Mr. Miyagi has Mad Cow Disease

First, I want to thank you all for pushing our blog site to over 1000 visits. Together we can accomplish anything and this is another testament to "It takes a Village..." Of course a majority of those visits are from family who check in everyday, but hey, at least "1000" is a cool number. Secondly, I hope you like our new picture that starts off our page. What does The Crane from "Karate Kid" have to do with Korea? A great deal actually! It is a move coined by a wise Asian and I am in an Asian country. The parallels are endless.

I like to think of this picture as "A Blending of Cultures". I have applied a martial arts move that was taught by a wise Japanese man (Mr. Miyagi), to a whiny American (Daniel-san), and I have brought it to the patient Korean people. Why? Because. That is why. As you can see, the castle guard was wishing he were "craning" me. Notice, my form is really not that good. To give you a better idea of what the crane should look like I have added a clip from "The Karate Kid". Comparatively, Daniel-san's form is nearly flawless as well as effortless. All of that "wax-on, wax-off" really paid off. In the end Cobra Kai was no match for Daniel-san and The Crane. While watching the clip please listen for the intimidatingly mocking words "Get him a body bag". *Sigh*. A true classic. My picture on the other hand is pure amateur hour. Not only is my form wrong, but I have embarrassed my girlfriend and annoyed this fine young Korean man who, no doubt, is already suffering from the 85 degree heat and 90 percent humidity. Sadly, I don't think his outfit was constructed with any type of cooling or wicking material. I only wish I could get my hands on a friend's picture who got the guard to take his sword out and pretend to chop his head off. THAT was classic.

What have we been doing? You mean besides sweating, right? Summer in Korea is hot. Damn hot. This is not to mention the ridiculous humidity level. I have finally satiated my curiosity of what is must be like to breath through a wet sponge all day - a warm wet sponge. Now take that qualitative description and times it by factor of 3. That is what a Korean summer feels like. I have concluded that the aforementioned curiosity of mine was unwarranted and I would only wish it upon my worst enemies. The weather regularly kindly bestows days of 85 degrees and 95% humidity. Today Mindy and I went running in the morning's "coolness". It was like jogging in pea soup.

We have met friends! People actually like us - people that we can have normal conversations with that don't go something like, "he-ll-o....my...name...is...." We had a great week of teacher training where we met a great deal of people from all over the English speaking world. South Africans are probably some of the most fun people I have ever met. They not only offer a steady flow of humor, intelligence and color to interactions, but they offer insight into ways of life that I have never had experience with. My interactions have ranged from deep 30 min debates about the existence of aliens in outer space to illuminating discussions of race, politics, and economics. It is a truly unique country and people.

On the cultural end, we have spent time traveling to various historical sites, castles, fortresses, and temples (you can see some in the pictures). On a recent trip to Seoul we saw the street was lined with riot cops (complete with shields) in the aftermath of the American beef protests. For those of you who do not know, tens of thousands have protested the beginning of beef importation from America. Many are afraid of the potential for infection from mad cow disease. It must be noted that I have been asked many times from random Korean strangers, "What do you think of Mad Cow Disease?" I look at them puzzled and respond, "....ummm, I guess I don't like it." On the not so historical end, we have been hanging with our new friends and having a great time eating Galbi, drinking Soju, and planning future events. We have found that, apparently, nearly everyone knows way more Korean than we do. It is sad a sad thing.

Korean Cultural Side Note: As I was sitting here in a bath towel, from a cool mid-day shower, writing this I heard a noise outside of our apartment door. I look over and an old Korean woman has opened our door, stuck her head inside and was on her way inside. No knock. Just a walk in. She is not our neighbor, but a woman who must be in her late 70s and about three foot high. She says something in Korean, which I think was "food". I don't think she was begging, but rather selling. The point being Koreans are extremely social. A door here is not so much a reason to keep people out, but more of an invitation of entry. This is not the first time this has happened. Just something to get used to...or something to teach us to lock our door when we are home, as we have now done.

~Scott