e
Yes, it has been snowing. And cold, a rare -13c last night. Quite brisk for the southern ROK.
No, I don't have any time to compose any lovely messages.Happy New Year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
and may all your christmases be bright
We have a tree. I made pictures. Enjoy with love.
I took photos with the shutter open , zooming in and out and shaking or writing with the camera. The last image above, you can see all the letters of ANDY- luck or genius?
I especially like the 2nd one from top- you can see different numbers. As the lights flash and change colors, they burn on to the 'film' so each light stroke is of different duration.
Monday, December 20, 2010
sail along the reefs and coves inside your soul
Winter solstice 2010
A full moon tonight and balmy weather. On the eve of the shortest day of the year it was 15'. Above 0. I had a short walk alone- the dogs abandoned me after 10', not to return for 3 hours- yesterday in but a couple light layers. I sat in the warm and windless calm of a maple grove to connect with the earth. The weather is unreal.
It's amazing that I live in one of the densest populations on earth, 5 minutes drive from an urban area of 700 000, where i have endless mountainous trails to myself, and for the dogs to run free, and hunt deer and wild pigs. In nearly three years I have never, ever crossed paths with a hiker or anybody out for a stroll on the forested slopes around my village. Once I passed a group on the ridge trail some 3km away from home, but the well worn paths- ancient ridge trails - must so rarely see any body. We see or hear deer or pigs ( or their telltale signs) nearly every walk, and it is these animals that keep the trails worn. Korean hikers walk together in hordes- or noisy groups, with their fluorescent uniforms , radios and cell phones. Seeking peace and quiet is not part of the plan.
2010 is drawing to an end. I hope to recap some events in the days to come...if I indeed take some down time. Not likely though, we took a big order for an inn today and i have a workshop in 2 weeks to prepare for.
So I'll wish all the readers a very merry Christmas!
A full moon tonight and balmy weather. On the eve of the shortest day of the year it was 15'. Above 0. I had a short walk alone- the dogs abandoned me after 10', not to return for 3 hours- yesterday in but a couple light layers. I sat in the warm and windless calm of a maple grove to connect with the earth. The weather is unreal.
It's amazing that I live in one of the densest populations on earth, 5 minutes drive from an urban area of 700 000, where i have endless mountainous trails to myself, and for the dogs to run free, and hunt deer and wild pigs. In nearly three years I have never, ever crossed paths with a hiker or anybody out for a stroll on the forested slopes around my village. Once I passed a group on the ridge trail some 3km away from home, but the well worn paths- ancient ridge trails - must so rarely see any body. We see or hear deer or pigs ( or their telltale signs) nearly every walk, and it is these animals that keep the trails worn. Korean hikers walk together in hordes- or noisy groups, with their fluorescent uniforms , radios and cell phones. Seeking peace and quiet is not part of the plan.
2010 is drawing to an end. I hope to recap some events in the days to come...if I indeed take some down time. Not likely though, we took a big order for an inn today and i have a workshop in 2 weeks to prepare for.
So I'll wish all the readers a very merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
sunday report on wednesday
I'm pretty behind with the blog as per usual.
Last Sunday was tremendously tiring with the felling of a couple trees. There are three precious hardwoods for carpenters in Korea, they include Zelcova ( known locally as Neuti-namu), walnut and Chamjuk. We cut a massive and valuable hardwood- the Chamjuk- alternately and erroneously called Chinaberry in English. There are other lesser known or rarely available hardwoods such as birch or sycamore.
The Zelkovas can grow huge- 1-2 meters diameter and 2-3000 sq foot canopy, getting to be 400-500 yrs old. Many villages around the Korean countryside have these huge shade trees in village centers near streams, and act as community meeting places. The timber is very hard and not available commercially, so I haven't worked any yet. None of the valuable furniture timbers are available on the market. You have to know someone, have it cut and milled on your own initiative.
This is what we are doing with the chamjuk. Three smaller ones on an elderly neighbor's property were killed and need to be cut but are beween electrical wires so we'll have to call the power company arborist. The other massive one we took was alive , a towering 12-15meters ad 50yrs old. By far the nicest specimen I've seen in the past year since I learned about his species.
Worth about 1000$ unmilled, it sat between rotting standing pines, so 3 of those came down with it. It was awful. They got cought up on each other and the big chamjuk wanted to fall opposite the falling direction. So I had to rope it, with the elderly peasants trying to pull the tree upon themselves unsuccessfully- to which I was freaking out-safety first Korea! . I tethered it safely and went to get more rope and came back with a winch. Thankfully all the helping villagers were off duty having tea and the trees all came crashing down after a slight crank diagonally on the winch. The 6' sections were well over 100kgs and 4 truck loads later and all the pine bucked up for fuel, I was spent.
The wood has to dry a few months minimally before milling. I have made a couple things with it, it is very hard, pest resistant and rages from orange to deep red brown- mostly red. The tree we cut was the straightest of any such wood I've seen and will produce excellent boards. It is usually gnarly and swirled as most grow stunted. I just saw and sawed dollar signs while I was working on it.
Oh yeah, and I still love my new chainsaw.
YM tried to rest in the evening and the neighbors were calling to have us come to the community meeting. The frustration with our community has mounted lately, as with the arrival this year of 2 new younger ( under 60) households there has been more frequent social pressure and some initiative towards civic pride and whatever else I have no idea about ( this is a sleepy hamlet of 30 households) As Sunday is our only rest day ( and I always work like an animal), unplanned and bothersome, meddlesome unnecessary meetings are not what the doctor ordered. This has lead to frustration for us- wondering " are we living in communist North Korea?"- we moved to the country to get away from masses of meddlesome people. The announcement happy Koreans - yes if you live in older apartments or villages, there are intercom or PA announcements weekly , which you cannot avoid nor benefit from. People are literate now: post memos or SMS everyone concerned.
So , this leads all to the next step for us: evacuation. The store routine is wearing us down and we need a solution. We want to make a move from Korea and selling the house is involved so we are teasing all sorts of ideas. Such as...selling the house, buying another cheaper, older, isolated country home or industrial building to renovate to a living and work space, keep the change and rent it out while living in Canada or elsewhere. As for the store, despite its success, the rent and hours are major obligations and if we can get into online sales, we could sell the shop or lease it or get a manager and just make stuff without the retail duties. I mean, there are many more possibilities, and it has only been a year. Regardless of what happens, we will no doubt continue to work as many hours, we just want to find away to have more freedom, or flexibility and better profit margins. As it is now, we want to be out of the store by this time next year.
I have no idea how people get by this way, but all the shopkeepers have few customers. Our neighbor shoplady tell us we are the most successful on our row, and it must be true. There are just so many shops everywhere who must struggle to even make the rent. The people have no business sense ( ours is negligible ), originality or special talent ( those we do have). There are so many of the same kinds of shops with the same products, it makes my head spin. Most shops, cafes are empty most of the time.
Anyways , something's gotta give for us. Packing in the store and this house are not failures, just reflections on our desire for change and adventure. Here we are towing the line for just a year and ready to take more risks. We think renovating a house would be better use of time ( read: profitable leapfrogging ) than the daily 9-5 ( or 10 to 8, 6days a week).
ok that's it. for today.
I have to take a look at the published presentation skills book, for a final proof. The design looks fantastic- we totally rejected the first layout. I'm sure there are a few typos and omissions as the desk top publishers are not English speakers.
And..yes we have xmas tree. Will post for you all soon.
Last Sunday was tremendously tiring with the felling of a couple trees. There are three precious hardwoods for carpenters in Korea, they include Zelcova ( known locally as Neuti-namu), walnut and Chamjuk. We cut a massive and valuable hardwood- the Chamjuk- alternately and erroneously called Chinaberry in English. There are other lesser known or rarely available hardwoods such as birch or sycamore.
The Zelkovas can grow huge- 1-2 meters diameter and 2-3000 sq foot canopy, getting to be 400-500 yrs old. Many villages around the Korean countryside have these huge shade trees in village centers near streams, and act as community meeting places. The timber is very hard and not available commercially, so I haven't worked any yet. None of the valuable furniture timbers are available on the market. You have to know someone, have it cut and milled on your own initiative.
This is what we are doing with the chamjuk. Three smaller ones on an elderly neighbor's property were killed and need to be cut but are beween electrical wires so we'll have to call the power company arborist. The other massive one we took was alive , a towering 12-15meters ad 50yrs old. By far the nicest specimen I've seen in the past year since I learned about his species.
Worth about 1000$ unmilled, it sat between rotting standing pines, so 3 of those came down with it. It was awful. They got cought up on each other and the big chamjuk wanted to fall opposite the falling direction. So I had to rope it, with the elderly peasants trying to pull the tree upon themselves unsuccessfully- to which I was freaking out-safety first Korea! . I tethered it safely and went to get more rope and came back with a winch. Thankfully all the helping villagers were off duty having tea and the trees all came crashing down after a slight crank diagonally on the winch. The 6' sections were well over 100kgs and 4 truck loads later and all the pine bucked up for fuel, I was spent.
The wood has to dry a few months minimally before milling. I have made a couple things with it, it is very hard, pest resistant and rages from orange to deep red brown- mostly red. The tree we cut was the straightest of any such wood I've seen and will produce excellent boards. It is usually gnarly and swirled as most grow stunted. I just saw and sawed dollar signs while I was working on it.
Oh yeah, and I still love my new chainsaw.
YM tried to rest in the evening and the neighbors were calling to have us come to the community meeting. The frustration with our community has mounted lately, as with the arrival this year of 2 new younger ( under 60) households there has been more frequent social pressure and some initiative towards civic pride and whatever else I have no idea about ( this is a sleepy hamlet of 30 households) As Sunday is our only rest day ( and I always work like an animal), unplanned and bothersome, meddlesome unnecessary meetings are not what the doctor ordered. This has lead to frustration for us- wondering " are we living in communist North Korea?"- we moved to the country to get away from masses of meddlesome people. The announcement happy Koreans - yes if you live in older apartments or villages, there are intercom or PA announcements weekly , which you cannot avoid nor benefit from. People are literate now: post memos or SMS everyone concerned.
So , this leads all to the next step for us: evacuation. The store routine is wearing us down and we need a solution. We want to make a move from Korea and selling the house is involved so we are teasing all sorts of ideas. Such as...selling the house, buying another cheaper, older, isolated country home or industrial building to renovate to a living and work space, keep the change and rent it out while living in Canada or elsewhere. As for the store, despite its success, the rent and hours are major obligations and if we can get into online sales, we could sell the shop or lease it or get a manager and just make stuff without the retail duties. I mean, there are many more possibilities, and it has only been a year. Regardless of what happens, we will no doubt continue to work as many hours, we just want to find away to have more freedom, or flexibility and better profit margins. As it is now, we want to be out of the store by this time next year.
I have no idea how people get by this way, but all the shopkeepers have few customers. Our neighbor shoplady tell us we are the most successful on our row, and it must be true. There are just so many shops everywhere who must struggle to even make the rent. The people have no business sense ( ours is negligible ), originality or special talent ( those we do have). There are so many of the same kinds of shops with the same products, it makes my head spin. Most shops, cafes are empty most of the time.
Anyways , something's gotta give for us. Packing in the store and this house are not failures, just reflections on our desire for change and adventure. Here we are towing the line for just a year and ready to take more risks. We think renovating a house would be better use of time ( read: profitable leapfrogging ) than the daily 9-5 ( or 10 to 8, 6days a week).
ok that's it. for today.
I have to take a look at the published presentation skills book, for a final proof. The design looks fantastic- we totally rejected the first layout. I'm sure there are a few typos and omissions as the desk top publishers are not English speakers.
And..yes we have xmas tree. Will post for you all soon.
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Sitting on the fence between past and present tense
Given between an increasingly large bump- like an emerging golf ball- and a barely visible scar on a forehead wrinkle, I chose the latter. The plastic surgeon in Iksan did a fabulous job. I had alternating stitches out today, the remainder will out on Monday.
While waiting to enter the secure OR zone, I stood by a biohazard pail with a cerain grandmother's amputated leg in it. A rather grim reminder of the horrors that occur daily in surgeries. While strolling to my OR, I saw my good friend Dr. Choi, who was so surprised as I hadn't announced or bothered him with this round of visits. I suspected I could see him as his surgeries are also scheduled Tuesday afternoons. So I got a vote of reassurance and he gave a pep talk to the OR staff reinforcing my VIP status. Actually, the Wongwang Uni hospital has a special program welcoming foreigners and treat every international citizen very respectfully.
It took 30'or so under the gowns and the only discomfort was trying to hold back sneezing from the iodine covering my face. I did and despite getting a bit hot near the end it was, for all purposes, painless. The incision is less than 2 cm and clean and relatively invisible. A success.
I think I like hospitals in Korea, not only because the service quality is so high, rapid, friendly, efficient and amazingly cheap ( generally hospital/ clinic costs are covered 90% by national health insurance), but because it is an English zone. All MDs and RNs have highly serviceable English and it is no problem to communicate health concerns. Other patients and staff always observe in curiosity the ease with which foreigners and doctors communicate.
Anyhow folks, I'm all good. I had a bit of a headache on the eve of the said day, but have not felt a thing since. Likely special bandages and super-steroidal ointments for the weeks to come.
While waiting to enter the secure OR zone, I stood by a biohazard pail with a cerain grandmother's amputated leg in it. A rather grim reminder of the horrors that occur daily in surgeries. While strolling to my OR, I saw my good friend Dr. Choi, who was so surprised as I hadn't announced or bothered him with this round of visits. I suspected I could see him as his surgeries are also scheduled Tuesday afternoons. So I got a vote of reassurance and he gave a pep talk to the OR staff reinforcing my VIP status. Actually, the Wongwang Uni hospital has a special program welcoming foreigners and treat every international citizen very respectfully.
It took 30'or so under the gowns and the only discomfort was trying to hold back sneezing from the iodine covering my face. I did and despite getting a bit hot near the end it was, for all purposes, painless. The incision is less than 2 cm and clean and relatively invisible. A success.
I think I like hospitals in Korea, not only because the service quality is so high, rapid, friendly, efficient and amazingly cheap ( generally hospital/ clinic costs are covered 90% by national health insurance), but because it is an English zone. All MDs and RNs have highly serviceable English and it is no problem to communicate health concerns. Other patients and staff always observe in curiosity the ease with which foreigners and doctors communicate.
Anyhow folks, I'm all good. I had a bit of a headache on the eve of the said day, but have not felt a thing since. Likely special bandages and super-steroidal ointments for the weeks to come.
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