Lost: ipod, sunglasses, self esteem, etc.

So I'm in a foreign country, right? And guess what I did on Friday. Drunkenly left my passport in a taxi (I think). Brilliant move, right? I know what you're thinking. "What a dumbass," you're thinking. Maybe, if you're a better friend, you follow that up with, "Is he going to get kicked out of Korea? Oh, no!"

Well, put your fears to rest. I'll have a new passport on Monday, thanks to the speedy US embassy (and $100). Faster service abroad than in the states, strangely.

"But what about your upcoming trip to China?" you say. "Don't you need to get another visa? Getting your passport on Monday and flying out on Friday doesn't leave much time in between for that.."

You're right. Nevertheless, the travel agent (and $150) is getting me a sweet deal on an express replacement visa, and I'll have it by Wednesday or Thursday. Plenty o' time!

Hallelujah. Which is a particularly appropriate sentiment, since I was feeling so wretched Sunday night that I actually prayed to a God in whom I'm not sure I believe. The prayer ended up being "Help me not to drink," which was a surprise to both of us, I think. We'll see how that goes.

T Minus 14 Days

I really want to go to the Netherlands. It's got so much going for it--renewable energy, legal gay marriage, legal whatnot (Amsterdam, need I say more?), being part of Europe...

Instead, I'm going to Beijing, China in 2 weeks! Just got the visa earlier this week. 9 days of checking out the Great Wall and China itself. I've already learned my first Chinese character--you put the character for Boy right next to the character for Girl and it's the character for Happiness. (I wanted to ask what putting two men together would be, but I didn't have the nerve, since I was talking to my boss.) And when I say I learned it, I mean I have it written down somewhere.

In other news, I'm going to be in Beijing for 9 days starting 14 days from now!

i WILL remain senile

.
....Reasons I Don't Want Diabetes:
Hana. It causes Alzheimer's.
Dul. It causes ED.
Set. To be continued.
....Steps I Will Take To Avoid Diabetes:
Hana. Go back to drinking my coffee black.
Dul. Reduce my carb intake?
Set. Research what actually causes diabetes. Maybe change my ancestry, to boot.

Happy Teacher's Day!

Yesterday was Teacher's Day. Presents, sweet! Chocolate, flowers, mouth freshening spray.. Hey, it's a foreign land. (And I drink coffee right before class. Don't worry, I'll take the hint.)

Today I got an additional present in my google news aggregator. California legalized gay marriage. I probably don't know enough about the legality issues to know what that really means, but I still like it.

So..have a good day. Happy weekend! Have a beer on me.

Bright Days, Stupid Nights

It's a good life. (Reference Bixby's awesome short story by the same name, though actually I'm being truthful.)

Two three-day weekends in a row. Saturday, spent the night out on the town in Seoul, chatting up a gay newlywed couple from Amsterdam until 3:30 in the morning, then hitting a few more spots (including a front stoop for a Heineken) and finally crashing at a friend's apartment at around 7am. Got up like 3 hours later to head out to a Buddhist street festival, learned how to make origami(?) lotus flowers. Very fun.

This weekend, heading to the beautiful old capital of Korea, Gyeongju. Renting bicycles and tooling around, looking at all the traditional buildings while keeping our eyes peeled (gross) for monks celebrating Buddha's birthday. Anyone know how old he is these days?


What're you doing with spring?

[P.S. I have no right to use those images. I'll replace them with my own photos asap.]

One Scary Cyclone

I was feeling pretty shaken by the 10,000 dead in Myanmar from one storm.

Then the total went up to 15,000. 15 thousand people dead at once.

When I went to look for an article to link, in case you know nothing about this country's problems--the country formerly known as Burma, located between India and Thailand--I find that the total's been upped to 22,000.

That's horrifying.

100 Days

I'm going to Cambodia in August.

Let National Geographic show you Cambodia for 2 minutes.

And even if you're too lame to click on the link--here's a picture of where I'm hoping to go.


That's the Bayon Temple in Angkor. Please note the faces carved into the walls and the monks in red.

Less than 100 days.