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weblog Korea March 06

Yesterday I talked again with my boss, I estimate by now it is for 90% sure that we will go to ..........., everybody knows it because of ................... Look at this picture for more information, great, isn't it?

I am posting two movie clips from my famous 'mind distracting collection'. Especially for those people who are by now angry or annoyed because I did not call them to tell about the 90% option. :)
Changing tires
Dutch IQ (Dutch spoken)
(posted by Jitze, 25/03/2006)
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While travelling around the world I visited Austin, Texas several times. The first time in 1995 I went there to see Jimmy Lafave playing in his hometown.

When you think about USA cities famous for their music scene you probably think of Nashville (New Orleans), Memphis, New York or San Francisco. But one of the best kept secrets is Austin. You should know that they call Austin the 'Live Music Capitol Of The World'.

Why? Almost every night of the week you can enjoy different styles of music all over Austin. And the 'Continental Club' is one of the places you should just try and visit.

Every Tuesday Toni Price plays 'the Happy Hour'.

Toni Price.

She is one of the artists I discovered while listening to the radio over there. She only sings in clubs in and around Austin. When she releases a new cd she might plays in cities like Dallas and Houston. As far as I know there is no change that Toni will ever go to Holland to do some shows. But if you are in Austin on a Tuesday just visit Toni and you will understand why I like her music so much. (posted by Addy, 25/03/06)
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Today I read on the Dutch news website something about British people being not good at changing their underwear. I tried to find the information of this research done by the University of Manchester, but I only found this message from last year about British hygiene. It is quite disgusting to imagine that people turning their underpants inside-out so they can wear it longer or cover the smell with perfume. Of course I immediately thought of Rik Mayall as Richie Richard in Bottom. Richie's dirty underpants are more real than I at first thought. (posted by Christina, 23/03/2006)
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I am not writing much, I guess because I am only waiting for more news about my next job and our next destination. I already talked with my boss, but so far we did not agree completely. I hope I know more by the end of this week. In the mean time I watch funny movies (thanks Rutger) to distract my mind a little bit. Click here for a real funny movie. By the way, comparable situations could happen over here with this 'Koreanglish' which you hear the whole day in Seoul. (posted by Jitze, 21/03/06)
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Happy St. Patrick's Day! We are not familiar with this Irish celebration but our son Yde had to wear green today in school. Time to read something about it..... (posted by Christina, 17/03/06)
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Yesterday our help Lilly went back to the Philippines for a holiday. She comes from ILOILO and had to travel to Manila, stay at the airport for some hours before taking a local flight to Ilo-Ilo. Then by car 1 hour to Leon where her family lives.Her family grows mango's and she was looking forward to eat a lot of mango's because the taste of mango bought here in Korea is not the same as in the Philippines. So forgive me if I'm not writing much the coming weeks, I have many other things to take care of now;))
(posted by Christina, 17/03/06)
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For a long time Jitze asked me to write something for this weblog. Everytime
I told him that I do not have time to write. But it's a lousy answer. I do have time but for some reason I just forget (or maybe I am just too lazy). But now this is going to change!

I will recommend musicians and bands I like. I am also sure you don't know most of these musicians.

Starting this week with:

David Munyon.

Since the early nineties I like singer/songwriters. People telling stories accompanied by only a guitar. One night around 1995 in Nijmegen, I went to a concert from my all time favourite songwriter Jimmy Lafave.
I met some German friends and they told me they had to go to the train station the next day to pick up this American singer/songwriter David Munyon. Apparantly he was going to Germany to record his next cd and to perform a couple of concerts. He was going to stay with my German friends for a few days before travelling to Munich. This proofs that no every musician stays in a 4 star hotel en travels in a limousine.

For more information about this good singer visit the David Munyon website. On this page you can listen to some songs taken from one of his cd's called 'Code Name: Jumper'.
(posted by Addy, 14/03/06)
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A Message from John Cleese (of Monty Python fame) To the citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up vocabulary).

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.
There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize. You will relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline)-roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.

15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.

Thank you for your co-operation

(posted by Jitze, 13/03/06)
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Today I went again with Vibeke to our pediatrician "Dr. Kim" from Clinic Marie in Hannam-dong. Last week Vibeke was diagnosed with pneumonia and she had to use a nebuliser at home. Her situation is a little better than a few days ago but she still needs to inhale some medication. At least she is feeling better and, good for us, sleeping better. (posted by Christina, 10/03/06)
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I'm living for almost four years in Seoul and today was the first time that I visited the Yangjae flower market. Usually I go to the Flower Market at the Nambu Bus Terminal because it is much closer to my house. But I will go to Yangjae for my Easter tree in the coming weeks. It's a huge indoor- and outdoor market and you certainly will find there everything you need. They have a wide variety of indoor plants and a lot of different flowers. For the garden they have seeds (if you like to grow your own vegetables or flowers) and all kinds of bushes, flowers and trees. And besides all the nice things I've seen it was quiet. Probably not so many people go there between 10 and 12 in the morning. (posted by Christina, 08/03/06)
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Today the dentist visited Yde's school. The children were taught how to brush their teeth, they tasted different kinds of toothpaste and of course their teeth were checked . Yde came home with a nice present, a small bag with a toothbrush and dental floss. For those who are looking for a child friendly dentist, the UMD Children's Dental Center is worth trying. The website is in Korean, but the "how to get there" directions and the dentist's resume are in English. Telephone 02-556-2253-4. (posted by Christina, 07/03/06)
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As you might know we will leave Korea this summer. It will be only a couple of weeks (maybe shorter) before we finally know our new destination. There are several possibilities and it will become more clear if our human resources department will not call us before the end of this week. So we are waiting until Friday. If we do not get a call we might end up in a country we actually applied for. On the other side, in the past we never got what we asked for. Whatever country it will be, I am sure we can find information about it in this CIA world factbook. Thumbs up for us. (posted by Jitze, 01/03/06)