Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day, everyone!

Emily and I had a wonderful Valentines day celebration. I picked Emily up a dozen yellow roses at one of the flower stores that I pass on my way home from work, and they have turned out to be beautiful. She bought me some chocolates and some wonderful green tea. We then went out to TGI Fridays (an Maxwell Taylor's/Red Robin's type restaurant) where we had steak and ribs.

For those of you fellows that forgot and/or didn't do anything for Valentines Day and you need an excuse, simply come to Korea. The 14th of every month is a special "Love Day."

February 14th, girls are supposed to give guys chocolate. I had several of my students (male and female) give me chocolate. On March 14th, White Day, the guys reciprocate with flowers or chocolate. These days are both very special and are a lot of fun for couples.

"What if you are not a couple?" you may be asking right now. Well, the day for the singles comes next. April 14th is for everyone who didn't get chocolate from anyone in February or March. On this day, all the single people eat cold noodles and cry because they don't have anyone in their life.

Isn't that special?

They have arrived!

Just a quick note to say that Emily's folks have arrived safely in Korea. They had a safe and good trip, landing in Korea two days ago and arriving in Gwangju yesterday. Jet lag does not seem to be a problem so far, which is just one of God's many blessings.

We went out for supper last night (sam gyip sal, which is essentially fried pork, lettuce and side dishes) and they really enjoyed it. The ladies in the restaurant gently hovered over our table all through the meal, making sure our meat was cooking properly (you cook the meat on a burner at your table for this meal), plates were not empty for long and even bringing out forks when it seemed like the chopsticks were a bit of a losing battle.

Kudos to the Jacksons, though - they didn't give up and persevered with the chopsticks to the end of the meal.

It seems like Korea is going to work out just fine for them.

Happy Birthday, Dear Emily...

So Monday, January 23rd was Emily's birthday. I (Jon) had to leave for work at 9:30, so we had to get up a little earlier (at the crack of 8:00) so that she could open her presents. I got her a black goldfish (two, actually, but one didn't want to be present and died beforehand), a hair blow-dryer and a new scarf, among other miscellaneous items.

I then went to the school while Emily stayed home and received birthday congratulations from a variety of people over the phone (thank you to everyone that phoned and e-mailed - it meant a great deal!). She then came into the school because I had a test that she supervised for me.

(When the kids have a test it has a speaking and a writing portion, so I pull the kids out of the class one at a time for the speaking portion and Emily supervises the writing portion and then entertains them for the remainder of the class.)

Several students remembered her birthday and gave her some gifts and cards, which was very sweet and cute. We finished the day and then went for supper at VIPS (Very Important Person Society), which is like a salad bar/steak restaurant. It was fairly nice and the food was pretty good.

Anyway, we got to eating and Emily and I ate nearly identical portions of everything, except that I tried the chicken pilaf, whereas she did not. After I had dished it up, I noted that it smelled funny. After I had put it in my mouth, I noted that it tasted funny. However, being in Korea and having tasted some of the things that I have, I just figured that this was chicken pilaf done Korean style.

Boy, was I wrong.

Halfway through my ice cream dessert, my stomach started to seize up. I wasn't sure if I was suddenly full or if I was ill, but we figured it was a good time to go home regardless of the circumstances. I made it to our apartment and proceeded to have the worst night of my life in recent memory.

I made at least 10 trips to the toilet to violently expel the contents of my stomach in a most noisome and unpleasant manner. While not puking my guts out, I laid on the couch moaning in agony because of my stomach cramps. I was up no less than 3 times in the night to continue the routine, finally emptying the last bit of chicken pilaf at about 6:00 AM. Emily was kind enough to teach for me on Tuesday, while I lay at home and recuperated.

Minus the ending, the birthday was good.

And my advice to you: Don't eat the chicken pilaf.

The Korean Subway vs. The LRT

Korean subways are an experience unto themselves.

Actually, they are quite similar to the LRT in Edmonton.

Except that they're sparkling clean.
And quiet.
And safe.
And efficient.
And fast.
And they go from somewhere you are likely to be to somewhere you likely want to go.

Perhaps they're not so much like the LRT after all...