Something About Reese in Pieces

It confuses me why people make such a big deal about celebrity wedding's these days. Helicopters hovering over-head, photographer's camped out in bushes; it seems like an obsession. All this attention, for what? Most of the marriages end in divorce a short time later. I was honestly shocked to read that Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe have decided to separate. I really thought that theirs would be the anomaly in Hollywood marriages. Heck, I just watched Reese on Oprah the other day saying how much she loved being married and having a family. So, who do you think Reese will end up with next? I think her and Matthew Mcconaughey would be a good match.

Something About being M.I.A.

Okay, so I have a cold. As I was on the train to Daejeon this morning I happened to sneeze. This is not an uncommon experience, however I seemed to loose the gum I was previously chewing. I was very embarrassed and pretended nothing had happened. I casually looked around but couldn't see it anywhere. Oh, well. It will be a nice treat for some kid on the train.

Something About Going to the Dogs

Okay, by now everyone has heard about the alleged "dog" comment Peter Mckay directed toward Belinda Stronach's empty chair in the House of Commons. What bothers me is that this incident is still at the top of the news a week after it happend. Should Peter have made the comment? Of course not. But I would think there are more important issues to be discussed than this spat between two ex-lovers. Health care, education, the environment, troops in Afganistan: all of these should take precident. Canada would become a laughing stock if this spat actualy brings down the minority government.

Something About Tests

As promised, North Korea conducted it's first nuclear weapon test last week. Now reports are coming in that more tests are sure to follow. While the world seems to be ticked off at this impoverished country and it's pudgy leader, consider the following:

• Between 1945 and 1992, The United States conducted over 1,000 nuclear tests. It currently has 6,390 readily available nuclear warheads with a stockpile of 10,640.
  
• Since 1964, China has conducted 46 nuclear tests. It currently has 400 nuclear weapons.
• While it's not know how many tests Russia has conducted, it currently has 3,242 readily available nuclear weapons with a stockpile of 16,000.
• Between 1960 and and 1996, France conducted 200 nuclear tests. It currently has 350 nuclear weapons.
  
• Between 1952 and 1991, Britain conducted 42 tests. It currently has 200 nuclear weapons
• India posseses 110 nuclear weapons.
• Pakistan has 110 nuclear weapons
• It is believed Israel has over 200 nuclear weapons.
  
• North Korea has conducted one nuclear test and is believed to possess 15 nuclear weapons.
  

As you can see, there are a lot of nuclear weapons in our world today. It seems to me that all of these weapons were developed out of fear. As one country developed nuclear weapons, other countries felt the need to follow suit. It would then make sense that if everyone agreed to somehow dispose of these weapons, nobody would feel the need to possess them. If The United States didn't have any nuclear weapons, what reason would North Korea have for possessing them?

I also find it strange that, with all of these nuclear powers, The United States is so against North Korea's possession of them. Look at the numbers! They pose the least threat of them all. The United States is also strongly against Iran having nuclear weapons. That country has no nuclear weapons! It really doesn't make sense to me. There has only been one country in history to ever use a nuclear weapon (2 to be exact) in a war time assault. Just ask Japan who that country was.

Not only that, but while The United States is condemning North Korea for having nuclear weapons, they themselves are trying to develop even more sophisticated nukes. According to former President Bill Clinton, "the administration has asked for funds to research the development of two new nuclear weapons: one, a nuclear bunker buster, even though we have a conventional bunker buster that's quite powerful, and two, a so-called tactical battlefield nuclear weapon, which, the administration admits, had it been deployed -- they say it's small -- but, had it been deployed in the Iraq conflict, would have taken out 25 percent of Baghdad." That's nuts. Why is Bush so hell bent on stopping other people from possessing nuclear weapons except for himself? It's like he thinks the world can't see this double standard. If The U.S. scrapped it's nuclear weapons program I guarantee that we would have a safer world.

Something About Being a Buddha

On my train ride to Church this morning a mother and her children walked up beside me and stared. I gave a polite nod hello and kept reading my book. Soon after the two children came unescorted and stared at me again. I nodded again, and kept reading my book. About 5 minutes the two returned yet again, this time bearing food. They placed an orange and cookie on my lap and ran away. While sometimes I feel like a zoo animal, at other times I feel like some kind of Buddhist statue.

Something About the Homeland

My trip home to Canada started with a delayed flight to Toronto and ended with yet another to Seoul. I landed in Chicago and called home to tell everyone that I had made it okay. I hung up the phone and noticed everyone staring at a white wall. As I got closer I realized it wasn't a wall, it was a window. Tornadoes had struck Chicago and the rain was so heavy it looked like snow. I knew I had a 4 hour stop over in Chicago but,because of the tornadoes, it was now an 8 hour stop over. My eyes were so tired they were stinging. I finally landed in Toronto at 3:30 Saturday morning.

People are asking what I did while I was home, and I don't really have much to tell. Saturday was spent doing some shopping and Sunday we had a family get together at grannies. On Monday I did yet more shopping and took in The Jay's last home game of the season at the Roger's Center. On Tuesday I went up to Lakefield with my folks. Wednesday I renewed my driver's license and health card and, you guessed it, more shopping. On Thursday there was yet more shopping and I headed back to Richmond Hill on Friday. On Saturday there was more shopping followed on Sunday by an early Thanksgiving Dinner. On Monday I went up to Newmarket to meet Troy, Amanada and Micah for lunch. On Tuesday I did some last minute shopping and on Wednesday had dinner at Doug and Carol's followed by the season premier of "Lost."

My flight back on Thursday started off a bit rocky. I asked the woman at the AA counter where my luggage would end up. It would make sense that they would be checked to Seoul, but the airline companies don't always make sense. She told me my bags would be checked to Seoul but I would have to collect them in Tokyo and re-check them. I asked again in Chicago and the AA people told me I wouldn't have to collect them in Tokyo; they would go straight to Seoul. I asked on the plane to Tokyo and they said again they should go straight to Seoul. When I tried to go through security in Tokyo I was asked for my bags. They told me I would have to collect my bags in Tokyo and re-check them. When I went to the baggage area the women told me that my bags had been checked to Seoul. When I tried to get my boarding pass for the flight to Seoul I was asked yet again for my bags. I told the woman they were being checked to Seoul, but she didn't seem to believe me. Needless to say, yes, my bags were checked to Seoul. What I would like to know is why so many official AA workers would misread a luggage claim ticket? It was funny for a bit but very frustrating in the end.

As we approached Tokyo-Narita Airport the pilot said we would be experiencing some turbulence for a while. I have never experienced so much of it in my life. As many of you know I hate roller coasters. The descent into Tokyo-Narita was a roller coaster ride from hell. I put my head between my knees and couldn't stop "yelping." It was a kind of girlish scream. People on both sides of me were patting my back. A couple of seats over some guy started barfing. Then someone a few rows back decided to follow the trend. I wasn't queasy but my heart was racing a mile a minute. I was scared half to death. After we landed there was an announcement in Japanese that made those able to understand gasp. Apparently the pilot didn't feel safe landing in Tokyo-Narita and instead opted for a closer airport. A few minutes later it was revealed that we had in fact landed at Tokyo Narita. We were then informed we had just landed in a typhoon. I knew right away that there would be problems. My flight to Seoul was less than 2 hours away and I knew there would be delays. When I got to the boarding area I found that the flight had been delayed for an unspecified amount of time. The plane had to come from Korea and at that point there were no planes landing at the airport. The flight ended up being delayed for 5 hours. This delay had some serious implications for me in Korea. I had a train ticket that left Yongsan Station at 6:10 Saturday morning. I had originally planed on taking the airport bus to the train station and sleeping for a few hours in the station. The problem was that when the plane landed the buses had stopped running. To further complicate things, the busses wouldn't start again until 6:30 a.m. . As I stepped into Incheon Airport (Seoul) I was handed a sheet of paper. It said that Japan Airlines had charted 20 busses to take people into Seoul. Woo hoo! Had I not been able to catch the 6:10 train I may have been stranded in Seoul for a while. It was the Korean Thanksgiving weekend (Chusock) and all the trains were booked solid.

As I arrived at Yongsan station at 2:30 a.m. my heart dropped a bit: the place was closed! Not only that, there were a bunch of homeless people scattered around the main doors. Luckily the doors were open at 3:00 a.m. and I was able to go inside.

And there you have it. After this last visit home, I think this will be my last year in Korea. My "one year" stay will soon be entering it's fifth year and I think I'm finally finished. Yet again, I could change my mind. Who knows?

Something About the Letter "T"

My flight to and from Toronto can be summed up with the letter "T"

T is for Toronto, the place that I love to go.

T is for tornadoes, that stopped me in Chicago.

T is for the typhoon, that hit Japan 'round noon.

T is for turbulence, that put me off balance.

T is for tomorrow, when more info will follow.