Monday, February 28, 2011

32 flavors and then some...

I have lived in a number of places in my life. I don't think this is my fault...in fact, this is one of the few things I do attribute to my upbringing. I was a gypsy as far back as I can recall...and further since there is documentation of moves made before I was in short pants. I moved approximately 13 times before I ever graduated from high school. Apparently, I'm not one of those people who suddenly turn the other way and stop the craziness from continuing...oh no! I continued on in the tradition I was raised. Since I moved to Arizona after graduating from high school, I've lived in 19 other places. That's 32 different places in 33 years of life. Not all of these were my decision...as were none of the moves before I graduated high school - except one move in California to a beautiful house with an atrium and possibly a ghost. I also went on vacation one New Year's to New Orleans...when I came back my roommate had moved me to a new house...that's a whole other story on its own. :)

I've once again moved to a new place that wasn't my idea. Jason and I were informed that we needed to move to a new apartment before the semester started this year. Why? Because students are loud and obnoxious in every country. Actually, our school has "dorms" in a few of the different apartment complexes near campus. Apparently, the students in one of these apartments were too loud for the occupants below them. The old crotchety man on the third floor had complained so many times to the school, that they finally decided to move the students to a new location...our location. Since our apartment is furnished by the university, we really didn't have a say in the matter. The only bright spot at the time, was that I finally didn't have to schlep any household goods from one spot to another. They hired a moving company. Score!

Now that we've settled into our new digs, we actually like them better. The apartment complex is better situated near restaurants and stores, the grounds are nicer and full of trees and flowers, and we're closer to the earth. Our last two places in Korea were on the 15th and 16th floor. Now we're on the 4th floor and it's so much nicer. Not only because I think I'd probably survive a jump if the building caught on fire, but because the view is so much more human. I feel more connected with life down here - I can hear the birds, see the trees, and hear the kids screaming on the playground.

So, move number 32 is a success. I'll have to thank the students for giving the old guy downstairs heartburn when I see them around campus.




We live in the LG XI apartments - supposedly the same ones that Yu-na Kim lived in.




What does Xi stand for? X-tra Intelligence, of course.


We have a nice long reflexology path on the grounds.




We haven't walked on it barefoot yet...being cold and all still.




There are several gym/playgrounds.




It takes a while to figure some of the equipment out. Jason's walking toward what we think is a climbing wall.




Jason standing out in front of our building.






One thing that is a let down compared to our last place is our shoe closet. No more his and hers - we've had to intergrate our shoes.




Guest Bathroom




Clothes/Bike/Yoga/Ironing Room




Kitchen & Living Room


Notice the oven and the dish washer - we're high class.




Our vestibule porch area is quite nice in this place.




View from our apartment




Our Office - where Jason has been camped out all semester working on his master's classes.




Our Bathroom - off the dressing area & bedroom




Dressing Area




Bedroom - I've decided that it's impossible to get a good shot of a bedroom...it usually ends up as a picture of a bed. Oh well...

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Sta-range-ee

It's always hard when I try to teach my students about comparatives and superlatives. Just in case you aren't up on your English grammar sh*t; comparatives compare two things...better than, prettier than, more unique, and superlatives compare more than two things...the best, the most comfortable, the coolest, ect. If you didn't know it...and I probably didn't a few years ago, there are rules to these things as there are to everything else under the sun.

The rules to determine whether to use "er", "est", "more" or "most" are dependent on syllables. We all know syllables, right. (hands clapping - red (1), yellow (2), magenta (3)). Unfortunately, when you're learning a new language this isn't so simple. You may have never heard the word spoken before or your language has Konglisized or Spanglisized certain words incorrectly. For example, strange. It's a one syllable word, right? Not in Korea. Here it's pronounced, sta-range-ee.

It may not be politically correct to talk about how strange Korea is...or how strange certain things here are. Things are normal (2 syllables) to the people here, but they are strange to me. They might not even be strange to other Asians or Europeans or Africans or what-have-you. They are strange to me though, so I thought it was time for another posting of "things in Korea that are weird". Yup! Even after 3+ years, I'm still encountering things that throw me for a loop.




Eel catching contests are very popular at festivals in Korea. I haven't entered one yet as I've seen the eels bite a few too many people.





These trucks make the rounds in Korea. There's one that shows up every few weeks near an intersection by our apartment. How handy is it that all your bamboo-weaved needs are all in one place?





The Anyang River walk near our house could use a little sprucing up. I guess that city thinks so too since it has pictures of nice nature scenes over all of the ducts.




It's strange that it took this long to get a Taco Bell in Korea...and that I still haven't been there.




This is one of the forms I had to fill out when I got my health check. I'm pretty sure there's a typo on it since I can't understand why someone would need to know if you get imitated easily.




The curtesy button in the bathroom stall...once pushed it creates a very loud toilet flushing sound.





Did you know that armpits are prettier when they're white? I didn't.