ROK Shorts

During my trip to Korea I decided to write things I call shorts. They had to be shorter than one page in my journal and just something from that day. I only got a few of them done on the trip but they were fun. You can read for yourself.

November 14. Tiny
Body parts fell asleep as the gas from the noodle soup built. The touch down was smooth but there was a foot race to the bus. My left foot nearly melted as we traversed the long, uneven bridge. Are my Starburst liquid? There are TVs everywhere. In the bus, the lady in front of me is holding one, the car that just passed us has one in the dash. Off the buss I freeze. It is cold and my thick jacket is packed. The hotel is trimmed in gold. Our room has a view, thick carpet and soft towels. Outside each corner has a stall selling something. Fruit or bread or dumplings. The lines of youth make me want to stop. The tight street, where we end up eating, is near sun bright. The tanks of live fish seem un-phased by the glimmer. Our tummies are full of beer, rice wine and shojo before we start to sing. Why has this newly Christian country edited Anarchy in the UK? Who is offended by "I am the anti-Christ?" Not I. Get pissed. Destroy.

November 15. Zippy
The cycles are highly modified. Bars and pads and trailers. They zip in and out of traffic, moving too quickly. Near the Dongdae-Mun Market there is an intersection. Motorcycles covered in rust with tall heavy loads weave in and out through the hordes of people. The mingling of scents from the street cooks is an assault on your nasal passage. you step, check, look left and then right. Hop into the road and with the surging mass of people and machines you move. An insane game of Frogger where you can't tell when the next cycle will come flying at you. Intense, insane and madly liberating.

November 16. Really?
We went to Mike's work banquet dinner. It was at a place called Bolgogi Brothers, otherwise known as bbq beef. All of the people at the meeting went. Na Young, a young thin lady I had met before, was there and freaked out when we walked through the door. She was not told I was in town. We sat with her and another gentleman who was very surprised when Mike called me honey. The guy wondered if we were newly weds. Why are we so friendly and lovey. Na Young is in an arranged marriage and only sees her husband once a week. They live in different towns. The guy said that American reality and talk shows are how he thought all Americans are. All night he commented and was shocked. "Why so nice? Why so in love?" I can't say other than - it is love.

November 17. Nukes.
When the old men kept giving me complements my face burn with the blush of their attention. When they asked me to nuke North Korea I knew the conversation was over.

The squid in the tank makes me sad. I want to set him free. There are sad gray squid on the bottom of the tank. This lively purple guy will become sad and gray before he dies. It guts me.

The smells and flavors are so strong. If you live here what does the smell do to you? Why does it turn my stomach.

November 18. Luck
What is luck? Is it real? If you rub the tummy of a Buddha over and over will your life change? Will karma step in? Praying helps with luck? The Japanese happy cat? Everywhere you go people believe different things. I love that the diversity exists. I would hate a world where only one idea lived on. It also seems like people turn to luck or faith when things are hard or tough. I've always wondered about this. Why don't you speak of luck or faith or karma when things are perfect and good? Happy times are lost because we dwell on misery. Look at the news. Talk to a relative, "Uncle Fred is sick. Aunt Mary hurts." Why not, "Uncle Fred is enjoying his garden. Aunt Mary laughs all day." Where did we go wrong? B+ all the time and see what happens.

Holiday Time.

Here is our 2010 Christmas tree. I started setting it up on Thanksgiving and finished today.

Can you see what the kitties love about the tree? Yep ... they spend all day long under it. I think they are building a nest.


I love this time of year. The food is delicious, the lights sparkle and the cool weather is great for hot tubing.

Ten on Tuesday

This weeks Ten on Tuesday from lovely Carol is 10 Things You Love About Thanksgiving.

1. FOOD! I know everyone must say this, but growing up my father's big day to shine in cooking was Thanksgiving. I only hope that I've learned a number of his tricks.
2. The smells. It seems that everything, even starting early smells so incredible. Right now my kitchen smells of sage and by Thursday it will be roasting turkey, pie, potatoes, cinnamon .....
3. Family. Even though this year I will miss my family - I do love a nice loud busy house full of people.
4. The post dinner comma. There isn't any other day during the year where I feel like passing out after eating.
5. Christmas decorating. Yep. Thanksgiving is a doorway to the holidays. As soon as Thanksgiving is over - the decorations go up!
6. Thinking of all the things I'm thankful for. Thanksgiving makes me stop and think. Remember people, places and just what sort of life I'm blessed to have.
7. The cats go crazy on Thanksgiving. Our smallest cat is a turkey freak. I adore watching her freak out and run around the house screaming for turkey.
8. Mike is always home for Thanksgiving. He has never missed one (and with his busy work travel schedule this is saying a lot). I love to spend the day with him.
9. Leftovers. I create all kinds of new and interesting dishes based on all the leftovers. Last years was a bake that had everything from dinner, cheese and green chili.
10. Winter comes. It seems like in New Mexico winter doesn't really show up until Thanksgiving weekend. This weekends lows are suppose to be 7 degrees. Ah ... winter!

What do you love about Thanksgiving?

Seoul Update.

I know, I was MIA there for the rest of my trip. Just too much going on. I will be posting however little shorts from each day I was in Korea. Overall it was an amazing trip and actually the best trip overseas I've ever taken. I have some fun stories and some crazy stories. Including an old man saying, "Can you nuke North Korea." Yep. I've uploaded all of the photos, which you can see on Flickr. Here is just a taste of the trip. More to come once I get through my shorts/journal and notes.

Seoul Day 1.

Yesterday was our first full day in South Korea. Our first night we ate out at a cook at your own table place and then sang karaoke until the wee hours of the morning. Yesterday I mapped out locations I want to visit and we went to a tradition market - which was a blast and creepy at the same time. There were too many live animals for me and the smells were a bit overwhelming ... but interesting all the same. It is cold here and I'm hoping it warms up a bit.

Reading ...

I've been reading a number of books that have been on my list for a long time. What is interesting is that they start off so slow and I've had a hard time getting into them. But once I get part way into them I'm hooked. I'm not sure what is going on with them. Normally I start a book and can't put it down. It is possible that this new phenomena is because these are books that I've wanted to read for a while and might not be my standard crap vampire chick-lit books. For whatever reason I'm really enjoying these new novels!

Methow.

Methow has decided that she loves the sofa in the den. I can't imagine not having the sofa now and on the weekends I find her just asleep all over it. What do your pets do on the weekend? Do they know it is weekend too?

Ten on Tuesday

A fellow blogger, Carol, always has a Ten on Tuesday that she posts. This Tuesday is 10 Dream Vacations. I love to travel and I love vacations so this one is perfect.

1. Nepal. I've always wanted to go. Always.
2. Egypt. It has been on my list since I was 9 years old.
3. New England. I've never been and since a house that my great great great great great great great Grandfather built is in CT and is still standing as a historical site - I'd like to see it.
4. Biking tour of Ireland. I've wanted to see it from bike and drink at pubs.
5. Peru. Mostly to see Machu Piccu. But, there is something about Peru that calls to me.
6. Yoga retreat to India. Yep. I'd love to see all that India has to offer and do it while relaxing in the lotus position.
7. Thailand. My favorite food on the planet is Thai food. I think I'd like to bike and travel by train around Thailand and then spend some time on small islands.
8. Greece. All of Greece. The blue trimmed buildings, the sea, the boats and sand. No other beach type place has ever called to me. Greece does.
9. Finally I'd like to redo Darwin's trip to the Galapagos Islands. I'd like to take journals and write about everything I see. Document it as if I was Darwin.
10. Outer-space. Yep. I would go if I could. I'd like to walk on the moon or see Mars. Beam me up Scotty!

There you go. My ten top vacations!

Birthday Weekend.

It was Ty's 7th birthday this weekend. We got together and created a master piece of a cake. It is a blast decorating cakes with the nephews. They always have ideas of what they want and creating something that is perfect is nothing but fun!

New Pillows.

After our house fire, we were asked by Karin's twin sister if we needed anything. Our pillows were destroyed, as were there sofas, so she made us new pillows. They are amazing. Perfect. Stunning. I have to say that they are the best construction and the fabric is perfect. Thanks Lisa!

Weekend With Friends.

Good friends of ours came into town this weekend. We had brunch with them in Santa Fe and it was fantastic to catch up with old friends. Why does it seem so hard to catch up with friends as you get older?

Make Me Laugh Wednesday.

October 31st In Our House.

Halloween is a great time of year. I love pumpkins, roasting pumpkin seeds (this year I did curry flavored) and of course dressing up. Here is a taste of our Halloween this year.

Boots!!!

I ordered this bright purple suede boots. I know - I don't need boots ... But they fit perfect and feel great to wear. I might sleep with them on tonight!

As The Garden Dies.

The garden is dying back and I've been spending the weekends cleaning it out. I came across this gem though. Yep. A watermelon that is still holding on. This little guy was packed with seeds and the chickens loved him. Next year maybe I should try growing one earlier?

Wood Collecting.

With a wood burning stove it means that in fall there is a lot of "Where do we get wood this year." Do we collect wood? Buy wood? This year we got a free pass to a bunch of wood from Bandalier National Park. It was a fun day of collecting, but now it has to be cut and split. Ouch.