life is what you make it

Maxx a Million

2012-09-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

So some of you might have heard this rumor and I go ahead and come out with as quick as possible... A couple weeks back I found a friend. Lonely, hungry, scared and in need of a shower and good night sleep... As a result I brought home a little bundle of fur. He has been with me for two weeks now and no signs of leaving... He likes it as best i can tell. and by that I mean he is sleeping on my feet literally on the end of my bed, laid across them both, everyone once in a while they get hot and i assume he's having a dream or something and slide out from under him but almost as if he knows I'm not there anymore he'll wake up and find my feet again and go back to sleep on them... Persistent little bugger... that being said. he's cute, and loving and house trained and listens to Korean commands, I'm not teaching him English instead im teaching him Spanish...

Unfortunately the only collar that would fit him is a body collar and baby blue... Good things he's Korean and metro is in fashion...

Cant get it out of my mind

2012-08-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

Summer break 2012

2012-08-07T09:15:00.001-07:00

So for my summer break instead of going somewhere for a week and blowing a ton of money like i did for my winter break i decided to stay put, spend time with some friends who were leaving soon and more or less relax for the week. As far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished. Here are some pics from Jeju Island, a 6 hour ferry boat ride from Yeosu, aptly named the Hawaii of Korea

One foot in front of the other one - Just a better place to die.

2012-07-31T00:12:00.001-07:00

While I might not live in Brooklyn or for that matter have any friends locked in boxes or anything like. The rest of the song is pretty fitting, One foot in front of the other one...

My Traveling Lover

2012-07-29T05:24:00.002-07:00

From time to time i find i miss you,
and while i'll admit i long to kiss you.
If you were a tear i'd be your tissue,
but when it comes down to it that's not the issue.
The issue my dear lies with my heart,
and whether or not it can be a part,
of the inevitable battle that will surely ensue,
of life and love and things to do.
Of places to go and things to see
and whether or not you'll be there with me.

Wrong place wrong time

2012-07-29T05:16:00.000-07:00

This is where is should be right now...

Miss you guys right now

2012-06-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

I love my family more than my own words can do justice, so I'm letting these guys from Concord North Carolina do it for me...

Another post about...

2012-05-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

So another week has gone by. I've said good bye to friends i never set out to make and never thought I would ever get attached too. Two oaks from South Africa who were pretty damn awesome bros. After the good byes and going away beers we hopped on buses in our own directions, them to Inchon to catch a flight south and me to Busan to spend a few days on a beach soaking up some rays.

Although, that being said I am jumping a few days ahead of my self. Last week we had a field trip and the lunch for the field trip was amazing. Smoked salmon wrapped around sprouts. Mmmmmm makes me miss Jody, Caleb, Jordan, Hannah Marx (Smith) and Alaska....

Had a wicked awesome going away dinner for one of the other guys (Ben German) who left last week as well... Roasted duck on a skillets with onions, garlic and plethora of seasonings and spices.

And then to top my week off one of my kids brought a gerbil to class in her pocket... She kept wiggling around and when i finally asked her why she pulled it out with the biggest smile on her face.. not sure what exactly i was expecting but it wasn't this... Ahahahah life has a way of making me smile.... a lot

And on the Menu today

2012-05-20T07:43:00.003-07:00

This weekend has been one gastronomic joy ride after another. Starting Friday night with Bulgogi soup after a late night hike.

Followed by pancakes, bacon eggs coffee and made from scratch blue berry syrup

Topped off with a mini stop having Johnny Walker Black for dirty cheap and sipping on it while watching the sunset over the islands in Uncheon Bay

And then we had dinner Sunday night at a buffet full of exotic crazy awesome foods. Inside the bamboo and banana leaf are this starchy rice that tasted like oatmeal with raisins. Then there are escargot on the bottom right corner of the plate and all sorts of other delectable.

On this plate we have squid, raw marinated crab (amazing for the record), beef tartar, jelly fish ceviche smoked duck and then some sort of roe cake with mackerel on top (the yellow looking thing behind the jelly fish) in the back near the bowl of soy sauce.

5.4k... that's only like 3 miles right?

2012-05-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

Alright so last weekend i went for a hike. I dragged some friends along and convinced them it wasn't that big of deal. I mean, according to the Korean Nation Parks page, its only 5.4 Kilometers and while they list is as strenuous i cant imagine it being all that bad... Plus they said Wulchulsan was ridiculous as well and that wasn't so bad. Turns out, i ate my words on this one. This hike was insane, the picture don't even begin to do the trail justice. Literally 5.4k on ragged rough uneven wobbly all natural stairs. 5.4k (3 miles roughly) of stairs made out of rocks, chunks of wood, landscape timbers, the occasional wrought iron stair case for 20 or 30 feet up over a cliff edge or something too steep to simply walk/crawl up. Only to get to the summit and literally have to use your arms legs and practically teeth to make it to the top because it's so steep. To say this hike was insane would be an understatement. But man do i feel accomplished after doing it. Bring on the world. Jirisan 0 me 1.

The over all goal... where we're going... the top...

Our lamp post marking our campsite

The view from half way.

And in typical Korean fashion there is a coffee shop at the rest area right before the temple.

My Wish List

2012-05-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

Ha so i realized this after i already had it typed up but most of my poems start with My too and so i wonder if you'll read this thinking it's somehow a poem of some sort... its not... trust me... it's literally a wish list of things (mostly books) that i want in my life and miss dearly.

Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates

The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book [Paperback]

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It [Hardcover]

Cordwood Building: The State of the Art (Natural Building Series) [Paperback]

Strawbale Home Plans [Paperback]

The Barefoot Architect [Paperback]

Building With Cob: A Step-by-step Guide [Paperback]

The Cob Builders Handbook: You Can Hand-Sculpt Your Own Home [Paperback]

Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Natural Building Series) [Paperback]

The Straw Bale House (Real Goods Independent Living Book) [Paperback]

The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre [Paperback]

The Art of Natural Building: Design, Construction, Resources [Paperback]

Building Green, New Edition: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob * Living Roofs

The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, 3rd Edition Revised [Hardcover]

Start Sailing Right!: The National Standard for Quality Sailing Instruction (Us Sailing Small Boat Certific) [Paperback]

Sailing For Dummies [Paperback]

A Voyage for Madmen [Paperback]

Dove [Paperback] (thanks you Kelci)

Sailing Alone around the World (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Trekka Round the World [Paperback]

Around the World Single-Handed: The Cruise of the "Islander" (Dover Books on Travel, Adventure) [Paperback]

A soup for everything that ales you

2012-05-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

Alright so im slightly under the weather at the moment but hoping to be up and on par again soon. This head cold has got me down in the dumps. but i went to the doctor today and got some meds... The cool thing about Korean is it cost me 4000 won (like 3.50 US dollars) for medication.... the down side is, well... there isn't any to be honest, they just need to proof read the stuff before they post it on boxes.

On a less depressing note, i've been eating some awesome grub here recently. I was worried at first because it didn't seem like people got out much here but i was warned to wait until it warms up a little more and it would change. And they were right. These people keep very busy here. My weeks are quickly blown away by countless events, parties, dinners and things to do. Further more there are usually options of things to do and who to do them with. Yeosu has a very healthy sized population of foreigners and so it is always easy to find something to do. For example, this weekend involved a beach barbeque party, hiking, a Beetles themed birthday party, more beach grilling out today and then all topped off with an amazing low country style boil with crab, shrimp, corn and potatoes... good times good times... alright so most of these pics of from tent restaurants which are just super awesome little natural disaster tents they setup permanently and run business in, usually restaurants or bars...

This is soup. The name is Hajeongok (doubt i spelled it correctly but they call it hang over soup) and it is amazing. Not to mention it comes with all of thee sides... so you pay 5 bucks for a steaming bowl of soup and get an entire buffes of sides to go with it...

This other one is called bolgolgi soup. and it is equally amazing. with an almost sweet/savory light broth and marinated beef strips with glass noodles and some peppers and onions. Same price as the other and out of this world.

And this is raw Abalone, i wouldn't recommend this to anyone i liked but am still glad i can say i ate a few (2.5 who ones to be honest, couldn't finish my last one). They are chewy to the point i would describe it as crunchy and i spent the following 24 hours (while never actually throwing up) feeling sick to my stomach. With the taste equivalent to only what i could describe as the ocean. Taste wise it was quiet nice for sure. Just between the slim and the crunch i couldn't do anymore than that. I was told they are good for stamina and should eat a few a week if i wanted to be a good Korean... thanks but no thanks...

Veggies!!!

2012-05-02T10:38:00.003-07:00

So Im growing Beans and Peas in baked beans cans running strings up to my ceilings.

And then i rigged up an 3 gallon fish tank and lid to work as my aquaponic system and im grown tomatoes in there.

I put in a few Tetra to add fertilizer to the plants and they're doing to opposite of North Korea's missiles (which means they're shooting up)

I've also got Cilantro, Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Bell Peppers, Jalapenos, Broccoli, Three or four types of tomatoes, Dill and Oregano all growing in 1.75 Lt beer bottles...

Word Chunder

2012-05-02T10:29:00.000-07:00

Wow, Feb 28th... Really... Guess I've been busier than i thought. Sorry bout that guys. Not sure if anyone even follows this anymore, Don't blame you if you don't. Nothing has happened on here in like two months, so it's understandable if I've fallen off the radar.

Well the Cherry Blossoms came and went in a weekend and they were amazing to say the least.

Also so since we've talked last I've started hiking on a regular basis. By regular i mean every other day or so. And the usually on the weekends i go do a bigger hike with a more rewarding view or something. There is a hike right in the middle of Yeosu, Mount Goobongsan (321m) and i do it a couple times a week after classes. I've started a hiking group here and have about a half dozen people who hike with me on a fairly regular basis now too!

We call ourselves the Walking Dead...
There are actually like 9 or 10 of us just the three of us started hiking together a lot and it's grown since then.

The views from Goobongsan

The views from Pongwasan (translates to Fire Tower Mountain.. san = mountain)

Last week i went and hiked Mount Wolchulsan. It was amazing. This ragged rocky granite mountain just rose up out of no where amidst all these fields and small green hills. They built this bright orange suspension bridge from two of the peaks and from the bottom they look like they're so far up but once you hike it you realize they're closer to the bottom than they are to the top... Either way the hike was amazing and probably one of the most fulfilling things I've done since I've been here.

The following day instead of vegging out and resting the day away after are killer leg work out we decided to go to the Bosesang Tea Fields on the way home and make the most of our weekend. That was just more torture on our knees but totally worth it in the end. The tea fields were dope and the fresh green tea ice cream at the bottoms was amazing in and of it self.

I'm liking Korea more and more on a daily basis. They turned on the fountains down the main strip through Yeosu today and i will get pictures of them soon for you all...

Dear Stomach

2012-02-28T06:14:00.000-08:00

Thank you for not settling. Thank you for forcing me to not eat microwave food just because it's quick and easy. Thank you for being able to take anything i throw at you.
love
-me

For those of you wondering that was a note to my stomach. I have been cooking recently and have discovered how much i enjoy it. Yesterday i made spicy herb and olive oil pan seared chicken and an attempt at fried rice. Today i made my own take of buffalo/vinegar based spicy eastern barbeque, cooked some chicken with it and successfully made fried rice with egg, carrot, green pepper and onion. Now I'm making a stocking using whats left of my chicken carcass, the remaining carrot, half a bell pepper and a little bit of onion. Being broke isn;t so bad when you at least have the sense about you to cook something and not have to buy everything you eat ready made in a store.

A long time coming

2012-02-26T05:40:00.000-08:00

     Alright so yeah, it's been over a month since my last legitimate post. Not that i haven't been doing anything worth noting, just I've been either too busy or too tired. Fast of the matter is I'm too tired as i type but i figure it's been long enough i need to put something down.
     So where did we leave off. Mussels... right. Food here is pretty amazing to say the least and if you can cook your options get even better. Not saying that i can cook but I'd go so far as to say that i've picked up a trick or two over my last 27 something years (most of them in the last few years, not so much when i was younger). Markets here are pretty awesome, but that could be said about any market in almost any international city (international meaning outside of America).
     Lets see, I went to Thailand, I can tell you a bit about that. It was awesome. I went back to the same little island that i went to on my way out here. I know my job isn't exactly hard but it can be stressful and for only having a week off i didn't want to have to do much... so i didn't. I went back to a place i knew i could sit around on the beach, watch the sun come up and then set all without having to leave the bungalows for anything. The food that Momma makes in the kitchen there is amazing and for the most part cheaper than anywhere else on the island. The drinks cost a little bit more but for the most part they're not that bad either. All in all i got exactly from my week off what i wanted out of it. To do nothing for a week and be satisfied in doing so. I met up with Rachel and Nathan (my old roommates from boone, who just so happen to be teaching in korea and traveling at the time in Thailand) as well as my friend Katie from Yeosu who was traveling around Thailand at the time. My friend Lyndsay from training came with me and between the 5 of us we accomplished very little and were all so content in doing so. But enough about me, who cares about all that, here are some pics... Enjoy

I know it's been a while...

2012-02-20T23:05:00.002-08:00

And it'll be a while longer still... just been lacking motivation... im working on it though. please be patient

Mussels Gallore!!!

2012-01-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

Today at the market...

2012-01-08T06:40:00.000-08:00

Today was a good day... Actually, that makes it seem like there have been bad days, allow me to clarify, there haven't been... Alright now that that's been sorted out. This weekend was good. We went down to the market, collected all kinds of fresh fruit and veggies, I got like 5lbs of fresh mussels for like 3 bucks (seriously, a grocery bag full, she triple bagged it). Yesterday i made a bangin chili, a dare say damn near perfect, tons of peppers but not too spicy, just right, would have killed for some cornbread though. That's something i haven't been able to find here to save my life, but that's a different story. At some point i'll make aist of things i cant get here or are super expensive and i expect you all to buy them and collectively send them to in a timely and orderly fashion... but not today.

So yea, made an awesome chili yesterday, today i made mussels in a garlic and onion white wine sauce with grated Parmesan. So freakin good... again would have killed for the right bread to have with it... but such it life. And to top the night off just made a fresh batch of Clove and Coriander infused Kahlua. Tonight has already been delightful but will soon be followed by a coma induced by amazing food and White Russians (the drink, not the people although there are a surprising number of those here too)

Fun with directions...

2012-01-04T23:41:00.000-08:00

Alright so as promised I will write more... I know i have been slacking at this and making videos in stead of typing is soooo much easier but not all that challenging and definitely doesn't force me to think or anything. Wait, scratch that, I've got to go to class... See why i dont write as much now. Give me time and be patient with me, it'll come back.

On a quick note, to get my place you take a left down the sketch little ally beside the naughty hair cutting place, walk past the church and the chicken shop. I'm on the left between the Squid restaurant and the Eel restaurant... Never in my life did i think any of those words would be used whiling giving directions to my place... Hahahaha such is life though.

dinner and a show...

2012-01-02T05:01:00.000-08:00

my tutorial on making ramen

2011-12-26T20:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from Korea

2011-12-26T05:24:00.000-08:00

Alright well, as I'm sure I owe many updates on what all has been going on and what not. I will try my best to catch everyone up to date, as much as possible... Yes these are pictures of me. I'll explain more later.

So, where did we leave off. second week was rust ending, right... K well, since then nothing extremely exciting has happened. Ummm the leader of North Korea died... Everyone was in a panic about that for a solid 5 mins and then we returned to a normals lives because as it turns out, nobody cares! The way i see it, if they're still letting military go home for Christmas and my kids (kindergartens and 3rd and 4th graders) aren't talking about then it's probably not that big of a deal. Yes he was a dick, yes it's big news that he's dead, who knows what's gonna happen with the next person to take control (his youngest son from my understanding)... Blah blah blah... To be honest, i'm kinda excited to see what the new kid will do with this new found power he has. Personally, i'm hoping he rebels again dear old dad like a good teenager would and turns the country around. I think the world would shit a brick if out of no where N. Korea suddenly moved to the top of the list. But enough about that stuff...

Mexican food! Fajitas and Coronas (compliments of my friend Millie)

This last week has seen it's share of Christmas related festivities. There was the "Christmas Party" at cream (a coffee shop/bar a couple blocks away), followed by another work related Christmas party where we ate Vietnamese food and as a company drank a lot of Soju. Then there was the Ugly Sweater party that was held at the local Xpat/foreigner bar. This one actually turned out to be a lot of fun cause once the bar started to close down we went to NoreBong which is Korean for Karaoke. These people love them some karaoke, there were litterally thousands of songs to choose from. Your be proud, I sang a Christmas song (chestnuts roasting on an open fire, i think) and a couple solid Queen songs, tried to find some Blink-182 or Jack Johnson but no luck... i put in a request for some though. OH WOW!!!! Yeah so after that we were all leaving and me and a girl got in a cab to head back to our neighborhood and our cabby backed over one of the girls we were with! Fortunately she was ok, just a little shookin up. One of the big things here in Korea is when the cops do show up, it doesn't matter who started anything, it's who ever is hurt the worse get "blood-money" from the other person involved. So this meant i spent 20 mins hold back a recently run over girl from beating the life out of a possibly inebriated cabby before the cops could get there. Not sure what she actually got out of it, someone said they think she got like 500 bucks and it all got swept away, not bad for a scraped knee if you ask me.

The following morning i caught the train from the Expo Center up to Suncheon to spend Christmas with Rachel and Nathan (my roommates from last year). Cause a cab to their place from the station, stopped and picked up some fruit and we were off to another Christmas party. Met a bunch of new people, mostly teacher, some lifers, all friendly and before we knew it it was Christmas! Christmas day was a slow start we all wanted to just rest for a bit, Rachel made an amazing breakfast of pancakes, bacon eggs and coffee. We watched some Christmas movies and more or less just chilled for the day. Nathan made fish and chips for dinner which was amazing and i cant wait to make my own once i finally get some money! Any day now...

Other than that, nothing's really that new... teaching is same ol' same ol' kids are crazy. Lord bless all of my old teachers, for i knew not what i did... I got to be Santa for the kids at my school, hense the pictures above. All in all it was pretty fun. On that note, i'm tired. Love everyone, thanks for reading...

2011-12-25T05:53:00.000-08:00

Finishing up week two in Yeosu

2011-12-18T04:49:00.000-08:00

     Alright well let me start by saying thanks to everyone who kept me in their thoughts while i was i was sick. The last week pretty much sucked as far as that goes, but i think i'm mostly on the mend. Haven't had a fever in a couple days, no more sweats, no nausea, just congestion in my chest and in my head. Other than that i'm doing pretty well as far as i'm concerned. Life is good. My kids are, well... kids. they get excited about some things and are completely bored by others. I'm teaching kindergarten in the mornings ans then elementary schoolers in the afternoons and evening. All in all it's not too bad. Just a lot of steps to follow and rules to learn and what not.

   This weekend i went to the market! There's a neighborhood that's broken up into different markets, so i just spent half a day wandering about. There's a produce market, a fish market,

a meat market (no pun intended)

a grain market, a clothing market and then a part of the market where all the vendors are either cooking something or willing to cook what ever it is you've bought, for a small fee...

     The to top off the market experience there was an awesome christmas party sat night that i made fruit salad for! i'll be honest, i had a bunch of fruit in the apartment left over from the previous people that needed to get used... So it didn't go to waste!!! yeah!!!!

And now i'm getting ready to crash for the night and start up an all new week! I dont get any time off what so ever for Christmas, cause it's on Sat or Sun or something i dont work those days anyways, so whah whah whah. But i think we're having a "work" Christmas party on thurs and then i heard rumor of an awesome ugly sweater party on christmas eve for everyone who is still in town and not spending it with their loved ones :( on that note, i'm sorry i'll be missing christmas with everyone. I hope everyone has a wonderful christmas and keep me in your thoughts, at least for the stuffing and egg nog...