Environment Protection
Environment Science

Hiya!

Last week once we wrapped up our WTF video segment, we announced that we might be starting a brand new segment this week. Today we’re announcing what we’re doing! Woot! As a not-so-footy foot note, we need to apologize that this is not our actual first video for it. Martina got really sick last week, so we couldn’t exit and be adventuresome. In the event you listen carefully to Martina in our recent Music Monday, you’re able to hear her snotty stuffed up nose and sore throat. Poor girl! BUT do not be concerned! We had brought an emergency supply of drugs Lipton Chicken Noodle soup from Canada. You understand: the envelopes jam-packed with yellow noodles and neon yellow soup mix? And he or she ate that for five whole days. Now she’s just about all better because of the tummy warming! Oh yeah, those of you coming to Korea to live, bring a comfort food for when you find yourself sick. (We also packed Jello for those barfy flu days.)

AHEM! The purpose this is not that Martina was barfy sick, but that we couldn’t go outside to film without Martina giving sad stink sick face to the camera, so today we’re announcing our (now not) secret plans for our segment! DRUMROLLLLL PLEAASSSEEEEEELE: It’s Wonderful Adventure Now Korea aka W.A.N.K! We’ll be WANKing every Wednesday and we’re hoping to hit some places or do activities in Korea which you guise want!

After all, we are living in Korea and there are such a large amount of things we are able to experience that folks can’t. We’re hoping to get an inventory of factors to do, and it is usually random, like visit a Korean stationary shop to something specific, like hang around at a Korean tea room. When you’ve got any suggestions, leave them within the comments, on Facebook , or on Twitter !

Oh, and on top of our normal adventure, we decided to make it more exciting by having a check list we must complete.

1. We must both discover a kpop idol (it could possibly be an image) to pose into front of during our adventures.

2. We’re going to complete to work out who can find probably the most creative Engrish. When we choose it, we cannot take it back. You guise will vote on who picked the foremost creative use of Engrish!

3. And last, a random challenge will seem like a Pokemon trainer within the woods calling us to battle…but without the pokemon…and poke trainer…and probably no woods. Makes it sound sadder. I WOULD LIKE A SNORLAX!!! *ahem* The loser of this challenge should roll our giant punishment die to receive their shaming. It is a 1/5 chance to be shamed, and there’s only one “you lucky duck” number with the intention to allow us to just walk away. To the precise here, you will see an image of the enormous punishment die, in addition to our freshly washed Spudgy (fyi, he doesn’t like being showered)

So, that’s it for now…let the suggestions begin!!!! Oh, and the winners for our last WTF are announced within the bloopers! Please send us an email and we’ll send out your packages ASAP, just in time for after-Christmas!

For the unique post on Introducing: Wonderful Adventure Now Korea! , or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, investigate our Korea blog !

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By Flora Lee

Like the American SAT, the British A-level or the French Baccalaureate, there’s also a last, nationwide examination in Korea: the KSAT, or “Sooneung” because it is traditionally observed. The daylong exam contains exams in Korean, mathematics, English plus one to four subjects of choice in social sciences, natural sciences, or vocational studies. Officially, it’s aimed toward calculating students’ academic abilities and their aptitude for varsity education. But inside the “real” world, students and oldsters are likely to understand the Sooneung because the ultimate once-in-a-year multiple-choice test that could totally decide your future life. To foreigners it would seem a little an exaggeration, but I’m sure any gosam (the graduating class of highschool) in Korea would acknowledge the giant pressure of test, including the truth that only a simple stomachache could easily ruin the day that you just prepared tediously and painfully for many of your youth.

Just to briefly describe the lifetime of a standard gosam: he/she gets to school by 7 to eight a.m., and does practically nothing instead of study, study, study until midnight or more-at college, at home or at private school rooms that cost rather a lot. Essentially this brutal slog begins as soon as final exams end in one’s junior year if not once the exam is taken by seniors (many students set a “D-Day” countdown application on cell phones or computers at 365 days and follow the countdown by days, hours, minutes and seconds and the rest can’t escape constant reminders from friends, teachers and parents). For students who wish to enter a prestigious university-called SKY here indicating Seoul National University (Korea’s Harvard), Korea University (Yale perhaps) and Yonsei University (maybe Oxford)-the competition gets fiercer, the strongest enemy being yourself. Imagine having all that effort judged on one single day. One mistake, and you could be stuck not in a university dormitory but in Gangnam-Daesung or Jongro Yongin Campus , two famous academies for jaesusaeng-to all gosams, being put on the jaesusaeng list and spending another year in hell is a terrifying punishment (sadly 150 thousand students ended up victims of it last year alone).

Of course, hard work pays off and those who score high on Sooneung are those who studied ever so ardently. What is frightening is that a lot of hard-working students actually fail to earn high scores. That is how I, as a gosam, felt as I counted down the days to D-Day, November 18, 2010. As those days hit 100, 50, 10, I was scared and I was worried and I lamented my poor score on mock examinations that we took almost every month. But I knew at the same time that fretting would not change anything. The only right choice I could make was to be calm and study-but that was hardest thing.

Anyway, the day that I never ever dreamed would come actually did. The weather was not as cold as usual. (Every year the day of Sooneung- sometime around the second/third week of November-is extremely cold and people joke that it is because the students are nervous and frightened!) I got up around 6 o’clock, had a nice breakfast of rice, some small fish, cooked veggies and beef. My mother prepared a dosirak for lunch, of rice and a few other side dishes of kimchi, beef and fruit. My 72-year-old grandfather drove me to the examination place along with my grandmother and mom. They offered words of encouragement while also telling me they’d prayed for me and had had favorable dreams.

The exam location was at Moohak Girl’s High School (students take the test at a different school than the one they attend) and a bunch of 1st and 2nd graders from our high school-probably twenty-were waiting for us test takers at the front gate-they sang songs, cried out encouragements and gave everyone a little box of chocolates. There were also five teachers from our school who gave me a hug and said I’d do well. Thanks to them, I felt really good as I entered the school. There really wasn’t much security-no one searched my stuff. I remember finding my seat, sitting down and opening some book to look at. Honestly, I was surprised at how everything felt so normal and un-special. I had my usual last-minute checkups on the facts, the supervisor checked our identity with our registration ticket and identity car, told us the usual last-minute rules, and at 8:40 a.m. sharp the Sooneung was finally on with the start of the listening section!

The first subject, Korean, took 80 minutes and consisted of listening, grammar, literature and general reading comprehension. Second was mathematics which took 100 minutes. After those two subjects I felt… nothing. I really couldn’t figure out whether it was easy or not, nor whether I did well or not but my friends seemed like they’d ruined the test and one even cried because she blew the math section. But apart from a few “It will be okays,” none of us said much and just ate lunch. A quick stop at the restroom, and the test was on again with the English section taking 70 minutes. Next came the two-hour parade of four social studies subjects, 30 minutes each. I took Ethics, Korean History, Korean geography and Economics. Last but not least was my language major French to fill up the last 40 minutes and at around 6:00 p.m., everything was over.

During the test, I personally didn’t feel much. It honestly flew by just like that. The only noticeable emotion was probably that Sooneung felt so normal! It was just like one of the many mock exams I had taken (that must be one of reasons we take so many). One of my friends left a proverb about the Korean and Mathematics sections saying: “Sooneung is nothing much but jaesu is something near.” Only gosams will understand the black humor poured into the sentence. It seemed like he was already readying himself for another year of test preparation.

After Sooneung, I took a taxi and came home. Actually, to the school dormitory. Although my parents weren’t waiting for me, like other students’, I didn’t feel that sad because they said they’d come after I marked the scores, at about 9 p.m. That was actually better for me since I didn’t want to mark it in front of them. In my room, nervous and anxious, I turned on my laptop and starting marking my scores based on the answers I had written on my examination ticket (legitimate, by the way). Megastudy.net offered an easy program to mark scores, so I put down all my answers, and one click of the button “chaejum (mark score)” would show my score. I took a deep breath, then clicked. Oh my god!. As soon as I saw my Korean score, I knew that I was doomed. I wasn’t bad at Korean-I always used to get mediocre scores at the least. But this was unbelievable. Afraid of nothing, I clicked on all the other buttons, not believing what I was seeing because the score of each subject popped up.

The result? Unfortunately, I wasn’t a winner at the Sooneung day. I have to say that I cried and cried all that night because the scores of that day were something I had never ever seen. Mom tried her best to console me, told me that I did well and things would surely turn out for the best. She was ever so nice, but of course it didn’t do much to alleviate my deep sorrow. I still don’t know what exactly was the problem. Maybe I was nervous, maybe I was simply unprepared. I don’t blame anything. What is sure is that ruining the Sooneung was and still is an enormous trauma to me, and probably to all people that practically spent their life with a pen and a book and yet screwed the test. It’s a pain to face your parents or your teachers properly because you feel so sorry and guilty. However, what is also sure is that whatever the degree of difficulty, there are always students who survive. All the students who are satisfied with their scores deserve it, and that i applaud them.

Sooneung has its winners and losers. And as a total loser who is anxiously anticipating the news about the only susi I applied to (early application with minimal Sooneung requirements-my only hope to go to college this year!), thinking about Sooneung to write this was agonizing. Adults say thon the test and university are nothing compared to the hurdles you will face later in life. Yet they also say that despite all that, they know and understand what Sooneung means to us. It’s a big, gigantic hurdle that appears so fearful. But most of us students have to jump over it at least once in a lifetime. Robert S. Eliot said, “If you can not fight and if you can not flee, flow.” Before Sooneung I thought that was the best way to think. After Sooneung, I still do.

____________________________________________________________________

Flora Lee is a graduating senior at Daewon Foreign Language Highschool where she majored in French. She hopes to get into college where she’ll fine tune her French skills.

Editor’s Note: One reasat the exam might need seemed so hard was because it was so hard.
Update: Flora is now wrapping up her first year at Seoul National University.

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By 3WM
On Saturday November 12
from 9 P.M to twelve at Roofers in Itaewon, the award winning British artist duo Tiger and Bear present to you a night of comedy performance art entertainment with Tiger and Bear’s Cave to Humanness. The wildest performance art game show you’re ever more likely to experience this year. You’ll laugh, cry and possibly cringe and if you are feeling adventurous, you could possibly dance, sing and ddong chim. With special Tiger and Bear personalized art prizes to be “won,” guest appearances from Robot Taekwon V and Mazinger Z and live music from super cool brilliant band Yours, it is a night you have to tell your grandchildren about when you are really old and tormented by dementia.

Entrance 5000KRW

Visit event page here.

Read about Tiger and Bear’s previous exploits and journeys throughout Korea in Four Acts only at 3WM:
Act I
Act II
Act III
Act IV

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http://www.conceptimport.com/tag//The BBC reports on a 19-year-old model upset along with her treatment on the Miss Asia Pacific World contest this month in three Korean cities.

A triple-crowned beauty queen from Bristol has claimed she needed to leave a contest in South Korea because she feared for her safety.

Amy Willerton, 19, the title holder of Miss Bath, Miss Bristol and Ms Wales University competed in Miss Asia Pacific World earlier this month.

But she alleged competitors were sexually harassed and bribed and weren’t supplied with food.

A Daily Mail article explains further:

[T]hings went wrong from the instant she stepped off the plane in Seoul on 3 October when organisers refused to pay for her £600 flight as promised.

She was then horrified to find her hotel room didn’t actually have a bed.

Amy, who’s single, said: ‘There was only a blanket at the floor. I submit with it for 2 nights but then complained and that they moved me to a different hotel.

‘The next thing I knew we weren’t being fed – they simply gave us one meal per day. They’d say such things as ‘we cannot offer you lunch because we’ve not been paid for it’.’

After three days in Seoul, the crowd of fifty beauties were taken to town of Daegu for a higher stage of the contest.

By this time allegations of corruption and bribery were sweeping across the models and a number of other had complained of being sexually assaulted and harassed.

The final straw came when an optional ‘talent’ round was won by Miss Venezuela – who had not even entered that component to the contest.

The controversy with Miss Venezuela and the attempt by three others to go away the contest could be seen in a video uploaded by Miss Guyana at the 15th:

The discussions continue within the videos that bookend that one .

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Korea: why the painful massages? It sort of feels like for any massage to be considered relaxing here, it needs to be extremely painful. We’ve done foot massages in Korea before, and that they hurt so bad that Martina actually cried while she was getting them done. CRIED! And she’s a tricky one. She asked the fellow massaging her feet to be gentler, but he checked out her with an icy heart and just kept going. Her skin was actually covered in bruises from it! Also, we did the Swan Neck Massagers of DOOM that hurt like hell in addition. Today we would have liked to play with these hand roller massage thingies, and – all over again – we felt quite a lot of pain.

Look on the poor packaging. You thought we were joking after we said that the balls had ruined the packaging? No, we weren’t joking. These balls are really sharp and very uncomfortable. In the event that they did this to the plastic, what do you watched it’ll do on your hands? Provde the soft smoothness of a hand model, or provde the calloused rugged mitts of a 50 year old farmer? Probably the latter. And, really, in what situation would you’re thinking that to yourself, “man, i may really opt for some really spiky pain on my hands right about now”? None. Guise. None.

Come on Korea! Stop with the complete pain already! Do you have got any massages or relaxing items that do not hurt quite a bit? We get the complete concept that after suffering pain you’re feeling better, no pain no gain, yada yada, but that’s bullcrap. It’s like doing an experiment where you starve me for a month after which give me a typical boring hamburger. Yes, it’s going to taste delicious, but not since the hamburger was special by any means. It is the contrast that makes you appreciate it more. Instead, how about not starving me, and making me a wicked delicious hamburger? Same with massages. How about you are making it feel good directly, instead of making me endure some severe pain first so as to appreciate the sensation of not-pain?

I have no idea . Also, we have seen pressure point hand massagers before, but this one was actually too painful to feel the pressure points. It felt like rubbing a cactus into your hand. No fun. i feel Martina’s hidden ball of doom prank should be would becould very well be the actual reason this stuff exist. They are able to use them in war time situations to blow out car tires. Seriously. Give it to a porcupine to play with and it will flee in pain.
Has anyone else used these devilish things before?

As for this month’s Wonderful Treasure Find care package award winner, the prize goes to notochrasyy on YouTube, who said:

i mightn’t smuggle anything really. I would use them like a rubbish bin, since I actually have an incredibly bad habit of sticking rubbish like food wrappers, scrap paper etc in my pockets…and my pocket gets really jam-packed with stuff ;o; lol, so i’d simply use the arm protector such things as rubbish pockets. Then when I discover a large rubbish bin/trashcan/lolwhataretheyeve­ncalled, huzzah, pull them off my arm and empty into bin/trashcan

I could totally relate to this, only because Martina hates putting things in her pockets, so she puts her trash and stuff in my pockets or my bag. Totally…not…fair. In case you are the winner, please send us an email or a message and we’ll mail out your prize ASAP.

And on that note, listed here are this week’s Bloopers:

For the unique post on WTF – Spiky Hand Massage Balls , or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, check up on our Korea blog !

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Two days ago we returned from a very good 10 day cruise from Seattle to Alaska.  Going on a cruise takes much research and is much more concerning the cruise line than the destination, in my humble opinion.  You are in port for maybe some hours – you’re at the ship the remainder of the time.  So rain or shine – the ship remains a fantastic place to be.

The Celebrity line is legendary for his or her incredible service – and so they deliver BIG TIME.  From their wonderful buffet to their 4 course dinners inside the dining room – to room service and the Sunday brunch inside the dining room – it all was impeccable.  We also enjoyed afternoon tea (almost everyday) and a proper high tea one time within the dining room – something to not be missed in case you go on a cruise.

We had an inside stateroom – however it was a nicely laid out and we had room to go around – but i used to be not used to the bed – my only complaint.

The infinity is 10 years old and we were the last cruise before the ship goes in to “dry dock” and gets refurbished with new everything!  It remains to be a fantastic ship – although she is showing some age round the edges here and there.

It rained in EVERY port of call.  But we still had a good time and took a large number of pictures.  Our daughter and son-in-law went with us and we ate dinner within the dining room with them every night – that was a highlight – that and the evening show.

My daughter likes Karaoke and he or she found herself within the finalists for the last night!  Very exciting for her!  And it was fun to work out the others perform in addition.

If you’re a friend on facebook – it is possible for you to to view my many pictures from the cruise – if not – i’ll even have a folder of images here on my blog – anticipate it – it’ll be on the top with my other pictures.

I give this cruise an 8 out of 10 – only because my bed was hard – and the elements was rainy.  Still – we had a gorgeous time!

God Bless

Related articles

• Alaska Bound! (cindyholman.wordpress.com)

And we’re back with another edition of TL;DR Thursdays. This week we’re asked “What are a few things so that you can NOT do in Korea?”

Well, the straightforward answer before everything is anything bad. Don’t do bad things. Do not know what qualifies as a nasty thing? You could try using the 10 Commandments as a springboard, or even read the inside track for a bit of and concentrate on the things that get people arrested. Don’t do those things.

And now that we’re done being smartasses, let’s really try answering the question!

Now, shall we have taken the approach of “Korean cultural lessons to learn” but we would have liked to something that won’t always observed in travel books. Stuff that you simply variety of should do before you determine it’s wrong. So here we go!

1) Walk right into a place along with your shoes on:

I think the easiest way we heard this described is that Western culture is extremely table and chair oriented, while Asian culture is more floor and mat oriented. People sleep at the floor on thin mats, and eat at the floor on really low tables. Sure, not all of Korea sleeps and eats at the floor, nevertheless it happens here much more than it happens back in Canada. And so, since a whole lot is completed at the floor, keeping the ground clean is extremely important.

And so, no shoes are worn contained in the house. On the front foyer you are taking off your shoes, after which have slippers for round the house, but you do not bring outside dirt inside. Nope. Big, big no no. We mentioned within the video how we were scolded for wearing shoes in our own apartment, right when we got off our plane and were totally exhausted. That does not matter. JUST TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!

2) Talk loudly at the bus or subway:

This is something we got used to in no time in Korea. Within our first few months of living in Korea we learned not to be so noisy on some buses. Not that we throw a celebration or anything. We just talk and laugh normally. Supposedly, though, if you are on a bus or subway that does not have lots of people taking, it’s meant to be quiet time. That is news to me. If i would like to chat at the subway or 1 hour bus ride with my husband, wife, or friends, i think like I need to be in a position to, but in Korea many aged people will start scolding. i believe like a baby being scolded by my grandma for stealing a cookie. Also, in case you take any of the red intra-city buses, there’ll also be a message before you get at the highway telling you to show off your cellphone ringers.

We didn’t know this upon first coming to Korea, and were shushed a couple of times. At the beginning we got butthurt and defensive about it, and thought that it was because we were foreigners that we got shushed, but then, when different people told us to shush, and we didn’t see anyone else at the buses really talking loudly, that’s once we put it together. Oops! That’s, unless you’re an older person (ajussi or ajumma). They are able to talk loudly and escape with it. They’re old people, and will not be informed what to do.

3) Sit within the elderly/pregnant/sick seats at the subway:
Those are reserved for the elderly. Supposedly they’re also reserved for pregnant and sick people, but we have not really seen anyone however the elderly sit there. We’ve been told by some Korean friends that, after they were really sick once they usually sat there, they were scolded profusely. We’ve even read of pregnant people being shooed clear of the seats in order that the elderly can sit there.

Bottom line, don’t sit there unless you’re really old. Or you’re passed out drunk and unable to just accept the scolding. Damn. Old people in Korea could be scary sometimes.

4) Stick your chopsticks into rice and leave them there:

So it is a big faux pas that not nearly all people find out about. Now, not all Korean families do that, but if they visit the graves in their family members, they might leave an offering of rice with chopsticks stuck in them, or sometimes they burn incense (which looks a dead ringer for chopsticks). In case you stick your chopsticks on your rice on the table, you’re acting like you’re at a graveyard, so you’re either telling the alternative person, “hey, you’re dead, here’s your rice” or “I do not like you, DIE!!!!!!”. Now i myself have never done this nor have I seen this happen at a dining table, but it’s probably best to prevent doing it.

5) Call people over together with your hands incorrectly:

We did a video a loooong time ago on Korean Hand Gestures . Man, that’s an extremely old video. Don’t watch it…OooOoOH! Study Martina’s long hair! Anyhow, that video will show you a bit of more of what we’re talking about. Once you call someone over, be it a waiter or a taxi or a student, achieve this together with your palm facing downwards. Seems odd initially, but it is the non-rude approach to accomplish that. Some Korean students were insulted by their foreign teacher because the teacher didn’t realize calling them over like that was rude. Martina thinks so you might seem to be a hamster, but that’s probably because she loves hamsters. She had two dwarf hamsters back in Canada after we first started dating (Bear and Moka, R.I.P), has stuffed hamster toys here, and said in our WTF Contest that she would smuggle in hamsters. Is anyone noticing a pattern here?

I think our finally conclusion here today is that this: Treat Korean old people as though they were inside the mafia, and Martina is hooked on hamsters.

If there are anymore “wrong” stuff you guys have experienced, share the affection! Within the wise words of Smokey the Bear: Only you may prevent foreigners from getting scolded. Well, he would possibly not have ever said that, but we’re sure that he’d agree. If he could agree, it really is. Bears don’t really hold many opinions about foreigners, and possibly not many about fires in addition. Their only opinions are to murder and eat you. Bears aren’t friendly and do not wear hats. Keep in mind that.

For the unique post on Five Belongings you Can not Do in Korea , or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, take a look at our 0 Korea blog 0 !

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By Iwazaru

Hearken to Part 1.

Below is a component 2 of my interview with Prof. Hosaka by which he talks about his visits to the island, events surrounding Dokdo during and after the Korean War, the Korean populus’ emotional reactions to the dispute, how the Korean government should proceed and the reaction of Japanese citizens to Prof. Hosaka’s stance at the issue. I’ve also included a written response I got from Prof. Hosaka to a few questions.

1. What caused you to support Korea’s claim to Dokdo?

I started to teach Korean students in 1995. At the moment during a Japanese culture and language class some students asked me Dokdo’s position and whether Dokdo belongs to Korea or Japan. i did not have a concrete answer. As a consequence, i began studying concerning the Dokdo problem so as to answer the student’s question. Until that point i didn’t have any interest in Dokdo, so i made up my mind to review Dokdo objectively to reply to the scholars question accurately. Through my study i found some points that the Japanese claim to Dokdo are distorted. For instance, the Japanese government denied the Japanese right to say Dokdo in 1696, 1870, 1877 through official documents. But before the Japanese government didn’t certify these 3 facts. And lots of old Japanese official maps made before 1905 didn’t draw Dokdo in Japanese territory. In 1905 the Japanese government incorporated Dokdo into Shimane prefecture. But these historical facts mean that Dokdo is absolutely not original Japanese territory. i discovered these facts so i must make public these facts as an instructional. This isn’t related my nationality.

2. Is it true that almost all Japanese people either do not know in regards to the Dokdo/Takeshima debate or don’t care about it? Could you explain?

In Japan, a lot of persons haven’t any interest in Dokdo, because Dokdo is a suite of very small islets and Japanese won’t see Dokdo from Japan. And Japanese weather forecasts don’t discuss Dokdo’s weather. Japanese people have few chance to listen to about Dokdo in Japan.

3. How do you watched Korea should proceed in expressing its position about Dokdo? Do you believe the development they plan to do at the island soon is a sensible move?

In order to dominate Dokdo easier than now, the Korean government has to state more clearly the explanation why Korean domination over Dokdo is correct and why the Japanese claim to Dokdo is unjust. The Dokdo official site of Korean government is less clear than the Japanese government’s Dokdo site. The Korean government has to give Japan with the justifiable facts that will prove the Korean occupation over Dokdo is ideal. After that, Korea can do everything that it desires to do on Dokdo, i feel.

4. What do you’re thinking that would happen if the 2 countries took the problem to the ICJ?

Dokdo is a Korean original territory so if Korea will conform to visit the ICJ, this type of Korean behavior is contradictional to Korean insistence. As a result, the Korean government would never comply with visit the ICJ in any respect. There must be no acceptance of the assertion that Dokdo is Japanese territory. Nevertheless, if Korea goes to the ICJ to resolve the Dokdo problem, i believe Korea can win throughout the historical facts and international law. The quantity of evidence for Korea is superb.

5. What natural resources can be found near or on Dokdo?

I heard many natural gas resources named gas hydrate are near and under Dokdo.

6. Have you ever been out to Dokdo?

Yes, i have been there 5 times. One time I stayed on Dokdo for 4 nights because of some very bad weather that kept me and the EBS Broadcasting people i used to be with from leaving (no ship came). We looked around and saw much of the island. We also talked to the policemen in the market. After my visit my feeling in regards to the island changed lots. I had some emotional feeling–Dokdo isn’t an island but is a being, a creature. i believe that there’s some spirit obtainable. And that i came to like Dokdo.

7. When do you watched Dokdo might be free from Japanese claims to it?

Dokdo is Korean territory and Dokdo shall be free from the Japanese claim when the Japanese government completely stops claiming Dokdo.

8. What do you consider the concept Koreans get hot concerning the topic of Dokdo then cool to it after a little while?

Almost all Koreans think that Dokdo is the primary land of victim by Japanese imperialism. But Dokdo is Korean territory absolutely. If the Japanese government continues to say to Dokdo, Korean people feel that Japan would not wish to set Korea free also after 65 years from 1945. So Korean people get angry and think that the Japanese claim to Dokdo is simply thoughtless words. Korean people aren’t getting angry due to Japanese logic about Dokdo. But they get angry as a result of Japanese attitude. Accordingly, Koreans get hot in regards to the topic of Dokdo then cool to it after a short while.

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So our first kimchi adventure showed you what it was like once we made Mul Kimchi . This week, we took a visit wayyy out of Seoul the entire excess of to Gongju, where we were going to make kimchi at a famous Kimchi Factory…BUT FORGET THE KIMCHI MAKING!! This adventure was jam-packed with lots craziness that the making of the kimchi didn’t matter up to the circumstances surrounding it.

So let’s first introduce you to a few stuff you didn’t find out about Martina. She is a troublesome core night owl. She likes to stay awake late (which adds to my suspicions of her being a vampire) and is sort of a stubborn child in relation to going to bed “on time”. i must chase her round the house, threaten to remove books, and put her in a headlock a good way to pet her bangs that have turned out to be a secret weapon for placing her asleep. Which means that unquenchable not sleep late, she’s exhausted within the morning. And so, waking up at 6AM, after going to sleep at 4AM, isn’t going to make Martina happy.

So five people pile right into a van LOADED to the brim with camera equipment, and 3 people should share one seat space behind this van. Poor cranky Martina gets suckered into the center and has nowhere to lean broadly speaking trip. So, while Simon and our super cool translator Ellie (is that the way you spell your name? We never asked!) get to lean against the window and sleep happily, Martina has the ferocious and terrible “nod” sleep for three hours. You already know the nods, when you are falling asleep on a bus or subway and your head falls all the way down to your chest and also you jerk it back up quickly and periodically get up going, ‘HUUHH!??”. Yup. That was poor sad Martina.

So after stopping for food and occasional, a bit of life pumps through Martina’s veins. She gets excited as we arrive within the countryside and begin seeing rice paddies and fields of vegetables. As we drive our huge van down a tiny dusty path, we realize we now have gone the opposite direction, but there isn’t any option to pull a u-turn, so we find yourself reversing the whole way down the road (although the motive force can’t see out the back as a result of pile of kit).

We finally arrive on the “Kimchi Factory” only to search out a tiny hut being held consisting of tape. The roof is staying down with an old sink and there’s a random leather chair waiting out front. We were all shocked to work out that here’s the factory, but it surely seems the real factor got damage in the course of the heavy flooding. The landlord of the factory did not tell our producers this fact. They were preeeety frustrated. So, we decided to drive up the road to a good looking traditional style home to make the kimchi there. We arrive on the house and wait under the shade of front door. Little did Simon know, someone decided to open up the foremost gate and look inside. What they did not know was an enormous ANGRY Rottweiler was looking ahead to us. With our backs to the dog, all we hear is, “GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR” and both folks turn around slowly to work out this monster baring it’s teeth at us several meters away. Without moving too quickly, Martina slowly reached for the gate and grabbed it shut before the dog jumped at us. 10 minutes later one of several producers strolls on past us to move in the home, but as we yell at him to prevent, he’s already within the yard holding a frozen pose. He looks on the dog, the dog looks at him, and he starts running along with his knees to his chest across the house with this dog chasing him. i assume he hoped the fence, because he arrived unscathed…just not in the course of the front gates. We named the dog “Murder Dog” afterwards, and warned people who the murder dog was there, and he would love murder anyone that strayed too near to him.

So we begin to wonder why we’re waiting around for therefore many hours. It seems, the kimchi factory guy doesn’t have permission to make use of that house, and so we’re towing a table out to the center of the road. We finally get arrange, only to look that kimchi was pre-prepared. How are you going to show find out how to make kimchi when it is all able to go? He planned on showing the marinated leaves and the sauce, and just mixing them together. BAM! That’s now you’re making kimchi girls and boys! Did I ever let you know my secret recipe for Ranch Bibimbap?

Step 1: take some ranch.
Step 2: take some bibimbap.
Step 3: mix.

Ranch Bibimbap, ladies and gentlemen. This guy tried to tug the identical sort of recipe shenanigans for our cooking show. Balls!

So another hour goes by while we look forward to him to get the entire ingredients to organize the sauce in order that people can see how these items is really made. Once that’s all ready, we film the episode within the sweltering heat, where Martina got severely burned by the sun. Nobody warned her that we would be outside, and so she did not have any sunscreen. Poor girl remains to be peeling to this present day. Were you aware how much Martina hates the sun? Can be her vampirism coming through again.

By the tip of the filming, an old drunk guy walks as much as us with a wrench and starts screaming that we do not have permission to film there. Screaming. We saw spit bubbles flying from his mouth. He had a wonk eye that looked angrily on the guy he was screaming at, and a superb eye taking a look at everyone around him. And he also had a wrench in his hand. Hell. This was not pleasant. After screaming for 10 minutes or so, he finally walks away. Not a fun method to end our filming.

We were presupposed to film two episodes in Gongju, but our experience with the 1st episode was so bad that we didn’t bother filming the second one. We just packed our stuff and left. Ah well. It made for a fun story to inform, though!

And, pffft, don’t ask for the recipe for this kimchi. It wasn’t really all too good. It was really, really salty. Uncomfortably salty. Just…just not a decent kimchi to attempt. Our other experiences in our other episodes were great, though, and you will see the videos to these in addition. This, though, we want to forget.

For the unique post on Gongju’s Pepper Leaf Kimchi , or for our kpop and Korean Food videos, try our Korea blog !

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In 2 days we board the fame Infinity and head to Alaska for a ten day cruise  This trip was thought of and punctiliously planned for roughly a year and a half now – and we’re so blessed to be going with our daughter and son-in-law to assist us celebrate our 30th anniversary.  That is our cruise ship inside the picture – docked in Juneau, Alaska that is considered one of our destinations.  Greg and that i lived in Juneau right out of Bible school – almost 30 years ago – and we also lived in Fairbanks for a year.  Greg spent his highschool years there after his parents moved up there from California in 1975.  So each time we visit Alaska (here is our second Alaska cruise) it’s slightly like coming home for him.

This is the 1st time we’ve gone away on a cruise or long vacation after both our youngsters have grown and gone – no person living at home to any extent further.  So we decided that our house will be lonely without anyone there – and we shall have someone staying while we’re gone – to absorb the mail and take out the rubbish and speak loving and type words to our place while sleeping here at night – so it won’t cry or miss us an excessive amount of.  Thank you, Sam!  We have really great nosey neighbors too – one in all which has  hyper little barking dogs who bark at anything amiss – so it makes us feel very safe.  I know they’ll all be watching out for our place and help Sam feel safe and comfy too.

It was a hilarious couple of days seeking to get things together and wrap up the work week, Greg taking extra jobs where he “moonlights” –  and me with my students, knowing i can miss every week of lessons with them.  I went today to get my hair foiled by my daughter, Ashlee and we had quite a fun time together as she discovered from me – to her horror – that we come back on a Monday morning – rather than a Sunday, which was what she and her husband thought – and planned their work schedules around.  It caused quite a flurry of pleasure and lots phone calls were made while i used to be sitting within the chair with section of my hair in foils.  I’m sure everyone (including me) was highly amused on the drama that one little day could make.  I kidded her and told her that shall we leave her in Victoria to join a ride back to Seattle while we enjoyed an additional night at the cruise if she needed to come back early – but she didn’t think that was funny.  Hmmm – I don’t know why  Luckily everyone was very understanding and told her to have a very good vacation.

My kids have always been a very good source of amusement for Greg and me through the years – and that i see it has not changed, despite Ashlee an old married lady now.  We shall have great fun – our son-in-law is a funny and beautiful guy and it’s fun spending time with him.  I fully intend to TEASE HIM unmercifully about NOT reading the itinerary for the cruise correctly.  He has ALWAYS found ANYTHING to tease me about through the years – and this would be REALLY FUN

I will be taking a break from my blog – but not from life, my friends and social networking typically – as we can register from any port in Alaska along the way in which – and it’ll be fun to share pictures and to listen to from all of you while we’re gone.  Another fun thing to search forward to – is picking up our little puppy after we return.  I will miss reading among the blogs that i’ve at the side of my page – and may have a lot of catching as much as do once I come back.

I’m packing for cooler rainy weather.  The scenery up there’s second to none – nevertheless it shall be somewhat chilly – taking far more than i want too, I’m sure.

Drop me a line on here, facebook or twitter – and that i’ll return it once i am getting to a different port of call.

So until we return at the 26th i will be able to imagine all my blogging buddies here at home everywhere wishing me and my husband,  Bon Voyage  I wish i may take you all at the adventure with us – but i’ll have wonderful pictures to share with you soon!

God Bless

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