these two faiths has been influenced after centuries of Korean Confucianism. We decided to hop the subway over to Beomesa Temple, which according to my Lonely Planet travel guide is "Busan's best sight." It was founded in AD 678 and all of the original structures have been rebuilt because Korea has a long history of being invaded and conquered by it's neighbors.

The subway ride itself was awesome --once we transfered to Line 1, the majority of the ride was on an outdoor track so we were able to peep a lot of the city while riding. It reminded me of certain lines in Paris where that would happen unexpectedly and was always a nice change from the monotony of a metro ride. We hailed a taxi to the temple entrance because it was a looooonnggg, hilly haul to the top of a mountain. I'm amazed at how cheap cab rides are here --that one was less than 3 bucks and you don't tip! Awesome.

The temple site consisted of many separate buildings situated near the top of a mountain. It was beautiful. Going from temple to temple, there were many people who were meditating/worshiping and I felt uncomfortable somewhat invading a private moment so closely --even though it is a major tourist site and they're probably used to ignoring visitors. It was so interesting to observe and see another religious practice. So calm, quiet, and peaceful. I felt lucky to witness something new and different.

After walking around the temples for quite awhile, we walked to a nearby creek area where people were laying around, dipping their feet in the water, and snacking. I'd do some monk-ing there --it was pretty dang picturesque.

Afterwards, we ate samgyeopsal, which is barbecued bacon-type pork that has a mean side spread. Note the photos. I'll have to do a lone food post because there's just too much to cover already. Other than the accidental chicken feet order, food has simply been amazing. And hey, one of my students that likes chicken feet swears it's good for your skin sooo...if I come home with the skin of a 2 year old, don't ask any questions and don't be jealous. Okay be jealous.

As fatty as it gets in Korea.

Czapstick mastery. 

Post-dinner, we scored Michael a quick pick-up basketball game. Actual courts are hard to come by here so you gots to take advantage when you see one. Did a quick run to the local Lotte, catch all grocery/sporting goods/electronic goods/instrument store and watched "Memento" at home. Maybe it's just me but after having seen "A Beautiful Mind," I wasn't floored by the ending. Sorry Memento lovers.

Ballerz. 

Today's Daily T-shirt will actually be sponsored by my to-go coffee cup. Enjoy.
Espresso of Street
"when I walk on the street
            with my coffee,
                       I smile.
I feel so good and happy.
            magical thing!
it's a cup of coffee."

"Allons! whoever you are, come travel with me!" Walt Whitman, "Song of the Open Road"