Around the House

We spent the next day around Mom's house. We started the day off by feeding the goats and walking Dolly before breakfast, our usual morning chores. Then after it warmed up we went to the "shed" on the back of Mom's land to clear off some shelves that she was worried about. The shed is really an old mobile home and most of the pasteboard is rotting from exposure and age. We cleared off the shelves and I went through my old books (mostly stored in an old upright freezer) to find some to bring back. Unfortunately (in a way), we had too many Christmas goodies for me to bring back all of the books I selected. I actually only brought back two of the books.

While we were out there 정원 picked out some old glass and ceramic pieces (one of which gave the Albany Airport security team fits) and I dug up my old cooler full of old photos (circa 1995~2000) for 저원 to look through.

The weather was so nice we spent most of the day in sweatshirts. While we were outside Mom was inside working on pies. She baked two coconut pies and two pecan pies. Is it any wonder that I gained two kilos while at home?

Shopping in Albany

On day 3 I took 정원 into town for some shopping. On the way there I stopped at a field and asked a farmer if I could get some cotton for my wife, and in normal Georgian style he said, "Sure, grab all ya want!" I took a twig from a plant and then went on into Albany. We took a detour through Doublegate and Darton College to show 정원 the other side of Albany and where I started my college life.

Next we went to the mall. The pet store, Pets N Pals, in the mall sells goats. I love Georgia. We shopped at a few stores and finished up our shopping with a supper from Cracker Barrel.

Unfortunately, Mom stayed home warm and cozy while we were out. She really hates shopping so it was understandable. Once we got home we had relaxed a while before bed.

We were still jet lagged, and for the second night in a row, we woke up at 4am. This time we didn't really fight it and spent a couple of hours wrapping presents.

First Full Day

We woke up early Sunday morning to dump cake. Mom doesn't like to make dump cake because it isn't very pretty. However, how can a cake with cherries and pineapple be resisted? I showed Jungwon around Mom's property then we took a trip out to Kitty's Flea Market. Afterwards we grabbed a quick meal at Taco Bell, then we went on to Winn Dixie. Back at home I let 정원 try sugar cane, and then we fed Jimmy and Rosie that evening.

Been a While

To say it's been a while would be an understatement. Some really exciting things have happened during the past year, I just haven't been online enough to really write about them. Recently, however, I took 정원 to meet my parents. We were there from December nineteenth until January second. I'll do a post for each day that we were there to help sort out the pictures.

We took a bus to Incheon at six in the morning. By the time we went through security and finished all of the paperwork we didn't have much time look around the duty free shops.

The flight took about thirteen hours from Incheon to Atlanta. We then waited about another six hours (much of the time was taken up by going through more security, customs, and finding the correct concourse) for a flight to Albany. I definitely wasn't in any shape to drive from Atlanta to Albany during the holidays, so the wait was worth it.

In Albany we got the rental car, and went to Mom's house as quickly as possible. We showered and spent sometime with Mom before heading to bed exhausted.

Here are the pictures from Day 1:

Busy, Busy, and then some more Busy

     To say that we've been busy is an understatement. It started just before Jungwon's graduation from the SMU Tesol Program. We had a few weekends full of her final class projects which included a foreigner interview (guess who was the foreigner), a lot of typing, and very little sleep.
     Just before her graduation, after the projects were submitted, the celebrating began. We had a quadruple date with some of her old university friends. The night began with too much soju, and ended with a few hours of sleep before Jungwon and I took our promised trip to Suwon.
     Before we left Suwon, I asked Jungwon if she thought she would like to come back to visit. She answered with something akin to, "why would I come back here?". Yet, she was very excited to go back to our old haunts. We had lunch at D-Deli, went to visit the old elementary school, and then went to the fusion restaurant named Su. In between we took a break for a few hours to catch the Sex in the City movie, and we sat for a time in a park we used to visit during our lunches. It was a good time even if we were tired from the previous night of drinking.
     The next weekend was the celebratory weekend for Jungwon's Tesol program group, G9. We went out for wine, and then took a trip to Namsan. Visiting the mountain was very different at night, and they had even changed out the art work. The evening was more relaxed than the previous weekend, but we still stayed out late, and drank a good bit of wine.
     The next Thursday was Jungwon's SMU Tesol graduation. Her mom and sister were there so I was very nervous. After the graduation program, which was a bit different from any graduation I'd been to, we took lots of pictures, went out to eat, and then Jungwon and I joined her classmates at a nearby bar for a nightcap before heading our ways for the evening.
     The next day was a workshop day for my school. We took a trip out to Namisum. The island is absolutely gorgeous, but I was wary of the wild ostriches roaming about. Yes, I typed ostriches.

quadrupal date	Suwon Revisited
G9 does wine	grad

namiseom

Speaking of Cameras

     In my previous post I had mentioned my camera acting up. There have been times that it refused to focus, and on my birthday it totally locked up while I was trying to take a picture of Jungwon. I finally got it to unfreeze, and tried to reset its power, but it wouldn't come on for five minutes. I concluded that it was time to look for a new camera.
     I had read about the Samsung L210, and decided to check it out. I looked, and searched, and today I found a store that had some in stock. The main eye catcher for me is the dual stabilization that the L210 boasts about. The other features are nice, but the stabilization really helps out with darker pictures. Of course, even in darker light, the newer technology makes the pictures come out better anyways.
     The only downside that I have found with this camera is price discrepancies. In the U.S. it is being retailed for two hundred dollars, which would be a rough two hundred thousand won. In Korea, Samsung's home, you can't find the L210, instead you come across the VLUU L210. What is the difference? About one hundred fifty extra won, the letters VLUU stamped on the front, and what I appears to be a coupon for ordering prints online.
     Not only was this the day that I found the camera, but this weekend the store was having a huge sale and I was able to get it for two hundred eighty thousand won. Coupled with the two percent cash receipt tax return I was able to make myself feel a little better about paying the extra.
     After giving it a full charge I decided to test drive it tonight by taking pictures of local graffiti. These pictures were taken at night, with just street lamps and head lights, no flash! Clearly a step about the old clonker Nikon.

Graffiti L210

Birthday Came and Went

     Well, my birthday came and went without a hitch. It was actually pretty relaxed. I ran a couple of errands and rested while Jungwon took a midterm, then she took me out to interesting restaurant/bar/gallery named N To.
     N To is nicely decorated, a little dark, and not very popular. The lack of popularity is partly because it is in the basement of the building that houses the more well known School Food Lounge. People were sitting on the sidewalks waiting to get a table at School Food Lounge. Including ourselves, there were only three tables taken at N To.
     We ordered a wonderful "Apple and Brie Cheese Salad", and carbonara pasta. The pasta was good, and the salad was excellent.
     The art displayed around the place was mediocre with a splash of "oh that's nice" here and there. However, the interior decor more than made up for the flatly painted rectangles. The lighting was pretty cool, and I really liked the tables.
     If someone ever suggests that you go to School Food Lounge, while you're waiting for a table I suggest popping over to N To instead.
     Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of Jungwon that I think she'd want the world to see. She had been stressed because of the midterms and class projects for a few weeks, and just wasn't feeling photogenic, and I didn't have many chances to take pictures because my camera started to go crazy.

Wayne BDay 2008