Life goes on

Been a long time since I posted to this. I worked in Korea for some eight and a half years. Closed down one program and moved to another.
Got divorced 💔 Remarried 💓

 Retired a bit over 5 years ago and actually returned to my hoe country Canada. Enjoying retirement for the most part. 

Had a heart attack five years ago. Survived and am doing well.

Trips: Busan

Been a little slow updating this blog. This was in November.
I took a trip to Busan with one of my language exchange partners. Busan is on the east coast of Korea and is quite a bit larger than Daegu.

Rode the KTX Korea's high speed rail. Great way to travel. An hour to Busan and a really comfortable ride. Smooth and quiet. You'd hardly know you were on a train.

Visited the aquarium. Pretty impressive.

Disapointing Weekend

I was hoping to do a couple things this weekend. Saturday I was supposed to get together with one of my language exchange partners but she stood me up. Today I was supposed to take a trip up to the mountains to view the fall foliage but it was canceled. Unfortunately nobody told me so I didn't find out until I called my ride to ask what happened. So I've ended up just sitting around my apartment :(

Gave an exam in one of my classes last week and students generally bombed. I suspect it's mostly lack of English proficiency that's at fault. I have been a bit disappointed in my students skills in that area. They're weaker than I expected. Best not have any more essay type questions.

Chicken

Been a fairly quiet week. Went out to dinner  Sunday. Had a chicken galbi with fried rice that was really spicy. Even the Koreans thought so. Still, I managed to eat it though it actually numbed my lips a bit.
Also ate at the faculty staff cafeteria a couple times. It's a bit of an adventure because I never know what they'll be serving. Had squid one day and bibimbap the next. Both reasonably tasty.

Cooked microwave roast chicken tonight. Really small chicken -- 500 grams. Note the fork to the left of the plate. The brown color comes from rubbing with a mixture of oyster and soy sauce. Came out quite well.

A trip to the countryside

A Korean acquaintance invited me to visit the place where he grew up. This particular house is over 400 years old and is the ancestral home of his family. It is undergoing renovation. The second picture is of the family crypt.


It was good to get out of the city and to see the Korean countryside. The fields are fairly small because the country is so mountainous. They were in the middle of harvesting rice. As in many countries the rural population in Korea is declining. It's difficult to make much money farming.

Ondol

It is getting a bit chilly here so I decided to make sure the heat works. Korean's generally heat with an underfloor hot water system called an Ondol. This is mine. There are no less than six valves: main inlet and outlet valves and four "zones." There is only one thermostat, in the living room, so the zones are basically heat or no heat. They are not labeled so it is a matter of turning them off or on and seeing which floors get warm. I just tested it to make sure it worked (it's not really cold yet in the apartment).
From what I've seen most apartments have their own boilers for the Ondol and domestic hot water. Mine does not. I'm guessing there's one for the building somewhere.
I did experience Ondol heating when I interviewed for the job in March. Quite pleasant -- beats the heck out of the forced air heat pump system I had back in the states for comfort at least.

Keeping busy but out of trouble ...

I've mostly been too busy to update. Mostly work but some fun as well.
Went out to dinner Friday last with K.E., a colleague from work. We'd planned to meet up with some other international faculty but couldn't find any. Fried chicken and beer. I actually walked all the way home -- just because. It's quite a ways.
Saturday I was supposed to meet up with one of my other language exchange partners but she was ill.

Joined the English language study group Sunday afternoon. Chatted for awhile and then had dinner at the Holy Grille, an international restaurant in downtown Daegu. We were a bit disappointed in the food which all the Koreans found too oily.



Monday K.E., his wife A., and daughter attended an organ concert with me.  Pretty spectacular. The photo is of Adams Chapel at Keimyung and that is a pretty serious instrument. One of the music teachers was retiring. She actually welcomed me to the concert but I didn't realize who she was at first. Very gracious lady and a very moving event.

Adams Chapel is actually up a pretty serious hill. I walked there and back after the reception. Quite a view.

Finally, in other exciting news, I cooked a chicken in the microwave. Since I don't have a conventional oven (they're rare in Korea) the only way to "roast" a chicken is in the microwave. Turned out edible though a little bland (need to get more spices and such). Had it with some steamed vegetables (also made in the microwave) and salad.