No Time!

What up peeps? The last month or so has been a whirlwind to put it mildly. Since fall semester started, we've been busy adjusting to new textbooks, students, classes, and teaching galore. Once Monday rolls around our days pretty much go like this... prep, teach, grade, repeat. Oh and Dusty's training for a marathon and I've got a 10K coming up in two weeks. And of course, we still make time for climbing sometimes. Life is good but busy, hence the lack of posts the past several weeks. Swine flu has started to spread around campus. I've already had one class cancelled because of it. The school is checking student's temperatures at the front gate. However, professors like us are just waved on through. I guess we aren't subject to this precaution even though we have contact with hundreds of students everyday. Makes a lot of sense huh? That's Korean logic for you. I'm washing my hands a ton, drinking lots of water, and taking my vitamins. That's about all I can do. The weather has been amazing. Fall here is just as beautiful as anywhere else I could possibly imagine.

Just thought I'd share the best part of my day today (other than a fabulous and much-needed nap on the couch in my office). Driving on the way home from work, we were stopped at a light at a busy intersection. There was blaring Korean techno music in the air which according to Dusty sounds like techno on crack and I agree. So we look across the street only to see a bunch of old ladies in the park partaking in some hip-hop aerobics complete with some powerful pelvic thrusts and wicked gyrating hip rolls. Yes, I did say old ladies. Like grandmas. Like old grandmas. In public. Let me tell you, it was extremely entertaining to watch while we waited for the light to turn. We both got a good laugh. Gotta love Korea.

Hey Cow!

If you've ever lived in the US mid-west, or anywhere that has cows grazing near the road you're driving on, you have probably played or heard of the game called "Hey Cow!" It's very simple. As you're driving by, you roll down the window and yell, "hey cow!" Then, by the number of cows that look at you, you get that many points, and if you cause a stampede, it's worth even more. You get the picture. If you don't, you can look it up on youtube.

Just yesterday, I realized that Koreans have a very similar version, whether they recognize it or not. As some of you know, I've been running a lot lately trying to get in good shape for a marathon I plan to run in about a month from now. I've noticed how the Koreans, once they recognize they are in the presence of a foreigner, have the opportunity to impress their friends by speaking English. So as I run by, one will likely yell something like, "Hello," or "nice to meet you", "how are you", "fine thank you, and you," all in hopes of eliciting a response from me. If I turn and respond, they tend to giggle and speak excitedly to their company, saying what I can imagine to be something like, "I got him to look!" I never thought I would be comparing myself to a cow. Moo!

Concord Grapes

Not much in particular is going on lately. I just wanted to write. Sometimes I feel like I should always have something special to say. But sometimes it's the little things that add up to the ultimate experience. It's 11:15 at night and I should be sleeping. These are the thoughts that run through my mind: my snoozing wife next to me, my friend biking across the country (probably as I write this), my brother-in-law learning trad climbing in Colorado, aching legs, my belly button in the light of the computer, fried chicken from the window, my parents' new adventure with their property, my sister and her family.

I decided that eating concord grapes was the highlight of my day today. I have an hour break in the afternoon between classes and I usually spend it in the main office of my department at school. When I came in today, someone had brought in a big bunch of concord grapes, the ones I'm pretty sure most grape juice is made of. I don't know if I've ever had concord grapes plain. I also don't know if I've ever enjoyed grapes so much. All I'd had for lunch was a leftover salad from the night before, so I was still a little hungry. I ended up eating most of the bunch while I sat and read a Time magazine that someone had left in there.

Life is simple here, but somehow we find ways to make it complex. Only when I slow down enough to hear the gentle chirp of the crickets outside my window does the world return to its natural state. And I am at peace again.
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