• Get in shape: Try to get back to ~175 pounds
• Languages: Finish spanish and Japanese, also learn some Korean (I may be teaching ESL in Korea for a year).
• Books: Read books listed on my space.
• Food: Give up the pop/Gummy Candies and Bars!!

The orignial at 15%

The same photo, but cropped and downsized.

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Finally we make it to the peak and our reward. Some nice snacks, a break, and a breathtaking view. It's noticeably cooler up here than at the bottom. Here's some pictures from the peak.

The first is K and Carol. Pleased and triumphant. The ascent was supposed to take over two hours be we made it in about an hour and a half.

As for me I just sat and chilled. The obligatory meditation shot is coming...

... And there it is. I would have liked to have found a precarious perch but it was already past 3:30 so I decided this one which is still nice.







Here's two more shots from the peak...

I am teaching 5th and 6th graders, and I'll be doing so until my contract for work in Korea expires. The kids seem really nice, they don't see foreigners much so they are all fascinated with me. I'm hoping that I'll do well and make their first experience with a foreigner a really good one. They were asking for my autograph and some even wanted to shake hands with me (to say they shook hands with a foreigner I think) which is cute, and feeds my already well-fed ego.

Beyond that life is normal and busy and fast out here. I am still hiking on the weekends, so far I've only been doing small hikes. This is a photo of a war memorial on the Bomunsan hiking trail. It was my 3rd trip to Bomunsan but the first for Rob and Kerri. The view of the city is amazing once you reach the fortress wall. I've got the photos from this hike as well as the photos from Gyejeoksanseong and a few from the public school in my photo album. I've also got some big plans for later in the month including a trip to Jiri-san and possibly a butterfly festival this weekend. I'm also planning to go to Busan later in the month as well which should be a lot of fun.

So together the three of us leave the hut and make our way down the sand slide. It was fun and kareening down the mountain with reckless abandon. This by the way, is a very fucking stupid thing to do on 2 hrs sleep in the fog and about 25km into a hike at 7 o'clock in the morning. So I tripped on a lava stone. I opened a deep gash under my knee, and got it full of Fuji lava sand.

.... (one month later)

My knee took almost the full month to heal but here I am back in Japan! I'm going to be here for ten days. Basically, it's a hiking vacation. I'll check out a couple of active volcanoes, and time permitting I'll try fuji again, or I may go to the Japanese Alps for a day or two... Ahh the good life.

The sun was really beating down! A beautiful day for driving. The salt flats in Gosmo are actually a small part of Korea's tidal flats on the west coast. The contrast between the flats and Korea's mountains is breathtaking. I was really enjoying the scenery as I drove along. So after Gosmo I went to the Julpo section of the tidal flats. These lands have been cultivated for farming.

I hit the road again and this time I was going for hours. On the way to Naejangsan I saw a brown sign which read 'Gochang Dolmen world heritage site', and I though 'Why not? I won't be hiking today anyways'. So I took a couple of hours to visit the site. I started with the museum first, it was pretty interesting, they had some recrations of of prehistoric village life on the main floor, other areas had the usual museum artifact/explanation stuff.










Once I got outside, I consulted the Museum's complimentry dolmen map when one of the staff saw me and suggested some quick walking routes in broken English. Once he learned I could speak some Korean, it turned into a guided tour with on one the museum carts (similar to a golf cart). Only four days in and already I'm getting spoiled.

It may only look like some rocks in the fields, but the Dolmens are actually prehistoric tombs from the first millenia BC. Gochang also had an interesting fortress which I checked out before I left. It was built sometime in the 16th century and has been restored to its former glory over the last 20 years. Within the fortress there's a pond, numerous goverment buildings and even a jail with wooden bars!

I left Gochang armed with Kimbap and water for and tomorrow's hike. I got into Naejangsan around 6:00. The mountain makes quite a striking impression as you drive into the park.

'Hello, what's your name?'
'My name's ...., what's yours?'
'My name's Charles and this is my brother Carlos'

A few more short short sentences later and I was on my own again. I went into the village at the base of the mountain to have some supper and check out the shops. Unfortunately once you've seen a couple of the gift shops, you've kind of seen them all. However I collect park bandanas and I was able to get one for Naejangsan. Ah-sah! I went into a restaurant and had a nice bi-bim-bap and some Gochang bok-bun-ja, raspberry wine. It's always my goal to try regional food and drink when I have the oppurtunity. I love the eating new foods when I travel. It was dark now so I headed back for camp. My little tent has been amazing, mosquitoes can't get in and the screens provide good ventilation. I fall asleep listening to 'On the road' by Jack Kerouac.

1. Boil the water. Add the beef and turn the heat down. Gently boil for 1 to 1.5 hours.
2. While the beef is being boiled, prepare the seasoning. Simply mix the ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
3. Cut the leeks (and their leaves) in half. then cut them into 7-10cm strips.
4. Put the leeks into a bowl and sprinkle about 1 or 2 tbsp of coarse salt over them.
5. Scrunch and scrub the salted leeks, they will become a little tender. Rinse the salt away and set aside.
6. Once the beef is cooked, remove it from the pot, (you can let the water continue to boil down for a stronger broth).
7. Shred the beef with your fingers into about 5cm strips.
8. Mix the shredded beef with the seasoning, and place it back into the pot along with the leeks. Boil gently for 20 minutes.

1. Slice the leeks diagonally into 1-2 inch strips. Set aside.
2. Slice the mushrooms. Set aside.
3. Onions are usually halved and sliced. In my case, I diced one of the onions and did the other one traditionally. Anyways cut them and Set them aside.
4. Cut the tofu into small cubes and set aside.
5. Save the kimchi juice in a bowl (you can squeeze the kimchi a bit first to get more juice). Cut the kimchi into bite-sized pieces, and... can you guess? Set the kimchi aside.
6. Mix the stock base ingredients, and yes... set aside.
7. Cut the pork into cubes or small strips. Fry the pork and onions over medium heat until the pork is fully cooked (should only take a few minutes, it'll turn from pink to white).
8. Add the kimchi and cook for a few more minutes (five or six minutes should suffice).
9. Add the stock base and water. Boil over high heat for about 15 minutes. Then add the leeks and mushrooms. Cover and boil over medium heat for 30 minutes.
10. Add the tofu and cook for another few minutes (just long enough for the tofu to heat up and take on the jjigae's flavor).

1. Mix ingredients for the stock base in a bowl or 1 litre measuring cup.
2. In a Large pot, add the following:
   - potatoes and carrots, cut into large chunks.
   - sliced leeks.
   - one onion, traditionally it's chunked, but I don't like chunks of onion, so I used the whole onion    and removed it prior to serving.
3. - cubed chicken.
   
4. Add the chicken stock to the seasoning ingredients and mix well. Pour it into the pot.
5. Bring the pot to a boil, and then cook over low-medium heat for about 30-40 minutes.

1. Combine the bread cubes and consommé in a large bowl. (You can cut up the bread and toast it in the oven, or to save time you can buy croutons which will suffice.)
2. Chop the onion (chopped fine is better here, you don't want to taste big chunks of onion in the pie).
3. Heat the oil in a pan and add the beef and onion. Cook gently, stirring to break the beef apart just unitl it loses it's pink colour.
4. Remove from heat and mix in the consommé mixture along with spices and worcestershire sauce.
5. Set aside and preheat the oven to 375°F. It's time to start the pastry.

1. Combine flour, salt cheese, paprika, cayenne, and mustard. Cut shortening into the mixture with a pastry blender, and resembles coarse oatmeal.
2. Mix the eggs, vinegar, and water together in a cup and pour it into the pastry in a circular motion.
3. Stir with a fork until the entire mixture is moistened.
4. Divide the dough into two equal balls.
5. Roll one ball thin enough to cover the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie pan (1.5 inch deep should do). Cut off the excess pastry and add it to the other ball.
6. Add the meat mixture to the pie pan. Roll the other pastry ball thin enough to cover the top. Again cut off the excess.
7. Cut slits into the crust (this will allow steam to escape).
8. Bake at 375°F for about 45 minutes or until the crust is golden.

1. Boil the macaroni until tender. 
2. Drain, and mix in the tuna and condensed soup. 
3. Spoon the mixture into a casserole dish.
4. Sprinkle enough grated cheese over the top to cover it.  Lay it on thin or think, as you choose!
5. Bake at 350F until the cheese has melted.  (About 10 minutes).
6. Serve Right away.

1. Cook the rice, and set aside (1 cup uncooked should yield about 2 cups cooked).
2. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions and shrimp for a few minutes.
3. Stir in the mushrooms and soy sauce.
4. Add the rice and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring constantly.  Add a little salt and pepper to you own taste.

1. Wash and rinse the rice, soak it in cold water for 2 hours. (The amount of water here isn't important.)
2. Mix the marinade ingredients and let sit for about a half hour. 30 ~ 45 min is fine, it's also ok to let it sit until the rice is ready.
3. Finely chop the onion, carrot, and zuchinni, and green onion. You want the pieces to be really small. Set aside and wait until the rice is finished soaking.
4. When the two hours have elapsed, drain the rice into a strainer.
5. Add the seven cups of water to a pot. Set the heat to high.
6. Meanwhile, in a large pan, heat the sesame oil. Add the onion and carrot. Cook and stir for a few minutes at med-high.
7. Add the beef, cook over medium high until browned.
8. Add the zuchinni and continue cooking and stirring for about 3 or 4 minutes.
9. Add the rice and cook for another five to seven minutes, stir often to avoid sticking.
10. By this time the pot water should be boiling or almost boiled. Add the mixture to the water.
11. Bring it all to a boil, and turn the heat down to med-high, and cook for about 25 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom.
12. Add the extra seasoning ingredients and cook for another 20 ~ 25 minutes, until the porridge reaches a nice thick consistency.

1. Cook the rice, and set aside (1 cup uncooked should yield about 2 cups cooked).
2. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions and shrimp for a few minutes.
3. Stir in the mushrooms and soy sauce.
4. Add the rice and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring constantly.  Add a little salt and pepper to you own taste.

• 350g beef brisket (양지머리)
• 4 spring onions (aka scallions) (쪽파)
• 12 pepper corns (후추 열매)
• 4 tsp minced garlic (다진 마늘)
• 12 cups of water

• 2 eggs (계란)
• pinch of salt (소금)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (올리브 기름)

• crushed laver (김 가루)

• 1 tsp minced garlic (다진 마늘)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (간장)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (참기름)
• 2 tbsp finely chopped spring onion (다진 쪽파)
• a pinch of pepper (후추 가루)

• 1 green onion (대파)
• 2 eggs (계란)
• 6 cups sliced rice cake (가래 떡)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce (간장)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce (생선을 간장)
• 1 tbsp of sesame oil (참기름)
• salt to taste (1~2 tsp probably ok) (소금)

• 3 tbsp red pepper powder (고추가루)
• 2 tbsp sugar (설탕)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (다진 마늘)
• 1 tbsp syrup (물엿)
• 2 tsp vinegar (식초)
• 2 tsp cooking wine (맛술)
• 1 tbsp minced leek (다진대파)
• 1.5 t tbsp soy sauce (간장)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds (참깨)
• salt to taste (소금)

• 1 cup of rice (쌀)
• a few sheets of seaweed laver (김)
• 2 squid (어징어)

Ingredients

*MY* road test experience.

I flunked the first time.  Actually I was the 59th person to take the test that morning and only 7 people had passed before me.  I touched the line on each sharp turn in the beginning and that was it for me.   I went back to the 운전면허시험장 (oon-cheon myeon-heoh she-heom jang) and set up another test.  The second time I woke up at 5:30am and went out to a parking lot and started making sharp turns, I did it for about 45 minutes.  The test location was pretty far away so I wanted to this to be the last time.  When I got to the test course there were 3 college students practicing on it using a 125cc Mirage bike.  I brought mine in and we all took turns practicing the course a couple of times before the place opened up, we even swapped bikes to get a feel for a different machine.  After about two laps one of the testers came along and told us we had to get the bikes out.  But I felt more comfortable now ahead of the test.  The testing went much as it did the last time, four people passed out of the first thirty, but then 4 more passed out of the next ten, this time I was 41st to take the test, and the ninth person to pass.

Kim Jung-un

Korean Air as seen by firefox

I received 3 copies of my next contract and went back to my table.  An announcement:

"Teacher's transferring to a new school won't be allowed to use their bonus vacation next year, they'll have to use it during this vacation..."

I was halfway into signing my next contract when those words tumbled into my ears.

Transfer... new school... SHIT! that's me!

My pen stopped mid-G.   Last year I was able to take a week in the summer and I have a week scheduled to take this winter.   I asked what this would mean for me and one of the supervisors responded that I should just enjoy an extra long break this coming winter.   So I'd be starting off next year as a new teacher in a new school with two weeks less vacation than I was counting on.  Frankly it was nice having two calendar weeks in the summer and winter to unwind, while I'd be getting more time all clumped together this year would only leave me more wound up next year.  Plus I've met teachers whose vacation time was dolled out in two and three day patches by principals concerned only with squeezing every last bit of English from their native teachers.  Living in Korea can wind you up.  I've told countless teachers to take at least a month of to unwind between contracts, and here I am coming into my third straight year without a break.

I put my paper aside and gave it some thought.   Truth be told, I wasn't coming back.   I went up to the supervisors and respectfully told them as much.