Incredible India

The hustle and bustle of everyday life is a whirlwind of activity that couples modernity with tradition. Cars blowing their horns driving in every direction, people hopping on and being shoved into overcrowded buses on their way to work, cows roaming freely in the city, goods carted by camels and horses while obeying the commands of a prod, auto rickshaws and bicycles that are peddled by manpower are used as short distance public transportation, debris and dust filling the air. The scents of India are a distinct mixture of spice, sweat, food, sewer, perfume all rolled into one. "Entrepreneurs" selling goods on the street are in existance with beggars scrounging for food and money. Women dressed in brightly colored and beautiful saris. The family hospitality was so welcome and warming as we were made to feel well at home with food, drink and many smiles. Even our saris were attended to!

The Taj Mahal was bult by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his second wife who died during childbirth in 1631. It took over 20 years to complete and 20 000 people from India and Central Asia worked on the builiding to produce its exquisite marbe screens and mable inlay work made wih thousands of semipresious stones. Now one of the eight wonders of the world, it stands as an architectural momument of admiration.

Jaipur, known as the "Pink City" is charming in itself as we explored many forts, shopped and and also visited the Chokhi Dhani Village. Spread over 10 acres of beautifully landscaped area for a rustic look, this little village is dotted with machaans & platforms where different folk artists perform concurrently. A village fair is created every evening as an ongoing celebration of the rich & vibrant cultural heritage of Rajasthan. The display of traditional huts and workmanship will take you back to the times when splendor was unpretentious.



Yeah........ "Incredible India".......

Toastmasters

Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization which gives people the opportunity to develop and improve their public speaking abilities through local club meetings, training seminars and speech contests. I have taken an active role in toastmasters, with last night being my second meeting and also a repeat performance of serving as the gammarian. The purpose of the gammarian is to keep an ear out for any useful expressions or words used through out the meeting and also to offer constructive critizism for any misuse of language. Last night I also got to make an imprompt-tu speech. My topic was what would I do if Korea was considered to be a sub-tropical country. Very fitting for all the ice and snow in Canada! And for doing such a good job, I got first place in the table topics and received a ribbon! There is also word of the day, and joke master. Keeping time is important, as well as the "Ah" counter. But most of all, it makes for an enjoyable evening out!

An Excursion

Show and Tell

Last week, I asked my seven year olds to do a show and tell. Some of them brought in toys, some more talked about pictures, another brought a book. Here is a video where Richard is doing a show and tell on his pencil case. This is one of the funniest videos becuase of the little boy bouncing around in front of the camera. Leo is a hyper active kid and has to be kept busy all the time. Here is a little taste of what I have to deal with everyday!

Take Two

The Han River runs through Seoul from east to west and many activities take place on the river. Last weekend, we took a cruise boat from Jamsil to Yeouido. A little boring for me because I've "been there, done that" and a slow moving boat with no waves is not that exciting. But it was relaxing all the same.

Champy

(May 02, 1992 - September 06, 2007)

"Man's best friend" is certainly true. And so I will miss my best friend. From chewing up my 'Babysitter's Club' books to being constantly by my side from a relationship break up, throughout the years, he was always there -always my shadow. His soft floppy ears with crimpy fur, his front paws that always turned outward. His love of the outdoors but never straying far from the warmth of my bed. Sharing cookies and icecream, forks and pillows. Always my puppy no matter where I am. No matter where he is.

Banana Milk

So banana milk is like my favorite beverage here. And it's especially awesome in the morning time, coupled with kimbap for breakfast! I decided to Google banana milk and here is what I stole from a website:

Banana milk is a popular Korean beverage. The beverage first hit Korean store shelves in 1974. The problem with milk is to the Korean palette milk tasted weird. It's hard to imagine someone dunking a chocolate chip cookie in an ice cold glass of fresh milk and proclaiming the taste repellant. But then no Korean could imagine a person putting some slimy kimchi in his mouth and spitting it out proclaiming "I didn't think any fermented cabbage product could be more disgusting than sauerkraut but now I know I've been wrong all these long years. Holy shit, do you Koreans really eat this stuff?" The Binggrae company (founded in 1969) got the idea to add banana flavoring to the milk. Koreans go bananas for bananas. And they packaged it in a funky stubby little bottle that resembled to some a hand grenade and to others a traditional kimchi pot. The adult generation in the '70s were still dairy avoiders but the kids loved it. It was sweet and the grenade-like packaging was hard to resist. Vendors with their tubs filled with ice and bottles of banana milk became common place at fairs and parks. In the same way a North American has a childhood filled with sweet memories of the day their crappy, cheap parents crowbarred a buck out of their wallets to splurge on a corn dog, Koreans have many a fond memory of their parents buying them a bottle of icy cold banana milk at the park. Banana milk eventually became the number one product sold in Korean convenience stores. Banana milk out sold cigarettes and if you know Koreans, that's a most astounding claim.

Everland

An update (Aug 18!) of pics from Everland: The Happiest Place on Earth!

What is Love?

Oh Tinpan, why do you love me so? Is it the music? Is it the table dancing? Is it the bets? Or the $2 tequilia shots? Brian, no more tequilia shots!!

One Person's Junk is Another's Treasure

A couple of weeks ago, the kids had a "Market Day" at ECC. They brought in all their old junk from home and they were able to buy things with their play money. We had a snack bar, a hair salon, a toystore, a department store and a stationary store. The kids bought everything up and they learned phrases like "How much is it?" and "Can I have change back please?" etc. We had a lot of fun and I enjoyed it as much as the kids!