Tuesday, May 26, 2009
milk, graves, great winged things
Current mood:miscellaneous
I started to drink the milk, knowing full well that it was sitting unopened at room temperature for a day. I wouldn't have done this the day before the big exam, but I suspected I would be just fine drinking the lukewarm milk. It made me wonder about pasteurization, so I looked it up.
It turns out that this milk is UHT pasteurized, or ESL pasteurized. That's ultra-high temperature, or extended shelf-life. These little boxes, I read, can sit for months unopened at room temperature. Which again makes me wonder, because the school is particular about the expiration dates. And I doubt that everyday we get milk that's six months old. But, anyway, this process is supposed to extend shelf life and reduce the need for refrigeration. However, it has its drawbacks of course, as the heat flash really stresses or destroys the milk proteins. But I'll tell you, this particular carton of lukewarm milk, like most Korean milk I've drunk, tastes delicious and creamy.
That whole episode reminded me that I have more to tell you. So I researched about Korean graves. now I've told you some, if I recall accurately. About how the graves are around here and there on hillsides. About how we saw some hillsides on the way to Seoul which seem to be predominantly for grave use, but that you can't just easily go find a Korean "cemetery". Then I read a great little piece in what I guess is a great little book. Called Things Korean.
Google Books is awesome. It scans books quickly and makes kind of like a giant library. In this way, I can check out the book. And I will sum up a little for you, but feel free to take a look at the entry about Mudeom, a Grave's Grave.
The idea is that these Korean customs allow a gravesite to return slowly to the earth, as the memory of the person fades in the lives of the living.
As for moths and butterflies, it was said that some people like butterflies, while some people hate moths. And I tend to like both. But my view of moths shifted, from the nasty little "millers" of my youth, to beautiful Luna moths and other great winged things I've observed later in life. (Not to forget, one great insect of my youth was a hummingbird moth.).
Butterflies are great, and so easy to like, but one might also note that the little "skippers" whose larvae harmed crops are a little pesty at least, and their wings have that dust that tends to make one feel unclean. However, who cannot love these insects, upon greater investigation, for the mysteries of their metamorphosis, their gift of flight, migration and super sensory perceptions where applicable, for their contribution to pollination and the grand life-cycle, and in the case of many, for their beauty if that alone were not all?
Monday, May 25, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Three Current Blogs
Friday, May 22, 2009
| Current mood:warm Thank you, Bonnie, for writing the 1200th comment, for pressing my shirt, and for taking double duties the last few months while I prepared to school some actuary exams. Here I am at Taeseo Elementary School in Taebaek, Korea. Yesterday, since it rained so much, they postponed Sports Day until Monday. So now I get to experience the joys that go with that. In yesterday's rain, I was inside a testing center in Seoul doing untold nasty things to the P actuary exam. I have to admit, it felt good to get that done with. A pass is a pass, and I was really hoping for at least just a pass, but I think that I scored the highest possible score or so. Official results will be in in eight weeks, but for now I am collecting unofficial congratulations papers from the testing site. I suppose the job hunt begins. Looking into the opportunities currently, I'm not sure I'll land a hot job yet, but we'll see. Apparently fresh young graduates are a lot more appealing than old ducks like me. But we'll see. There's some charm left in this gray quacker. You're probably wondering about the next of six more tests I need to take before I become an Actuary Fellow. That, I think, will be in November. But I still need to look into details and maybe choose a direction and decide which test to take next. And all that might come after getting a job if I get one, so we'll see. I do want to start on something soon though, that I might cut down on the study crunch and spread it out in order to enjoy more of the precious family life. The precious family life? Maybe some of you are wondering about Orry's or Gonzo's disposition. Little Gonzo is my fun new nickname for Isaac. Try it, and you'll like it too. Orry, the easy baby, has developed into a nearly three year old image of his father, which is to say he exhibits any of the following descriptions when it comes to having his way, whether his way is logical, sensical, or otherwise: hard willed, insistent, persistent, adamant, demanding, stubborn. He also will throw a fit or scream or exhibit other socially unacceptable behaviors. What?! you say? That little angel? But yes, it is so. We wonder, sometimes, because he seems to be too frustrated and angry too much of the time. But I think we'll work on perspective and feelings and what we can and cannot control, not to mention continuing to improve all relationships in and out of the household, that we can be better examples, cultivate good healthy growth, et cetera. Bonnie also pointed out the amount of attention sharing that Orry does on account of little Gonzo. So we are taking pains to make sure Orry has good swaths of Orry time. Little Gonzo is at a great age. He is the explorer and he's figuring things out. He's quite the game player and boy can he eat. He is getting weaned which seems to not faze him at all that I can say. He is getting faster feet although he's still a wobbly toddler. He is more ticklish than Orry was and he is such a fun little laugher. He likes various people and is just about as easy as Orry was. Although he screams more than Orry did. Orry healped teach that, I think. They have screaming bouts sometimes. That high pitched yip that little kids are so good at that pierces the sky? Yes. To make up for lost time with the Korean language, I am going full force now. I'm back at the folk tale translation and on to learn more of this language now. But before I end up this blog, let's tally the subjects of upcoming blogs. You know I still need to blog about where dead Koreans go. And then there's the moths and butterflies. And did I tell you about sharing my first Korean cab ride, with a Korean stranger? And I suppose an update is due for the salamander eggsacs and the tadpoles. And I need to get some pictures and videos up too... Thank you for your participation in my life. Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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Sunday, May 10, 2009
Return from Seoul, all things considered
Return from Seoul, all things considered
Current mood:vernal
Dear few readers, let me continue to tirelessly keep you abreast of our lives and other goings-on in Korea: On the way back from Seoul, I saw wisteria blossoms cascading down their vines, gracing the hillsides, if not superior at least more delicate and romantic than Bacchanal decor. The rest of Korea probably woke out of Spring earlier than a week ago, but it was this last week that our little city broke herself away from the clutches of Old Man Winter. It was this week when you look at the hills and think and then rethink if you weren’t mistaken that a week ago weren’t they brownish? The buds on twigs have developed into fine leaves, blossoms have become spent, and even the least eager of dandelions have gone white-haired in the attempts of reproduction.
In Taebaek, this last week has belonged to the azaleas. The cheery cherry trees, the Japanese Magnolia blossoms, and other various Spring harbingers have made their showing and moreorless left. The bleeding hearts, next, were an unsecreted delight. But now, the glory of the azaleas promise to bring the full force of Spring to Taebaek. In the sunny places where water is abundant, the purples and pinks will make demands of your eyes. In other places, buds poke at the colors yet to come. One of my personal excitements is to get in the mountains at the right times, where they are covered with mountain azaleas. With the abundance of such life, who can fail to feel hopeful for another year to come?
Another delight this last week has been lilacs, mostly white, which have blossomed and smelled terrific. There is also a lilac-like mountain blossom with the sweetest aroma. Maybe it is a Japanese lilac.Maybe none of you laughed at that. And maybe even a few of you wondered if I forgot which country I am in. But really, it is a sort of joke, because some of the things over here are named in the western world as Japanese this or that, even though the Koreans also might have it as well. So it is like a joke, but it might be the case, really. If the wireless internet connection on this train were stronger, I could probably try to look it up instead of finishing this web log.
Other various flowers and blossoms have brought Spring in. But the real sign that Taebaek has moved on from Winter happened on Thursday. That is when the town became alive with plant starts. And really, I’ve been a little antsy for this for weeks, feeling like some tomatoes should be going in the ground, and so on. We got a few miniature tomato plants from a flower shop to sate me. But on Thursday, trucks arrived in Taebaek with the bounty of greenhouses to our newly greened city. Tomato starts, pepper starts, and maybe anything else, for anyone with the right number of South Korean won. It was funny, because seriously, all the appropriate stores became stocked with these goods, packing away the dried Chinese dates (We could also play the game with China, but it’s funnier with Japan because of the residual strife between Korea and Japan, like brothers who have forgotten they were brothers) and peddling now these seasonal needs. On the agenda for this week is some dirt collection at our Becker house. Dirt is scarce in our immediate vicinity, but a short walk away there is mountains of it. So I will get some, along with some worms for our compost barrel. And we’ll get some of those starts to finally produce a garden on our humble roof.
********************************************************
We are glad to be back from Seoul. I will leave the reporting of our events for now, but let me say how nice it was to pass the one actuary exam. I have just 11 more days until my next test, so I will be cramming it in for a while. It is the test that I already prepared for once, so in some sense I am ready. But in another important sense, these next 11 days are very very important.
Some of you probably wonder what is going on for us, long term. Will we be staying in Korea? Coming back to the states? Moving to Greenland? To answer this question, I will say I can not answer it for certain at this time, but I will give you a rundown of upcoming decisions that might give you some idea.
We really like it here, and we are here, and so, if it were only that, I think it is safe to say both Bonnie and I would love to stay here. On top of that, with Trent and Nicole staying here and having a baby, we have even more reason to want to stay here. Living next to Trent has been a real treat for me after so much time of living apart. You could call it a Trent treat. Or Troy’s Trent treat.
On the other hand, we are far away from everyone else. But it’s nice to have the conveniences of our age, and email and keep in touch. I am pleased that Bonnie and her parents are in touch almost every day thanks to Skype, where they not only talk to each other, but have video calls so that they get to see the kiddos.
Other big factors. First of all, for whatever reason, Trent and Nicole might not end up staying here. It is too early for any of us to know for sure what will be available to us, let alone what we will finally decide. Then, there is the chance of finding a good actuary position. I will start some serious looking after I pass the next exam, and it may be that I can find something desirable to take up in September. If nothing ideal comes up, another year over here would provide ample preparation time to pass some more exams and become even a better candidate for actuary opportunities (We’re talking about a series of about eight exams over the next five years or so to become a “fellow” actuary and earn top dollar.). Lastly, there are the Baton Rouge properties which maintain for us a small passive income. This, above everything, is probably the largest deciding factor for what will happen this summer. If things remain the same, we will be fine. But things will not remain the same. Still, we may be fine. We have to see what happens. There is also the possibility of Bonnie’s belly swelling with another baby yet again. We are sort of on the fence about this, and September seems to be our “golden” month when it might be “most convenient” to choose to have a baby in Korea, or move back to the states for number three God willing. I think Bonnie would like to be within 10000 miles of her mother at childbirth. Let us see.Staying here would be great, language-wise, for Orry, and Isaac too. Not to mention their parents. Also for reasons of cultural observation. Moving to another country besides the US, like Greenland, would be another adventure. It doesn’t seem in the cards for us. But I should say, exactly a year ago, we had not an iota of foreknowledge that Korea was at all in our window of possible futures. And now we can tell that the ajumas on the train are talking about the Summer cabbage.
Happy Mothers’ Day.
Current mood:vernal
Dear few readers, let me continue to tirelessly keep you abreast of our lives and other goings-on in Korea: On the way back from Seoul, I saw wisteria blossoms cascading down their vines, gracing the hillsides, if not superior at least more delicate and romantic than Bacchanal decor. The rest of Korea probably woke out of Spring earlier than a week ago, but it was this last week that our little city broke herself away from the clutches of Old Man Winter. It was this week when you look at the hills and think and then rethink if you weren’t mistaken that a week ago weren’t they brownish? The buds on twigs have developed into fine leaves, blossoms have become spent, and even the least eager of dandelions have gone white-haired in the attempts of reproduction.
In Taebaek, this last week has belonged to the azaleas. The cheery cherry trees, the Japanese Magnolia blossoms, and other various Spring harbingers have made their showing and moreorless left. The bleeding hearts, next, were an unsecreted delight. But now, the glory of the azaleas promise to bring the full force of Spring to Taebaek. In the sunny places where water is abundant, the purples and pinks will make demands of your eyes. In other places, buds poke at the colors yet to come. One of my personal excitements is to get in the mountains at the right times, where they are covered with mountain azaleas. With the abundance of such life, who can fail to feel hopeful for another year to come?
Another delight this last week has been lilacs, mostly white, which have blossomed and smelled terrific. There is also a lilac-like mountain blossom with the sweetest aroma. Maybe it is a Japanese lilac.Maybe none of you laughed at that. And maybe even a few of you wondered if I forgot which country I am in. But really, it is a sort of joke, because some of the things over here are named in the western world as Japanese this or that, even though the Koreans also might have it as well. So it is like a joke, but it might be the case, really. If the wireless internet connection on this train were stronger, I could probably try to look it up instead of finishing this web log.
Other various flowers and blossoms have brought Spring in. But the real sign that Taebaek has moved on from Winter happened on Thursday. That is when the town became alive with plant starts. And really, I’ve been a little antsy for this for weeks, feeling like some tomatoes should be going in the ground, and so on. We got a few miniature tomato plants from a flower shop to sate me. But on Thursday, trucks arrived in Taebaek with the bounty of greenhouses to our newly greened city. Tomato starts, pepper starts, and maybe anything else, for anyone with the right number of South Korean won. It was funny, because seriously, all the appropriate stores became stocked with these goods, packing away the dried Chinese dates (We could also play the game with China, but it’s funnier with Japan because of the residual strife between Korea and Japan, like brothers who have forgotten they were brothers) and peddling now these seasonal needs. On the agenda for this week is some dirt collection at our Becker house. Dirt is scarce in our immediate vicinity, but a short walk away there is mountains of it. So I will get some, along with some worms for our compost barrel. And we’ll get some of those starts to finally produce a garden on our humble roof.
********************************************************
We are glad to be back from Seoul. I will leave the reporting of our events for now, but let me say how nice it was to pass the one actuary exam. I have just 11 more days until my next test, so I will be cramming it in for a while. It is the test that I already prepared for once, so in some sense I am ready. But in another important sense, these next 11 days are very very important.
Some of you probably wonder what is going on for us, long term. Will we be staying in Korea? Coming back to the states? Moving to Greenland? To answer this question, I will say I can not answer it for certain at this time, but I will give you a rundown of upcoming decisions that might give you some idea.
We really like it here, and we are here, and so, if it were only that, I think it is safe to say both Bonnie and I would love to stay here. On top of that, with Trent and Nicole staying here and having a baby, we have even more reason to want to stay here. Living next to Trent has been a real treat for me after so much time of living apart. You could call it a Trent treat. Or Troy’s Trent treat.
On the other hand, we are far away from everyone else. But it’s nice to have the conveniences of our age, and email and keep in touch. I am pleased that Bonnie and her parents are in touch almost every day thanks to Skype, where they not only talk to each other, but have video calls so that they get to see the kiddos.
Other big factors. First of all, for whatever reason, Trent and Nicole might not end up staying here. It is too early for any of us to know for sure what will be available to us, let alone what we will finally decide. Then, there is the chance of finding a good actuary position. I will start some serious looking after I pass the next exam, and it may be that I can find something desirable to take up in September. If nothing ideal comes up, another year over here would provide ample preparation time to pass some more exams and become even a better candidate for actuary opportunities (We’re talking about a series of about eight exams over the next five years or so to become a “fellow” actuary and earn top dollar.). Lastly, there are the Baton Rouge properties which maintain for us a small passive income. This, above everything, is probably the largest deciding factor for what will happen this summer. If things remain the same, we will be fine. But things will not remain the same. Still, we may be fine. We have to see what happens. There is also the possibility of Bonnie’s belly swelling with another baby yet again. We are sort of on the fence about this, and September seems to be our “golden” month when it might be “most convenient” to choose to have a baby in Korea, or move back to the states for number three God willing. I think Bonnie would like to be within 10000 miles of her mother at childbirth. Let us see.Staying here would be great, language-wise, for Orry, and Isaac too. Not to mention their parents. Also for reasons of cultural observation. Moving to another country besides the US, like Greenland, would be another adventure. It doesn’t seem in the cards for us. But I should say, exactly a year ago, we had not an iota of foreknowledge that Korea was at all in our window of possible futures. And now we can tell that the ajumas on the train are talking about the Summer cabbage.
Happy Mothers’ Day.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Gangwon Comprehensive Museum, Gee Gee Gee Gee Gee
This long weekend was a lot of fun. Monday was the exhausting day. We went to the Gangwon Comprehensive Museum, and then the beach. Our camera's battery failed after the first station of over a dozen at the museum. We were taking photos of the amazing rocks, but what we missed out on was everything else. Perhaps top of the list were all the carved wood exhibits in station four. We are talking about enormous trunk chunks carved into brilliant one piece multi part mural scenes. 15 feet by 6 feet, for example. With plenty of depth to carve out an intricate little world. At the restaurant on the beach, we found some international sand sculpters.
I still managed to put in lots of study time and I'm ready for this actuary test on Friday. It means another trip into Seoul, so we'll see how that goes.
For today and tomorrow, however, it's back to the "grind". My schedule changes slightly this week and tomorrow I think we meet with elementary teachers from around our district to confer about teaching English classes for other schools. Which has been part of our schedule since March, which is why my teaching schedule has been so lax these past couple months.
We're getting ready for birthdays in our house. Isaac likes to stand and toddle. Orry likes to learn our Korean songs with us. My Korean song to learn is:
Bonnie put together another tasty meal last night, with some beef, broccoli, and ginger.
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