My current temporary office

The view in my current office. The map on the wall has certainly been a conversation point. Many thanks to my team in Seoul for this wonderful map.


Oh, and yes, my office, is the same size as one of the "holding pens" in Seoul that held 4 people. I have so many drawers I can't remember where I put stuff.

Thanks guys!

globalization

An American living in Korea, on vacation in Hong Kong with her Trinidadian husband, drinking Chilean wine and Laotian beer, sitting next to an American and Swede talking about sailing in the Philippines.

Time to power up the frog

It's that time of year again. When it's so dry your skin cracks. When you touch other people you practically electrocute them. When it's hard to breathe. That means it is time to power up the humidifier. This is my frog humidifier on my desk at work.

What I usually come home to...

When I come home, I step off the elevator, and most evenings, I immediately start sniffing because something smells good.  If I'm really lucky, the smell just gets stronger the closer I get to our door.  Then, I open the door, and usually I see a bunch of foil covered containers on the dining room table.  I never know what I'm going to have for dinner, but I've not been disappointed yet.

By popular request...

I've received a few requests, almost demands, for photos of our apartment. And you know who you are.

We live in a serviced residence, which means furnished apartment with a cleaning service. The cleaning service occasionally leaves something to be desired. Their dish washing skills amount to pretty much rinsing and drying the dishes in the sink. And each cleaning lady puts dishes away where she thinks they should go (and each has her very own distinct opinion on this subject), so when we need something, we usually have to go search for it. And it isn't usually in a place where I'd think it should go.

This is our living room area. We have a strange semi-balcony area, with a sliding glass door about 2.5 feet in from the actual windows.



The other side of our living area, with the entertainment center. In front of the window is our clothes drying rack. We have an all in one clothes washer/dryer, that washes, but doesn't really dry, unless you only dry one item at a time. Hence, the rack. There's also a desk.


This is our galley kitchen, big enough for 1 person, and 1 person only. We have an oven and stove, and no really usable counter space at all. Behind me is the refrigerator, and a cabinet that holds the microwave and a couple of cupboards that hold food. And the dishes that the cleaning lady of the day thinks belong there.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

There was a small Christmas cookie decorating party the other night, with Christmas music, and good food, and icing and sprinkles and cookies. With a few kittie cats for company.

Princess


Big O


Cookies...


And more cookies...

You know you have the flu when...

...you're sitting in a room that's 79F wearing three layers and you're still cold and shivering.

...you wake up in the morning and feel like a steamroller ran over you during the night.

...your head hurts for 4 days straight.

After...

This is our new entertainment system.



It came with no instructions so we had to spend some time figuring out which of the two practically identical remotes works the TV and which the DVD player. Hint: the one with the little button that matches the button to open the DVD player is the one that works the DVD player.

Before...

This is our current entertainment system. Supposedly we are getting a new one. The rack on the right is our laundry rack, upon which we place our laundry. Actually, this is the rack upon which my husband places the laundry that the combo washer/dryer doesn't actually dry.

When it's noon your time, it's midnight my time...

Just want to point out that for anyone interested in finding out what time it is here (especially if you are planning to call us), there are several ways to do so.

1. Google what time is it in Seoul and you'll have an array of websites to choose from.
2. On your cellphone, usually under accessories. Even the cheap $19.99 cellphones have this tool.
3. If you are in the eastern time zone of the U.S., just add 13 to your current time to get our local time. So if it's 12:00 p.m. (noon) in Florida, that means it's 1:00 a.m. in Seoul.

My own personal line of pens...

Job I'm glad I don't have...

Poking passed out drunks in the subway stations or on the street in the morning to see if they're still alive.

In the mornings, especially after big holiday weekends, there are police and others that go around rousting all the people passed out in doorways and on the street. There have been times in the afternoon on the weekends when we've gone out, and come back via the back street behind the park, and seen people passed out or in the process of passing out in doorways or in the middle of the street (fortunately the street is closed to vehicular traffic on weekends). One person I'm sure woke up with a very nasty bruise on his forehead the next day.

This acceptance of public drunkenness is so different from the US, and still I find it a bit unnerving to see businessmen dressed in their suits (ties have usually been removed by this point), still holding on to their briefcases, passing out in public from so much soju or sake consumption. (I've seen this in both Japan and Korea now.)

Then there are the ones that go to the 7-11 about 10 or 11 at night and buy Blue Label scotch and their freeze dried squid snacks, and you just know they're going to end up passed out on the street somewhere soon. Especially since they already aren't too steady on their feet.

Why we need health care reform...

1. Arguments over semantics -- was it a second opinion or changing of physicians?
2. Why are we limited to only 1 second opinion? (Assuming it wasn't a change to a new doctor.)
3. Why should a primary care physician's signature be required for everything? Especially when he's on vacation and can't be reached for two weeks and you've just received a prognosis of days left to live and the clinic won't start your treatment without the signature.
4. Why should family members spend their time dealing with insurance paperwork instead of with the terminally ill person?
5. Why do I get a half dozen bills from a single visit to a medical clinic? Why can't you send me a single bill itemizing everything in plain English? Why is it that I pay the bill, and then continue to get bills saying my account is past due for the next 3 months?
6. Why do you limit me to only a single month's prescription at a time? What if I'm going to be out of town for an extended period of time? It's not like I'm going to be selling my heartburn medication to strangers on the street. I need it.
7. Why can't you help me find a physician that covers the area of expertise I need? And when I do find one, why do you fight my using that physician?

These are just some observations I've made lately based on my own experiences and those around me that are dealing with severely ill family members. After experiencing medical care in Korea, where I receive one bill at the end of my visit, that I pay then and there, with instantaneous digital communication between the doctor and the nurses and technicians, I know there are better ways of managing the business of medical care. Why is it so difficult for the U.S. to move forward with streamlining the medical business? We can do so many other things, and yet we can't seem to solve this problem.

discombobulation

I was in the lobby of my apartment building this morning and I could hear the United Airlines theme music. Except I wasn't in a United Airlines plane with their standard color scheme. And I wasn't on hold with United Airlines.

Very rarely do I hear George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue outside of the United Airlines context.

Random blog posts I found interesting lately...

Bassets...

• I want their life. Or at least a short vacation from my current life.
• Ernest.
  

Food...

• These double vanilla cupcakes look so good. Now, either I need to try and persuade my husband to try making these or I have to figure out how to bake with my picky Korean oven that doesn't like to stay on.
• I think we've got all the ingredients for this salad. Yummy. Have to forward this to the husband and see what he can do with it.
  

Random stuff...

• Map folding guide. And here I thought that was one of my special talents. Now everyone will know how to do that.
  

The "more things to make my Mom even more paranoid" category...

• GPS and sex offenders

teacher compensation

Yesterday being the day before Valentine's Day, there was a party at school. This is the teacher's haul. Well, actually, it's my haul because he doesn't really want any of it. But that's ok. There are Godiva truffles, Ghirardelli squares (including the dark chocolate with mint!!!), a Dove milk chocolate rose and Dove milk chocolate with caramel, Butterfingers and Baby Ruths, and a giant Hershey's kiss. It's almost as good as Halloween. Not to mention the Valentine's Day camouflage heart shaped box just for men.


While I do appreciate the gift of chocolate, especially good chocolate, I do find the whole Valentine's thing to be a bit contrived. I recall being in elementary school and all we did was exchange the little paper valentine's cards from the box, where you had to make sure you had enough cards for everyone in the class, including the teacher, which meant that you always had to buy 2 boxes because you needed just that one extra card. And those little sugar hearts with the "be mine" written on them that came in small bags. Godiva chocolate truffles???? Boy, times have changed.

Test your corporate logo knowledge...

with this game. I managed to get all but 6 of them.

Vote

If you are a U.S. citizen, please, go vote.

This is your opportunity to be heard.

If you're not registered to vote or you didn't bother, shame on you. Many people around the world are working to help make sure that people just like you have the right to vote, the right to express their opinion. The least you can do is actually exercise that right.

As for me, I'll be checking the news first thing tomorrow morning -- we'll still have a few hours to go before the polls close on the west coast after I get to work tomorrow morning. I mailed my ballot a couple of weeks ago, which, by the way, I actually received via email.

The highlight of the weekend...

We saw Cirque du Soleil's Alegria yesterday! Like all the Cirque du Soleil shows I've seen before, this one was amazing. We had excellent seats, and could see the faces of the performers, particularly when they came and stood at the edge of the stage near us. For two hours yesterday, I was completely entertained and amazed.

If you have the opportunity to see one of their shows, I highly recommend it.

Serviced Apartments

Serviced Apartments = College Dormitory + Five Star Hotel