Sauerkraut: German Kimchi

I came across this great website today, showing me how to make sauerkraut. It doesn't sound too hard, so maybe I'll give it a go.

Here's the link: http://www.wildfermentation.com/makingsauerkraut.htm


In other news, it's Hallowe'en time! Tombstone and Benchwarmers bars are having their Hallowe'en bashes tonight, and I did not go. Why was that, you might ask?

Because I FINALLY got myself a copy of NHL 06 for my X-Box! One of the guys I know here just had his brother visit him. He brought his brother Canadian copies of NHL 06 and NFL Madden 06. I already had Madden copied onto my X-Box, but I'd been seaching unsuccessfully for the new NHL game (I already had the Sega version; NHL 2K6) since it was released. Now I have it. I am a happy man.

I spent tonight making the Blake version of the '05/'06 Calgary Flames. The starting line is this:


Centre: Blake Cheslock
Right Wing: Jarome Iginla
Left Wing: Jeff Sandelli
Defense 1: Neal Boudreau
Defense 2: Darcy Boudreau
Starting Goalie: Mike Nerino

That looks like a stacked line to me. Mike and Jeff are two of my good friends from Dryden, and Neal and Darcy are my cousins. I made Neal and Darcy bald, with huge mustaches. They look mean as hell. They are always fighting and kicking ass, just like the Hanson brothers from the movie "Slap Shot". Jarome has been the best player in the NHL since 1995. Calgary also has a new GM this year. His name is John Boudreau (my uncle). Looks like the cup will definetely be coming to Calgry this season. :)

What's inside my fridge, and more!

Here's some bibimbap that I had for lunch at a restaurant last weekend. Good stuff.

This photo had absolutely nothing to do with the title of the post.

















Here's some of my cleaning supplies. These sort of things are a must have for any dwelling, lest you wish to never have any guests over and live a life like that of a swine.
















Yes, those are fireworks beside the broom and mop.
















These are the cupboards above my sink. There are ramyeon noodles in the top-left.
















This is under my sink. Yes, taking and posting this picture does prove that my grapefruits are of emormous size.
















Onions, potatoes and plasic bags.
















These are my dry goods. Lots of oil, sauces, speghetti, rice, tuna (behind the paper towel), cereal (Fruit Loops and Corn Flakes), etc.




















The inside of my fridge. Lots of sauce (ketchup, different mustards, steak sauce, wasabi, say sauce, etc.), milk, orange juice, water, dark beer, veggies (mushrooms, green peppers, baby tomatoes, half an onion in a zip-lock bag, small head of lettuce, one and a half zucchinis), wheat noodles, lots of tonic water (for the gin), spicy bean sauce (great with meat), eggs, butter, cheese slices, brie cheese (good with wine), parmesan cheese and three large blocks of ham.
















Here's the freezer. In the back-right is about 1 Kg of pork loin. In the front right is one chicken, cut up into pieces. On the left is exactly 19 chicken breasts.

I also have one half litre of raspberry wine, one full bottle of Korean red wine, one nearly empty bottle of Korean red wine, about 20 ounces of a 26 oz. of gin, and one full bottle of vodka. :)

A 26 oz. of vodka or gin costs only $4 US here, and a bottle of Korean red wine is only $3 US. That stuff is soooo cheap!

The outdoor mall in downtown Ulsan

In "old" downtown Ulsan, there's a pretty cool outdoor shopping area.

When I first moved here, it was an area of maybe four blocks or so of streets that were blocked off to traffic. It was basically an outdoor mall (complete with a multiplex cinema of course :) ). In the past couple of months, they have built a rood over the entire area. It's quite attractive and fun to look around in. Many other cities in Korea and Japan have something similar. Here's a few pictures. If you look around my site long enough, you'll see pictures of the same area in different phases of it's construction.


















One of the "enterences". That little blue shop that says DVD in the centre is where I can find all of my X-Box needs.




















This is the outside of that awesome Indian resturant that I like to eat at sometimes. I've written about it before.
















You can see a flock of sheep (I mean people) in the distance. This part of the "mall" is empty, as it is the nightclub/bar area.
















"Baaa, baaa, blacksheep..." Heh, heh, heh.















Just a couple of months ago, there was no roof!

My new apartment

This is my new apartment. It's much better than my old one, yet not nearly as nice as Dave's, or John and Sonja's in Busan. Let's check it out:





















Here's looking in my place from the hallway. The main area is straight though the door, while my W.C. is on the right. Those washroom sandels on the bottom-right come in handy on an often wet floor.




















Here's the water closet. It's of the shit-and-shower variety. On other words, the bathroom floor is also the shower floor. You can see the shower hose coming from the sink. It's completely possible to shit (in the toilet, of course!) and shower at the same time. That could definetely make for a sobering experience if I come home from the bar and try to wash my hands, only to be rained on from above because I forgot to turn off the shower switch.
















This is looking onto my kitchen area.
















This is my bedroom/living room area. Those are Ken's boxes. He moved to Seoul, and is supposed to pick up his stuff in November. I might just decide to sell it instead... :)
















I like these chairs.
















Cable-TV, VCR, X-Box (DVD), and some books of Biblical proportions. What more could I need? The beer is in the fridge.

My new job

I'm very happy with my new job. It's working out well for me so far.

My boss has been a great guy to me so far, as are the other people that I work with.

My schedule is like this:

Monday/Wednesday:
4:00-4:50 - class (10-11 year olds)
5:00-5:50 - class (11-12 year olds)
6:00-6:50 - class (12-13 year olds)
7:00-7:50 - class (13-14 year olds)
8:00-8:50 - class (14-15 year olds)
9:00-9:50 - interviews

Tuesday/Thursday:
4:00-4:50 - class (10-11 year olds)
5:00-5:50 - class (11-12 year olds)
6:00-6:50 - class (12-13 year olds)
7:00-7:50 - class (13-14 year olds)
8:00-8:50 - interviews
9:00-9:50 - interviews

Friday:
3:00-3:50 - interviews
4:00-4:50 - interviews
5:00-5:50 - interviews
6:00-6:50 - interviews
7:00-7:50 - interviews
8:00-8:50 - interviews

I might be a bit off on the ages, but you get the idea. Basically, my kids get older as the day goes on. The oldest classes are not the best at English. It seems that the children in the 11-13 age range are the best. They seem more interested in learning their new language, as well as actively practicing it. Many of them are very talkative. The older ones aren't interested in what I have to say for the most part, aside from a handful of the students. One of the older girls seems to be intensely interested in my every word, and a few of the boys think that I'm the coolest guy ever because I showed them my motorbike after class. All in all though, most of the kids are pretty good. I took over Ken's former schedule (the guy I replaced), and he had a pretty effective discipline/reward system in place. This is how it goes:

Like a football official (soccer), I give out yellow cards when something wrong occurs. For too much talking, talking in Korean (aside from trying to figure the English out of course!!!), fighting, using bad words, not paying attention, getting lost in the book, etc., I give out a yellow card. Not a real card, just a figurative one. Unlike in football, I give out three cards (instead of two). Three cards equals a red card, and an ejection from class for a period of time determined by me (depending on what the kid did). Maybe I'll only be for a minute, or maybe for the entire class if they did something really bad, like telling me to fuck off or something. I also have the option of getting a Korean teacher to phone their mother, and they DO NOT want that! Corperal punishment in still in full usage in Korean homes, and I think it works. All of the kids know this system, and I has been working well for me. The classes are a breeze so far.

For rewards, I buy candy and give it out for good work. If a kid uses a full sentence correctly, or just generally impresses me, I give them candy. It's fun for the students and it's fun for me. It also encourages everyone to participate and really think about how they can respond to questions and situations. Those bored kids really do pay more attention if there are rewards involved. It's amazing that everyone really does like candy. I probably spend a dollar or two every day on this. It's worth it.

Mostly in class, I just try to have interesting conversations and a lot of oral question and answer. I don't really even try to teach grammar. If I do, I keep it very simple. I don't know how to speak Korean, and therefore am really in no position to explain things in detail. My job is to provide an opportunity for Koreans to talk to a native speaker of English, and to correct things like pronunciation and strange word orders. My last job, for example, didn't realize this. They tried to make me into a full-on teacher, which was stupid. I just can't do that without knowing Korea. If they had visited this school and learned a thing or two, my last job may have been much better.

As you're reading this, you're probably wondering what the "interviews" in my schedule are. Well, they are just that; interviews. In my school, which, including the basement, is five floors of maybe 5 or so classrooms each, there are small interview rooms. These rooms consist of a table and a few chairs. I interview usually one or two students at a time. There is a daily topic to talk about, and I just take it from there with the students. Sometimes there are many students waiting to be interviewed, and sometimes only a few. So, the interview time varies. Some are only 5 minutes or so, and I've had some for as long as 30 minutes. Often the kids get right into it, and we have a pretty cool conversation. Lots of the kids are quite good at stringing together a conversation. One little guy, maybe 11 years old, has memorized all sorts of big words from a college textbook. He's like a walking thesaurus. It's quite fun talking to him, because he'll say long words that I actually have to think of the meaning for! He once went into a diatribe (yes, he has used that word) about the inadequicies (and that one) of George W. Bush, comparing him to his own president, as well as Bill Clinton, in the process. I was floored. Maybe I'll introduce him to Descartes, Leibniz and Hume (philosophers) and see where he can take that. Some kids are just brilliant.

On the other hand, some kids are just strange.

One little girl, who is not one of my students, sees me on most days of the week in the hallway. On both Monday and Tuesday, I tried to be friendly with her and say "hello, how are you?", etc. She ran away in terror of the new foreigner both times. On Wednesday, she managed one word.

"Ugly."

On Friday, she talked a little more. She say me, walked right up to me and asked me when I had interviews. I told here that I had one at 6 (I substituded for a few classes on Friday). She said that was good, because she had one at 5 and didn't want an ugly teacher to interview her. :O (this was all done in very broken English.)

What do you say to that???

I really do enjoy my new job so far.

Gyeongju with Kevin

Last weekend, my friend Kevin and myself set off on our motorbikes along the east coast of Korea, going north toward Gyeongju. It's not too far, but it's a really nice ride.

















We took quite a few little breaks along the trip. We sat down on the pebble beach for a few minutes here.































I'm probably crazy for doing this, but I've aquired a new skill: motorcycle photography. No, it's not taking pictures of bikes. It's taking pictures while riding ON a bike! Fun! Fun! Fun! I traffic was light, so I was able to drive pretty slowly when I did this. It made for some sweet pictures.
















Like this one.
















And this one.
















And this one. I really like this one.
















This one reminds me of playing a video game.
















That's a speed limit sign above the road, in the red and white circle. It's 80 km/h. Some of the signs are a little different than they are in Canada, but most of them are similar enough to figure out.
















A lot of these multi-lane roads are quite dead. I don't know why. It was a beautiful Saturday, perfect for a leisurely drive around the country. Then again, many Koreans are working or in school on Saturdays.
















I think that log building is a restaurant.
















I like this picture because you can see the sea in the distance.
















This is just pretty.
















I wasn't hungry enough for this.
















Nor was I hungry enough for this freshly dried seaweed.

Actually, salted seaweed is pretty good. I don't mind it at all. Same with the squid. It's just ugly...
















Here's a shot of our bikes.
















I'm pretty sure that a squid massacre has taken place here. Squid don't generally sunbath on their own accord.
















This is the legendary underwater tomb of King Munmu.

King Munmu (late 600s AD) was the first King in the Korean peninsula to see Korea united as one nation. Before that, Korea was in the time known as the "three kingdoms period". The three kingdoms were known as the Silla, Baekje, and Gogureo kingdoms. King Munmu was the King of the Silla Kingdom, which had it's capital at Gyeongju (about 50km north of Ulsan). He helped defeat the other kingdoms with help from Tang dynasty China. Following that, he succesfully worked to free his Silla empire from the control of China. He is known as being one of Korea's greatest Kings.

His dying wish was to have his ashes spread over the East Sea, in order to be reborn as a dragon and protect Korea from Japan, which is located across the sea. The rocks in this picture are where this occured.
















Right after the underwater tomb of King Munmu, we took a road west inland, towards the ancient capital of Gyeongju (this is not the first time that I'd been there). The scenery, as you can see, is gorgeous. There are rice fields in the river valley here, which is flanked by lush green mountains. This looks amazing in the Spring and early summer as well, when the rice fields are filled with water.































The tractors that the farmers use are interesting. They are small little things; not much more than a small ATV with a trailer on the back.
















It was definetely harvest time.
















Though Gyeongju is only about 50 km from the north end of Ulsan, it was a much longer ride for us, as we followed the coast. We took the busy highway on the way back, in order to avoid riding in the dark. It was not nearly as nice.





















I love this photograph.
















Kevin decided that he would stand in the middle of a rice field. It made an excellent picture.




















Here's me in front of a mushroom house. As much as I looked, I could not find Super Mario anywhere. He must've been eating mushrooms and fire flowers inside. (most of these places actually ARE mushroom resturants!)
















We took some random trail down the side of a mountain. Unfortunately, this was as far as we could go. The road was just too rough and steep after this point.
















Now THAT'S a nice view! You can see the ocean in the distance.
















This interesting structure is a bell house. You can see the massive bell inside. Korea is known for it's amazing bells.
















We are looking west here, towards the valley where Gyeongju lies.
















Geokguram Grotto

From Wikipedia:

The Seokguram Grotto is a hermitage of the Bulguksa temple and lies east of the temple on Mt. Tohamsan. In 1995 Seokgram was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list together with Bulguksa. It is the 24th national treasure of Korea.

It is said to have been built by Gim Daeseong in 751, but it remained virtually unknown. Its last record was of the early 18th century, and it was discovered in a decrepit state in the early 20th century. The Japanese Government-General of Chosen conducted restoration works three times, but it faced humidity problems. After World War II, it was virtually neglected for nearly two decades without taking countermeasures until 1960s when President Park Chung Hee pursued a restoration project.

It is a granite sanctuary with a Buddha statue seated in the main chamber. The main hall of Seokguram houses a Bojon statue Bodhi sattva and his disciples. The grotto was built around these statues in order to protect them from weathering. The ceiling of the Seokguram grotto is decorated with half moons, the top is decorated with a lotus flower. Many people come to or near Seokguram to enjoy the sunrise, which is considered particularly attractive.

Because of the numerous renovations and the fact that the temple was abandoned for a long time, many details are disputed amongst scholars, such as the exact layout of the original grotto, the buildings in Bulguksa or the shape of the watercourse, which no longer exists, in front of the temple.

Here's another pretty view west, from Seokguram Grotto.


Some of these pictures, and some that I didn't bother to upload, can also be found on Kevin's Site.