An Excerpt from a Personal Email (with permission)

My friend was in the middle of a fairly serious personal crisis when she wrote me this email. She was trying to get the day off work and didn't want to divulge the truth of the situation (knowing it and the likely reaction in a Korean school, I don't blame her). Keep all this in mind, also that she was fine physically when this happened, and I think you'll see why I think it's so funny.

"... especially since the reaction I got at my school this morning suggests I wasn't looking my best. First thing they say is "Oh, you no look good." Always my favorite thing to hear first thing in the morning. So, they insisted I go to the doctor which was awkward since I didn't want to share the real reason [I wanted to go home] and my co-teacher had to accompany me and translate made up things about the frequency of bowel movements etc. Now, the whole school will know things that are not really part of the things colleagues need to know. One shot in the butt and an admonition against drinking coffee later (who does this doctor think he is?) and I am at home with the flu. All in all, it worked out well. I am getting used to being humiliated in this country. How about you? How's the day going?"-Anonymous

I just thought my friend's situation was funny enough that it needed to be shared with everyone. It's the kind of thing that seems to happen quite regularly here due to language barriers and differences in culture.

Horoscopes of Late - Courtesy of The Onion

Taurus -
While all may be fair in love and war, many will come out against your egregious use of nerve gas in both.

The winds of change will blow through town this week, leaving you a hatless victim of the increasingly turbulent times.

Tomorrow will be the perfect day to curl up in bed with a good book and sob hysterically about how you never properly learned to read.

While studies have long found laughter to be good for one's heart, a new medical report will soon reveal it to be unbelievably bad for one's pancreas.

While no proverb currently exists to warn you of the dangers of next week's events, dozens will soon be hastily written to prevent others from suffering a similar fate.

A magical nymph will appear at a most distressing time in your life and offer to help in return for your future first-born son—a hell of a deal considering how heavily you'll drink while pregnant.

Rocks Rock

Hello to the Plebeian Masses,

Hey all. I wanted to tell you all about my weekend while the experience was still fresh.

I went on a rock climbing/hiking trip out to Mt. Songnisan Adventure School and Joryungsan in Chungcheongbuk-do. It was fantastic fo rso many reasons that it's hard to know where to start.

First off, the colors of the autumn foliage were amazing. I've never seen this much of a variety of colors nor in such vivid contrast before. It was like someone had gone around with paint and carefully coated each leaf with the brightest, most rich pigments they could find...

Next was the general terrain. I'm all for hiking. I enjoy it and quite like the idea that it's good for me. I have never, however, attempted anything like this hike in my life. It was crazy steep in a number of places and just the slightest misplacement of a foot would have sent you plummeting to almost certain death. It was pretty though.

Finally, the other people that went on the trip were awesome. There were about forty of us and I didn't meet anyone that was less than pleasant. Many were, in fact, far beyond this minimal standard, rating somewhere around the "cooler than you" level of associative compatability. There was wide variety in the type of person too. From 45 year old ex-military to 22 year old anthropology majors. Of course, there was also the wide cultural spectrum that I've come to expect in any gathering of the generalized "westerner" here in Korea. People were from all over, though I was happy to note that the ratio of Canadians was somewhat higher on this outdoors trip than it is in the general ex-pat population of Seoul. Go Canadian Hikers!

Anyway, this hiking trip was one of the best I've ever gone on and the pictures I got were well worth the effort of climbing. You can check out all the pics by using the link to my photos page, located to the right --->

Hopefull, this weekend will have served as a good warm-up, because I'm heading off to Seoraksan National Park next weekend with the same travel club (but mostly different people). It is, by accounts from those who have gone, one of the most beautiful areas in Korea... "world-class hiking".

I cannot wait.