An Interesting Fact

I used to just tan straight-up brown like Pocahontas in the summahtime... now i'm getting freckles. Aaaaaand lots of them!

Ok, so maybe that's not interesting to you. Did you know that a popular Korean dish is live squid? Like still moving, squirming-in-your-mouth live squid? I haven't sampled it yet.

Watermelon Weeknight

I bought a giant watermelon for $5 off a street vendor last night. I was on my way to my friends' apartment, and I had "The Silver Bullet" (my bicycle) with me... which is actually more of a silver snail, rather sluggish and a bit squeaky... but anyways, you should try cycling with a watermelon in your backpack. It's, um... awkward, to say the least, and really throws off your balance. The street vendor man had a good laugh as I went wobbling away from him!
The things we do for smiles...


A watermelon mouse (for Cameron)

Tulips, Two Lips

Sorry, I've been AWOL... a wedding and international time travel and family reunions and roadies with cuzzies and such! You know, the usual... ;0)
Here are some snaps from Ali and Phil's wedding, more coming soon... CLICK HERE, if you're interested!

It Takes Two

Hi! Just wanted to share with you a fashion trend I've been observing here in South Korea....

Couples sporting matching outfits,

right down to their carefully-planned accessories.

All of these photos were taken on the same day, in the same town.

It's a bit too "cute" for my personal taste, but they love it here!

Mmmm... knee socks, stilettos and rugby shirt combo... AWESOME! (Haha... Islay?!!)

Some are slightly more subtle...

...at least varying the colors a bit!

And some couples are just plain outta control!!!

(Just kidding, those are my friends, Dan and Lindsay, from Toronto.)

Oceanminded

More snaps of my sunset, seaside adventure last night... this is Gujora Beach, not too far from where I live... so pretty!

Upon the Discovery of a Dead Seagull

I was treading mildly down the beach

When whom should I happen upon to meet

All wave-washed up upon the sand

But you, my finely feathered friend!

On many shores, we two have met

And many countries we have seen

But this time, over your sorry life

A tide-like ebb and flow have been.

I must say, I never really liked

your peace-disturbing schemes

You picnic-stealing pirate,

With those awful piercing screams!

Your voracious appetite

Often made my stomach sore

To watch you scarf back bits of rubbish

With a greedy eye for more.

Yet lying here upon the sand

Your heart no longer beats,

And I cannot help but find

A little tenderness in me.

So I draw my heart around yours

With a spindly piece of wood

And wonder how it came to be

Death found you where you stood.

Did you chew on something far too big

That in your throat did catch?

Or perhaps get tangled up

In some idle fishing nets?

Although I do not often tend to scare

sun-bathers with my screech

Nor steal food from unsuspecting

children on the beach-

You and I, at least, have this one affinity

If we could chose, in life and death,

We'd do both by the sea!

So farewell my fine and feathered friend,

As wave upon frothy wave

Creeps in to carry you up and out

To your cold and watery grave.

(Okay, so maybe it's more than a little strange that a dead seagull I found today inspired me to write this silly poem, but I thought its existence, as pathetic as a seagull's life is, should be celebrated somehow... I once wrote a poem called "A Day in the Life of a Trash Can," so surely this one can be considered a step up from that?! Haha...)

Fresh Air Friends

I love days like this... spent mainly in the Great Outdoors! Making the most of the milder, finally-feels-like-Spring weather, a small crew of us caught a $1 bus ride to the bottom of Geoje-do, to a sweet spot called Mangsan. I had been there once before, in Autumn, and was keen to get back... it is about a half-day hike, following the ridge along a small range of mountains, with most of it along the coast, so there are some stellar views! We packed a picnic, and one of the guys brought a camping stove and some marinated meat and veggies, which you wrap up in lettuce leaves and eat (a Korean specialty called bulgogi.) Food really does taste amazing outside in the fresh air, especially after you've worked up an appetite for it! Of course, that was before we got told off (in Korean, haha) for using our camping stove in the park. I guess it was a no-fire zone! Oh well, the meat was cooked, and we had already finished eating most of it by that point. The hike finished up at pretty Myeongsa, a sandy beach with shells littering the water's edge. After chillin' there for awhile, we managed to miss the bus home... even though a valiant attempt was made to run after it and flag it down! Hitchhiking seems easy enough on the island, though, and we soon found a ride with a bunch of Korean Samsung workers, in their faded grey-blue uniforms, on a private Samsung bus. A few of them attempted conversation with us, using their cellphone translators to communicate. The fresh sea air, warm food and time spend with new friends and old... made for an all-around awesome Saturday!