To the Han River

In January, I had a dream. It wasn't quite to grandiose as Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream, but it was my dream, and that's good enough for me. Before I began work and was swallowed up by the man eating machine known as Samsung (<-actually you could probably insert any large coorporation here), I wanted to go on one last adventure. As if living in Korea isn't adventure enough. My dream was to bike to Busan. That is roughly 600km away from Seoul. It was the middle of January, but it was starting to get warm, so I was really preparing mentally for such a trip. Luckily I was saved by a night of heavy snow that quite abruptly ended postponed that dream. That's right, its still going to happen some day.

Last time I met my wife's extended family, and last time I met her father as well, I heard comments about my belly. As everyone know's I am thin as a bean stalk. I don't have a belly. Or at least I didn't, but thats what happens when you sit all day every day listening to lectures with no chance to move around. So I decided to do something about it. Of course, to be honest, every day I decide to do something about it, but somehow by the time night comes, the sit ups and crunches that I plan to do end up being done in my dreams. But, last weekend, I was finally able to really get out and exercise, so I biked about 30km (18miles). That was the longest I have biked in Korea, I am sure, though certainly not the longest I have biked in Chicago. I went twice the length (60km, 37 miles) with the return trip fighting a headwind. I was beat upon arriving at home. Thank goodness I didn't try to go to Busan in January, because that would have been a really tough journey. I know I would have made it, but it would have been a very tough challenge.

Must build up endurance to go roughly 150km a day before I can think about heading to Busan.

Mother's Day

To all the mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day. I am very sorry to report that my wife, as yet, has not been able to enter into the hallowed chambers of motherhood and therefore cannot yet be on the receivership of such congratulatory words of kindness and love.

Just last week, here in Korea, we celebrated Children's Day and Parent's Day. For some reason, both parents get celebrated on the same day, probably so that they can go back to work the next day without needing a second day off later. Some may ask, why do they need a special Children's Day? After all, every day is a childs day, at least from the grown up's perspective. Well, I have not yet done all of the proper research yet to be fully informed, but I was told that Children's Day was created to encourage children's rights. As I write this, I am becoming more and more curious exactly what that means by children's rights.

Last night my wife asked me what we do in America for Mother's Day.
Me: "Well, normally we wake up early in the morning and go to the race. Usually before the race starts, I go and buy my mom a cup of coffee from McDonalds."
Wife: "Ok, I mean, what do normal families do for Mother's Day?"
To that, I had no answer, I don't know what normal families do on Mother's Day, so if someone could please educate me, I'd appreciate it.