Something About Contagious Nose Bleeds

Something was up in my Kindergarten class this afternoon. One student came in late and, as soon as she sat down, had a bloody nose. The Korean teacher was quick to plug it with tissue. Believe it or not, not one but two more students subsequently had nose bleeds within the next five minutes. I've never seen anything like it. As a child I used to get jealous of my friends who had nose bleeds. To this day I have never had one.

Something About Cheonggyecheon

On Saturday I went with my Korean school (I've started taking Korean classes) on a trip to Seoul. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, Cheonggycheon Stream, and Insadong. I can talk about Gyeonbokgung and Insadong another time. Cheonggycheon Stream is a 6 km waterway that runs through the heart of Seoul. After the Korean War, Seoul went through a major facelift: the place had been "leveled" by the North. As part of it's re-development it was decided to pave over the stream to make way for an elevated highway. The highway took 4 years to build and was finished in 1971. They literally dried up the stream and filled it with asphalt. It took the city until 2004 to realize that it probably wasn't the best idea. They took down the highway and dug up the asphalt. The city then reconstructed the Cheonggyecheon Stream and made it flow once more. The shores are concrete and the basin has been lined with professionally cut stones. All the same, it looks better than an elevated highway.

Something About 3 Years

I happened to be looking at my passport this morning when I realized that three years ago today (February 24) I left Canada. I didn't actually touch down in Korea until February 25. My first year in Korea seemed to go very slow while the past two have flown by. It really does scare me how fast weeks seem to go. Every Friday I look at the calendar and shake my head: "Is it the weekend already?" Hey, I'm not complaining about the weekend, it just amazes me how fast the two days seem to come. It's as if time has been gradually speeding up as I get older. I see a very confused retirement in my future.

Something About Names

When I first moved to Korea three years ago something very strange happened to me: I unintentionally called my housemates "grandma." I had been living with my grandmother for about 10 months prior to my trip, so I guess I got used to using her name. It reminded me of the time I was a student teacher in a grade one class and the students sometimes called the teacher "mommy." Well today, yet again, something very strange happened. I was sitting at my desk planning the day's lessons when one of my Kindergarten students came barreling through the door. "Teacher, Teacher, candy please!" He was jumping up and down like a rabbit. I was a bit annoyed at this sudden burst of energy in the room. My response: "Please, Venus, wait just a minute." And there you have it. I've gone from calling my housemates "grandma" to calling my students "Venus." The funny part is that this particular student's English ability is not the best and he had no idea that I had referred to him as my cat.

Something About Ontario

Today The Globe and Mail online edition had a story about Governor-General Michaëlle Jean's first "official visit to Ontario." Okay, doesn't the women live in Ottawa? Wasn't her first official visit when she was sworn in as Governer General? That's like having a story entitled "Stephen Harper pays firstofficiall visit to Canada." Okay, okay, you're going to tell me "but Mike, this is her first "official" visit." Even yet, the fact she has lived in the province for the past 6 months and has yet to make an officiall" appearance seems odd.

Something About Ethan Suplee

Today before I went into work I watched "Mallrats." I've seen the movie umpteen dozen times, but this time something, rather someone, caught my attention. The character Willam Black, played by Ethan Suplee, somehow looked familiar to me. At first I thought it was Hurly from Lost, so I decided to do some Googling. I knew I had seen him in a recent series, but it turns out I was wrong about the Lost idea. In fact, he plays Earl's brother Randy in "My Name is Earl. " For those of you who don't know, the character of Earl is played by Jason Lee, who also played Brodie in "Mallrats. " What's ironic is that William was such a manic loud mouth, while the character of Randy seems very mellow. The fact that Kevin Smith doesn't write for Earl is beyond me.

Something About The "F" Word

This morning I read an article on the Globe and Mail website that dealt with the Ipperwash inquiry going on in Forrest, Ontario. Mike Harris has been summoned to explain comments he allegedly made during the stand off in 1995. What interested me about the article was that they chose to include the word "f$#&ing." When dealing with the alleged comments, other websites such as The Toronto Sun and National Post chose, as I did, to edit the word. Strange.

Something About Embarrassment

At first thought putting the sixth season of Seinfeld onto my ipod felt like a good idea. This morning I realized it might not have been, as I could hardly contain my giggles as I rode the train into Daejeon. The old lady beside me did not seem the least bit amused. Neither did anyone else who wanted to take a peak at the foreigner giggling in his seat.

Something About Being Outnumbered

Lately I've been reading reports about the huge winter storm that crashed through the Maritimes this past week. Even CNN had a report about it. Having lived in Moncton for almost 7 years I understand the crazy weather that can hit the east coast. What really drew my attention about the storm was what happened on Pictou Island, Nova Scotia. The huge waves caused the local seal population to seek refuge on the island. They would normally climb onto pieces of floating ice but, because of warmer temperatures, none were to be found. The population of Pictou Island during the winter months is a whopping 18. Compare that with the 3,000 adult seals that retreated to it's shores. The adults brought with them about 400 seal pups. Officials say 75% of the pups were carried out to sea and drowned. Let's refresh those numbers: 18 residents living on an island with over 3,000 seals. I think I would be shaking in my boots.

Something About Oil

Wow, Bush says that American's are addicted to oil. That's like a former crack dealer becoming president and telling the country that some American's are addicted to crack. The guy has spent most his life feeding America's addiction to oil. What a moron.