Day off in the CBD

Mike arguing with a dinosaur at Queensland Museum. 

Watching the CBD skyline on Victoria Bridge. 

Ice skating at King George Square in the CBD. 

Fresh fudge at the Jan Powers Farmers Market in the CBD. 

Albert Street Uniting Church next to King George Square.

I took a day off from paper writing today and we hung out in Brisbane's downtown area, aka the CBD. We checked out the dinosaurs at the Queensland Museum, then got fresh produce and chocolate at the farmers market. Before leaving, we stopped by the Winter Festival at King George Square to get some free chai and watch the ice skaters. That's right -- ice skaters. It was in the 60s today, but if you have a spare $30 you could ice skate in front of the city hall in Brisbane. While it had its charms, I'll take the Chriskindlmarket over Brisbane's winterfest any day.

Rotary Fun Run... er, Walk

On May 27, we participated in the Rotary Club of Brisbane Centenary's Fun Run/Walk supporting a local breast cancer clinic. Since neither of us have been running lately, we decided to do the walk. But that didn't stop us from running though the finish line!

Noosa weekend holiday

We took a mini vacation to Noosa this weekend -- the "hippest beachside destination in Australia" according to Lonely Planet. To get there, we rented a car and drove two hours north to the area. Mike drove and he said that it was like looking in a mirror the whole time. By the end of it, he was really good at navigating roundabouts but driving on the left was still weird. We made sure to take full advantage of the car and made a detour to a ginger factory on the way to Noosa.

We got into Noosa in the afternoon and were able to hit the beach before the sunset. Then we went to a bistro along the river and had some fresh fish. The next day we went hiking in Noosa National Park and saw a family of giant sea turtles and a few different types of lizards. Afterwards, we went to the beach again and had lunch at the Noosa Heads Surf Club -- which was voted Australia's best surf club a couple years ago. (Surf clubs in Australia are volunteer lifeguard programs that patrol the beach.) Then we swam on the main beach and checked out a second beach on the other side of the national park.

The next day we got up early and headed to the next town over, Eumundi, to see their famous Saturday market. While we were expecting more of a farmers market, the entire town center was covered with arts and crafts booths. We were able to get some artisan olives, bagels and a great bratwurst before leaving, though. All in all, not a bad weekend holiday.

"The Round"

Mike playing the uke at The Round.

This past Wednesday, Mike participated in the singer-songwriter event "The Round" in Paddington, near the city center. Unlike most shows that take place in bars, this event was all about listening and learning about the craft of songwriting. The audience remained quiet during the songs and didn't talk until the break. Mike said it was one of the coolest gigs he's ever played ... plus we got a free pizza and beers!

During the Q&A session Mike made America proud by being the only one of the singers who knew who the Muppets were. Come on, Australia! 

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.

Rotary fellowship

Rotary Peace Fellows, Ambassadorial Scholars, and a few Rotarian counselors in Brisbane.

I'm just finishing up my third week of classes here in Brisbane as a Rotary Peace Fellow at the University of Queensland. It's been a strange transition becoming a student again, but I can honestly say that even six years out, the University of Chicago prepared me well. There's been a huge amount of reading and a lot of class discussions, but so far things are going well.

I'm taking three classes this semester -- Advanced International Studies, Principles of Deep-Seated Conflict Resolution, and Arms Control & Disarmament. The Advanced International Studies class is a required class and heavy on theory, but my professor keeps it interesting with Mr. Bean and Star Trek references. Unlike the University of Chicago, which is home to the famous Realist theorist John Mearsheimer, UQ is apparently known for its Marxist/Liberal bent. I guess that's why UQ has a Peace Studies and U of C doesn't.

I'm really enjoying my Arms Control class and am able to bring a lot of my experience from South Korea and with Worldview into the class discussion. My third class discusses conflict resolution methods in long-standing wars, something that also applies readily to the situation in Korea.

My experience with Rotary so far has been great. The Rotarians -- i.e., the members of Rotary around Brisbane -- have been very welcoming and I'm looking forward to learning more about the organization during our time here. The ten other fellows in my Rotary Peace Fellow program are interesting people from all over the world. In addition to the Americans, there's fellows from Iran, Columbia, Burma, Nepal, Germany, and Iceland. I can already tell it's going to be a engrossing year and a half here.

Wedding

Mike accompanying Andrew on "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You."

Nissa waiting for the bride and groom after the wedding.

An elevator full of flowers.

We went to our friends Andrew and Yeonhee's wedding yesterday. It was our third wedding in Korea, but it felt really different since we actually helped out with the ceremony. Mike played guitar while the groom sang to his bride and we both helped carry flowers back to the newlywed's hotel room.

The wedding was yet another reminder of the things we'll leave behind in just over a week. While we're moving on to greener pastures, I hope that we'll be able to keep in touch with all the friends we've made in Seoul.

Night music in Hongdae

Rapercussion drum band in Hongdae.

Silent disco party in Hongdae.

Head to Seoul's Hongdae neighborhood on Saturday night and you're bound to see college kids lining up for blocks to get into northern Seoul's most popular -- and pricey -- dance clubs. For people on a budget, though, the entertainment's on the streets. In the alleyways and on the sidewalks bands set up a few chairs and play through the night, turning up their amps to compete over the din.

The most well-established buskers head to the more spacious children's playground across the street from Hongik University. This is where the art fair Free Market is held during the summer and where Mike has frequently played acoustic sets during daylight hours.

We went there on a recent Saturday night when we were trying to kill some time before an indoor concert. Beside the usual cover band and rap groups fighting for attention, we were surprised to see a crowd of people in headphones dancing by themselves. They were participating in a "silent disco party" sponsored by the World DJ Festival. Music was being transmitted to wireless headphones so that only the dancers could hear the DJ performance.

The silent dance party didn't last for long, however. A Brazilian percussion band marched into the park and almost immediately everyone's headphones came off. No matter how gimmicky technology gets, nothing beats live music.

Sunset over Mt Bugak

The view from our porch tonight.

Bibimbap take 2

Yesterday I made bibimbap again and tried to apply some of the lessons I learned from the first time around. I'm not sure if the taste was any different from my first attempt, but it sure was more photogenic.

Tomorrow marks the start of our 1 month countdown to leaving Korea. While I'm excited to begin the next chapter of our life, it's also strange to leave a city to which I've grown so accustomed. The last two years have pushed us in ways we couldn't have imagined -- from the challenges of learning a new language from scratch to trying to navigate a workplace culture that favored age and gender (a win for old men) over the quality of one's work.

It certainly hasn't been easy, but it's helped that we've been able to lean on Mike's family in Seoul whenever the goings get tough. We've carved out a niche for ourselves here in Seongbukdong and have even learned to relish the few benefits of being a foreigner here. I take free Korean language classes four days a week at the local Seoul Global Village Center and we've been able to take French pastry classes for a pittance. Being the only foreign couple on our hill has also meant that our local shopkeepers know us well. We always get a hello from the owner of the Korean-style roast chicken restaurant when we walk by, and the ladies in the produce section of our small grocery store greet me with a smile.

To think, all of this nostalgia came from one bowl of bibimbap! But there will be plenty of time to reminisce (or reminissa, if you will) later. Now, we have one month left in Korea and we plan to fill every minute of it.

Birthday wishes

Even in Korea, dentists never forget my birthday.

Sokcho trip

This past weekend we took a trip out east to Sokcho, a seaside city close to the DMZ. We visited the city once before in the winter and loved the small town atmosphere and fresh seafood and vegetables served there.

On our first day we visited Seoraksan mountain, the third highest mountain in Korea. We were feeling kind of tired, so we decided to take the cable car up to Gwangeumseong peak. It was foggy, but when the breeze cleared the sky, we were able to see all the way out to the sea. When we visited the mountain in the winter, the park was nearly empty and very peaceful. This time it was pretty crowded and the park was filled with tourists more interested in checking their cell phones than looking at the scenery. We even saw some people doing video chat on the mountain peak ... pretty weird, but that's 2011 Korea for you, I guess.

On the second day we hung out at the beach and went swimming in the ocean. The waves were much stronger than in Busan, but the water was the perfect temperature. It was so nice to get away from polluted Seoul for a few days and take in the seaside air.

We ate a lot of great food on the trip including North Korean-style naengmyun (or cold noodles in broth), ojingosundae (squid sausage), grilled fish (including melt in your mouth, freshly caught Chilean sea bass), wild greens bibimbap (vegetables and rice), and Sokcho-style sundubu (soft tofu stew). We also tried a corn-based liquor that was like makgeolli. It was incredible how fresh all the food tasted ... and how reasonably priced it was. Sokcho is only a 3-hour drive from Seoul, but somehow the produce and meat in Seoul is twice as expensive and less flavorful.

A few funny notes from the weekend. On our second day in Sokcho, we randomly chose a grilled fish place to eat at for dinner. It turned out that some acquaintances from Seoul were eating there too, though they were almost finished with their dinner. The incident reminded us of just how small this country is. It seems that we're constantly running into other expats that we've met during our two years here, even when we're not in Seoul.

Secondly, there were some funny stores in the downtown area of Sokcho. The first is "Bar Dumb," which is pretty self explanatory. The second was "Parma" -- a hair salon that copied the Puma logo. Parma means "perm" in Korean, so we thought that was a pretty clever rip-off.

Waitin' for the bus

Sokcho:

French pastry class II

Chocolate mousse with almond slices.

Yesterday Mike and I took our second French pastry class, this time making chocolate mousse and creme broulee. Mike had a lot of fun with the blow torch on the creme broulee; I think he would buy one just for fun if weren't moving. While I always thought those pastry blowtorches were expensive, it turns out you can get one for less than $10 here -- though most people use it to unfreeze their pipes in winter and not to make french pastries.

The chocolate mousse was super rich and good, better than what they serve at D & J Bistro's I think. It's amazing that all three recipes we've made so far are basically made form the same three ingredients: eggs, sugar, and vanilla. No wonder they're so good!

Creme broulee, freshly fired.

French pastry class

The meringue "islands" of ile flottante.

On Friday, Mike and I took a French pastry class at the Seoul Global Center in our neighborhood. For just 5,000 won ($4.60), we learned how to make the meringue and creme anglaise dessert ile flottante, or floating island.

French food is impossible to come by in Korea and even the most expensive "French bakeries" have more things in common with Dominick's than Paris. So it was nice to have some handmade and very good pastries for once. Next week, we'll take another French pastry class, so expect more photos then!

Freshly made creme anglaise: milk, sugar, egg yolks and fresh vanilla, straight from the bean pods.

The finished product, with freshly made caramel on top.

Wrapping up the pastries to take home.

Summer in Busan

Last weekend we took a trip down to Busan, on the southern tip of the peninsula. It was our third trip there since living in South Korea and our first time staying at a hotel off of the main tourist strip in Haeundae. Since it's peak season and we were planning the trip with only a week lead time, we weren't able to find a reasonably priced hotel near the country's most popular beach. But this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Our hotel was on the much chiller Gwangalli Beach overlooking Gwangan Bridge.

We spent most of Saturday laying on the beach and swimming, and then had the freshest crab we'd ever tasted for dinner. The next day was a scorcher and while we originally planned on doing some sightseeing, we ended up hanging out at Haeundae Beach until our train left. I have never seen a beach that crowded! Unfortunately, the large number of people attracted quite a few thieves. The girls sitting next to us had their bag stolen while they were in the water. Although petty theft is super rare in Korea -- most people leave their laptops and purses at their tables while they go to the restroom in restaurants, for example -- Mike and I are cautious Chicagoans. We took turns swimming and watching our bags, and came home with all of our belongings.

Since we're leaving Korea in less than three months, this was largely a farewell trip to Busan. The city has always held a special place in our hearts ... maybe because with its smaller population and waterside location it reminds us a lot of Chicago. I'm not sure when we'll come back to Korea again after this year, but we've already decided to make Busan a destination when we do.

Gwangalli Beach

Spending the afternoon at Gwangalli Beach in Busan right now. The weather is great and the water nice and cool. I dug a pretty deep hole that a bunch of little kids have inspected with curiosity and amazement - also that a guy with a handful of inner tubes accidentally fell in. Woops.

Three's a crowd

A group of boys take shelter from the rain in our neighborhood. Captured by Mike using his HTC Desire cell phone.

Japchae

Giant bowl of homemade japchae.

My latest attempt at Korean cooking was japchae, or stir-fried cellophane noodles with vegetables. The recipe I chose did not indicate how many servings of the dish it would make, but I assumed that like the other recipes on this website it would make four or five. I was wrong.

We now have enough japchae for at least 10 people! I'm hoping we can get rid of some when we see Mike's cousins this weekend, otherwise we'll be eating japchae at every meal next week.

In case you're wondering, the japchae I made includes cellophane noodles, carrots, spinach, ground beef, onion, green onion, garlic and button mushrooms. And like bibimbap, each ingredient is cooked and seasoned individually before going in the serving bowl. Simplicity is a rare thing in Korean cooking.