Midnight cry of the watermelon man

I was given quite the start the other night by the piercing sound of a recorded message blaring from loud speakers. I took this picture of the truck parked directly below my open windows selling watermelon. This was the first time I have seen these trucks plying their wares after dark. He must have been advertising a good price for watermelon, because people came running to make a purchase.

Geocaching in Korea

I decided to take advantage of the nice weather on Friday and headed out to search for my first geocache here in Korea. I got on the subway and 30 minutes later found myself surrounded by mountains outside central Seoul. Led by my trusty GPS I started climbing a steep hill, and it didn't take long before I was drenched in my own sweat. Even when it doesn't seem that hot here, the humidity takes its toll.



The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular. You can glimpse central Seoul off in the distance in this picture. The thing that really struck me was how blue the sky was—something you rarely see in Seoul.



The cache itself was easy to find. The hider constructed this rather elaborate box, disguising it to look like an electrical box to throw off the casual observer. I left a Canadian flag sticker. From the awkward English in the log book, I'd guess that the previous finders have been roughly half Korean and half foreigners. I already have coordinates picked out for another cache I want to look for next weekend!

Dok boki bribe

I can't remember how they did it, but my advanced class somehow talked me into buying them all an after-school snack if they completed their homework each day this week. I'm not sure how I feel about bribing my students, but the incentive worked. After class on Thursday I bought them all dok boki, a popular street food snack.

A night at the Hard Rock

As a way of saying thank you for bringing an extra suitcase filled with my stuff with her on her visit to Korea, I offered to take Kathy out for dinner before she left this week. I gave her the choice of where to go, and she picked the Hard Rock Cafe. This turned out to be an inspired choice. The food was great, exceeding all of our expectations. But what made the evening truly memorable was the lively house band. Wow! The male singer had a great voice, and the female singer had so much frantic energy she was hilarious to watch! It was a great evening.

Korean women

There have been a couple of very interesting items in the Korean press lately that might reveal a little insight into the status of women in Korean society.

The Korean Hearld reports that a judge has been able to monetize the value of a housewife. Apparently, a housewive's "daily chores" are worth just 65,000 won (approximately C$80). Check out the article here. And, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper has an article that makes the rather shocking claim that two-thirds of Korean women can imagine having an affair. Read the article here here.

Does anyone else think these two items are possibly related?

Evil English teachers

According to a report on Korean TV, pot head English teachers from Canada and the U.S. are responsible for a dramatic increase in drug trafficking here in Korea. Apparently they are having packages sent to them through the mail, using peanut butter as a disguise.

Check out a picture and the full story at The Marmot's Hole.

World Carnival Korea

Wanting to get outside the city, Anna, Jessica, and I headed for Incheon (about an hour outside Seoul) and checked out World Carnival Korea. This is a touring carnival from Europe that sets up for a couple of months in cities throughout Europe and Asia. The rides were OK, but what we got a kick out of most was the multi-ethnic workforce at the carnival. There were some hard core carnies, but most of the staff were young Europeans. It was interesting hearing their take on Korea and Koreans.