Buddy Update

The apartment association located a veterinary clinic in the country (a good three hours from Seoul) that agreed to take Buddy in for 10 days. The vet said that he had a yard and a couple of big dogs and, if the dogs liked Buddy and Buddy seemed to adjust well, he would keep Buddy. Otherwise, he would find a home for him. He said finding a home for Buddy would be easy since Buddy is a golden retriever (a designer dog) and most farmers there would not be able to afford a dog like Buddy. The likelihood of the vet adopting Buddy is high, however.

Buddy's presence was great for the kids, but, at the same time, he was so bored. Tied up all day, he would see someone and jump up and down. Many times, he jumped on kids and scratched them, which made parents believe he was dangerous. It was obvious Buddy was not dangerous, just in desperate need of attention and exercise. I had considered taking him in, but a dog that size needs space to run in. Plus, I can't take on a 5th child (yes, I am including Jack in that number). I am really happy to know he is now in the country, possibly running around like he should.

Summer Rain

A classmate of Dahin's had a birthday party at the science park across the street from our home. (Dahin is quite popular with the boys, I must say. As we walked up to the party, a while bunch of boys started yelling and running toward us--"Sung Dahin is here! Sung Dahin is here!" Dahin did her usual, "What-ever" look.). It's awesome--an observatory, eco-projects, etc. One problem: It rained about an hour into the party and we found ourselves stranded under one of the building's over-hangs (or whatever you call it). The parents moved the picnic tables under the overhang so that we wouldn't get wet, but the rain headed towards us, anyway. The kids, however, decided to keep partying. It was so fun to watch them run around like maniacs in the rain and spray each other with water guns, play soccer, and get totally soaked.

This little girl is one of Dahin's friends and she followed Dahin around during the party. It was sweet to see the girls talking to Dahin and, when they realized she didn't understand exactly, they were really patient and said what they were saying a different way. We've been really lucky; the school environment overall has been incredibly supportive.

The kids went crazy--it was fabulous to see them turning the rain, something that could have ruined the party, into something that made the party even more fun.
Despite the fact that it was raining, water guns were employed in a battle extra-ordinaire. Like getting sprayed with water would matter....A group of boys engaged in a soccer match pretty much the whole time. When the thunder arrived and some lightening appeared, we had to encourage the boys to get out of the rain.

The little guy, below, did not want to get wet. He stayed under his umbrella the whole time and watched the other kids play.

In Cal-i-FOR-nya (how the kids say it, emphasis on the "for"), the kids only experienced lightening and thunder once. I can't really explain why there is no thunder and lightening when it rains there (although my friend Zoe could probably pull a scientific explanation out of thin air), but probably has something to do with it's location, elevation, blah-blah-blah...We only heard it once. We were at the library on a rainy day in October and suddenly we heard a massive clap of thunder and saw a burst of lightening. The kids all said, "Mommy, what was that?" And the librarian (who hailed from Indiana) and I explained that it was thunder, reminding me of how teachers and parents explained sunshine in that Isaac Asimov story about the kids who lived indoors all the time on another planet (right?) because it rained non-stop; some had never seen sunshine because it only appeared once every few years (right?). I love that story; though I can't remember the title or the exact details. I remember feeling sorry for the little girl who came from earth (right?) and had seen sunshine. All the other kids were jealous and shut her up in the closet during the 30 minutes or so that sunshine appeared, not to show up again for a long time. Any--way...since the rainy season has begun here, the kids have been fully exposed to massive downpours with plenty of lightening and thunder to back them up. Dahin's preemptive strategy to shield against the surprise of the sound is to cover her ears. Summer rain, as well, is a new phenomenon for them because California's summer is the 'dry season.'
Oliver decided, why watch when I can get soaked, too? So, Dahin went out to retrieve him.

Photos with my new camera

Sadly, I had to relinquish the camera from UC Berkeley. The university has a policy that an item over a certain cost must stay with the university. A bit unfair since some people who got computers got to keep them. But, the Canon EOS 5 cost, with the lense, over $4,000.00. They let me take it to Korea for a few more months to take some research photos and I handed it over at a Korean Studies symposium the Center for Korean Studies held jointly with Korea University. Honestly, I didn't know how to use it to its full capacity. It's a professional camera and really requires some know-how. I was just learning some of the ins and outs. To replace it, I used my research money here at SNU to buy one of the top of the line CONSUMER cameras (NOT a professional camera), the Canon 450D (the Rebel in the US). I really like it. My friend Peter, who is an amateur photog and recently won the Korea Herald photo contest, said that the 450D (his camera, too) is a great camera to cut your teeth on. Plus, you can buy lenses that will really allow you to experiment. So far, I can't tell much of a difference between it and the 5, besides the price (a good $3,500 difference), except I really miss my wide-angle lens. Once I do some work with this camera, I will invest the $100 or so to buy a wide angle lens for this camera. Here are some practice shots.
Breakfast at the Sung's--I can't stomach kimchi and rice for breakfast on a regular basis, and Jack doesn't go for oatmeal. Everybody sort of eats their own thing.
We met Jack, his mom, his sister, and her daughter (our niece) at Insa-dong for lunch. We spent a fun afternoon eye-shopping and eating some pretty good food (although Insa-dong is now infamous in my mind for jacking up prices for 'traditional' wares and food).

Buddy, the continuing saga

Buddy is still here. He's been moved to the space near the management office. I took these pictures from our deck/balcony--we get a good view of Buddy and the kids check up him constantly. He pretty much stays tied up all day, so I know he must be really bored and restless. A woman who lives here has been taking him for morning walks. She walks him without a leash--yikes! That's some confidence handling a big goofy puppy. I took him for a walk this past week when I had time. He really liked it and pooped and peed like crazy. I guess he was so excited to be someplace else besides beneath the stairwell and he doesn't have much room to do his business usually. Kids visit him constantly. The boys like to ride their bikes down near Buddy ((Ronan's bike is at the bottom left of the photo) and kids play ball with him. Buddy now has a chew toy, a leash, dog food, and lots and lots of water. In the photo below, Oliver and one of his many girlfriends (he has 3 or 4) join forces in plans on playing with Buddy. Buddy has not been trained and needs it desperately. He tends to jump up on people because he gets excited to see them. When he does that, though, he scares people off. My leg got scratched up yesterday; I just keep saying "down!" and pushing him down when he does that. I'm not sure what the plan is with Buddy, but I'm guessing at the next community meeting something will be decided. He can't be kept there forever. I really want to take him, but Jack has vetoed the idea several times. And, honestly, with three kids and a busy schedule, it's not a good idea. He needs lots, and lots of attention.

Hooters, Korea

You know, I never set foot into a Hooters (EVER!) in the States. But, while Jack and I were shopping for an MP3 recorder in Yongsan, I thought it might be fun to see what a Hooters in Korea is like. Well, the girls were very nice; happy to pose for many photos. I sent the above photo and another one to Hooter's girl "Hug" through email. I know they do something else besides serve food since they were practicing dance moves near the entrance. I suppose they dance, or something, when the place is busy. The food, well...it was terrible. I got a hamburger and it was the worst hamburger I have ever had. Not sure if it was actual beef in that burger. It rivaled the Lotteria burgers (terrible, terrible) but gets a lower rating because it was more expensive and I had high hopes. Jack's burger was just as bad. The menu is modeled after the US Hooters menu--full of deep friend, cheese-covered food. I can say that I am glad, yes, that I tried it out and, with more confidence, that I will never set foot in another Hooters. Curiosity, gone.

Lost Dog

Yesterday morning at 9 am, one of our neighbors got the surprise of their life when they opened their door and a golden retriever came walking into their apartment as if he belonged there. The family is not used to dogs--four daughters who all think big dogs are scary (imagine the scene)--so, while the kids freaked out, the dad tried to get the dog out of their home. The dog would not budge. So, the management ajeossi was called and the only way he could get the dog out was to carry him. We discovered the dog as we were leaving for school in the morning--the ajeossi and an ajuma were herding the dog away from kids. The dog--obviously friendly and used to children--was wagging his tail and trying to follow people around.

When I returned from a forum in the afternoon, the dog was still there with a crowd of kids (including our kids) around him. The ajeossi had fed him some lunch that day and kept him tied up by his watchout post so that he would not be loose running around the area. I spoke with one of my neighbors who said that first people would try and find the owner. If the owner can't be found, then we would see if we could find a home for the dog. At around 8 pm the ajeossi made an announcement over the speaker system that a golden retriever was found and if anyone was the owner to come and get him. I really don't think the owner is someone who lives here. I was tempted for a moment, but remember what a handful golden retrievers are; and, honestly, we cannot take on a pet right now. My neighbor and I both agreed that we think he was abandoned. Because he was so friendly--he shakes hands, sits, and retrieves--we know he's been taken care of. My neighbor said that, it seems, when the dog grew from a cute puppy to a big dog (he is, actually, still a puppy) and got to be a handful, the owner decided to dump him. I think he was purposefully dumped here, a place with a lot of families and also relatively far from a street.

I made some scrambled eggs and mixed it with rice and fed it to "Buddy" (the name the kids gave to him). He gobbled it all up within seconds. The ajeossi kept a bowl of water for the dog and I made sure that it was ok to give him something--don't want to overfeed him. I told the kids surrounding Buddy not to bring him any food--some kids had already given him crackers and nuts.

Well, I'll keep you updated on the Buddy saga. It was so good to see so many people concerned about his welfare and taking action to take care of him. Particularly since I had taken a picture--just a week ago--of a couple of dogs caged on the back of a truck headed toward certain fate as 'dog stew.' (Jack confirmed this when I said to the boys--"Oh look, puppies" and Jack said, "Those aren't 'puppies'---those are dogs for eating." Here--there is a big divide between expensive pets and 'ddong gae'--literally, 'shit dogs'). Luckily, Buddy fits into the brand name category since he is a golden retriever. I was especially grateful to the management ajeossi who took on the task of watching him throughout the day. I am thinking he took Buddy inside the management office so he could sleep since I didn't see Buddy outside when I was wandering around early this morning.

Family Photos

These were the golden gems emerging from the hundreds of photos the photog took of our family. It took that many to get so few good ones. I thought they were just going to take some random shots during the interview and had no idea that the picture-taking session would 1) not only happen in public with people staring at us but 2) also take over an hour. The photographer kept telling us to laugh, so Jack was laughing like a maniac, which made me laugh and the kids thought he was nuts. The photographer thought he was a little nuts, as well, but I think she had fun with it. Anyway, Mama and Daddy, if you want large, high-quality files for prints, let me know. I can send them via email--the files are huge.