Pages

Thursday, January 29, 2009

a new digestive tract?

i got super sick last thursday throwing up again, but much worse than a month ago. i thought maybe it was what i ate for lunch. hyunjoo took me to the emergency room, as it was too late in the evening to go to a clinic or doctor's office. i decided to let them give me an i.v., do a blood test and take abdominal and chest xrays. the medicine they gave me made me throw up again, but all that was left to come out was bile. they then took me to the back where i fell asleep for at least an hour. they woke me up to take the xrays and i blacked out, collapsing on the floor during the second one. i told them i was dizzy, but they obviously didn't understand what i said. after sleeping for another hour i was able to take the remaining xrays. with hyunjoo translating, all i was told was that my intestines were swollen and i had an infection. they gave me some medicine and told me i could go. total cost 100,000 won. i didn't go to work on friday, just slept all day punctuated with the eating of spinach and rice soup at hyunjoo's.

박현주많이감사함니다

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

sunday, part 2 신 흥 사 (shin heung sa)

after leaving 군 평 항 we stopped by 신 흥 사 (shin heung sa) a buddhist temple.
this is the temple gate/entrance.

this is where 4 temple gaurds hang out...


i don't remember which is which,
but they are north, south, east and west...

they keep the little devils down.

a dormant fountain as everything is frozen.

the main temple...


inside the main temple...






ceremonial instruments. the wooden one on the left is for the water and fish, the one on the right is for the sky, clouds and birds...

this drum is for animals, more specifically pigs and cows (i think)...

and this bell if for the universe.

this is in a smaller temple and it shows buddha, the sun, the moon, and buddha's disciples.

this buddha carries a basket of medicine. the story is that it was missing and a monk had a dream about where it was. it was in a pond and they found it, but it had no head, so they made a new one.

the children's temple.

there are little statues of white kids to the left and right of the candles?

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

sunday, part 1 군 평 항 (gun pyeong hang )

the first half of sunday consisted of research for my trip to shanghai. i then took an hour ride to eat lunch at 군 평 항 (gun pyeong hang), a port on the west coast.
to start, you walk past all of these vendors trying to sell you their seafood and you choose what you want. from flounder and leopard toad fish that live on the bottom in the mud?...

and stingray...

and big prawns...

and something very phallic that i assume lives in the mud?

then you walk over to the restaurant. as you go the staff come running by with plates of raw fish.

right after you sit down they bring over a plate of raw octopus whose tentacles are still moving. grandma gets dizzy spells and eating octopus is the remedy.

next out are about six plates of shellfish and other filter feeding sea creatures (some raw, some cooked), raw carrots, garlic, seaweed, soybeans, hot peppers, salad, kimchi, etc...

watch this...

then two huge plates of raw fish come out and after you've made your way through half of that,...

an enormous bowl of 칼국수 (kal guk su) arrives.

i'm quite sure that this is what i looked like the entire time.

Monday, January 12, 2009

똥침

last week in one of my classes, a student (christopher) said 'fuck you' to another student (francis). they are friends and it was no suprise as they are always cutting up. these boys are probably 13-15 years old.
i said 'hey don't let me hear you say that again in my class.'
christopher said 'ok, sorry.'
i said 'if i hear it again, francis will have my permission to 똥침 you.'
(dong chim: dong=shit, chim=acupuncture; so acupuncture in the ass) the entire class busted out laughing.
you take your hands and put them together like a 007 gun and poke someone in the ass and say 똥침! it's more common with the younger kids, but they all find it funny.

beyond that school is super busy right now, as it's intensives. it's a lot of work, both inside and outside of the classroom, but everything is good.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

two squid arms and a side of fries juseyo

in myung dong in seoul there are all kinds of street vendors selling jewelry, hats, clothes, etc. i got a pair of wool gloves that are super warm for super cheap. there are also food stands selling things like french fries and 4 foot long squid tentacles to go.

saturday i went to jebudo island on the west coast about an hour away from suwon. it's most known for the mussels you can get in the mud flats when the tide is out. from the main land you can take a bus out for 1,000 won or you can walk the 2 kilometers to the island. we chose to walk as it wasn't too cold. right now you have to leave the island by 4pm or be prepared to stay the night because the tide comes up over the road and they shut it down.

at the end of the island are the remains of an elevated piece of land that has been whittled down by the sea to these big boulders. as you walk out to them you are walking on their crumbled bits. i'd like to see them when the tide comes up and they shoot out of the water. maybe i'll go back in the summer or something.