June 17th - a doggie day

On a way to work I took a photo of a doggie at morning coffee (see photo). At work opened an email and my neighbor asked me to help to find a home for Soju – a two year old Shitzhu found at the University grounds. I sent emails to Karen Busch from http://www.lonelylifetime.com/ and Chaitanya. I also spoke to Karen about contacting Sunan from KAPS. Then going to get a new passport, I saw a doggie taking a nap in the shade of the newsstand (see photo). My friend from Diny who end of April moved to Beijing sent me an email about spending a weekend with her two doggies at the Dogiepark. There is a hotel with cottages. Each cottage has a TV set. There is also a swimming pool for dogs.(Sorry, no photo). Sounds crazy, but very dog friendly and so different from this place.
Worked until late. Came home and took Bongo for his evening walk. Passing a bus stop a girl approached me and asked me in fluent English about Bongo. She then start sobbing. Her mum lost her dog two days ago. Her dog was Shitzu just like mine. She does not live in the neighborhood and she looked quite heartbroken. I wished I could help her.
Next stop was a store. There we met a typical Korean toydog. People do not believe when I tell that here a typical dog has purple/green/blue/pink ears and tail. Finally I have a photo to prove it. The dog on the photo has unmistakably ultra green ears. That I go to the exceptionally nice shop, shows that this dog was allowed to roam around. I leave Bongo outside to wait (see photo). All in all – it was a very dog day.
Oh and by the way _ my server was down since Saturday. In this country of high technology I have problems with the internet and now for a fourth time in two months I have a KT guy coming to fix it.
My New Zealand neighbors Sarah, Stefan, Gabrielle and Ingrid moved today. The go back to NZ on 15th July. Bongo will miss Ingrid. I will miss them all. I was sad to see their balcony without lights tonight.

Good bye to Exit-T - photos of their last two nights in Seoul

Shakira- was the last Exit-T song

Champange on the house for the band Bella and her fan celebrate...

Working JJ's crowd

Bella

Maja

June 17th

At work it was quite busy last week. I still managed to find some time to meet friends for a nice dinner on Wednesday. Faye booked us a table in OKitchen. We had delicious octopus ceviche, beet ravioli, amzing lamb with pistachio crust. Their butterscotch budin was divine. Thursday night was a "office dinner" with a Korean BBQ for a visitor from Sing. I like non-marinated kalbi – but they did not have it.
Friday was a balut night. Roos came from Ulsan. It was great to see her after few months. She moves to Malaysia in few months. For balut dinner we used a voucher for Alsaba which I had from AWC since December. The food was surprisingly good. I got home with balut price. Actually everyone got a price: it was only six of us.
This week I said goodbye to Exit-T. Their last night was yesterday. It was great. I’ll miss them. Given crowds on their last two nights I am not alone.
Yesterday morning I took a taxi to UN Village. The taxi driver was in his 60ties and spoke some broken English. For about 15 min he was badmouthing Korea. He said there is too much alcoholism, people are rude and aggressive, there is a lot of corruption, everything is congested … He proudly showed me his Californian residence card and driving license. I asked him why he did not stay. He said his English is not too good. If I would hate it so much here I would learn a language. Anyway –I was pleasantly surprised how outspoken this taxi ajashi was. There is a first time for everything – including that on Wednesday night coming home with a taxi a driver went out and opened a door for me.
I was taken away with that gesture.
This morning the weather is beautiful. A bit too hot for Bongo. Every 50 m he lays down to rest and cool. We came to a small park and as on Sunday there are many kids playing I kept Bongo on the leash. About five kids and one woman were sitting on a little wall. Kids were eating chips and ice lolies. Bongo approached them. One of the kid seeing Bongo started stomping with her feet. The woman told me “She is scared of a dog”. “I see." was my response. The woman repeated “She is scared of a dog”. There was something in her tone which irritated me so I told her “The dog is not scared of her. As I control my dog, you should control your daughter and help her with her fear”. Then woman told me “But you could move as there are scared”. Well, that got me: “Why should I move? It is your daughter who is cared. So do not shift a responsibility for her fear of a dog to me. Why should I feel bad because of your daughter is afraid of my dog and move? Look at my dog. He does not bark, he does not bite. He is on the leash. He is calm and friendly” The woman told me “ You embarrass me with your anger.” Well, not only should I feel bad her daughter is scared of Bongo, I should also feel bad because I am angry! At that point the girl throw some chips to Bongo. That additionally fueled my anger. I told the woman: "Look what you daughter is doing! She should ask can she give some chips to a dog. Chips are poison for a dog.” I was really mad. At that point Bongo was laying down. Resting and panting. One kid asked me in English why he has such a long eyebrows. I told him I do not know. He than asked why Bongo coughs and I explained it is too hot for him. He wanted to give Bongo a bit of ice lolie. I told him not to. In short kids are nice and curious about Bongo. Instead of helping kids to overcome their fear the woman reinforces it. If I would have a big dog or Bongo would be off the leash charging towards kids I could understand the fear. But to be hysterically afraid of 4.5 kg doggie miserable looking from all the heat on a short leash – well this I do not get. The women did not hug her daughter, or asked me anything about Bongo. Instead she requested I and Bongo leave. Well she got this one wrong. And I doubt she will ever speak to foreigners again. In this country where people eat dogs to improve their stamina (dog penises are special delicacy) dogs should be scared of people. If anyone wants to read about dog meat market please go to KAPS website: http://www.koreananimals.or.kr/english/

June 10 - lost in translation

Bongo - distressed with his GI cut


With the hot summer - it was time for Bongo's GI cut.
In the taxi going to Dr. Kwon the driver asked me in Korean if my dog understands English. I responded in Korean and then the driver started a monologue. Most of it I did not understand but I think what he tried to say was how smart Bongo is when he understand such a difficult language as English. I tried to explain to the driver that Korean is more difficult then English, but something got lost in translation.
At Dr. Kwon I tried to explain a groomer that I do not want a miserable experience for Bongo this time. I had 10 min conversation with the groomer how short Bongo's hair should be and should she cut hair on Bongo's paws. Dr. Kwon got in time to translate. While Bongo was being shaved I went for a back massage. Mr. Chung did great job in relaxing my neck and shoulders. If I can - I'll go tomorrow again. Relaxed I walked to pick up Bongo. After grooming experience he snubbed me. Not a happy boy with the GI cut. Tried to please him with treats. It always works....There was dog who had his teeth removed and was shivering under anesthetics. It was a huge, but sweet bloodhound and seeing him shivering his owners shivered too. Dr. Kwon said the dogie has a reaction to anesthetics and that shivering will pass in few hours. Dr. Kwon looked at Bongo and noticed his front right paw is worse. I noticed the same lately but did not want to verbalize it. Dr. Kwon says there is nothing he can do. He suggested Bongo takes some medicine to strengthen his joints. Let's hope this would help. I told Dr. Kwon about little jindu. Just before going to Tokyo a friend of mine found a dogie. Through Karen a little jindo found a home with Euni. Last week I got an email from Anne that a dogie was euthanized. They brought a puppy to the vet at the base. Something got lost in translation and instead checking for rabies, heartworm etc. a dogie was euthanized. The vet there did not got the puppy has a home. Anne was devastated. Me too. Dr. Kwon was shocked. On a way back home Bongo was sneezing in the taxi. The driver was nervous. I think he was afraid Bongo would mess his car. I tried to explain Bongo is not sick, but my explanations made the driver pushing the gas harder. At about 12th Bongo's sneeze we were home. Perhaps Bongo had an allergic reaction to the taxi driver as once we were at home he did not sneeze at all.

June 9 - Peke

Finaly blue sky...


Seoul streets on Saturday morning

Bongo and Peke

Peke and Chaitanya

The morning was splendid. Crispy blue sky. After days of gloom yellow dust it was such a treat to see cloudless sky. Could not resist to post a photo. Went to the hospital and Dr. Yoo who had the same idea about the amazing weather asked me" "It's a wonderful day. What can I do for you? " "What about an ice-cream?" I asked. Obviously he was not prepared. He was a bit embarrassed afterwards. Anyway on Itaewon streets I passed two drunkards. This is usual Saturday morning street landscape in Seoul. Seems sleeping on asphalt has medicinal qualities for soju hangover. Something else only Koreans know about.

As agreed Peke came to play with Bongo. Although Peke looks like a snowball his hair is a bit thin. His previous family showered or shampooed him too much. Once he started to loose hair most probably Koreans were afraid of a skin problem and left him on a street to find a cure for his skin problems himself. Fortunately, Chaitanya, the closest thing I know to a dog whisperer, is fostering him. Chaitanya says Peke was for sure at least one week on the street. I like Peke. He seems to have a nice personality and is quite social. When neighbours' kids joined us Peke cheered up and enjoyed petting by a little girl who called him "Bongi" as Bongo is the dog she knows. I hope Chaitanya will find nice parents to Peke. Such a cute dogie deserves somebody nice. Peke and Bongo were few hours together and at one point Bongo got upset or jealous and started barking. The bark was similar to "give me attention" barking when I am too long on PC or on a mobile. I am curious if Bongo would bark with Goldie around. I'll ask Faye if she agrees to that experiment.

June 8th - Italian home cooking

From left: Svetlana, Antonio, Mikele, Josephine,
D'Andre, Michael, Pio's girlfriend, Pio, nice Korean
lady I did not catch the name, Oriental DR; Dessy
and Raffaele are standing


From left: Pietro, Raffaele, Emanuele
Michael, D'Andre, Mikele

Russophiles: Emanuele from Moscow,
Svetlana, Antonio & Pietro

I was invited for a dinner at my neighbours Raffaele (Italian) and Dessy (Indonesian). Raffaeles's parents - Jospehina e Michele - are visiting and they prepared together with Pietro (a friend of Raffaele) a fantastic dinner: past di orno, a delicious bread filled with mozzarella, anchovy, and ham and pasta con scampi. Divine food. There was also a delicious limoncello. I had great time with Svetlana who is a Russian teacher at Korean foreign language high school and whom I met few weeks ago at Marina's birthday party (small world), Emanuele who works in Moscow and came to Seoul to visit Pietro and Antonio who is fluent in Russian. It was great to speak a language for a second time in a week. They all love Russians and Moscow. I got nostalgic. Raffaele invited his Oriental medicine doctor. Dr is great - he smokes, and drinks coffee with a lot of sugar. I talked to him about the diet and will try his medicine. D'Andre from EUCK and Michael were there too.

June 5&6 - farewells

This will be another very long week. Monday was very busy. Tuesday as well with the afternoon spent at the work off site. In the evening I was invited to Ingrid's and Thomas farewell party at Antonio. I travelled with them in Nepal and we had great time. At the dinner I met Irene and her husband Peter. Irene forgave me for being rude and not coming for her farewell last Saturday (I went for the British ball). Ingrid's and Thomas party was great. Food was fantastic and wine even better. It was from Thomas private cellar. Perhaps that's the secret of their long survival in Korea - they have been here seven years!

Yesterday I had a small farewell at my place. Exit-T is leaving on June 16th so we decided to cook for the last time at my place. As I am busy mostly with cleaning and have no energy to cook I got some food from Hassan. We had delicious babaganush, humus, falafel, tabule and chicken kebab. Faye and Goldie helped me to get the food to my place. Funny thing was that each time I started laughing in the car Goldie wanted to give me a "kiss". Hassan's food was fantastic. Junior and Morgan made delicious fillings for Vietnamese spring rolls. They also made great bulgogi and peanut butter wrap. I hope Junior will send me a photo of a table with all the food. Not all band members came as some were quite preoccupied with a news that their next engagement in China has been cancelled. They were rightly stressed out a bit.

Darrell brought Isabelle who is a specialist in Russian art. It was great to meet her. She speaks Russian and it was so nice to see I still can muster a basic conversation in that language. Nathalie came too. She was so patient in getting me answering the mobile. While I was in Tokyo she invited me to go with her on an exhibition. I hope next time I would be able to join her.

Last two days a riot police was in my neighborhood. Nothing new. But this time I took photos.

June 3rd - soccer and jazz

Around 10.00 am Bongo took me for a walk. Lovely weather – warm, sunny with a bit of a breeze. My neighbors were already active – playing football. Sarah and Ingrid took care of Bongo while I was in Tokyo. Ingrid and Bongo like each other. They also like to play soccer. Ingrid made Bongo very tired for which I am grateful. Returned home and spent few hours cleaning, mopping and dusting. Ten more days and then Fema is back. At 4 pm went with Marina and Thomas for a jazz concert. At the moment there is Seoul Jazz Festival and Thomas bought tickets for Pat Metheny Trio. It was fantastic. He played one song on a harp guitar and if I did not see him on the scene I would think the whole orchestra is playing. He played wide range of music: jazz - new age- rock. He changed about five guitars during his concert. It was more then two good hours of amazing music. Great evening thanks to Thomas and Marina.

June 2nd - Saturday

Running usual Saturday morning errands. In the evening I had Queens Ball so I went to Ricky to make me beautiful (see photo). This year BASS choose Harry Potter as the theme for the ball . The dinner menu followed the theme. The food needed some magic to make it tastefull. The band was good and dancing even better. The same evening Dutch played friendly footbal game against Korea and won 2:0. After the ball with Ylona droped at JJ's. It was great as usual, but we could not stay long as Ylona played mixed doubles next morning at 11 am. I do not know how she manages. All in all - great evening. I hope somebody will send me some ball's pics.

June 1st

I got this via friends. It's an old article - but started to circulate - as statements in it are still valid.
The link to the article Pros & Cons of KoreaForeigners Fear for Safety in South Korea
by Conor Purcell is: http://greatreporter.com/mambo/content/view/359/7/

May 30 & 31, Tokyo

There was no time for sightseeing in Tokyo.
I did manage to brows through local papers
and found an article about missing 18 carat gold
bath tub. A link about it posted on yahoo news is:
http://fe23.news.re3.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070530/ap_on_re_as/odd_gold_tub_stolen;_ylt=AoQgUMdv0cI.JiLvEgVy_e8DW7oF

New Otani Hotel room view

Lonely subway reader

Orderly queue at Tokyo subway

Rocket launcher on the street?

Japanese man/woman restroom signs

View from the office

Vending machine for cigarets

Toilet seats come with detailed instructions...

Mineral water is sold with seeds for poted plants.

Man watching carp in a pool

New Otani Hotel room with a view on Imperial Gardens