The Butcherbirds

Well, our hydroponic experiment from last month sputtered to an end pretty quickly. We had problems with the pumping system after a few days and soon after that, the lettuce died. So much for our foray into futuristic home gardening.

After a few weeks of seeing the garden rig gathering dust and growing algae in a corner of our kitchen, I decided today to finally tear the sucker down. But since we might try growing herbs or something else again, I thought I would let the gravel pots sit outside on our patio and dry out before putting them into storage. To our surprise, a few large, black and white birds from the neighborhood came swooping in immediately, thinking the rocks were food. They seemed pretty bold, coming right up to our door and window, so I started taking some pictures of them up close. I even caught one eating a piece of gravel, to our dismay, on tape.



Turns out these are pied butcherbirds, which are native to Australia. I've seen them around the neighborhood quite a bit but didn't know their name until now. Apparently they are also known as the "most accomplished songbird in Australia", with one writer referring to them as the "magic flute". They do have a really unique and complex call; it's pretty rich and resonant. I'll try to get it on tape soon. Right now I'm just a little concerned about the "swooping" that is mentioned on this website, which also says you should "maintain eye contact" with the birds in order to prevent them from swooping you. What does that even mean? I hope it's not like that Hitchcock movie. The fact they are called "butcherbirds" is not very reassuring.

Sunshower in our backyard

Our Home Garden

Our apartment here in Brisbane is surrounded by lush forest and overgrowth, so I guess it was only a matter of time before we acquired some plants of our own. Last weekend, Nissa and I went to a free training seminar about home gardening where we expected to learn a few tips on growing herbs and small crops on a porch or in a backyard. So we were pretty surprised when we got to the class and the instructors told us we would be building and taking home a hydroponic gardening device. All for the price of... well, nothing.

Our kitchen garden.

The class provided us with all the tools and starter plants, as well as a small pump to drip feed water to the plants throughout the day. Actually, the pump was an air pump meant to oxygenate fish tanks, but with a little clever engineering we were able to transform it into a water pump that would normally be a lot more expensive. Really a brilliant way to save some money.

So as I write this I can hear the hum of the air pump from the kitchen and the light trickle of water coming out the feeding tube. Now to wait and see if this lettuce actually grows.

The Sounds of Seongbuk

Of all the things I'll miss about Korea after we leave, I think one of the things I'll miss the most are the sounds of our neighborhood. Almost every morning I've woken up to the sounds of birds -- which I think is rare in about 90% of the rest of Seoul. There are powerful caws from the big, black-billed magpies that like to perch on the railings of our porch. And there is the light chirping of sparrows. There are even some birds that sounds like small owls, with these short, bright hoots... though I'm not sure what those are.

Then there's the Korean flute player. He's somewhere behind our house, I think (and I imagine it's an old man), tucked somewhere between the forest and the cluster of old, plaster and brick buildings, playing these ancient-sounding melodies that wander through our windows every morning like a breeze. I've always wanted to seek him out and meet him, but never have.

Then there are the rhythmic broom strokes of the retirees who come through to sweep up the neighborhood. The endless chatter of schoolchildren in the schoolyard, and the now familiar electronic melody that signals the beginning of every period. There is the junk collector who drives through and blasts the same message on his megaphone every day, imploring people to offer up their used air conditioners, refrigerators, and TV's for him to resell. The sound of utensils clattering in a house nearby.

And in the distance, no matter what time, you can hear the hum of Seoul's roads, which never sleep.

Sunset over Mt Bugak

The view from our porch tonight.

Sunset over Namsan

The view from our porch.

Bird's-eye view

If you go up the stairs that run alongside our house you'll come to the top of our hill. It's perhaps five or six flights up -- not a bad walk on a sunny day. From there, you can see Namsan Tower (top photo, on top of the far mountain), parts of downtown Seoul, and of course our beloved Mount Bugak (bottom photo).

Walkin' in the rain

The rain has been brutal this summer. Nearly every day we wake up and it's cloudy or drizzling. The weather has meant that we've been spending a lot of time cooped up inside and haven't been able to hike in a long time.

Well, today we decided we'd have enough of that. Despite the rain, we climbed up Mount Bugak behind our apartment. It sprinkled for the first quarter of the hike -- then poured for the rest. We still had fun though; it's great having miles and miles of trails basically in our backyard.

Here's a few shots I took in between the showers. The building in the second photo is Samcheonggak -- an old kisaeng (기생) house that now is a traditional restaurant and tea house.

Calm before the storm

Rain clouds over Mount Bugak outside our house.

Mountain paradise

It's been cloudy and gray for weeks, but today the sky finally cleared a little and we got a better of Mount Bukak from our porch.

Mount Bukak is one of the four mountains that surrounds old Seoul. You might remember that back in November, I took a hike through a newly opened trail on the mountain. The mountain butts up to the Presidential Blue House and the trail I went on was used by North Korean would-be assassins in 1968 on their way to kill President Park Chung Hee.

To get to the mountain's trails, all we have to do it walk up a couple flights of stairs behind our house and we're in the forest. It's pretty amazing being this close to nature. I can't wait until it's cooler out so we can spend more time out there.

Singin' in the Rain

The weather has been warming up quite a bit this week, which has been nice for the most part (it has been a pretty long and dreary winter here).  But a downside to the warmer weather is the pollution in Seoul has become much more noticeable.  With the cold bite of winter gone the air seems thicker and hazier, and the smells of car exhaust and city dust hang everywhere like an invisible fog.

Fortunately we have the rain.  I've never appreciated rain so much before.  Even a light drizzle makes the air seem clean again, as if it's gone through a quick wash and rinse.  We had a few hours of rain earlier tonight so I open our window to let a little breeze trickle into our apartment.  It's invigorating, and fills the room quickly.  It feels like taking a cool air-shower.  Outside, I hear the buses and taxis splashing across the pavement in waves, clearer than before -- but their smell is gone, swept away into the city's storm drains.  All I can smell now is the crisp, night air after a light rain storm.

It's enough to make me wanna sing.

Farewell, family

Hanging out on our couch.

Matching Banana sweaters!

Mike's parents left for Chicago today after their week-long trip to Seoul. It was really nice having some family in town, albeit for such a short time.

We're counting down the days until we have more visitors around Christmas. In the mean time, we'll be busy working, studying and taking the occasional weekend trip (next stop Hong Kong!).

Weekend America

For this 4th of July weekend, Nissa and I did all things American. We ate pizza, read, took naps, and watched the last Harry Potter movie on my laptop (in nerdy preparation for the next). In fact, the last couple weekends in our new apartment have been spent pretty lazily -- for me, at least. I've been able to watch TV shows like The Office and King of Queens online, listen to my music, and keep up on all my favorite blogs, comics, and news sites -- all, of course, in English.

Holing up on the weekends, though, as relaxing as it can be, has its price, and that is forgetting where you really are. Last Saturday, for example, I didn't leave the apartment all day until the late evening, when Nissa and I decided to go and take a walk around the neighborhood. After a day full of thoughts in English, my mind had to readjust to the sounds of people speaking Korean on the elevator, and to all the neon signs out on the street in Hangul. "Oh right," I realized, "I'm in Seoul."

But things have been getting busier for us since school started. Between class, work and studying, there just isn't much time to chill out during the week. We have gone out for ice cream a couple times (and had something that should be renamed the "garbage sundae). We've also hit up the batting cages across the street. And discovered, to my arteries' dismay, that the fried chicken place on the first floor of our building is pretty damn good. But we haven't done so much as far as sightseeing goes lately. I'm starting to realize how people live in a place for so long and never get to all that sort of stuff. Life just takes over sometimes.

Day and Night

While our apartment is still not organized enough to reveal to the outside world, here are some photos of the view from our gigantic, dirty windows.

Two Week Update

So we've been in Korea for almost exactly two weeks now and if I had to assess, I'd say we're doing pretty well. We moved into our new apartment on Monday with most of our luggage (we left some at my uncle's - it wouldn't all fit in the cab) and have started making it a home. It's still pretty empty right now; we've been sitting on the floor much of the time and I've been watching Korean TV on my new cell phone. I've found that I don't get most of it, unless it's baseball. We bought a "yo", basically a floor mattress, to sleep on in our loft. It gets a little warm up there so I'm a little concerned about that, being that we're barely into summer here. I'm definitely getting us a fan soon -- and will probably leave it on while we're asleep. Gasp!

We live in an area called Sinchon in Seoul. It's near two large universities so there's a lot of people and a lot of blinking lights. The shops down our street tend to be of certain categories: pets, plants, wigs and appliances. And I swear if I'm not careful I'm going to buy one of those puppies in the window. I've already stopped a few times to watch them play with each other. The Korean language school we've enrolled in is just north of us, though I haven't figured out exactly how to get there yet. We'll probably take a test walk over there before school starts next week. And there are two big movie theaters, each within a block of us, though we haven't taken advantage of them yet. What I love about the theaters here, like in England, is the choice of sweet, salty or a-mix-of-the-two popcorn. I had the mix at a Korean movie we watched with Haekgyung a couple weeks ago. It was called "마더", or "Mother", and it was amazing. I really hope it finds its way to the States; it deserves to be seen.

While it's been an exciting two weeks, I'm also feeling more unsettled than I have in years. I have to admit I kind of miss the comfort and stability of a steady job and paycheck, not to mention our old place (and o, that couch!). But I guess that's part of the reason why I wanted to come here, to shake things up a little. Back home, it was hard not to worry about getting stuck where we were, both personally and professionally. Now I feel like we're in a sink or swim situation where all that philosophical stuff seems like such a luxury. It's really forced me to think about my values, both in life and work. One thing I have discovered (or, I should say, Nissa has noticed) is that I have a marked affinity for couches. I've been obsessively searching on Craigslist Seoul. And I hope to get one as soon as possible.

Family Ties

We've been living with my cousins Haekgyung and Hyunjun for the last week and a half or so. Most of the time it's just us four -- my aunt and uncle live and work a few hours from here and aren't home much. Most mornings, Haekgyung's out the door by 7:30, which leaves the house to Nissa, Hyunjun and me for a few hours. Usually Nissa and I get up around 9, cereal and OJ close at hand, and go online to check e-mails, look for jobs and see what happened on the other side of the world while we were asleep. Hyunjun gets up anywhere from that same time to a couple hours later, depending on when his classes start that day at Hongik University. When he's got some time to kill he slays orcs and demons in World of Warcraft.

When Nissa and I finally get out of the house, it always seems to be for something different. One day it was going out to get my alien identification card. Another day we went book hunting and walked around Gyeongbukgung Palace. We've taken a couple strolls alongside the Chungyechung, a beautifully designed stream that cuts through central Seoul. I've had a couple job interviews. Last night, we went looking for a bindaeduk (seafood/meat cakes) place we found in a Lonely Planet guide -- the restaurant was packed and the food turned out to be great. And at the end of every night, we've come back to this house and usually gotten to spend some time with Haekgyung and Hyunjun, either watching some TV together, teaching each other some English/Korean, or cleaning up a horrific bug infestation in the kitchen. It's been a pretty fun time. That's why I think I'll be a little sad to move out on Monday.

Hyunjun helped Nissa and me find an apartment today near the Korean language school we'll be attending in a couple weeks. It also happens to be right down the street from a job I got writing an English textbook for a business language school. The apartment is fantastic -- not very large but large by Seoul standards, it has a living room and a loft, kitchen with a bar and chairs, and a great view of the city. The signing of the lease was a little harrowing, though. Or, I should say, Hyunjun's signing of the lease was. We decided it would be safer for him to sign it because he's a Korean citizen, and the 10 million won ($8,000) deposit would have a better chance of being returned to him in full at the end of the lease. Still, we couldn't have done any of it without him. He talked to the agent and the building manager through the whole deal, translated for us, and ultimately signed the papers for the apartment in his name. It was his first time signing a Korean lease. I told him we owed him a nice, big meal somewhere. But we were all so hungry after the experience, we just got lunch at a McDonald's nearby. I think I still owe him that meal.

We're Lookin' for a Home

Nissa and I have lived together for a little more than a year now. One amazing year. But at the moment we appear to be without a home of our own. We moved out of our apartment a few days ago and most of our belongings sit in boxes split up between our parents' houses. They've been nice enough (as always) to let us store our furniture and odds and ends in their basements, garages and bedrooms until we come back to the States. Personally, I really hope my couch survives next winter while sitting in the garage. I'm gonna miss that couch.

Ever since we got married, Nissa and I have been fashioning a way of life for ourselves that's unique to our relationship -- probably something every married couple figures out their first few years. Eating routines, sleep schedules, the splitting up of chores. I like to think we've figured out a way to live that suits both of us just fine. Well, we had, at least. Now we find ourselves taken out of that comfort zone and living in other people's homes (or, for the past two nights, hotel rooms). Granted, we are staying with our families, but it's not the same as our home. The beds are different. The sounds outside are different. The smells are even different.

I guess those are pretty minor changes, though, compared to the ones we're about to face in Seoul. In my mind this must be some kind of ultra-conscious adjustment period in anticipation of the big move. Over the past few weeks, I've found myself looking closely at my friends' and family's faces in an effort to somehow imprint their likenesses solidly in my memory. I've been taking pictures, too, just in case. I've been gorging on fatty, American food to the point of near-sickness but always with a sense of savoring. And I've been ripping my favorite movies to my laptop just in case I get that dependably recurring taste for Will Ferrell or Dave Chappelle. I'm sure none of this will prevent the homesickness I'm bound to feel in a few months. I'm just figuring out a way to cope in advance.