Repatriated October 9, 2009

Today seems like a good day to get started with blogging again. Here’s the short story. Since we got back, we’ve been shuffling back and forth between our parents’ houses, collecting the scattered remnants from our life before Korea, and trying to figure out what’s next for us.

Today we are at Kristin’s parents’ house near Conifer. This morning the clouds rolled in and swallowed up the mountains across the valley, leaving only one spectral mountain spur in sight. You can still make out a few puffs of golden aspen trees breaking up the triangles of pine trees, highlighted by a layer of snow. It looks like this:

Mountain in the clouds.

In the last few weeks we’ve gotten to enjoy a lot of good old fashioned American activities. We’ve done some gardening, learned how to make jelly, can pickles, and assemble corral gates.

Homemade Concord grape jelly. Not so sickly sweet as the stuff from the store.

One of our old home brews with jars full of beets waiting for their pickling brine.

This is a picture from branding at my dad's a few years ago. We helped replace the gate behind and to the left of the new mom. Just for fun, guess what she's eating?

We brewed some beer.

Me watching some industrious yeast making beer fun.

We took a little road trip and visited some tourist attractions.

Back row (left to right): Devils Tower. Front row: Kristin.

The moment we found the bathroom at Mount Rushmore.

We went to a football game.

Me and my dad at the game.

Saw some Americana.

You mess with the US, you don't just get the horns, you get an eagle with a cow skull for a body that will seriously peck you really hard if you get close enough for it to reach you. Like, it will really hurt. I'm not messing around here. It'll maybe even leave a mark. Or a bruise. So you really shouldn't try to steal it. Even without the camera. Canada.

This was not a common sight in Korea. Nice work, 'Merica!

Saw some wildlife.

A mule deer in the driveway at Kristin's parents' house.

A mountain goat in the parking lot at Mount Rushmore.

A mounted jackalope at the gift shop near Devils Tower.

We’ve done a lot of other things since leaving Korea, too, we just don’t have pictures.

It’s been good to be home, but we’re still a little homesick for at least some aspects of our life in Korea. Here are just a few of the reasons:

Kristin's last day with some truly remarkable kids.

Feeling fussy.

Six years old and pretty much fluent in two languages. They're that cool. And funny, too.

Fun with tissues and spit.

On Our Way August 28, 2009

We’re at Incheon International Airport, waiting for our flight to Japan to start boarding. We’ll be back home in another week.

Waiting for boarding at Incheon International Airport

Summer’s Here May 9, 2009

Today we are making the trek to the post office in Suji to mail home some winter clothes. We are getting so close to the end of our adventures in Korea, it’s exciting and nerve-wracking all at once. It isn’t clear where we’ll be living or what we’ll be doing when we get back to the US. I usually enjoy that feeling of “anything’s possible” that you get when a big change is coming. This time that anticipation is laced with the likely reality of going back to being something less exciting and glamorous than “English teacher in Korea.” “Store clerk in Thermopolis” or “salesperson in Atlanta,” for example, just doesn’t have the same sort of ring. The feeling of uncertainty is actually greater than when we moved to Korea, when we at least knew we had jobs and an apartment waiting for us. Who knows what will happen when we get back, but at least it’ll be easier to get burritos and tasty beer.

Aaaaah, Brewskies January 12, 2009

A delicious and nutritious bevvie we call "My Other Lover."

It's good in bed, too.

These are oldies but goodies (greaties?) of our first homebrewed beer.  It was a stout and it was delicious and we miss it something awful.  We miss the rug we detroyed in the process of making this little darling, too.

Here’s a picture advertising the beer we have the most immediate access to here in Korea.  I’m pretty sure “Tok” means “pee-pee flavored.”

"Fresh" in this case means "made yesterday and has no possible chance of having any flavor."

One Year Gone November 23, 2008

Last week was the anniversary of Hooker’s death and you can just imagine how we’ve been feeling over here. It’s been a few weeks of good cries, bad wine, and those bittersweet stories of turkey meals gone bad, pooping on school books, rolling in elk carcasses, camping, learning tricks, catching lizards, sleeping on our stomachs, eating her weight in spaghetti, having about a dozen nicknames, (to include Mrs. John T. Schveepers, Doodle, Hookie, Monkey of Love, Cookie Marie, Stink Mouth/Stank Mouth, MC Puppy Pants, Pupperooni, Wiggle Britches, Stinky, Gloria Fan-derbelt, Fuzzy Britches, and Fanny Pants), having the stinkiest breath but the sweetest kisses, and just how “Hooker” came to be. We managed to make this last night and it was a strange mix of catharsis and insanely sad:

pet fur gone yarn September 29, 2008

So the other day I was telling a friend about this lady in Colorado that makes yarn out of her pet dog’s fur. And then this from a website we visit daily, as told. And you know what, why not? If we can take hair from a total stranger and wear it, why not from our beloveds?

Just hope it doesn’t rain or snow when you’re wearing your new sweater.

Sunday School August 30, 2008

Hi. This post really has nothing to do with Korea (unless you count the famous Steven Colbert vs. Rain rivalry). When we saw this video, things came out of our noses. Maybe there is something intrinsically funny about Sunday School songs. For example, my cousin Patrick’s nose used to turn into a milk fountain whenever he heard “Father Abraham.”

Then again, I suppose the fountain effect maybe, just maybe also could have been a result of my older brothers Chris and Andy elbowing him in the ribs a little bit every time the words “Father Abraham” were spoken. Either way, chaos ensued. Sunday school might actually have been fun, or at least not miserable, if I’d been old enough to go with those three.

Hey, you! Yeah, YOU! August 24, 2008

You Americans living in another country–you really need to vote. There is a website that will help you do what you need to do in order to get registered, get a ballot, and vote in your home state. If you’re reluctant to vote, here are a few reasons why you should get over it and vote.

First, you’re still at least theoretically supposed to pay taxes to the IRS, so you might as well give your opinion on how that money should be spent. If you like your money to be spent on war and subsidizing corporations, vote Republican. If you would like a slightly smaller portion of your money to be spent on war and subsidizing corporations, vote Democrat.

Second, many of the decisions made by our elected officials are likely to still affect you, even when you live somewhere else in the world. Whether you like it or not, the US has a finger in so many pies around the globe that it’s inevitable that some of our policies will stir up problems. The current administration is amazingly adept at pissing off other countries, even close allies. For example there are frequent anti-US rallies to voice their complaints about being forced to import subsidized US beef. US meat, shipped from the other side of the planet, somehow ends up costing less to buy in stores here than locally grown Korean meat. In addition, the whole reason that Korea quit importing beef from the US in the first place was fear that it might be contaminated with mad cow disease. The purpose of ending the import of US beef was to protect public health and the Korean beef industry from contamination. After a little arm twisting by the Bush government, the Korean president changed national policy, against Korean public opinion, resulting in minimal, if any, benefit to the Korean people. And remember, unlike many other places in the world, South Korea has a generally pretty positive opinion of the US. Wherever you happen to live, think of how often you’ve gotten the stink eye from somebody when they find out you aren’t actually a Canadian? And why do so many of us seem to feel the need to say we’re Canadian anyhow?

Lastly, should you ever come back to the US, it’d be a real bummer to find that since the Republicans managed to either steal or win 3 presidential elections in a row, the Supreme Court is now full of a bunch of conservative justices that choose to more or less follow a biblical interpretation of the Constitution. In case you don’t know, supreme court justices are appointed by the president, approved by Congress, and serve either until they either retire or die. Bush has made a couple of appointments during his terms including the new Chief Justice. These appointments have shifted the court to a narrow conservative majority. If McCain gets the same opportunity, it is likely that we could see civil rights, privacy rights, environmental protection, property rights, and a whole pile of other rights that we take for granted set back for decades. Further, it is likely that wherever the US goes, so too will other nations. Nations where you may be living.

These are just a few of the reasons to vote. You may think that it doesn’t matter, or that our votes aren’t really counted, either of which could certainly be true. However, our collective indifference or inaction makes it a whole lot easier for those wielding power to successfully circumvent the interests of the majority. The decisions made in Washington do affect you, whether you live in the borders of the US or not, so exercise your rights and vote.

Surprise Party August 22, 2008

A package arrived on Tuesday that could best be described as awesome. It contained a complete birthday party in a box. Tiny candle-holders, tiny candles, balloons, a streamer, cards, pecan bars, and a simply magnificent pound cake. Excellent.

Glorious.

Alan Tew August 22, 2008

Most people who know us are probably well aware of the fact that we rarely call each other by our given names. We have a plethora of nicknames for each other, most of which are too cutesie for polite company, but we like them anyway. A few years ago, we tossed one of the nicknames into Google and out came a bunch of websites. Among them was one that housed a number of delightful sketches. I’ve recently found that the site has been significantly updated for the first time in a while. They might not appeal to your sense of style, but I think his artwork is worth a look. And no, the nickname wasn’t Alan Tew.