The one where I went to a church and wasn't struck by lightning

This is the big, scary Ferris wheel on the roof of some building in Ulsan.  Jon L. and I went to see Kwangsoo's wedding there today.  It was at a church, but some generic protestant one.  It didn't look like a church, but they called it one, and there are more things to argue with christians about than their choice of architecture.  LOL  The officiant rambled on and on, then all of a sudden he asked the foreigners to stand up so the congregation could see us!  I'm sure he meant well, but Koreans don't seem to realize that we don't always want to be singled out, especially at someone else's wedding, and in a country where anti-foreigner sentiment is growing.  After the wedding, we chose to go to Outback instead of the Korean restaurant for the reception.  I'm sure the place would've been swamped, and the newlyweds' family and real life friends should get priority.

My Apple Mac iWeb has ceased to publish my other blog.  It just stopped suddenly, and I've done all the recommended steps, but it will not publish (upload).  I don't know why I bother spending money on Apple Mac.  Oh, speaking of spending money... on a Mac... my Bluetooth mouse has gone haywire, so I wanted to replace it, but there are no more replacements.  You can only get the new "Magic Mouse".  It isn't actually available yet in Korea (of course) but it should arrive next week and they'll send me one as soon as they are in country.

I'm feeling pressured at the university.  Our coordinators have made certain that every scrap of pleasure is wrung out of teaching with a string of goal-less robotics to perform for the entertainment of the Korean staff.  The only consolation is, it is SO easy to get a teaching job in Korea that changing jobs is a breeze if it gets too complicated here.

The one where I find some canned goods

I was digging around in the cupboard and came across these two cans that must have been in there for two years (or more?), and disciplining myself not to look at the "best use" dates, I threw together a pastry shell and mixed up a pie.  Anyone who's been to my apartment knows that I only have a little electric toaster-style oven that doesn't heat evenly or consistently.  However, the result is not that bad.  The pie cooked thoroughly, which is important with expired canned goods, I suppose.  This piece here I ate while it was still warm.  No side effects, yet, but it's only been a few minutes.  (If I die in the night, tell the coroner to question the pie! LOL)

In other news, I did not leave the house at all today! 
OMG, is that right? Not at all? 
I guess it's true, because I just read it on the internet!
LAMOLJ*

Joel told me about this "great sci-fi series" called Torchwood.  I downloaded season one.  It's so bad I want to cry, but it is starting to grow on me, like a fungus or something.   I'm downloading season two now.  Someone stop me!



*laughing at my own lame joke

The one where I'm disconnected

I can't get enough of traditional Korean architecture! It's  a complicated and intricate weave that produces an aesthetic to knock your socks off.  I would love to have a house like the building in this photo, even without all the detail painting.

Last night the internet service to my place went down, and all my prayer and fasting couldn't bring it back up again.  From my office today I gave KT a call, and they'll send someone around tomorrow morning.  Eh, it'll give me some quiet time.  Speaking of which, my apartment is all rearranged for winter now.  The living room is functioning once again as a living room rather than a cat habitat, and the little room that was the computer room is now my meditation room.  It's a perfect place: small and cozy.  The ondol heats the floor just right in there, too.

This week my syllabus called for giving my classes outlines of the final exam!  Is that right?  Isn't it too early for that?!  The end of the semester is indeed just around the corner.  I dread the paperwork, though the classes are all a pleasure to teach.  We will actually finish the textbook this time!  Thank planning and good learners for that!

Today is the dedication of the new building on campus and the enshrinement (?) of some dead monk.  Not sure what enshrinement is, but the university wants all free faculty to attend.  I might go, though Friday is a high-pressure day for me.  We'll see.

The one where I diss my Mac again

I am such a child.  Toys! Toys! Toys!  This Bluetooth headset has been lying around on my desk at the house for a couple months, no, make that several months, and today I came across it by accident and decided to do something with it.  The booklet is long gone, but it was written in Korean anyway, and Korean is confusing enough without the added hurdle of technical mumbo-jumbo.  So, it was trial and error as I struggled to connect it to my home computers.  I tried the Mac first, but of course, Macs aren't very intuitive, so I tried my HP desktop replacement laptop.  Zing! Connected instantly.  Back to the Mac. I fiddled with this and that, tried some of these and those, and finally I got a screen that seemed like the one I needed.  "What is your device?" asked Mac.  "Bluetooth headset" I naively typed back.  "Hmm, sorry, but there is no Bluetooth headset anywhere near here."  Hmm. Mac is blind, I thought.  But I already knew that.  Then I noticed it, an option for "Any Device" and tried it.  Voila!  Mac said "I found a Bluetooth headset!"   I threw my slipper at him, but being a machine, he simply rolled his unseeing eyes and finished the connection.  So, wow, it's an emotional moment for me.  I love technology.  It does work with Skype, and that makes it quite useful.  Hands free, I can walk around the apartment talking to people thousands of kilometers (or even miles) away.
In other tech news, I also got a program to help me stream audio online, but I'm waiting for the creator to come online and help me with the thing.  It, too, is for a Mac, and it, too, is not intuitive.  I'm sending a letter to Apple Computers.  Their new Mac motto should be, "If you're an experienced computer geek, have we got an intuitive machine for you!"

The one where I found Queen Grimhilde's orchard

Yesterday was a beautiful, warm, sunny day!  After some letter writing was caught up, off to the local mountain for a hike I went.  Along the way, I passed a lovely little apple orchard, and the devil inside thought no one would miss one apple, would they?  Fortunately, before my soul came into jeopardy, this sign came into view.  I knew every word on this sign, but what did it mean?  Let's first see what the basic vocabulary says: <<Warning apple poison insertion responsibility (particle indicating uncertainty) is not>>  It is a sign after all, and sometimes signage is in shorthand.  Also, Korean avoids pronouns like the plague.  "If you can't guess who's doing what, then you can't speak Korean yet."  *sigh*  Honestly, I cannot tell you what this sign means precisely, but I can tell you that the presence of the phrase "poison insertion" was enough to keep me honest. LOL

The weather has taken a turn toward winter now.  I doubt we'll see days like yesterday again until March.  My ondol under-floor heating is running on low, and the humidifier is billowing faithfully.  Buttoned up snug, the cats and I are settling in for a cozy evening of a good book, French radio from Canada, and hot store-bought apple juice that I pretend is cider.

The one where the gas lady tried to get in

Since my body has been ravaged by some viral whatsit all week, my trips to the corner store have included a look at the vitamin drinks they proffer.  This looks like an energy drink, but I'm not so sure I feel lucky enough to get it!

Today there was a notice on the front door of our building that the gas lady would be by this morning between 11 and 12.  Her job is to come alone into strangers' apartments with a meter and make sure there are no gas leaks inside the apartments.  Well, that wasn't enough notice for me to clean the apartment, so I've been dodging her (she comes back at night if you aren't home in the day).  I wasn't home during the day, because I spent a good chunk of time at the university trying to catch up on correcting midterms.   There were no classes at the uni today, thank goodness.  My illness has taken away my vim; I could not have done teaching and stayed upright, I fear.  I did get to help one of my co-worker's students, though, which is always a nice feeling.  One time in college, my French professor, Colonel Olsen, helped me with an assignment for Miss Gulick, our other French professor.  I bothered him at home while he was in his bathrobe.  I've never forgotten that, and I have always aspired to be that kind of language teacher, willing to help even if I'm busy.

The one where I suffer my yearly cold

Casually walking through Seoul, there's no telling what you might see.  I guess they lifted the ban on American GIs going out at night and getting wasted, eh?  I walked by an hour later, and he was still passed out, but a lot more people were taking his picture! LOL  Anyway, this photo kind of looks how I feel:  Blecky!

I started getting sick on Thursday, but didn't feel it in earnest until Friday, then this weekend it's only gotten worse.   It isn't the flu; it's a cold.  And I have tried to be so careful!  Argh!  I have not been sick at all since last October!  Maybe going through homework papers and licking my fingers to turn pages once in a while wasn't a good idea.  Bad habit. Time to buy a sponge.  Fortunately, my schedule allows an extra day to recover before my classes start again for this week.

What's waiting on my desk:  Midterm tests that need grading!  And recording!  And photocopying for the required portfolio!  The only drawback to teaching is the paperwork that must be done.  The paperwork has increased each year in the two I have worked here.  Hope the trend plateaus somewhere soon.  I can understand grading and keeping grading sheets, but this new portfolio thing is over the top.  Plus, we need to do spreadsheets!  English teachers doing spreadsheets like some science department?  There's no reason articulated for the spreadsheets, of course, just some wild demand from the head office.  Of course, the university system only operates smoothly with Microsoft Office spreadsheets, and I can't afford MS Office, so I use OpenOffice.  Can't get that to work at all.  Our local computer nut's directions don't work, because I have Vista Home Basic in my office, and that system is too basic and won't allow dual languages.  What a mess. We're just adjuncts according to the university, not real faculty, so why all the fuss?  They haven't announced whether they are rehiring us or not.  Better get another job lined up just in case.  Koreans are so unpredictable; you can't assume anything here.

Time for another Nyquil capsule (I have a stash I brought from the States last summer.)

Aaaaagh.......... |:(