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I liked the idea of Wordless Wednesday for a blog, the idea of just snapping a photo to capture part of your day and posting it to your blog. I tried it a few times. It just never seemed to gel for me. For one thing, Wednesday always seems to be the day with the least amount of interesting things going on around here. I always seem to be writing up the grocery list, serving leftovers instead of some fabulous meal and clearing up clutter scattered all over the house. I might be wrong but I suspect that a series... Continue reading

I meant to post photos from our last couple months in Korea once we got home and settled in. Then I was planning to post photos of our last few months in Korea and our summer at home. And then it became plans for the Korean photos, summer and fall. You get the picture, I'm sure. I had intended to do a "what we've been up to since we got back from Korea" post but as more time passes, it was getting more and more involved and there was more and more inertia. So, without further ado, here are some... Continue reading

So, I've been missing from this space for quite a while. It took us longer to settle in after the move home than we anticipated and by the time we were settled, we were into birthday and Christmas seasons. A few weeks ago, the one year anniversary of the blog came up. I decided to start writing a blog in Korea, because I realized that all those things we found so exotic and extraordinary when we first moved there had become just an ordinary part of our everyday lives. I wanted to remember to look for the extraordinary in the... Continue reading

So.... that's been a little bit of an unintended blogging break. First, we spent two weeks passing a wicked head cold around through the family. Now, we're deep in end-of-school-year events. Last week I accompanied the Geezler's class on a trip to a dairy farm. It was quite a day. We made ice cream (in a really simple way that required only basic equipment and worked well with a class of excited 6 year old kids ) and cheese (!!), fed cows and calves and everyone got a chance to try milking a cow. Everyone milked the same cow and... Continue reading

Lanterns on Buddha's Birthday, Tapgol Park, Seoul Continue reading

I mentioned in a previous post that the Geezler was less than enthusiastic about taking a long subway ride and mingling with a huge crowd just to look at cherry blossoms. It's not that she's aesthetically challenged. She enjoys beautiful flowers as much as the next girl. But she's a smart cookie and she knows that it's a choice between an hour and a half ride on the subway for this: or a 2 to 5 minute walk (depending on the direction we choose and how long we need to wait at a streetlight) for this view. Or maybe this... Continue reading

Wishing you all a happy Children's Day from Korea. Continue reading

In mid-April, we went to Yeouido Island look at cherry blossoms. Yeouido Island is the site of the South Korea's National Assembly, as well as Yeouido Park and a large riverfront park.The road beside the riverfront park is lined with cherry trees. There was a big crowd for out for a Saturday afternoon stroll around the parks . Picnicking in the parks during the festival is popular, possibly because it's the first real excuse to get out and enjoy the warmer weather with a picnic. Yeouido Park was our first stop. It's a nice park with some ponds, bike and... Continue reading

Do you know what makes for a great weekend? Spend sunny days in the park, Have a hot pink bike that matches the flowers around you, and, Learn to ride your bike without training wheels! Continue reading

For the first time this week, today was not a cold, rainy and/or windy day. That made it a good day to take a walk and do some grocery shopping. A list of things I saw while I was out today: pink, purple and scarlet azalea blossoms; blooming lilacs that made parts of my walk smell wonderful; blossoms on my favourite flowering tree (this tree has fabulous pink pompom blossoms that look like something Martha Stewart would make from an enormous stack of tissue paper); the ladies who work at the department store doing their stretching exercises together just before... Continue reading

Video inspiration for the celebration of Earth Day: Carl Sagan reading from "Pale Blue Dot" and P.K.Page reading the poem "Planet Earth". More than 60 years ago, Aldo Leopold wrote "It is inconceivable to me that an ethical relation to land can exist without love, respect and admiration for land, and a high regard for its value." (from "A Land Ethic" in "A Sand County Almanac") I believe it's important to encourage children to explore the natural world so that they can develop this love and respect. It doesn't have to be difficult or expensive. Some ideas to try: give... Continue reading

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It's strange thing, the sort of memories that will stick in your head. I have this very distinct memory of reading some domestic diva magazine and someone recommending that parents pack quail eggs in a child's lunch as an alternative to boring old sandwiches. This was long before I had a child but I remember laughing and thinking to myself that whoever wrote that article needed to get a grip on reality. You've seen the title of the post and you've probably already figured out that somewhere within this post, I'm going to have to eat those words. The quail... Continue reading

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Last week was the Geezler's spring break. Woohoo, no homework! Here's how we spent the week: We made our own pasta. It took less time than I thought it would. I thought it would be difficult to roll out using just a rolling pin but it was very easy. Geezler wants to do it again. Geezler wove a coaster using this tutorial. The tutorial was easy to follow and Geezler could manage almost all of it on her own. She only needed help in setting up the weaving, changing to new yarns and in the finishing. We made wings for... Continue reading

Links to some of my favourite things I saw this week: 1) This video about Earth Hour, which happens on Saturday, March 27, 2010. We're spending part of the weekend in downtown Seoul, home to giant outdoor TV screens and multicoloured light displays, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there. 2) An article about bojagi, the Korean tradition on wrapping gifts (and other objects you want to carry) in cloth. 3) Ikat Bag's adorable stuffed chicken, which even lays eggs. So cute and clever! 4) Another cute Easter or anytime craft, Chez Beeper Bebe's Felt Egg Design book... Continue reading

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(Big sigh) I think I need to make it clear to some aspect of the universe that I am entirely past being able to muster any enthusiasm for a winter wonderland, even if it does produce the best snowball-making snow of the last year and a half. I am anxiously awaiting spring and cherry blossoms. At least being unable to see the neighbouring highrises due to yesterday's snow squalls was less disturbing than not being able to see them because of Saturday's yellow dust storm. Continue reading

Everywhere I've turned on the Internet in the last week, I've seen Irish soda bread recipes. It appears that it's the Irish-related recipe of choice among bloggers. Oh, there are some drink recipes and some corned beef recipes and cupcakes with stout and Irish whiskey but a lot of people seem to be going with the soda bread. Soda bread was the " kinda sorta related to Ireland" idea I came up with for a post on St. Patrick's Day too, so I can relate. But before I go any further, let me tell you a story..... Gordon came to... Continue reading

This morning I woke up with a tickling feeling in my nose and a few sneezes. I suspect a cold is trying to gain the upper hand (or respiratory tract, actually). That means it's time for one of the "how come I've never heard of this before" discoveries from my time here in Korea: honey ginger tea. I don't know if it actually makes my cold any shorter in duration or less intense but at least it's soothing. Especially when you're the kind of sick that's not sick enough to be in bed sleeping but too sick to be particularly... Continue reading