Ice Water

     When I first got to Korea, summer was steadily approaching. As the days got warmer and warmer I kept seeing signs for cups of crushed ice and fruit, for about 5,000 won. I would think, "5,000 won for a cup of ice and fruit! Who in there right mind would pay that? That's more than $5.00 for ice!" After a summer of walking about the cities, and the new summer pouncing on us like an overweight cat, the answer without hesitation is me.
     The cup, or normally bowl, of ice is properly known as bingsu, {빙수}. The name is derived from two Chinese characters. Bing can mean ice, and one of the meanings for su is water. Proper bingsu, patbingsu {팥빙수}, is made with crushed ice, various sliced and diced fruits, frozen yogurt, bits of rice cake, and sweet red beans. As strange as the concoction sounds it is really quiet delicious. More importantly it is very refreshing after a long trek across town.
     Bingsu can be found everywhere during the summer. Coffee shops, fast food restaurants, and anywhere else that wants a boost in summer business will advertise their bingsu.
     Jungwon and I recently went to an interesting place called Pasticcerria in Yeongtongdong that sells "Italian" style bread. We didn't try the bread, but we got a very lovely bowl of patbingsu.

bingsu

Roses

     Roses are the flowers that you give to a pretty lady to let her know that you care. Roses like to be pruned, they like a little fertilizer, they like a little love. When I see a flower shop I like to stop and look at the different colored roses in the window. When I see a rose bush I think about how much care has been given to it based on how tall it is, or how much it is blooming.
     All of that is changing for me. Korea, at least the small area where I live, is sick with roses. There is a certain variety of climbing rose here that vomits up from the ground and sprays the scenery with its hot pink petals. The fragrance of these flowers isn't very strong, but you do eventually get tired of seeing these masses of hot pink flowers everywhere.
     The worst part is, they are largely untended and unnoticed. The bushes are so unruly that they must go years between the prunings. Koreans walk along the walkways that these roses are attempting to choke, and they are oblivious to the thorny tendrils spilling into the path. They pay no attention to the beautiful flowers, of the late spring, or the rain of petals of the early summer.
     "They're common."
     "They are everywhere."
     "They are nothing special."
     If roses are nothing special, what am I supposed to buy my girlfriend? If roses grow almost wild, what happens to the pride, sweat, and blood that my mom has poured into her rose garden year after year? If roses are common can I start a flower shop and make my fortune selling dandelions?

roses

Descending Life Line (four)

     Almost every restaurant in Korea will give you complimentary side dishes. If you go out for pasta, you'll usually get some sweet pickled cucumbers and some sliced peppers. The more Korean the meal, the more side dishes you'll get.
     I go out for kimchi jjigae {김치찌개} and along with my large bowl of still boiling stew and side bowl of rice they leave me all types of pickled and preserved....stuff. Everything from squid to cucumber, from mushrooms to soy flavored jello. Masitda! {맛있다}!

Descending Life Line (three)

     Public transportation is very, cheap, easy, and convenient in Seoul. Sometimes there are subway stops just half a block from each other, and buses run everywhere. You can buy rechargeable cards that will scan on both the buses and the subways through your purse or wallet. A trip from Suwon to Seoul by bus costs a mere 1,700 won (about $2 in US money).
     Unfortunately this means that the public transportation is also extremely popular. I have have heard stories of people missing subway stops, because the train was too crowded to exit. If I leave Seoul coming back down to Suwon at the wrong time of the night I sometimes have to stand in the aisle of the bus, and a few times I've actually stood on the stairs at the door of the bus, because I couldn't get any further in.
     I know Ken Kesey often said, "you're either on the bus, or off the bus." Sometimes to be on the bus you just need to be able to get a good finger hold, swipe your card, and pray for a quick ride.

Working Title

     Jungwon and I were stepping into an elevator in Gangnam the other day. The elevator was already occupied by a mommie and her little one gurgling in a stroller. The mommie took a quick look at me, then started talking excitedly to the baby. Jungwon giggled, but most of the words went over my head. I listened intently but she was speaking too rapidly and I couldn't pick out many words.
     We exited the elevator and Jungwon translated for me, "she was telling the baby, 'quick, practice your English, hurry.' And the baby said, 'aaaaaeeeei'. And the mommie praised the baby, 'good job'."
     I could probably fill a book with little stories of being interrupted by people looking for a quick English conversation for themselves or their children. Most of the time it is cute, and often it is funny (like the mommie in the elevator). Rarely is it annoying. Regardless it's the mommie in the elevator that made me think of "Descending Life Line (two)".

Descending Life Line (two)

     Here is the latest installment of Descending Life Line. If you can't read the text in the image the mommie is telling the baby, "Say hello! Say hello!"
     At the bottom I wrote, "Often when Parents see you on the street they will try to get their children to practice English..."

Descending Life Line (one)

     Here is a little comic that I doodled while I was sitting in a coffee shop in Seoul. I was thinking about the strangeness of teaching children in a language that they don't completely understand. The particular class that I was envisioning has the disadvantages of almost no English, attention span, or chances to release excess energy before class. Luckily there has been no actual fires, yet.







     The boy in the comic is saying, "Wayne teacher! Wayne teacher, homework check! Wayne teacher! Teacher! Wayne teacher, homework! Teacher~~~!"
     The caption at the bottom reads, "...And then there are whole classes that I fill with a sort of monologue: "Nick, don't stab Steve. Why is John on fire again? Alex, please get off the table. Andy please get in your chair. One moment Paul. Steve wake up. Paul help John, please. Dan put your toys away. Nick, don't eat Steve. John stop burning..."