Now in Colour!

I'm not sure why, but for a long time in Korea there didn't seem to be many choices when it came to car colour. Most days I can look off my balcony and it's a melange of black, grey and white cars resting out in the parking lot. Yaaaawwwwwnnn!


I've been noticing quite a bit more colour these days, especially on the cute little boxy looking cars people are driving around. I think it's nice to see some diversity here, even if it's just in automoboobilage.

Drive-by Comment-hate

I know I shouldn't let that comment mentioned in the previous post bother me. I tried willing myself to let it slide off me and away - like the proverbial water and the duck's back sort of thing,...but yet I've found myself thinking about it over the past couple days.

I don't think I'm a stupid person by any means, but I just don't get it. What sort of satisfaction comes from trolling around and leaving hateful message's on a stranger's blog? Does the commenter want me to pay a visit and spew my own vitriol his way? Tell him what an asshole he is? Is he that much of a masochist? Maybe he wants to start a comment war.

Well, I'm not like that.
To me, that seems,...well, "ugly!" And lawd knows, I'm all about the beautiful here in Jelly-land.

I have to say though - the thing that I REALLY don't get,...the thing that pisses me off the most - is how he's picking on something so innocent and defenseless. I mean, it's a CHIPMUNK! Sure, Chippy may have very well fallen down a tree or two - but I doubt it was "ugly tree." I don't even think there is such a tree. I bet Chippy's parents didn't think the(y) were "too ugly to procreate." They were just doing what comes naturally, and I'd bet they were every bit as cute as Chippy. And I hope Chippy was never laid by a human,...that's just sick, man. It makes me wonder what sort of perverse shit the commenter is into. Porn stars and rodents? I just don't get it. Now I kind of feel bad for posting the pictures of my chipmunk buddy. All he wanted was some peanuts and instead he gets peanuts with a side order of HATE!

Luckily I don't think he has a computer, so he'll never be the wiser.

In Case You Missed It

In my comments about the chipmunk post:

NIGHTMARE BELIEVER said...
"Oh God! You Canucks make me so sick! Especialy your picture. You hit each and every branch on the way down ugly tree and then must have broken your face on the ground. Did your parents not know the were too ugly to procreate?! Have you ever been laid....by a human? Holy smoke.....You wouldnt turn me on with a porn star friend."

Chippy

Mmmmmm....peanuts!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

As I mentioned before, "What's supposed to happen is that I head off for a sweet vacation in Canada and everything stays exactly the way it was when I left. Nothing changes, there are no new developments and when I come back and ask people "What's new?" they say, "Nothing!"

Unfortunately, that's not the way things work. My trip back to Korea was a little bit rocky. I spent my last night in Canada with my brother in his backyard getting fairly loopy on Wobbly Pops - though Jeff was far more wobbly than I. I started saying I should be getting to bed around 2:30am, but he disagreed and suggested we drink eight more beers. Some time later we heard a massive BOOM and my brother said, "What the hell was that?" I, being all fuzzy and mellow, checked the sky above us and reported it wasn't thunder as there were no clouds. It wasn't until I was back in Korea that I learned about the massive propane explosion that forced (a bazillion?) people to evacuate their homes. I'm still sketchy on the numbers. The fire was quite a long ways away from us, but still SO loud. My brother didn't even remember hearing it until I e-mailed him from Korea.

We were late getting to the airport. Actually, we arrived just over an hour before my flight, but I was told I was too late to check in and I should report to the counter over yonder to re-book. I was (all fuzzy) and mellow about this news, "What? I should spend another day or two in Canada? Okkkkaaaayyyy!" My brother wasn't as easy-going, "I've come to the airport FIVE MINUTES before a flight and still got in! %^#&*!!"

Nevermind,...an Air Canada lady came to collect me and told me I should buy a lottery ticket, as it was a miracle I was going to get on. (What really happened was they'd given my seat away!! Bastards! But it all worked out fine because I got a BETTER seat anyhow! I was originally in 37C, but ended up in 31A! SCORE!) The flight was fine, except for the man in the mismatched clothes with the brutal cologne who sat a seat over from me. I'm fairly sure he was the Phantom Farter on board. However, I LOVE the new online entertainment system that lets you choose what movies or TV shows you get to watch! I watched an HBO comedy special on Dane Cook (who I'd never heard of before) that had me all LOL'ing. (But, sadly, not ROTFMOL'ing.) Still, I got not sleep on the flight, and I connected in Tokyo to Seoul and then bussed it to Seoul's bus terminal to take a five hour ride back here and arrived a full 28 hours later. I was drag-ass knock-down tired.

Funny thing about jet lag and exhaustion,...sometimes it causes insomnia. (Who'd'a thunk?) So I was still awake when I needed to start getting ready for work. I called my boss, and bless her heart - she said I could take an extra day off to rest.

And rest, I did.

The next day my phone rang before work and it was my boss. I thought she was calling to see if I'd recovered and was ready to head back into work. I had, pretty much - but, actually she was calling to give me a heads up that SHE SOLD THE SCHOOL! My NEW boss was going to be at work and she wanted to warn me so I wouldn't die of shock, or something like that.

So nothing's really the same. I've got a new boss - a MAN - who seems nice and gives me big smiles throughout the day. But, he doesn't speak English and he fills the Teachers's Room with Korean-Man-Smell (a mix of soju and garlic? Those who have ridden the subway here will know what I'm talking about.) They've also hired a new Korean teacher as well who came in for the first time yesterday. She's tall - and so far that's all I've got to say about her.

I feel misplaced and disjointed and wishing I was back in Canada.
I think I may have overstayed my welcome here.
That might not be true, really,...I still feel welcome here - my students were overjoyed at my return and the people in my neighbourhood (the people that I meet, when I'm waling down the street - they're the people that I meet each day) seem to have missed me while I was gone.

Still, when I think of the people I flew away from it feels like a Big Hand is shoving its way inside my chest to clutch and squish my heart and lungs.

That can't be good, eh?

Meow

Kamikaze is good and was well taken care of while I was in Canada. I was very pleased to return to my apartment and find he hadn't used my bed as a litter box like he had the during my last trip. Here he is contemplating his scratching post.


And here's Mittens, my brother's cat.

She weighs about a quarter of what Kami does, so you tend not to notice her creeping upon you while you're sleeping. She then will attempt to lick all the hair right off your head. That'll wake you up - and it will definitely freak you out how INTENSE her face is. She's determined that all hairs MUST! BE! LICKED! OFF!

It Was the East

I woke up one morning in Canada because there was a big orange ball of light glowing on the wall beside my head, and I was all, "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?" because I am so very Shakespearean in the A.M.

It was the sun arising once again to kill the envious moon.
Out on the dock, I think I heard an angel sing "Good morning, Jelly!" (And, "Welcome back to Canada!")

Sad Face

What's supposed to happen is that I head off for a sweet vacation in Canada and everything stays exactly the way it was when I left. Nothing changes, there are no new developments and when I come back and ask people "What's new?" they say, "Nothing!" As it was, I spent my time away not touching a computer (and I didn't miss it either) but was shocked when I returned to check my e-mail and find out my good friend Sher, of What Did You Eat? passed away on July 20th after a sudden heart attack.

I don't even know what to say, so let's meditate on this picture for awhile and be thankful that every moment is another chance to tell someone you love them.

I miss you, Sher.