The Juggling Nomad

2007-07-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

Mid Summer Reflection

I've been back in Canada for over a month now, and its got to the point where everything here is just about normal. I have finally sorted through all my mail.

It seems everyone I know either now has a career, kid, husband/wife, house or a combination of these things. So needless to say there has been a lot of catching up to do, and still is to be done.

I've been giving er on the ulty, playing in 3 tourneys in 4 weeks including Potlatch, one of the biggest co-ed tourney's in the world. There I played with the 101 Damn Asians, a team of folks past and presently living in Asia. That was on Canada day weekend.

The following weekend I returned to Peg city and went to the awesome Winnipeg Folk Festival. This is by far the coolest thing Winnipeg has to offer. All the musicians were spot on and the campground was one massive drumming party. Good people. Good times.

The 3rd week in July I went to Minneapolis and played in another frisbee tourney there. Alongside that I got to visit with Brett and Jenny, a couple that left Korea about a year ago. We hit all the hot spots; the Mall of America, Fort Snelling (yeah that's hot; history hot), the front gate of Valleyfair (looked like it was going to rain), Mystic Lake Casino (backup plan for Valleyfair though it never rained), and even a drag show.

This past weekend involved me mostly being sick which leads me to where I am right now. All the other time in between has been catching up with peeps and taking it easy.

What's next? This is the question I get asked most. The answer: I still don't know, but I can say it's starting to stress me out for the first time in as long as I can remember... Time will tell. I head to BC next week to reunite with my old crew at Shambhala, a huge festival in the mountains of BC. I'm stoked for that, and then I'll figure my life out...

2007-06-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

Back in the Motherland

Well first off, my 4 weeks in China were great. I played in two frisbee tourneys, hung out in Beijing for a week, hiked the tiger leaping gorge and saw hemp grow in the wild alongside some stunning scenery.

Chinese food is sooooooooooooooooooooo delicious, and I was lucky enough to have some chinese freinds, or chinese speaking friends guide me to most of the treasures.

My chinese vacation ended in Shanghai with their sweet frisbee tourney last weekend. It was tons of fun and great to see my friends from Korea and all over Asia that I've met at previous tourneys.

Our team, the Damn Kids, went 7-1 and won the B pool, but we should've won that 1 crossover game to get into A. Damn you Sunday early morning games!!!

Now I'm back in Canada chilling with my good buddy Brando. After 3 years, its really nice to reconnect. Some things I've noticed in Canada so far

Grass smells sooooooooooooooooo good and its everywhere!
Customer Service - its everywhere! People are over-helpful.
Piercings- Holy shit, everyone and their dog has one. The styles blow my mind. I forgot all about individualism
Fat people do exist. Lots of them. Actually China surprised me by having quite a few too.
Shit is EXPENSIVE here. 4 beers cost $30 with tip. Boooo tip. Booooo tax.
There is soooooo much space, people have these things called "yards" which is like an extension of their house. AND it has GRASS

Alright I got to go the Brando's backyard and attempt to assemble a tent. We are going camping this weekend in possible rain. Its ok cuz we got lots and lots of beer.

2007-05-23T00:08:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!!

This will be brief, but I'm long due for a post so at least its something.

The past 12 weeks I have been working long and hard as one of the organizers for our Jeju Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

www.koreaultimate.net/jeju

It was a huge success! The weather was perfect, play was outstanding and organization was (seemingly) flawless!

Some photos can be seen here

http://koreaultimate.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=3710

The tourney concluded on April 29 and since then my life has been editing a DVD about the tourney for 15 hours a day. After redoing the project more than once, and having countless setbacks, it seems like we finally have a solid copy.

It will be debuting for Ultimate players in Korea tonight on the eve of Buddha's Birthday and my last night in Korea.

I head to China tomorrow for 3 weeks until I meet up again with Korea friends in Shanghai for their 9th Annual Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.

After that concludes I'll jump on a flight to Vancouver and make my way back to Winnipeg for the summer.

Expected arrival is beginning of July.

Korea has been a great two years, maybe I'll be back, maybe I won't. We'll see where life takes me next. Thanks to everyone who has made this a blast.

Anyung-e-casio!

2007-03-28T08:13:00.001-07:00

The RE fundraiser

So it all kicked off last weekend. What an awesome success! We started early, 6 pm. That was a result of my naeivity and forgetting that the last one had tons of people there at that time because it was Coop's Bachelor Party.

So the 'Korean Idol' Karaoke contest that was scheduled from 6-8 went from 9-10:30.
People started really getting into and we had to cut them off. People began pouring in and were anxious to see the real musicians.

And the real musicians put on an amazing show, every one was top notch and played to the crowd's pleasing aural and body rocking receptors.

A huge thanks to the bands who played for free. Even though none of you read this, I'm thanking you here again anyways.

Bexcant
Grooble
St John the Gambler
Boggie Howser

Also thanks to kMike for his bar and working with me to put this all together......again.

Plus thanks to Tahl for making the awesome flyer.

Additional thanks to Kash MC ing and Dray for harassing people to sing karaoke.

More thank you's to Amanda and Georgia for working the door, Yong and Paigey for buying the prizes. Though Paigey doesn't need a Thank You because she won the top prize of an Ipod Shuffle!

Congrats also to CG for pulling in both the third and second place prizes of Jelly Bellies and a bottle of Jiegermeister.

Looks rigged, I know, but I didn't pick any of the lucky winners' numbers.

Also, big-ups to Nero (formerly known as Zero) for raising over 100 000 won ($105) for eating not one, but two peanut butter - and kimchi sandwiches.

Of course, big thanks to everyone who came. Again, the majority of them will likely never read this, but its important I mention it anyways.

So after all that, its time to announce the big grand total. Insert drum roll and feet stomping here. Goddamit just play along at home and do it. I can't hear you.... louder....LOUDER.........

The grand total was............................................................

1 832 000 won! Or, 1950 USD!

That beat the first time's total by over 800 USD!!!!!!!!!

And guess what? It's IN THE BANK. No thief is getting it this time.

Rainbow House will be stoked. That's enough for them to function for about 4 months:)

2007-02-27T03:43:00.000-08:00

A Typical Day of Hiking in Korea

That was exactly nothing like what Tahl and I had today. You see today was the first time I've been hiking mid-week out of season. There was actually about 30 minutes where we didn't see another hiker. In a country that is 70% mountainous, with 50 million people all contained in an area about as big as the state as Indiana, that is a rare yet SWEET moment.

Go hiking on a weekend and you make "Choo Choo" sounds going up the mountain, pumping your fist in the air. (At least I would). Go hiking on a holiday and dress down, you will stay warm with the plenthora of wind barriers. Go hiking on a holiday weekend and improve your grinding skills for the club.

One thing that was typical about today was that the hikers that were out were in their full hiking gear. How could one hike without a 30 Litre backpack, hiking poles, hat, sunglasses, proper footwear, and your versatile moisture wicking jacket and pants? (OK, I totally stole that last bit of wording from a hiking gear website). After all, think of all the dangers that could occur in the elements of the mountains in Seoul during the 2-5 hour adventure.

Nevertheless, korean hikers are amongst the most generous people in the world. You could pack nothing and be fed, drunk, and get a brand new sturdy low profile brimmed and adjustable closure cap with built in sweatband! HWIGHTING!

2007-02-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

My prison of Korea

Well it's a lovely prison, I must say, But I am still here. I will get to that in a minute, first an update on the genial Cooper, and lovely Hee-Young's wedding! It was two weeks ago, in the southern port city of Ulsan. The Korea Ultimate family that is, was in full form to mark this momentous occasion between two truly awesome people.

The pair has been living in Oz for the past year so it was a reunion time of sorts, with many missing but also some friendly new faces. The wedding was a traditional one, and we were lucky to have our billingual MC Yoonee explain the meaning behind each process during the ceremony.

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Culture/marriage/marriage.cfm?xURL=ceremony

Here, the beautiful, still legally single Hee-Young awaits for the ceremony to begin. She declines my last request for her hand in marriage.

The washing of the hands here symbloizes the cleansing before the ceremony begins.

The bride covers her face during the ceremony which she reveals during the bowing custom towards the end of the ceremony. Phew , Coop got lucky, she aint ugly!Typically Korean weddings nowadays are quite western, in that the bride wears the glamourous white gown, and the groom wears the tamer yet luxurious rented tux. Coop and Hee-young went the old way of the traditional hanbok. The hanbok is something you only really see in Korea during the two major holidays, Seolal (Chinese New Year- it was last weekend), and Chuseok (A sort of korean thanksgiving in late September or early October). So it's always pleasant to see these outfits worn, especially when the subject is a white guy.

I gotta give some props to Coop. Under pressure he perfectly executed the acorn jelly chopstick grab, not once, but twice to an eye-gazing audience of several hundred onlookers. He was rewarded with oooooooo's , awwwwww's, and applause, followed by laughter. After 2 1/2 years in Asia and some damn good chopstick abilities I doubt I could match Coop's skill. Acorn jelly is so tender and easy to cut in half if one were to apply too much pressure, yet enough pressure is required to lift the delicacy to one's mouth. It's like eating tofu with chopsticks, but one step above that.

The usual Korean wedding includes the short ceremony (be it traditional or modern) followed by a hurry-up, hello-thanks-for-coming-lunch and that does er. Of course with a plethora of foreigners in attendence we took it one step further. Of course we tried to consume as much free alcohol at lunch as we could, I mean cmon, like we wanted to pay 2000 won for soju at 7-11 after. To illustrate:

Soju Mathematics
(each bottle is $2)

1 bottle- feel good

2 bottles-everyone is your friend
3 bottles - vommiting and start losing friends
4 bottles- rolling in your own vomit, unaware that you no longer have friends
5 bottles-no more rolling, no more friends, you must be dead

After the lunch was the photo shoot, then back to Dray's to chill out and play some frisbee related games (all other games are inferior). Some kept drinking and it was obvious who they were by the time we got to the bar at night. The night was full of good times, drinking, flippy cups and more drinking. By far the award winner of the night was Jeff, a newcomer to Korea and Korea Ultmate. Jeff managed to get lost late in the evening at which time he realized the only place he knew where to go was Seoul. So he got the taxi driver to take him to the bus station and he hopped on a bus to Seoul. When he got to Seoul and was on the subway going home, he realized that he forgot his house keys and bags in Ulsan. You see the funny thing is that Ulsan is about as far as you can get from Seoul in Korea, its 410 km. Or a 5 HOUR bus ride! He then had to get back on a bus and go 5 hours back to Ulsan to get his belongings. It wasn't all a loss though because he ended up being 30 min early to our 12 pm frisbee start time and proceeded to get drunk again in Ulsan, Welcome to KUPA Jeff!

Now the happy newlyweds are back in Oz, Good luck, can't wait to see ya again!

Here's where the reference in my title comes into play. Two days after the wedding, I was back in Seoul getting my passport ready, to go to the Chinese embassy to apply for my Chinese tourist Visa. There was only one problem, I couldn't find my passport. After digging, racking my brain, and more digging I realized that my money belt with ALL my i.d had been stolen from my friend's apartment. Upon further thought I deduced my passport was the least of my problems as my money belt contained about $1600 cash and the same in travellers cheques. Luckily I can get refunded for the travellers cheques but the cash is gone. I further became agitated when I noticed that the $1200 in cash that was raised for the Cambodian orphanage was also stolen. That was really the worst part, the money that I was accountable and responsible for was taken while in my possession.

So I must stay in Korea a bit longer dealing with passport and cash issues. I'm starting korean lessons again on March 5 to make up for what I should have learned the past few years. I'm really stoked for that. As for the orphanage money, well at the suggestion of my friends here, we are going to do another one. Hopefully bigger and better. I'm a bit worried about how the original attendees may feel, suspecting foul play or negligence on my part. I don't want these people to feel their donation was wasted. I'm still racking my brain attempting to figure out the best approach to this. However a friend and journalist may help me out in this regard, we'll see how that works out.

All things considered, I'm in great spirits, excited for the opportunites that have resulted from this misfortune. I gotta extend a huge Thank you to everyone here that is helping me out, especially Yong for allowing me to continue to sleep on his four cushions, sometimes forget to flush the toilet (drunken mishaps) and eat his jelly bellies.

2007-02-07T00:53:00.000-08:00

Korean History- So fascinating

So I've been meaning to make my blog a lot more educational and interesting. But I have no idea if anyone really reads this other than my sister and my now un-anonymous reader Shauna. Oh well, here it goes.

So there was a President named Park Chung Hee who was Korea's longest serving president, from 1961-1979 which he gained in a blodless coup. He is still revered by many as Korea's greatest President despite his awful human rights record. His long reign as President was not due to free elections, rather it was due to his firm grip on power and intention to keep it that way.

The reason he is held in such positive light is that he began the transition that turned the post-Korean-war-poverty-striken-South into the 11th largest economic powerhouse it is today. He focused the country's efforts on export, ship building, and technology. To his credit, he did an outstanding job in that regard.

Of course, there were many people who didn't like him. A good number of those people were North Koreans, who tried twice to assinate him. In their first attempt in 1968 they dressed up as South Korean soliders and passed several security checkpoints on their way inside the Blue House. Fortunatley for Mr. Park, not all the South Korean guards were fooled, and the assassins were stopped and questioned. Some were killed on the spot, but many fled and escaped only to be hunted down and killed days later. Around 30 North Koreans were involved.

The second assination attempt occured on August 15, 1974, a national holiday in Korea celebrating the 29th anniversary of independence from Japanese rule. This was perfromed by a sole assassin, Mun Se-gwang who was sitting in during a ceremonial speech. At one point, the gunman stood up but in a panic shot a bullet into the ground. Confusion ensued immediatley and the panicked hit man pointed the gun and aimed it at the stage. He missed the President but succeded in hitting his wife. The President completed his speech. His wife was taken to the hospital where she died.

In the last assination attemp on Oct 26, 1979, it wasn't the North Koreans but the head of the KCIA, Kim Jae-kyu who led the way. Seemingly Mr Kim was unhappy with the President's relentless grip on power and treatment of student protesters and dissidents. He later claimed in court "I did it for the democracy of this country, nothing more, nothing less".

While having dinner together, along with two female companion singers, Mr Kim excused himself to go upstairs. He returned with a gun after telling his bodyguards that if they heard shots inside to kill all the President's bodygaurds outside. Mr Kim entered the room and first killed one of the Presidents bodyguards. He shot the President as well, but not enough to leave him dead before the gun jammed. Mr Kim went back upstairs and reloaded the gun to finish the dying President off. After two failed attempts, the President had been assinated.

I tell you this family is like the Kennedy Family of Korea; such strange misfortunes with family members seemingly always in the spotlight. Currently one of the leading candidates for the next Korean election is none other than Ms Park Geun-hye, daughter of Park Chung Hee. Last year while campaigning to gain support for her Grand National Party during local elections, a distraught middle-aged man sliced part of her face with a box cutter knife. She required 60 stiches but recovered quite quickly and as a result her party won an even larger majority in the elections than expected.

Crazy shit.

Links and more info here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Geun-hye

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Chung_Hee

2007-02-07T00:32:00.000-08:00

AWESOME WEEKEND

I had such a great weekend. On Saturday I ran around getting ready for the fundraiser we had here at Mike's Cabin in Shinchon. It is a new bar that a friend from Ultimate Frisbee recently opened. There were about 7 musicians that entertained the crowd all night. The place was packed, busier than its ever been. I worked the door to make sure everyone paid there $5 donation to Rainbow House, the orphanage I have close ties with in Cambodia. We also did a raffle for a DVD player (random guy won), bottle of Jack (Tori took it as a birthday gift!) and gift certificate to INDIGO restaurant (went to Gobbles but the certificate went missing during the draw:<. Also there was a peanut estimating contest. Here was the riddle on the massive jar of peanuts:

How many peanuts in ths jar?
Can you outguess everyone in this bar?
Buried inside is a SWEET treasure,
with which you can SHARE the VARIETY of pleasure.

There were 494 Peanuts. Coop the bachelor scribbled his last second guess of 491 peanuts as I was walking to the stage. What a champion that guy is. He was also the winner of $20 worth of jelly bellies inside. Appreciate wit now. Also, Cheers to Jon Dart who drunkinly and unknowingly guessed that jelly bellies were inside. Sorry for not drinking that beer you bought me Jonny, but you should learn not to buy me garbage beer no matter how cheap it is.

Nevertheless, when all was said and done, we raised $1180 (US) for Rainbow House!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A great time was had by all. It was so nice to see so many friends from the recent to those from when I first came here.

You see, this is a great last week in Korea for me because my friends Coop and Hee Yung and getting married this weekend. Therefor tons of people are sticking around, visiting, or coming out of the woodwork for this momentous occasion. I'm stoked for the wedding and accompanying Ulty tourney the day after.

On Sunday we had a great day of Ultimate in beautiful plus 10 weather. And I wasn't hungover! Just tired from only 3 hours sleep.

Monday was Christmas. The Superbowl. It was awesome watching it with buddies who care about football too. I'm happy for Peyton and the Colts, its about time they won one. What a roller coaster sloppy game though. Modestly I must comment that I extended my Superbowl betting streak to two years! Thanks Jacob for the e-man-won. Cooper was too scared to bet more than a chunner ($1) after last years loss. Also, my sister has mentioned that next year may be the year she fulfills he promise of taking me to one Superbowl. How amaaaaaazing would that be? Thats like Christmas times 10.

AND Today my buddy John Ross let me take his motorbike out for a cruise all day. It was a beautiful 11 degrees, perfect riding weather. We are working on putting together a video of Motorbiking Seoul, since the last one I made crashed on Damien's hard drive. That sucked sooooooo much, but its all good cuz I'm gonna make a better one now. Stay tuned for that. I will complete it when I'm in China later this month.

2007-01-13T22:59:00.000-08:00

New Year, Birthday, Everything in between, before and after....

REJUVINATION

Well I've been awfully busy and finally have some time to journal these past few weeks.

Sihanoukville was the best place I could have went after leaving Korea. It gave me a rejuvination of sorts. Living in Seoul I feel I was merely coasting by, and somewhat stagnant at times. I needed a new frame of reference, something to motivate me to achieve the countless ideas which for so long have remained ideas.

Every time I go to Sihanoukville I meet and spend time with such great people. People who are open-minded, easy-going, and endless fun to be around. This trip was no exception. Essentially there was a wave of two groups I hung out with. The first consisted of Jo, an Aussie nurse with such an awesome attitude, Matt, an English chap as chill as can be constantly spitting out humourous remarks, and Anita, another Aussie who always kept me company by sitting behind the bar. The second wave included Viv, an English walking dictionary with similiar goals to me, Michael, an informed American who acted as my encyclpedia, Mikael, a happy-go-lucky Danish dude who was always a good laugh. Then there were the pillar friends, Day and Chris. Day is the Cambodian who has become the face of the Frog Shack and is impossible to find in a bad mood. Chris, a young german with a variety of skills from rolling smokes to video editing. I originally met him at this place 2 years ago and randomly happened to be back at the same time this year. There were countless others who I met that were great company, just too many to name.

NEW YEAR

So New Year's was great, nothing too big this year. In fact the island Boat trip we all did the day before tuckered me out a bit too much. It was an incredible day full of snorkeling, jumping off the boat, having a picnic on the beach, and of course juggling.
All this in a not so sober stateleft me in subpar conditions to do it all again for New Years. Nevertheless I was a trooper and gave it what I could.

BIRTHDAY

My quarter of a century birhday followed a week later. It was a fantastic day, starting with some excercise, followed by a few hours on the beach with the Rainbow House kids, then a beach cleaning, and of course a party with cake and beers.

RAINBOW HOUSE

Rainbow House is the orphanage I volunteered at and intend to continue my ties with. In fact I am organizing an open mic fundraiser in Seoul on Feb 3 to raise as much money as we can for the kids. They are all so amazing and have such potential. Leanne and Tommy who are running the home (Leanne also founded it) are doing such a great and modest job. Cheers to good people in the world who care enough to devote so much time, effort and love to make other people's lives better. For more info or to MAKE A DONATION, click here

http://www.cambodian-orphans.com/

BEACH CLEAN UP

After much talk, about 5 of us took some garbage bags and walked down the beach collecting all the garbage we saw. One khmer Professor immediatley joined and cotinued until every bag was full. A mother and sweet 6 year old child noticed what we were doing and jumped in without hesitation, venturing into the obvious urine entrenched parts, cleaning up the nastiest of the garbage. It was a positive response, and after 1 hour and about 200 meteres we had filled 10 garbage bags. It got me thinking of how this could possible be continued and sustainable, by paying locals to do the jobs themselves. After all we didn't get one bottle or can because the kids collect these in exchange for a small amount of money. Finally it struck me that I can utilize my khmer friend Chy and his new boat tour company to collect donations and have him monitor and assist kids in the clean-up. With this said I'm heading back to Cambodia in the end of February to start this simple, small-scale, yet highly beneficial project.

My new plan and New Year's resolution is to take ideas and turn them into actions. As my friends and family, please get on my ass if you see me slacking in this department. Life is way too short, and I am in a position of way too much opportunity to continue standing back.

BACK IN KOREA

So here I am, back in Korea for a few weeks to educate some more kids and head off. I think I will spend Chinese New Year in China before heading back to Cambodia.

It was great coming back here, to what feels like home now in so many ways, to see all the great friends I have here. The cold sucks, but my sister informed me it was -48 in Winterpeg the other day, so I think I can handle the -2 here.

That should do er, Happy New Year!

2006-12-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

A Cambodian Christmas

Bah Humbug

It's essentially the same as any other day. This is what happens when spending Christmas in a buddhist nation. Sadly this year there was an abundance of Santa hats and a few more Merry Christmas' from the fruit toting kids on the beach. I really don't see any benefits in westerners spreading their over-commerialized holidays to any other country, let alone a poor impoverished one. Thankfully, that hasn't happened here YET, but its definitley grown since 2 years ago with the hats and even a few decorated trees. Ok, lets face it, nobody cares about Christmas here except the foriegners. So the expats and Khmers,
try to take advantage and make some money with the influx of tourists. I understand the economics of it, but I don't much like it.

My Christmas consisted of a tri-challenge with an Aussie who was staying at the same beach shack where I stay/live.We played best of 5 ping pong, best of 3 darts, and best of 3 sets in tennis. I was victorious in ping pong and tennis so I won the challenge. My sense of acheivement was quickly subdued and overshadowed by my Boxing day tri-challenge with Tommy, a dutch lad who co-runs the Orphanage I volunteer at. He beat me 3 straight in ping pong, narrowly beat me in pool and then beat me in tennis. The tennis was quite close, 3/4 of the games went to deuce but he is mentally strong and always won the points that mattered. Good job Tommy, I hope to wield some better success in the upcoming rematch.

An awesome Austrian juggler has rolled into town and I now have a teacher! He can do 5 clubs quite easily and sometimes even 7 balls. Damn, I suck in the world of juggling, but Im making some small gains here no doubt.

For New Year's eve we are organizing a beach clean-up followed by a BBQ at Chaimoy's Frog Shack (my home for now). This will kick off my road to innebreation to ring in 2007! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2006-12-23T20:55:00.000-08:00

Give me fuel, give me FIRE!!!

We had a party at the bar I live/work/spend all my time in last night. We managed to get maybe 50 people which is about as much as it can handle. I got really into juggling the unlit torches before sunset so I thought I would give the fire a go to hopefully draw a crowd and get the bar busier.

A crowd was drawn indeed. It consisted mainly of small Cambodian children that seemingly emerged out of the sand from every direction. I usually juggle much worse in frot of a crowd. Yet last night the audience posed no problems for my nerves. The goddam fire did.

Juggling fire is hard. I thought juggling the torches during the day would transfer quite easily to when they are lit at night. But no, they didn't. I couldn't see the handles what so ever. It was like juggling blind. I reverted back to about day 4 when I was learning how to juggle them. At most I got about 30 rotations and a few tricks and persistent effort.

Nevertheless I didn't burn myself and I'm gonna have another go tonight on this very unfestive Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!
Now to put on my shades and head back to the beach....

ps I will post pics when I can, the computers suck here...

2006-12-18T00:32:00.000-08:00

Oh sweet Cambodia,

So here I am, back again for my third visit (third consecutive xmas and new years as well). I finished up teaching in Korea at the end of November and headed right for the beach in Cambodia. This place has changed a lot over the past 2 years, but it still has an enourmously special place in my heart. I love the Cambodian family that I live with on the beach. My friend Chaimoy that was the face and namesake of her beach bar (with free accomadation) has married and moved to Sweden. I was gutted when I first arrived but quickly settled in with her cousin Day who now sort of runs the joint. He is an awesome guy, always smiling, making jokes and working hard.

I sort of hang out behind the bar and grab people water or beer if they need, but mostly I hang out. I'm learning the art of making cocktails as well, I've mastered the White Russian! I juggle lots, my goal is fire by Christmas. I'm running in the mornings and volunteering at an orphanage a few hours a week. It's the perfect lifestyle for me right now.

As for the adventure aspect....Well I went on a motorbike trip with a 250 cc dirtbike to an abandoned french village with a casino and church among other buildings on top of a mountain. The road was the worst you could imagine. I had a passenger on the back, a great person, an Aussie chick named Jo. It was the most difficult drive I've ever dealt with. Six months and 8500 km driving in Korea could not fully prepare me for it.

The ascent up the mountain took about 3 hours, mostly due to my fatigue and outright exhaustion. It was extremely dificult to keep the bike steady and direct it where I wanted to. I could barely feel my hands and my arms were trembling. We had to drive the last 45 min in pitch black darkness, making the drive substantially more dangerous and difficult. There were so many stretches of large, loose rocks where the bike was sliding in every direction. There was sand which required slow and steady driving. The jungle was extraordinary, but obstructing as well, since ferns and other trees close-lined me rifely.

Finally at 7:30 pm we arrived at the summit of the 1000 m mountain. It was a 6 hour drive from Sihanoukville, with 3 of them being the most intense mental and physical excercise. We were rewarded with the silence of nature. Only the ranger and his family were atop the mountain. The entire abandoned village was ours to explore.

We gazed at the starts which were bright and numerous. The milky way was oh so milky. It was so dark though that we couldn't even see the buildings that were 100 meters in front of us. At first we headed straight and walked right into a reservoir. I retreatred to get the map from the guesthouse, clearly we would need it. So with our map and Jo's excellent navigation skills we explored a smaller hotel and then the once-grand and vibrant casino and hotel. It was constructed in the 1910's but abandoned around 1940 when the Vietnamese took it over. The French colonials used it as their exclusive source of entertainment and (most likely) debauchery. The area was again occupied by King Sihanouk until 1972 when the ominous Khmer Rouge overtook it.

It was amazing to solely explore where the rooms were. Some were large and would have been extravagant no doubt. It was an eery feeling, very blair witch-esque to be in such a place, so far away from any civilzation.

The following morning we awoke at dawn to see the sunrise from the rooftop of the casino. It was nice to see what the surrounding area actually looked like once the sun rose. The casino is on the edge of a cliff which drops down to the jungle below. Just beyond the jungle was a large bay leading to the Gulf of Thailand. It was one of those peaceful moments when you feel like the nature around you is there for only you to view. This was something so rewarding after, for so long, being pushed through crowds of tens of thousands in the hustle-bustle of Seoul.

Around 9 am we headed down the mountain for an easier ride down. Relatively easy that is, still no peice of cake even for experienced drivers. And not that I am one of those by any means. However, I do feel like I've tackled a new stage in motorbiking. Perhaps I will work on my token asian family 4 on a bike skill. I've so far mastered the passenger side of that, just not the driving side...

2006-11-02T00:14:00.000-08:00

HALLOWEEN HAT TOURNEY

Well its actually not celebrated here but of course the foreigners like to keep up the tradition. So to celebrate Daejeon (a city 2 hrs south of Seoul by bus) hat their second annual Halloween Hat Tournament.

It was a great weekend but Im gonna be brief cuz I wanna watch some football games I have downloaded. I finally won a tournament!!!! Albeit there were only 5 teams, and one of the teams was disbanded by Sunday because too many people left on Saturday. Nevertheless my team went 6-0 and won the whole thing. The final was tight. I dropped two crucial passes to essentially give the other team a 10 -9 lead in a game to 11. Luckily I made back the drops back by catching two long passes to give help the team win the game 12-10. Jon Dart was on our team and now has an amazing 4-0 record in hat tournaments and is 12-0 in his last 12 games of frisbee. What an outstanding athlete/cheerleader Jon Dart is. He took the spirt award for the tourney...u da man Johnny.

Dray had by far the best costume as Kim Jong Il. More photos of the party can be seen here
http://flickr.com/photos/hifire/sets/72157594350785162/

Happy Halloween, and Congrats to Colleen Puloso (formerly Baerg) for getting hitched last weekend with Marco!

2006-10-12T02:37:00.000-07:00

Juggle, juggle, juggle

My best juggling vid yet, against a backdrop of awesome Korean scenary...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNfVgzyllB0

Juggling in Tokyo:

Sushi restaurant - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMSKlYpxpF0

Disneyland - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA2y5NFjB6g

Shibuya - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40wrFYWV__s

2006-10-11T00:11:00.000-07:00

TOKYO!!!

Wow, I'm really bad at keeping this blog up, but I mustered up the determination to write about my trip to Japan. It was my first vacation in 6 months, that's not to say I've been working very hard - 4 hours on a big day, 1 on a relaxing one. Nevertheless it was nice to have uninteruppted free time...

I spent a week in Tokyo, it felt alot like Seoul on the surface; tons of people, many buildings, and me being a clear monority. Here's where I really noticed the differences:

Going into a restaurant and not being able to communicate other than pointing at the pictures or sample dishes that are often displayed outside the restaurants.
Vending machines everywhere selling beer (love it), cigarettes, and sodas
Soooo many bicycles driving on the sidewalks, with no motorbikes. It's quite the opposite here.
Eating is individual. Most restaurants had around the chef bar style seating. Here, there are many foods I can't eat because individual portions aren't served. EX barbequed meats
Koreans speak english much better than japanese. Guess the $40/hr English lessons are paying off...
Japanese are accepted more for being individuals than here. This can be seen by the many diverse and crazy styles of clothing, hair and piercings.
Koreans hate the Japanese more than the Japanese hate the koreans. In fact Korean culture (soap operas and k-pop stars) are quite popular.
Japanese love halloween, haven't seen as much as a pumpkin here.
Tokyo is waaaaay more expensive than Seoul. Ex water here 50 cents, there $1.50. taxis start here at $2, there $6.

The coolest place in Tokyo was around Shibuya, the busiest train station in the world servicing 3.2 million people per day! That's where the infamous crosswalk is that we see in movies and t.v shows all the time. Around there are some sweet clubs. On the Saturday I ended up at one of the clubs to see DJ Marky and Laurient Garnier spinning drum and bass(both- Garnier usually spins techno). This club was smack in the middle of a residential neighbourhood and I never would have found it without these kiwis I met at the staion. The club was packed and a great time, I had to stay until 5 am cuz thats when the trains start running again. So I partied until then and went to jump on the subway. I was so tired I passed out and when I woke up just exited the station and walked aimlessly like a zombie. Suddenly I thought, "where the hell am i?". I looked up and saw a sign for Shibuya, the same place I left from. Then I saw a clock and it was 7:30 am. I passed out on the subway and rode it all the way back to where started. So I got back on the subway and passed out again, I awoke to a completley empty train but luckily I was at the right end of the line where my hostel was.

Another night I was eating a bbq meat restaurant and these two Japanese men who just finished work really wanted to show me how hospitable japanese can be. They kept ordering food and insisting I eat it, it was sweet cuz I got to try a ton of new food. They also insisted I get drunk with them on shochu, its a rice wine similiar to Korea's soju but a lil stronger and drank while mixed with 'soda' - tasted like tonic. Then they kept calling all their English speaking friends and their wives for me to talk to. Unfortunatley these people couln't speak English well either but finally they got another friend to come and join us who spoke pretty good English, at least enough to have a conversation with longer than " MY HOUSE (making roof sign) .....KOREA". But actually one of the guys sorta stunned me when he pointed at his buddy and said 'Masturbation". I nearly spit my food outta my mouth laughing, it was priceless.

Also priceless were these signs I saw at a global initiative fair for organizations in Japan helping those in other countries....

Well, that's all cuz this has taken me an hour and a half, stupid slow loading the pics.... When I came back from Tokyo I went to a beach here that was super sweet, I'll try and write about that later this week. Peace.

2006-09-04T08:06:00.000-07:00

DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE

It was decided that a bike trip was to be had on the weekend. Excitedly I awoke at 8:00 AM Saturday morning. By 8:45 I was packed and showered and ready to pick up my passenger Reanna. Suddenly, a "roadblock". My bike wouldn't start. I coasted down to the shop (finally living on a stupid hill paid off). I had to cross a busy interesection while pushing the bike and dropped my cell phone on the road as I scurried across. I stared at my phone in disbelief thinking, "Dammit, don't let it be one of those days". After several cars and bikes nearly crushed my phone I darted out and retrieved it before the situation became sour.

As it went I needed a new battery. A simple fix and our convoy of 5 bikes was on the road by 10:15. Johnny Steele took us on a slick path outta Seoul much faster than any route I've ever taken.

We put in a few good long hauls before our asses needed a rest and change of seatery. As the owner of the most comfy seat (as voted by Reanna) I was hurtin so I can imagine the others may have lost all feeling. We ate lunch and kept on trucking. Rippin it 40 km/hr up these sweet mountains (its only 125 cc yo) and winding down the backside.

We made it to our destination, the west coast beach of Gangneung by 4:15. We threw the frisbee as best we could; unfortunatley the International Windsurfing Championships were on and this meant there was wind. Though, we did manage to do some sea layouts (dive to catch the frisbee). After checking into a cheap minbak (small one room floor sleeping space), we ate some delicious samgyepsal (basically a ton of bacon). Then we went back to the beach and tossed my flashflight (night disc). The wind had completley died. After a few hours of that we played the best drunk game ever. Roman candle wars! Roman candles are the crappy fireworks they sell here. But damn they make a great 3 on 3 war game. Its a slight burn if you get hit and we all got hit at least once. The shot of the day tho went to Andrew Downey of Team Canada who put a peanut-sized hole in John Ross' t-shirt. Good times. Go Canada Go.

The following day the crew went back to Seoul but I didn't work till late Monday so I figured I'd make use of my time. I stuck around the beach until about 3 and then headed north towards Seoraksan, South Korea's most famously beautiful national park. It was a sweet drive, first along the (barb-wired) coast and then into Seoraksan. I ascended up the road to nearly the height of the peaks, what a wicked drive it was. Then I kept going down a road with a big red X over the name of the next town. It seemed like the sign was saying something, but I kept going. Sure enough the road was messed up. There were massive pieces of road missing for about 50 km. Guard rails were hanging over the edge of the cliffs. A house was crumpled like a piece of paper. No this wasn't North Korean missiles or angry rice farmers, it was the remnants of last months typhoons.

That road took a long time but I made it Hongcheon (about 100 km outside Seoul) at 8 pm. I stayed there in a love motel, super cheap - 25 bux basically, with a sweet shower that sprayed water from 7 different spouts at the same time.

I drove for about 2 hours today (takes a long time to travel through Seoul) and had a scare when it began to rain down on me. Fortunatley it stopped after 3 minutes and I was dry in another 20. That was it, the most recent road trip; as talk has it, there should be many more in the upcoming weeks.

2006-08-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

AN UPDATE

Wow, so its been about a month since I wrote anything. Where 's the time gone?

I went on a few bike trips, one was to Chuncheon with a few buddies. It's only 100 km away but it took us 3.5 hrs there and 4 hrs back. Traffic was INSANE. Bumper to Bumper for 50 km. Cars took 5-6 hrs since they can't weave and drive on the shoulder. Suckers.

I played frisbee on two weekends through the humidity and rain. August is a crazy hot month, mid thirties with 90% ish humidity. We have been traveling about 100 km south to Daejeon to play since we have NO grass availiable in Seoul. But Daejeon firsbee folk alyways take good care of us so no qualms there.

I got a haircut. It looks awful, waaaaaay too blond on the highlights. So now Im sporting a hat all the time. I tried to tell the hairdresser to take it out, but he said "10 more minutes". Five minutes later I convinced him it was done but it was too late. Plus the highlights go all the way down the back so it looks like a dyed mohawk.

Stoked for September cuz thats the best month here. Koreans stop going to the beaches Sept 1 b/c its "officially" Fall. That leaves lots of empty space for the rest of us that want to enjoy the still high temps. It's beach time!

2006-08-03T06:50:00.000-07:00

Watch my juggling vids!

They are a bit old but more interesting than the mold growing in my apartment. Probably even more interesting than my $400 (6 hr) blackjack win. It'd be about $450 if you include the free booze.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3VLH0adgyU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufHdHiUYTAo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufHdHiUYTAo

2006-07-24T08:06:00.004-07:00

ROAD TRIP

So I was feeling the need to for some culture, breathable air, and ridin'. Yeah thats right, ridin'. I'm a rider. I ride. A beast of a hog....125 cc. O yeah.

Anyways so on Saturday around 2 I headed off for a national park called Sobaeksan. I choose a more obscure place so I wouldn't have to battle korean grandmothers up the mountain. These women are strong, and they all have the full hiking gear. They know how to use those hiking poles to fend off ensuing weyguks (foreigners).

Sobaeksan is 186 km from Seoul on the expressways, but 2 wheels aren't aloud so I was forced to take a more scenic route. After 1 1/2 hours of getting out of Seoul and its satelite cities I made it to more open territory. It was so nice to see nature without concrete blocking most the view.

It was about 225 km and 4 hours later I arrived in Danyang. I saw these rocks that protroud out of a lake and took a seat at the restaurant there. I ate 'korean pizza' as they call it, except its nothing like pizza at all, in fact it is literally a potato pancake.

Next I went to check out where the mountain hike started because I figured I'd stay nearby. Right close to the trail head I found a mini golf course (can't see in above pic). I went to go check out if they were open and met some ajoshi (older married men) campers. They had no idea about the golf course but were game for a chat. They offered a me a beer and I figured, why not? So in my limited korean and their limited English we had a bassic conversation....job, age, where we live, me liking korean food and cheering for the korean soccer team. HWIGHTING! That's all you really need to say to become friends with a stranger here.

After the beer I was ready to go and get a minbak (small room with some bedding = cheap). One of the men insisted I sleep in his tent with his family but I politley refused. I left to find a minbak and came back to eat dinner with them as they urged me to do. I was full on up for the idea though, might as well get some culture and free food. So there I was mingling with these 5 families. The men were life long friends. One of them asked me to teach his son. He seemed to take a liking to me. He later pulled me off to the side and told me "I ruv you, I want enjoy tonight, and I want you teach my kids".

It seemed like he was making a pass at me but I knew it was just a language barrier. But I figured he wanted me to stay until 20 min later he said "You minbak, go". I then realized he just wanted to chill with his buddies. It finally made sense to me. As I left a few others tried to tell me to stay and drink more soju (rice wine - o yea, i was drunk too). I don't blame the guy for wanting to chill with his buddies, and I was looking for an out to go chill myself.

So that ended the first night. The follwoing day I awoke and began my ascent to the summit of Sobaeksan. The hike started up along a waterfall for a good hour and a half.

I trekked on through a jungle region and then up a stairway of greenary.
Over a ridge,

past an almost bare flower museum,
and there I was at the top with a barely visible view. Still it was a sweet 3 hour hike up. It was peaceful and quiet, no adjumas to joust. I saw a person about every 15 minutes. It was awesome.

When I got back down the mountain around 4, I took the bike for a cruise around the area and found some cool spots. A cave,

a temple,

mountain roads to explore.

I chilled out the next and headed back this morning. It was a better drive back as I weaved through the mountains, past the farmers in the feilds and traditional korean houses.
No drunk businessmen vomitting, no flashy lights, no fellow whities, no bloody Starbucks. It was only when I saw a 7-11 about 40 km outside Seoul I felt the city buzz and saw the black on my hands.

It was nice to get outta the city, Seoul can be fun, but how cool is nature?
Very cool. About as cool as a rider is. And that's cool.

2006-07-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

MY BIKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-07-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

Fast 2006

The last time I did one of these was in high school. Twas the 30 hour famine, and I recall being famished.

Well some buddies were doing this so I figured I'd give it a shot.

I started at 8:30 pm last Thursday, here are some of my thoughts and a humourous Jon Dart's as posted on our Ultimate bulletin board:

Thu Jul 06, 2006 4:43 pm

ME:

My last meal was finished around 8:30 last night.
I have a headache, my hunger pangs have been going for 3 hours now, and i often salivate. Nevertheless im going no solid, no juice (if i can). Only water.

Thu Jul 06, 2006 6:56 pm

Jon Dart:

Now that I'm not eating it seems like I have a lot more free time! I don't know what to do with myself.

Fri Jul 07, 2006 2:44 am

ME:

I feel quite awful. Kinda feel like im getting a fever. My headache and stomach pangs havent left me. My stomach feels like its constantly retracting. But Im sort of adjusting to this level of dicomfort. Im peeing alot, that would be all the water.

I cant wait too eat!!!

Sat Jul 08, 2006 12:34 am

ME: Ya thank god thats over. I still feel a little dizzy and lightheaded but my stomach barely hurts anymore.
49 (thank you shophie for the extra 20 minutes pondering the menu)
When I bit my first piece of bread my throat and whole mouth hurt. But the soup and the salad were amazing.

It was hell really, quite remarkable that people go thru that everyday. It puts things in perspective and makes me realize how fortunate I am. I am going to eat now.

2006-06-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

kI MADE THE EVENING NEWS!!!

We had a frisbee tournament in Ulsan (Southern part of South Korea) this weekend. Dray did a kick ass job organizing it and even got us on the news. He is the guy talking reeeeally slow at the end, it cracks me up cuz that's often how we must talk here so we can be understood. Check out the clip now on youtube. Im wearing red shorts so watch for em, you'll see em many times...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YG0Y-5C-npo

2006-06-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

WORLD CUP MORNING MADNESS VIP STYLE

So Korea's last game against France was live here at 4 am, yet still there were several hundred thousand koreans screaming and endlessly chanting outside of their homes. We went to Jamshil stadium, the baseball stadium seating 35,000 people that was nearly full.

A buddy Jin hooked us up with VIP passes which inlcuded access to anywhere in the stadium. With the booze flowing down our throats we explored the dugouts, locker rooms, meeting rooms, tv room, and of course the field. They weren't too fond of us being on the grass and starting the wave which ended my excitement of attempting to break a record for the world's longest wave.

France was up 1 nil until the 81st minute when Park Ji Sung trickeld a ball past the french keeper. At about 5:42 am, the stadium and city was booming. Anyone I know that was sleeping was awoken by the screams. Back in the stadium the cheering didn't stop until well after the end of the match. I almost peed my pants in excitement, but instead I waved my one lasting inflatable stick.

After the game we used our press passes to get back on the field. We ran the bases, and tossed the disc. Then we headed home at 6:30 am to the sound of horns, rowdy sober koreans on platform trucks, and quieter drunk koreans attempting to control their projectile vomitting who I assume were making their way to work for Monday. Now THAT'S a case of the Mondays!

On another note which needs to be mentioned for pure shock value. I was pickpocketed at the game whilst we visited the 'commoners' section. This is nuts cuz nothing EVER gets stolen in Korea, really I've never heard of such a thing here. It was Jon Dart's camera who will find out as he reads this. I guess I owe you some cash for that Jonny, can I pay you in English lessons?

2006-06-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Motorbike Accident

Well it sure didnt take long, 3 weeks driving and my first incident. Don't worry I'm alright, not a scratch at all. It was 100% the other guys fault, he made a sudden turn into my lane to make a right turn. I honked, I breaked, I hit his passenger door. I wasn't going fast when I hit him but the bike fell on its right side and thats when it got wrecked. The man was quite nice, I didn't say anything at first, just stared at my bike pinned under his truck. To be honest it wasn't scary at all, I really thought I was gonna brake in time.

Anyways I got my korean friend on the phone and she talked to him, he admitted fault and we went to find a bike shop where he paid for all repairs. It cost him 160 000 won (about 180 cdn) to replace the handlebars, front and back brakes, alignment and wheel guard. But now the bike is revving too much so I gotta take er in again. Still lovin the bike tho, shit happens...

2006-06-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

WORLD CUP!!!!

I've discovered is really awesome when you are somewhere people care about it. Its absolute madness here, every boy, girl, man and woman owns a red devil "Fighting" t-shirt (yet pronounced Highting). The Highting cheer is one of my favs. It isn't so much a cheer as a random shout really, but shit does it get them koreans pumped.

I met my friend Tori at Seoul Plaza to watch Korea's 1st game against Togo last night. I couldnt possibly meet any other friends cuz of the sea of people and inability to use cell phones due to a hundred thousand other lost people. I have never seen so many people in one place in my life. There must have been severeral hundred thousand, all in red, screaming, but not drinking enough in my mind. Although once you had your place there was no moving, no washroom or food runs. I came prepared with a few bottles of soju (korean rice wine, 21 %). That did me in well, kept my cheering and horn blowing strong. After korea won we led the cheers on our jam packed bus home. Today my head hurts from the soju and my eyes hurt from the flashes after tons of koreans asked to take pictures with us whities to celebrate the big win. HIGHTING!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwKfIasZYr8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmTwVGFNv2w

2006-05-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

Subways are effecient but overcowded. Buses are frequent but slow. Taxis are cheap but expensive in the rediculous traffic here. With 3 million registered vehicles cars are a huge headache. So whats the best way to travel? MOTORBIKE!!!

I just got mine, damn I love it, sooooo much freedom. You see there are no traffic laws for motorbikes here in Korea. Red lights are simply yield signs, sidewalks are detour roads, crosswalks are opportunities to get ahead of traffic. No joke at all, its wonderful. I can travel 10 km in nearly half as much time as a car because of the ease of mobility. Most importantly its soooooo much fun. Yes bikes are dangerous, blah, blah, blah. Close calls, there have been a few but Im learning and being as careful as can be. Livin it up, lovin the hog!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAGbskqynRU

2006-05-23T03:21:00.000-07:00

Well here we go, my first blog. This is more exciting than when I discovered Dibby Dibby Dip (its a korean game using your full body similiar to rock, paper, scissors).

I've been living in Seoul now for 14 months or so. It isn't the best place I've been but it's treating me well for the time being.

Things I love about living here:

Alcoholism. I can drink beer anywhere at anytime. The clubs close when the last people leave. There are never line ups to get into any bar. Drunk businessmen are seen all over day and night, vomiting in front of ATM's, sleeping on the subway with their shoe as a pillow.

Fan death. Koreans believe that if you sleep in a room with the windows and doors shut and a single fan, it will kill you.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

Line Control. There is none. You can be in the middle of purchasing a train ticket and someone will walk right up and amazingly get served before you. However this system rocks when you have a person fiddling for money and you are already late. When I last visited Canada I found myself constantly cutting in line without even realizing it.

Swim caps. Must be worn at all times in all pools. This is really annoying and seems to accompany a required matching speedo.

The X. This is used a sign of "NO". It is performed with both arms forming an X with both forearms touching to make the centre of an X. It is used by everybody: taxi drivers, bank employees, Mcdonald's workers, and ploicemen. I have adopted this and prefer it over speech in all cases when it can be used.

Koreans. Some of the most interesting folk around. Typically conservative and closed minded, however extremely hospitable and generous once they know you. Confusianism ranks high in importance. So if I don't know you and I bump into you I won't say sorry. If I do know you and I bump into you I will apologize excessively and get you really drunk. From there we would cut in line to get a subway ticket, stop off and replace our swim caps, go to a singing room and then another bar giving the X to our wives telling us to stop drinking more soju. Finally we'd fall asleep with our shoe pillow on the sidewalk. We'd wake up and go to work. Damn, its Tuesday morning.

Korea and Koreans have been great to me so in no way am I trying to offend them or their culture. I could pick through just as many humurous bits in Canadian culture. On the surface our cultures seem quite similiar, full of bustling consumerism and moderness. After coming here from Cambodia and Laos I felt like I stepped into the future, or as if I was back home. Paved roads and escalators seemed like marvels. But now after living here and adapting its the mindset of koreans where I notice the largest cultural gap. They simply just think differently. They are pragmatic and focused. Some may call this narrow-minded. We are open-minded and scattered. Some may call us scatterbrains. Either way both societies are functioning quite well and desrve accolades for their succeses. Korea emerged from post war poverty to the 11th largest economy in 50 years. Quite remarkable.

That'll do er for now. I'll try and add links and all that jazz when my computer friend teaches me all about how to make an awesome blog. Thanks JD!

peeeeeeeace