Tea, Temples, and Things I Wish I Grew

So much to do and think about in the last weeks of my current teaching contract and in preparation for my trip to Turkey and the US, but this is what things have been looking like on the better days.

Boseong Green Tea fields 

Buddha's Birthday at a little neighborhood temple. The prettiest Korean holiday, and my favorite. 

My favorite neighborhood shop.  I didn't know so many kinds of succulents could exist in one place at the same time. There are literally hundreds. The store and the care that the owner takes with each plant are amazing. 

Pets

I've talked about Korean pets before, but this one deserves its own post. Koreans love to shave dogs. All dogs. As a result, there are some absolutely ridiculous looking Beagles out there. It's only recently come to my attention that cats are fair game too.

Someone in town was giving this guy away. He took him to vet to be neutered, to make him more adoptable, and the cat came home looking like this. More adoptable, or less? In any event, hilarious. (Don't worry, he found a home almost immediately.)

A Perspective on Asia

I've looked at these photographs over and over again. They drew my attention because they're among the things I'll remember about Asia forever and Michael Wolf has captured them so truly. Dense, brilliantly lit, vertical cities; the color red; and the dignity with which everyone carries themselves, from the most important person to the least. The 100x100 photos (the ones of people in their homes) were my favorite - walking around on busy, modern, neon-lit streets, it's easy to forget that real people with real lives live in the tall, dense, impersonal buildings that crowd Asian cities.

Michael Wolf, Life in Cities

What We Debate About

I was going to post some photos by a great photographer I discovered recently, but then debate class happened and that was infinitely greater. I dare anyone to tell me they've ever seen the like.

Around the Neighborhood: Cherry Blossoms

(See those blue stools with plants on them? They belong to the bonsai man who dreads to see me coming. Every time he sets up by the bus stop I linger for an embarrassingly long time - who isn't mesmerized by perfectly formed 6" maple trees? - and never buy one. Out of the 20+ plants I've tried to raise in the last 13 months, only three are still clinging to life.)

DMZ

Freedom Bridge crossed by South Korean POWs on their return in 1953. A now-defunct railway line to North Korea. The altar where 10 million South Koreans practice their ancestor worship rites - usually performed in their ancestral towns - each year because their can't return to their family burial grounds. And, through that gap between the trees, supposedly you can glimpse a North Korean factory...

... but that, as it turns out, is really difficult.

"This memorial has been erected by the Republic of Korea in gratitude to the United States of America for the sacrifices and achievements of her sons and in humble tribute to their memory. 1950-1983"

(my grandfather was stationed in Seoul)

Empty Dorasan Station - the last train station in South Korea - and its never-been-used customs area. The idea is that if and when North Korea is opened, this line will connect Korea to Russia via the Trans Siberian Railway.

In photos taken from behind the photo line you can only see the tops of the binoculars and the tiniest glimpse of the North Korean DMZ. Through the binoculars, you can see exactly where South Korea stops and North Korea begins because the North Korean mountains are completely stripped of trees. You can also see the tallest flagpole in the world, a fake and uninhabited village meant to convey the appearance of prosperity, and towers placed every half kilometer or so to block South Korean radio and television waves.

My Life as a Teacher: What We Talk About

What's a ball made of?
A ball is made of rubber.
What's a window made of?
A window is made of glass.
What's a cat made of?
Cat is made of mom cat.
Oh. Right.

And I thought I was asking a trick question. The best I had in mind - in fact, all I had in mind - was, "A cat is made of fur."
____________________

Where do you want to travel?
Esther: I want to go to England. It looks wonderful.
Emily: I don't know, but my school English teacher is Canada man and he has the brown skin. But, teacher! His hand is white!
Uh, I see. Ok... Jim, where do you want to go?
Jim: I wanna go to Thailand.
Why?
Jim: I wanna see the Transgender.
....

Not a man, not a woman, not a person. Just, "The Transgender."
____________________

What do you do for fun?
Watch TV and go to the toilet.
Go to the toilet? For fun? Are you sure about that?
Yes.
....

I'll stop asking questions and you spare me the details. Deal?
____________________

And let's not forget the Monday I tried to sneak into work barefaced and one of the kids said, "Teacher, on weekend your face get old."

I get paid to make conversation all day and yet I'm constantly rendered speechless.

What Kids Eat

I eat lice. My mom eats lice too.

You eat LICE?

Yes, teacher.

Are you SURE you don't eat RRRRICE?

Yes, we eat lice!

I always laugh. It never gets old.

Year of the Snake

Asia rung in the Lunar New Year on February 10th. This is the year of the snake and Huffington Post has done great article full of pictures and videos.

You're a snake if you were born in any of the following lunar years:

• 4 February 1905 – 24 January 1906
• 23 January 1917 – 10 February 1918
• 10 February 1929 – 29 January 1930
• 27 January 1941 – 14 February 1942
• 14 February 1953 – 2 February 1954
• 2 February 1965 – 20 January 1966
• 18 February 1977 – 6 February 1978
• 6 February 1989 – 26 January 1990
• 24 January 2001 – 11 February 2002
• 10 February 2013 – 30 January 2014

And you can read all about being a snake (and any of the other 11 zodiac signs) here.

Two years ago I spent the holiday in China and it was one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had. It was the year of the rabbit.

(Photos taken in Yu-yuan, Shanghai)

Coincidence that I happend to visit in the year of the rabbit and that I'm also... a rabbit?

This one was a very Korean new year spent with friends in Korean style bars and an Asian karaoke room. On New Year's Day, just like on every other around the world, the city was a complete ghost town. Steve and I spent the day at home playing cribbage, making Chinese ribs and brussels sprouts, and watching - appropriately - You Only Live Twice.

Happy New Year!

Granny and the Cat

I don't even know. I mean, I hate cats, but I'm kind of going nuts over this Japanese woman and her cat.

 We Love Watermelon Kitty

Taking a Bath with Oranges [Why???] Kitty (aside: superstitious Asians cut cats' tails because they're believed to channel "evil energy")

 Funny Granny and Kitty's Lucky-Cat Look-Alike

Veggie Plantin' Kitty

You can see more here. I'm getting my hands on this book ASAP.