Google maps are crazy!  I found a pretty good satellite map of Kunsan, South Korea (where I live).  I didn’t expect too much, because it’s not a very big city in Korea.  Still, you can get a pretty good idea of the city’s layout.  There’s a river that runs to the north of us that is used only as a port.  From where I am, to the edge of the river is a 15 minute car ride.

Then I zoomed in to my neighborhood in Oregon, and this was as close as I could get to a detailed picture of my parent’s house.  It’s pretty impressive when you think about it.  That’s a satellite photo!  To spy on yourself, go to www.maplandia.com.

I wanted to wish everyone a

Not much happened here in Kunsan.  Halloween falls on a Monday, so Saturday night was when things were supposed to go down.  I went with 3 other English teachers on a hike to Jiri-san (???) on Saturday, and came back around 8pm, with the intention of going out.  Ras was at Wa Bar on Friday night and the staff were decorating the place.  Some hogwan teachers also told him that there was going to be a big party there.

I was tired after my hike and I had a 30 second conversation with Ras that went something like this:

Ras: Do you want to go downtown tonight?

Me: Either way…  It’s up to you.

Ras: I don’t care either.  It’s a question of whether you want to meet new people.

Me:  I haven’t met anyone new in the last two months, so I’m not in a hurry to now.  OK, let’s stay in and watch C.S.I.

If I was in Kangneung, I definitely would have gone out.  I just didn’t want to make the effort to take a 5000 won cab ride downtown, or a 3 hour bus ride to Seoul.  If you want to relive the memories, here was LAST Halloween in Kangneung.  I was GoGo Yubari from Kill Bill.  It was a blast!

Today I woke up early and met up with other teachers at the main gate of our university at 7:00 am to go to Jiri-san (Mt. Jiri).

Mt. Jirisan National Park, named as Korea’s first national park in 1967, is a majestic mountain range with Cheonwangbong the highest peak and numerous others more than 1,000 meters high. A view of the majestic waves created by these mountain ridges is an experience not to be missed. Mt. Jirisan is home to scenic valleys and numerous historical and tourist sites. It is often considered one of the three most important mountains in South Korea, with Hallasan and Seoraksan being the other two.

Mat made me my first Bloody Mary tonight.  Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never had one.  I provided the V8, and he provided the other delightful ingredients, including horseradish he bought in Suh-ool (Seoul).  It’s like a meal in a glass… very nice.

In addition to having a nice cocktail tonight, I also finished my 2nd ever digital scrapbooking page.  This was all made with Photoshop CS.  This is one of my major hobbies, in addition to photography and bookbinding.  I’m not very good at it yet, since there’s such a steep learning curve with Photoshop.  In the future, you’ll see better pages.

For the last 3 or 4 days, Raswan has had some kind of pinched nerve on his back, which he initially thought was just a sore muscle or knot.  After inquiring about a masseuse in our neighborhood and coming up short, he decided to go to Shinmyoung Oriental Medicine office close-by.

This morning, Ras has been sending me text messages from the office.

11:24 am - i’ve got suction cups all over my back!   next come the needles.  gotta do this for 4 days.

11:40 am - next time pictures! got needles, bruises and blood!

11:58 am - now hot pads and blankets!  my kingdom 4 a beer…

12:12 pm - fuck.  still here.

12:22 pm - now 10 min of serious fucking electroshock!  dear god.

I’ll have to see what he looks like when he gets to the office this afternoon.

Update: Ras came back and told everyone about his experience.  It sounded painful… especially the electroshock therapy!  He still has to go back Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday.  Amazingly, the hour and 45 minute treatment was only 8000 won ($8)!  This was the aftermath.   Oh my god!