Windows 7!

Its been a rough week software wise. I bought a new game that REQUIRES windows 7 or vista. WOW....ok I have windows vista 64 bit. So I go ahead and install it. Boom I am hit with many issues. You see you need to update to sp1 (service pack), and my copy of vista (legal copy) REFUSED to update. It takes about 40 minutes JUST to see if your installation was a success.

Fortunately I had this windows 7 cd ordered and already on the way. Now I have it installed and it looks great and feels fast and nimble. BUT it uses ALOT memory, so there is another upgrade I need to deal with. Fortunately RAM is dirt cheap these days, HOWEVER we are using ddr2 not the current and readily available ddr3 (which is cheaper than ddr2).

ARRGGHH. I want to change the language to English which is possible but will invalidate my copy of windows 7....something I ain't doing!! Oh well I try this game out and see what happens. It is supposed to be directx 11 which is a whole new level to gaming....we will see.

/tata

p.s Windows....you suck!

Time to post a entry

I have made several post I just never got around to posting them. This time I will.
My best friend and I are planning a mini road trip. We will go to Yeo-su and make our way to Busan via the new bridge. I am very excited but I feel doubtful if we are going to be able to take 3 days and 2 nights. His work schedule might not allow it. Anyways I can hope.

George has been doing really well in his studies and he really enjoys his assignments. I will buy a science kit for him soon. He now plays super nintendo games via an emulator that I have. Amazing stuff technology.

Yogita and I are loving our ipads, we mainly use them for reading books. SO much better to have 100's of books in one slim device! Today I will drive my friends Volvo (he better not back out at the last minute!). Yogi, and I will go with him to city nearby and we will meet another friend of his.

I really need to update this blog with some recent pictures....I just can't be bother to transfer the pictures from the DSLR to this PC. I really need to buy another multi-card reader.

/tata

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

It's been a while since i last wrote...well, its been crazy!!! work and more work....We got two i-pad 2's and are loving it!!! AWESOME:)

It was our 10th anniversary last Thursday....actually we were so busy we forgot...it was the first time i forgot our anniversary...What can u say....AGE!!!! LOL
Anyways, keeping with my little tradition here is my poem for my SUPERMAN..LOVE YOU BABE!!!!



i love u babe..it's not been easy but it's been hell of a drive..i enjoyed every minute and looking forward to many more...Love you Jema!!!!!

http://imgv.search.daum.net/viewer/search?w=imgviewer&SearchType=total&ResultType=total&SimilarYN=total_Y&SortType=total&q=%BF%F4%B1%E4%BB%E7%C1%F8&page_offset=0&page=1&lpp=10&od=msvGR400

Free at last!

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog. Basically our schedule became very very busy due to one of our teachers finishing her one year contract. So those classes need to be covered by us. I don't have time to even die. I am sooo busy.

I got some good news today....I will get more time to take care of some paperwork. YAAAAY!!!!!

So a student of mine whose name is Max showed me the above clip. I feel like the guy in the middle, crazy things are going on around me but...IM FREE AT LAST!!!!

/tata

Getting cooler!

Its feels so strange suddenly its as if the humid oven like weather has suddenly left us. We are sleeping more comfortably at night. Our electric bill will not haunt us anymore.

It is also time for a new teacher to come on board, and weekend classes will start up again. It's another page turned. George is growing bigger, and my goodness he reads the dictionary! I will have see about getting him his own PC (sans internet) with a full digital encyclopedia. I am also looking into national geographic, and discovery channel programs.

Jeyo is doing well in pre-school, he is more like me, while George's character is more like Yogi. Genes are an amazing thing.

Oh on another note...I killed my battery when I left the key in the ignition in the "on' setting.....wonderful. So I will take care of that today.

Ok time to finish up my prep work for my class!

/tata

My Car doctor!

I have a friend in Gunsan who I have known for a quite a while. He is a now a fully licensed mechanic. I really appreciate him because not only is he honest, he lets me poke around under the hood with him. So every time I need maintence, or a major repair job I learn a bit more about cars.

All over the world car mechanics take advantage of people who are ignorant about thier cars. So get to know your car, so that at the first sign of malfunction you can get the help you need with out getting ripped off.

/tata

Plans!!!

More update on our upcoming vacation:

Since day before yesterday korea has been experiencing heavy torrential rain. There was a landslide that killed over 30 people. Major highways and roads are flooded and inaccessible. The province we wanted to go to is among one of the hard-hit regions.....go figure:).

So now we are again putting our heads together trying to come up with new vacation plans and it's frustrating to say the least. However, one thing we know for sure is we want to spent our time doing things together.

This picture was taken on a random Saturday afternoon but this is exactly what we are planning on doing: "chilling in eachother's arm" :)

Cooking!!!!

i LOVE cooking...i love reading recipes, watching food network, cooking new recipes and trying new dishes......

i find the whole process of cooking very relaxing..i also think its a way for me to channel my creative abilities...i mix and match different ingredients, flavorings etc and create something unique..totally my creation!!!!

i think i'll post more pics. of my food here....yesterday i prepared this dessert with brownies, vanilla caramel ice-cream and chocolate sauce..it was absolutely divine!!!!
no pics, though :(

this afternoon we had a very good lunch too.. we had homemade pesto ham and cheese sandwich with rye walnut bread, tofu chips and peach yogurt..this was the first time i made pesto at home YUMMY!!!!...pics. coming up :)

decisions decisions!!!!!!

Our vacation is like 2 days away and we are making plans....we are thinking about taking a long road trip, chilling at the beach and having some good old family time.....

last weekend we went to Son-yu do...it was fantastic...we went claming, fishing, had barbeque with some friends...it was loads of fun!!!!!

Basically, we just want to relax and spend time together....we will see where we end up going...we enjoy the whole road trip experience so i guess destination is not important as long as we are together and having fun!!!!

Vacation edging nearer

Its that time of year again. I remember last year we went to Seok-cho. We left late at night I think it was a Wednesday night. I figured we could beat heavy traffic if we left at that time. I thought I was right when for about 80% of the trip traffic was relatively light. But as soon as we reached the interchange at Gang-nueng, there was our traffic jam! It was ok because it only lasted for like 30-40 minutes. However, I totally forgot where we stayed before (it cost only 50,000 won a night and they had the price clearly displayed). Instead we ended up at a resort, well it wasn't really a resort just an expensive hotel. We arrived very early in the morning like 2-3 am. I had insomnia and poor yogi could not get to sleep either. We ended up sleeping at 10am.

I guess the highlights would be the steak that was extremely small served with a ball of rice, and 1 jumbo shrimp, cut in half, and a handful of veggies. We decided to eat sam-gyup-sal and had a great time and spent much less!

This year using the iphone's apps we are able to see the hotels and even call ahead to check. I love my iphone 4.

/tata

DIY

DIY or do it yourself is a good way to learn about the stuff that you buy and use everyday. For us in Korea it has saved us loads of money whenever a pc would break down.

I remember back in Alaska I saw a sign outside of a computer shop. The sign said that they do upgrades for something like 50 bucks and up for RAM upgrade, the price range went higher the more the RAM was upgraded. Of course the price of the chips are factored into the price, but really nowadays PC components and even some laptop spare parts can be had very cheaply. Your basically paying someone quite a bit of cash to stick a pc chip onto your motherboard. This situation gets worse when you consider PC crashes, and other hardware failures. People panic and drop loads of cash on an issue that can be diagnosed, and repaired cheaply and sometimes rather quickly.

For example you boot up your PC and you hear a looooooong beep sound, but the monitor remains blank, but you can hear your fans running inside of the case. Or you get a message saying that bios can not find a boot device. If you take this to a computer shop a honest shop will only replace what needs replacing. Other places will bring your pc back with new innards that you simply do not need. It happened here in Korea. My Boss had me check on of our PC's because it was having the blue screen of death (BSOD). I quickly researched the error code and told her that is a simple error, just replace the graphics cards. The graphics card failed. That is a relatively cheap and fast fix as office graphics cards can be bought second hand, and even new they are still rather cheap. I was too busy to do the work, so my boss sent it to get "fixed".

Afterwards I popped open the case, and laughed. The fool or should I say clever person, replaced the motherboard, ram, and graphics card. Totally the cost was still low but at least 3 times what it should have been.

So to all of you out there DIY isn't as scary as it seems. Download some videos, talk to your friends, chances are you have someone who can help you without charging an arm and a leg.

Rain rain go away!!!

We are getting water dumped on us! We have lived in Gunsan for 9 years yet this is the first time I have seen it rain so heavily. I remember one year where for one day we had some flooding at intersections, and another where a typhoon brushed by Gunsan a bit too closely, and flattened rice fields. At that time one of my students who was in the army at the time told me how difficult it is to repair damage like that.

I heard that in Seoul they received no rain over the weekend. Good for them, wet and soaked for us!

We basically stayed in because well....even getting in the car we would have ended up soaked to the bone.

/tata

Rainy season

Rain rain thats our weather forecast. This year it's cooler than last year.
It actually feels really nice during the rains. Which is unusual during June.
During this month when the rains arrive it is hot and humid, with a strong warn wind in gunsan.
Now it does get hot buy when the rains come it feels like a warm spring day.
Right now I am setting in a classroom while George finishes his work. We are very confortable because of the
Wind. At home it is the same in the evenings I feel I need to wear a thicker t-shirt at night.
So I think I'm going to like this summer. We are still planning on going to Seok-cho and I have a feeling it will be cooler than usual.

Ok time to go!

/Tata

PC Upgrade time!

Well it was that time again. This time EVE online released a new expansion and a very nice one at that. This one though Yogi's dated 9500 GT 512 ddr3 graphic card could not keep up. There was lag and a huge drop in fps. So we decided lets get her the same card that I have which beats the pants off of the gt 8600, the gts 250 1 gig. This card rocks! It does run hot though so I am thinking about a cooling solution. Basically I can turn up the settings on most recent games and it just shines.

We hit a snag at the pc store though. They had no gts 250 1 gig's in stock and only 1 used gts 250 512mb card...yuck! These days games are video memory hungry. Basically the more memory you have the better. You game runs smoothly for as long as you play the game. Now if you use a 256 or 512 vram card, well expect your game to get sluggish after long play times, as the card video cache gets full too quickly.

So back to the store, we had to settle for a gf 440 card which while it is MUCH better than the 9500 gt, it doesn't come close to the gts250 in performance.

Yogita installed the card herself, go go little brown lady! It works like a charm, but we are considering getting a better card later this year......err.....maybe 2 graphic cards?

/tata

PC Upgrade time!

Strange Sunday night!

Yesterday we had a nice time. We took a short drive to Go-Chang, a city little over 100 kms south of Gunsan. Go-chang is famous for Eel, and Mountain berry wine. It was a beautiful day and because it was not peak season it was not packed with people.

In Korea a number of foods are said to aid in stamina. Basically male erectile performance. I do not understand why they use the word stamina. Well i did not understand until yesterday night, or rather this morning.

We ate a total of 3 Eels grilled in tasty sauce, with a number of side dishes. If you want a picture just check out my facebook page.

We were up until the wee hours of morning just staring at the ceiling. ARRRRGGGHH.

Oh well I better post this....started it on Monday, and finished in on Thursday.

/tata

Weekend classes almost over!

It seems like yesterday when our weekend program began, and now it is practically over. We will have final testing, and evaluations next week. I plan on giving personal evaluations to each of my students. It has been perhaps 16 weeks or so, and now I have forgotten what a Saturday feels like, where you do not have work.

The first week of July I plan on taking my family somewhere nice and relaxing. We will see.

We will have vacation time at the end of July and Yogi and I have decided: NO COMPANY CLASSES.

We have sacrificed our vacations for one particular company, which results in our not getting good quality time off. Over the past 2 years I remember listening to students from that company telling me "Oh I did this, and that on my vacation", then at the end of the day you realize "hey they got to enjoy themselves, why not me?"

So in 2011, no more company classes during vacations. People need a break, including me, and I will not give it up to just to wait on others. No way!

So we will take a much needed and deserved vacation, perhaps to the east coast. We are considering Seok-cho. We would leave Wednesday night of that week and head out east, and enjoy the beach. I am thinking 3 days 2 nights ought to be enough.

/tata

Arrgh My Tummy!

Ouch! It happened again! My stomach is hurting everytime drink something, or eat. I think the raw garlic I, and raw onions are catching up with me again. I will go to my doctor tomorrow for a check up. He knows how to fix me up. I will no longer eat raw garlic, my stomach lining simply can not take it.

Our weekend classes will come to a close next weekend, and the following week I want to take the family on a long drive. Something we could not enjoy for a long time.

Jeyo is enjoying his preschool, and his school fees are due, George is doing well in his studies as well. Yogita and I are doing well but really looking forward to the first week of July (I wonder if there is a 3 day weekend for us in July).

Car news: We got a new starter motor, and now she starts like a charm!
I think we need to upgrade Yogi's graphic card, and our operationing systems to windows 7.

ok time to go!

/tata

Thor!

Well on kiddies day we went and saw Thor. It was ok, they took time to delve into Thor's character and show just how "human" his father made him. The action scenes were awesome.

After the movie we decided to hit up Macdonalds for some burgers. Um, it seemed as if all of Gunsan had the same idea. The massive parking lot was full, Emart was PACKED.

So we went to the beach. You really can not go wrong with the beach.

So now fast forward and here we are Monday.....with Tuesday being Budda's birthday. Today is actually what I like to call a Monday Friday. In the morning it feels like Monday, but by this time...it feels like Friday. The remaining 3 days of this week I will be a little off.

This weekend though we will have no weekend classes so we want to take full advantage of the little break we are getting. Oh we did enjoy a whopper at Burger King, I think its the first whopper of the year for us.....LOL. (uh or the second...)

/tata

Children's day!

People are going to be out and about tomorrow, and in force because it has been almost 9 weeks since the last holiday. We are going to have as much fun as we can this time around.

A few years ago we went to a movie and watched the animation "Cars". Its was ok EXCEPT it was dubbed in Korean. So basically my wife, George, Rira, Eun, and Hun (her kiddies), paid rapt attention to the movie. Me? Well I struggled and struggled, and kept asking Yogita what was going on. You see I can understand spoken Korean to a degree I would say if I know the context I can understand about 60-70%. If the context is unknown to me, then my comprehension is much lower.

Oh we will see...

/tata

What should I get?

SM7---------------------------^

Equus-------------------------------------^

I am weighing our options....oh....uh I am talking about cars again.....

Previously (last car post), I mentioned that I am thinking of buying a Hyundai Equus. Well now I think I ought to consider the SM7. It has one tiny thing that the Equus doesn't. A small sd card reader, and a usb port. I really need a large size luxury sedan, uh....I will just say large sedan (most cars have the so called luxury options nowadays). The car needs to have the regular comforts we are used to. Mainly power everything, with heated front and rear seats (reclining rear seats as well). A nice sound system (pretty much basic on most cars today. BUT, I am tired of dealing with cd's, and dvd's. First they get scratched easily, and heat in a car damages them over time.

Having a simple interface like usb, or an sd card makes my life MUCH easier. This is more so the case when you add in audio / video options that can take advantage of usb, and memory cards. Many drivers who have families like mine, are in their late 30's, or early 40's. Many of them simply have no clue about ipods, or itouch. For them pop in the cd and it will play, also many of them are not even fully aware of the options that are in their cars.

I need simplicity when I am on the road. I need multiple options. Ok we are in a traffic jam, lets listen to music.....ok we are bored of that hey lets watch a mini series, or connect to the internet via 3g (4g in the future), then we can play movies on the go!

I am strongly leaning towards the SM7 due to the ease at which it can use current multimedia gadgets, with its on board systems. HOWEVER! I must say that when pictures are taken of used cars, then posted online......you don't really get the whole picture. A 2004, or 2005 Equus (I can not afford a 2006 and up), might have that option. It is very surprising to me when I go to car dealers, and I ask them about certain optional equipment, and they scratch their heads. Most people worry about the most basic options.

So we will see....I might post a link to facebook.....get some other opinions....hmmm.

/tata

Woohoo a nice month ahead!

Next month will very nice indeed. We will have 2 holidays which means two, four day weeks!

I think the first holiday which will be next Thursday we ought to relax at home, and perhaps go on a walk. The second holiday we should head to a beach, and soak up some ocean air!

I just wish the second holiday fell on a Monday since that would give us a 3 day weekend....well 2.5day weekend. See Saturday after classes we could hit the road, and arrive in say Pusan by 5 or 6pm. Book a motel, and hit the beach. Have a nice dinner then head back to the hotel....uh...err motel, then sleep. The next day head out to the beach early like, and get nice spot read books, play in the sand, get our feet wet. Then have lunch at TGI Friday, then head back to beach on more time. After that head back to Gunsan (it would be Sunday afternoon by this time). I would arrive in Gunsan perhaps around 7-8pm, and still have Monday free to relax at home and get ready for the week.

Ugh getting vacation time is so difficult in Korea at times. This chu-sok we really need to get away!

/tata

Spring?

I can almost feel spring! Last week I went to the cherry blossom festival with a friend. It was nice we ate roasted pork, I mean it was on a spit and everything......very nice! I also want to visit the beach, just sit back and enjoy the warmth from the sun (under an umbrella), and read to my hearts content. George on the other hand can run about throwing rocks into the sea, and picking up shells.

nestled next to me would be my lil lady Yogita. Perhaps we can prepare some food, or maybe visit a local restaurant.

You see now is the best time to visit the beaches on the west coast (I do not know much about the eastern beaches, but they are much more popular). During this time you can enjoy the scenery with out getting bothered by large groups of people. In the summer......well.....better aim for one of the many small beaches.

I can only wonder what this year will be like. Time will tell!

/tata

Whats up?

We are doing fine this week, although I am behind in emailing my students. Days in Korea pass so quickly. We are almost in the middle of our weekend class program. Soon we will have full weekends!

I have decided that perhaps later this year I will buy another car, used of course. I am thinking about the Hyundai Equus, depending on my plans I will post pictures of it. I am leaning heavily towards this car due to its roomy interior, loads and loads of options, and it is domestic.

I can get easily get an import perhaps 10 years old, with low mileage. However, maintaining such a car is very costly! Simple fixes can cost 100,000 won. While moderately priced spare parts suddenly become very expensive, in an import. Korea unlike America lacks a diverse automobile market. Sure many people have imports, but they also have large disposable incomes that allow them to drive it on a lease for years, then go lease another import.

Me...I do not have those options. I do not want our disposable income going toward a car. Better to save, or invest. Korean cars have gotten steadily better and better in terms of quality, and safety.

The car is expensive though, so I while I will save for it, I am keeping my eyes open for any other options in the car department.

/tata

Having fun people?

Some people just don't know how to really have fun, or perhaps it is just a differing view on what is considered fun.

For example, if you join a gym, people will go to specific stores which sell work out gear. This stuff is EXTREMELY expensive! 60 bucks for a shirt, or for a full set you might have to shell out 150 or more.

Instead tossing on a clean t-shirt, jogging pants, or perhaps a pair of shorts, people instead go all out. I mean, I guess I am just a simple person, or perhaps I am the boring one?

I mean people just get up and go! Of course we ought to stretch, and properly warm up, but dropping hundreds of bucks to ride a bike?! Or dropping thousands of dollars (Korea) to buy golf clubs?! Why not purchase second hand? (Of course I am talking about most people who get interested in a sport, not people who have spent years and years enjoying a sport or hobby).

You see the funny thing is this, stuff starts to collect dust. That barbell set, ends up in a corner, along with the those cyborg gloves that you bought with it. In addition the workout gear ends up as substitute thermal underwear.

I am guilty myself. When I first bought my car, I bought hundreds of dollars of "car care" products. Wax, compound, paint, wheel, and tire cleaners, and other stuff. Basically, I do use car paint to touch up scratches, minor dings, while WD40 helps with squeaky doors. But tire cleaners.....really they suck. They often cause a dark coloring on the wheel in summer (heat), leaving the wheels looking very dirty.

However, having engine oil, power steering oil, and coolant, this is nice to have.

Mayhap I will post some tips on car care that I have learned.

/tata

Kids...

It seems all around me people that I knew years ago are married, and have kids. I mean Yogita and I where the first, among most people we know. Its interesting to see these new parents cope with their new responsibilities. You see some getting so worked up and over protective, they end up not really living life. Then you have the couples who ONLY married due to their age, and social pressure. Those couples tend to pour all of their love on their children, not on each other. You end up with this strange scene of parents competing for their little ones adoration (well it seems strange to me).

I had one student who is not married, and that person is happy with the decision. I must say that I respect the decision not to marry if you feel it is not for you. Social pressure to do something, is usually just people who think they know what you need. Or rather you ought to do as they did, in order to be happy. You know the saying "birds of a feather...".

Still I see parents lavishing attention on children not realizing that their spouse is a very important part of the equation that makes a family work.

/tata

Work work..

I am a fortunate guy! I am busy and will be even busier in the future. I have drop by the book store sometime this week, email English. I have to prepare for another class.

So, work work, and no vacation. It was funny, and sad when we visited India. Most people take a long leave to fully enjoy India. We....barely a week!

However, on the other hand we could be unemployed, or underemployed. So, I ought to count my blessings.

In Korea the work ethic is quite strong. One friend of mine, he works 6-7 day weeks, often with company sanctioned drinking events. This really reduces the actual quality of the work that people are able to put in. If I have a hang over I am not going to perform at my best. If my entire team has a hang over then that will impact the productivity of our entire team.

Ok I gotta run, Mr Cho is stressing me out!!!!

/tata

Weekend madness

What a weird weekend. We are now in the fourth, no actually sixth week of the weekend class. Wow time flies! Yogita and I have decided make more concrete plans for family outings. In the past we would just impulsively travel, when we had time. Now with gasoline companies milking consumers and blaming high prices on a country that supplies only 2% of the worlds oil. We can not afford to go running off whenever we so please. Or rather we could, but it would damage our budget. Yogita and I have made tentative plans to get a better car, but we will have to see if it is in our best interests.

Korea like I have written before is a really weird place in that people don't really seem worried about events around them. Rather they just sort of shrug their shoulders. I wonder how Japan's disaster will change people's mood. So far, we talk about it, donate money via cell phones, and kids can be seen wearing masks. (I do not want to get into a long rant on those masks!) All in all that is all I have seen.

Although one student told me about a foreign professor who was wearing a gas mask in Jeon-ju. LOL

What about your skin buddy! Sure your lungs are ok, but Radiation can and is absorbed right through the skin. I mean...x-rays anyone. Basically I am saying lets be aware, and not treat this disaster like it is nothing, but lets not over do it.

Oh and so far I have heard that 2 ESL teachers died in Japan.

/tata

Strange Weather

We should be feeling nice and cool, wearing jackets, driving around with the windows down. Instead it is quite cold, with people bundling up in the morning. In the afternoon it warms up a bit, but at night? Turn on the heater!

Last year the cherry blossom festival was delayed due to cold weather lingering later than usual. We had snow in April! I can only imagine what we have in store for this year.

Last year saw flooding in Seoul, and a number of typhoons. Today is the last day of March, but I think spring is still a ways off. Good by March.

/tata

p.s Time passes much faster in Korea....MUCH faster!

Educating little people....

George is getting home schooled. Period nuff said, no more discussion. Why? Well I remember my experience in public school, and well....I will not put our boy through that. In Korea people are still insular minded, and to be frank, I do not have time to deal with racism, ignorance, and alienation that a foreign kid might have to go through. I say might because not everything is written in stone, my stay in Korea has been quite good, with 10 good experiences to every annoying situations. Actually come to think about it.....I rarely have the nightmare experiences other teachers often complain about. (Most of them are of course white)

So to get back on topic, George will, and is being home schooled. It is a joy really, and I am able to spend time with him, explaining things. He has a insatiable curiosity about the world around him. Thanks to his Nana his reading is off the charts!

In Korea parents are very keen on having their little people out compete other little people. This means that billions of dollars are spent on private education every year.

Now with our George, parents look at him as a possible means to an end. George speaks English, and can likely teach a kid he is playing with English. This actually works both ways because George can pick up Korean as well.

Parents in the past have asked me to basically pimp out my son to make "friends" with their kids. Now the term "friend" should be loosely applied. They want my kid along with theirs to "play together joyfully in English". Of course they will pay me some money on the side. LOL

Heck NO!!! My son will make friends in a normal way. Well for Korea normal would be joining a hagwon, lets say taek-kwon-do, and meeting kids there. On teacher had the audacity to suggest that our son join her class in our hogwan. Uh those kids can barely read, and well to be honest George can read at the same level as most Korean English teachers minus the comprehension. He can pronounce a big word.....the meaning escapes him.

Well I will not pimp the bounty from my loins to greedy parents.

/tata

What in the world?

Well lets see, 2011 has been quite a busy year just 3 months in. We saw events in Egypt come to a head, which followed Tunisia. Next Libya, with violence in Yemen as well. It looks like governments in less stable countries are failing, oh wait a minute, Belgium comes to mind.

Now we have Japan. Japan, Japan Japan, what in the in world? Reactors built on coastal areas where tsunamis are a real threat = terrible planning, and a real issue if there ever is a tsunami. Oh wait there was and guess what? It knocked out the cooling system and caused the cores to melt down. Now I just heard from Yogita that apparently all over Korea, there are trace amounts of radiation present. In addition to this, plutonium is leaking from one or more of the reactors. This stuff has a loong half life, it breaks down very very slowly. If a person inhales.....you WILL catch cancer due to DNA damaging effects.

There seems to be more and more bad news outweighing the good.

/tata

Weekend classes!

Yeah thats right we are running a 3 month weekend program. We start at 8am and finish at 12 noon. Busy busy busy.

A few days ago there was an earthquake off the coast of Japan (I think). It was a 9.0 quake, which triggered a tsunami which heavily damaged series of nuclear reactors.

So this week was a little tense because well Japan is right next door to us. We can't help but feel bad for the people who are suffering because of the lose of their homes, basic services, lack of food, and water.

For me it is a wake up call, a natural disaster can topple even the most advanced, and technological societies. Some of the pictures I have seen online make me think of war torn areas of world.

Ok I have about 20 mins until I will complete the 2nd week of our program.

/tata

The Unique Language Of Driving!

We are back from our 1 week trip to India. It was Amazing!!!!! It was nice to meet family and friends and spend time with people who genuienly care about us....while we were their we took a road trip....we got to see some truly unique places and meet some very nice people. We had a ball.

Driving in India is very different than driving in Korea. It looks very chaotic at first however, after close observation you can see that there is a pattern in the mayhem....a reason to the madness...

Honking your horn while driving in many places is a sign of aggression and often considered rude but in India its a way of communication....you can hear horns going off everywhere but thats because as people are passing each other..or if someone wants to overtake another vehicle its a way of communicating between the drivers like: "hey! i see you...oh well, i see you too!!!!!"

Even in Korea we have driving etiquette and language. For example at a red light drivers turn off their headlights and only use their courtesy lights..this is considered polite...also if a driver blink their hazards twice it can mean Thanks or Sorry depending on the situation....

It's amazing what you can learn if you pay attention to the tiny little details.....Have a great weekend!!!!!

Monday.....

Our search continues for air tickets even as time draws close to the big Korean holiday. It is very stressful because we have to work as well. I am sure something can be found. This weekend was cold cold cold. We had to burn bit oil to keep the house warm and...yes we got more snow. I think this is nutty weather. Gunsan hasn't gotten this much snowfall in decades, yet know we are getting it 2 years in a row.

Usually I do not like Monday's but today made me think about a friend of mine. His marriage isn't a happy one. It seems they both want what the other wants, but they are not willing to express how they feel. It's sad because when I talk about my wife....I have positive things to say. I smile when I think about her. This is not to say there aren't bumps in the road, only that those bumps are few and far between.

So here is to another monday!

Cheers!

/tata

Nice Weekend!

It is FREEZING in here.....so COLD......i am sitting in the teacher's office wrapped in layers upon layers of clothing, with my hat and gloves on sitting infront of a heater...making this post and i am NUMB.....LOL...can't wait for this weather to turn warmer....ok 'enuf complaining....

We had a wonderful weekend....we went on a drive, talked, listened to our favorite songs, enjoyed a nice meal and did EXCELLENT in EVE.....it was alot of fun and now the rat race begins...

We are in for another busy week but hey Tuesday is almost around the corner....Welcome to the life of an ESL teacher in Dae-han-min-kuk!!!!!!!!!

And on an extremely positive note, by the end of this week we will be proud owners of Iphone 4 (YEAH!!!!!)

Iphone 4

Well we finally did it folks....we are taking the plunge. We are joining the millions of iphone users around the world!

I do not think that it will make a big difference in the way I do things. I will likely be a bit more regular on facebook and updating here. We are getting an unlimited plan for internet usage. I might never use the wifi on the phone unless I am in another country.

I was more excited about the LG KS20 that I got back in 2008. I am sure I posted about that phone. It is nice....very sleek design, wifi bluetooth capable. I even upgraded it to windows mobile 6.2.

HOWEVER, it was slow. It was very slow when compared to a iphone 3. If I could do it all over again...I would have gotten a iPhone3, and I would have gone through the process to get it on Korea's telecom network.

Instead I was fed up with a product that really was LG's first attempt at developing a smart phone. The GPS unit that came with the phone was incomplete, so you could see this GPS icon but...it did nothing. Absolutely nutty, I remember trying to use it thinking...WOW this is so awesome....NOT.

Oh well when it arrives perhaps tomorrow, or the next day I will have more to say.

/tata

Hump day!

Well we had an unusually large lunch today (subway sandwiches). I feel very drowsy and too full.

Usually we enjoy light lunches, but today was an exception. We just could not help but give in to our subway craving. Yummy.

Now I regret it. I feel sooooo drained because all of my blood has gone to my stomach. Which means that I am mentally slow.

I have a project on my to do list for this month: restore the computer in the teachers office. I mean its nuts....it has been there since 2002! I need to upgrade the cpu, graphic card, memory, power supply.....basically over haul the entire pc.

I am tired of looking at it. It is an eye sore in the teachers office.

So now I need to go looking for old pc parts......

/tata

Hump day

2011....first post

Yep it is the new year, and I will be one year older next week. Time seems to pass even faster as I get older. It feels like yesterday that it was 2009 in January, and I was posting on my blog. Now, here I am still in Korea, doing what I enjoy. I want to work hard at becoming a better father, and husband. I want to spend more quality time with family this year.

I also have travel plans as well, but not the "lets go backpacking" type of deal. I want to take a vacation in one area of a country, and explore and experience that area. I am interested in Manila, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. I want to travel to these places in the course of 2-3 years. I also think that it is about time that I travel to Cheju-do (Island). I have been all over this country, and even return to places again and again, but I have yet to travel to Cheju-do.

My sister in law Sanyogita recently got married, and I am eager to meet my new brother in law. I also will see India perhaps twice this year......(uh....I guess 2012 I can fulfill my other travel plans).

I feel quite fortunate to have had the experiences that I have had. Living here in Korea as a long time resident has changed me in many ways. My outlook on life is a bit different from what it used to be in America. Understanding another point of view has its challenges, while at the same time it can be quite fascinating.

Korea is a dynamic place, that is changing all of the time. It is exciting to see the change, and to be here while it is going on. I have also seen remarkable change in Lucknow, India. Today Lucknow is much more modern than just 4 years ago!

I want to be more active on this blog this year. So...this is to post number 1!

cheers!

/tata