"The Power of Partial Solutions"?

Very moving and insightful to think about access to resources or lack of: 

"Living on One Dollar A Day"

Four American students travel to Peña Blanca, Guatemala for the summer and attempt to live on $1 a day.

White Water Rafting out of Inje 인제

IT'S HAPPENING. The snow and ice have finally begun to thaw. Winter retreats, and that makes way for a whole host of springtime activities. Whether you plan on staying close to Seoul and taking a swan boat out on the Han River, or you'd like to stretch your legs past city limits, don't neglect Inje (인제) a budding recreational town in northeastern Gangwon-do.

 
I've always been a huge fan of Seoul Hiking Group. Its main guide, Warren, hosts a number of fantastic, affordable events throughout the year, planning everything from hiking to biking to weekend getaways on Jeju-Do. His planned white water rafting trip on the Naerincheon River out of Inje was no exception. We arrived on the gravelly shores of the river to find the rafting company completely decked out for us: in addition to rafting, there was also ATV rides, zip-lining, paint-balling, and the highest ankle-brace bunjee jump in South Korea, at 207 ft/63m (We'll round up). 

My friends and I opted solely for the white water rafting option, but other members of the group disappeared up the bungee jump tower--some in solemn silence, others kicking and screaming. We all watched comfortably from the ground with phones ready and documented the entire free-fall experience, when shrieks of terror turned to whoops of joy. 

Our guides ushered us to the rafts. In a group this big (40 people) there's always a couple who speak both English and Korean, and that person was positioned in the back near the rafting guide. From the picture of the river above, you can see that conditions looked calm and a little on the shallower end--that gave the guide ample time to direct our raft to as many rapids as possible. It's a Class II ride, with nothing enormously big, but on a gloriously sunny day, there's no constraint on time, and plenty of opportunities to plan a sneak attack on unsuspecting rafting neighbors. Our guide pulled in by a large ten foot high boulder, perfect for a little cliff jumping into cool, deep waters. We swam our way back to the raft and paddled on, ricocheted through a tight bottleneck, and powered through a giant foamy rapid near the end, spray blowing in our faces. The entire rafting trip was around 3.7 mi/6km, and took 1.5 hours.

A bus was waiting to carry us back to the main beach, where we spent a relaxing afternoon eating in small coffee shops and exploring the banks of the river, while zip-liners soared over our heads. There's definitely something here for everybody, from extreme bungee jumping to milder rafting courses, all enjoyable under the golden sunshine of a lazy afternoon.

The Naerincheon Leisure Sports Company website can be found at: http://www.raft21.com/. Rafting runs May through October.

Disclaimer: The above is depicted as fiction, not fact.

YEAR OF THE WOLF New Book Trailer!

Thank you all for your continued support of the Changeling Sisters series! Movies get trailers, so why not books? Check out the trailer for YEAR OF THE WOLF below:

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived at the Apple

You will find your Apple iTunes copy of YEAR OF THE WOLF here.

So You've Arrived in South Korea. Now what?

YOU'VE DONE IT. You've board the plane and jetted to the far side of the world. Your thoughts are consumed with loved ones you've had to bid farewell to, and the students you will meet. Probably the last thing on your mind are those pesky details, like, say, where you'll score a full set of bed sheets or a reasonable cell phone plan. Depending on your teaching contract, you'll be expected to grab a couple of hours of sleep and arrive, fresh and early, at 8:00 in the morning, ready to teach. That being said, here's a quick guide to your new life's utilitarian needs, so you can focus more on lesson plans, and less on where the hell you recharge your T-card. 

The Arrival Store
http://www.thearrivalstore.com/

This very handy online store offers full English speaking services, and has some of the best cell phone plans I've ever seen. Depending on who your company liaison is (mine was Adventure Teaching based in Vancouver, CA) you can pre-order your cellphone ahead of time, and have it ready and waiting for you with your greeter at the airport. I only paid 32,000 won a month, and was free to end my contract at any time. (roughly $32/month). They have an office in Hanam Si, and have always been extremely quick and efficient.

Feel free to browse their other products. Some of the Arrival Store's other "Must-Haves" are helpful like converters or the cleaning kit, but the vast majority you can bring from home or find at local department stores once you gain your footing. They don't charge for international check-on luggage yet!


E-Mart/Lotte Department Store/local market

Immediately upon arriving, find the local subway station or bus stop. Chances are an E-Mart or Lotte Department Store will be close by, which are two of the biggest have-everything chains in South Korea.  But make sure to check out your local market for the best prices on fruits/veggies.


Photo courtesy of m.wikitravel.com



Photo courtesy of ramada.com

T-Money

"T-money," which stands for "Transportation," is the ultimate rechargeable card to be used when paying for buses or subway rides. For the bus, simply scan your card once upon entering and once more upon exiting. You can buy a T-money card in any subway station, or they are available/rechargeable at convenience stores with the T-Money logo on their window. Subway stations have rechargeable d0-it-yourself booths (select the English-speaking option). 

 
Photo courtesy of aboutseoul@wordpress.com


South Korea Bus System Guide:

Green Bus: Local/City

Red Bus: Express City Buses/Regional

Purple Bus: Airport 

Taming the Feral Cat: Mango

AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER, an adorable little creature will waltz unexpectedly into your life, proceed to wreak havoc, jeopardize your relationship with your landlord, and take all the money you were saving up for...something. In time, you realize you can't imagine life without them.

Meet Mango. 

 

Feral cats are everywhere on Oahu. They gather in large colonies in the parking lots after dark, and you can feel all of the luminous eyes watching you as you drive by. It's anyone's guess how Mango found her way from the lot behind Foodland to our neighborhood, but one day, she was there, a skin-and-bones bundle with a striking tortoiseshell coat. She rubbed against the fishing poles and made herself comfortable under the barbeque stand. But the minute she saw us, she was gone in a flash of black fur. 

It was for the best, of course. We had a "no pets rule" in our housing contract. However, the kitten chose to show up while our landlords were away on vacation. She slunk back into our enclosure the next day, certainly not looking any healthier. We left a can of tuna out. Stray or lost pet? Looks like we had committed ourselves to find out. 

My boyfriend and I often argue about who won her trust first, but it look only a couple more bowls of food before I had the distinct honor of being approached. The little kitten mewed, climbed onto my lap, and sniffed my nose. I felt in danger of becoming attached. Since the mangoes were just beginning to ripen to rosy red, "Mango" became her name. And our landlords were due home the next day.

Honesty is the best policy, but it's equally all about timing. When we picked our landlords up from the airport, they were exhausted from an international flight. When to drop the bomb? The moment we pulled into the driveway, little Mango began crying for us. I'd been dreading this moment, of course. Tortoiseshell cats are extremely famous for their "tortitude," a unique personality that includes a most vocal set of lungs. My boyfriend began whistling equally loudly as we helped them unpack, and no one seemed to notice. However, I could already see her black tail darting amongst the bushes, so we managed to pull our landlord Steve* away from his family and broke the news. That was when Mango decided to make her grand entrance. Being incredibly adorable won her some favors, and we agreed to amend our contract, as long as Mango remained an outdoors cat. On Oahu, that's not much of a hardship. When we discovered that Mango had no microchip and no one was looking for her, we officially adopted her.

Mango decided to celebrate by fracturing her leg. 

When I wasn't woken up at 6:00 am by Mango's unceasing cries of "Feed me! Feed me!", a bad feeling settled over me. It only grew worse as two nights passed, and there was no sign of our adopted stray. We searched the neighborhood and put up signs, while all the while trying to fight off the grim feeling that we had found something wonderful only to lose it too soon. I carry memories from childhood of cats going missing and staying that way, so I had a sinking feeling of how this was all going to end. The situation was made even odder by our landlady, who came home early from work one day to find a man poking around the bushes of our yard. He asked if she had seen a "black cat." I have to give our landlady credit; she bravely said, "No! Black cat is mine!" and chased him off. Now we didn't know what to think; was Mango in another house somewhere? 

Two weeks later, I heard a soft, plaintive cry at two in the morning. I flung open the door and there was Mango, limping out of the bushes. She couldn't put any weight on her back leg, but pulled herself so purposefully toward us, confident that the two recent college graduates with student debt and entry level jobs could save her. Thanks, cat. 

We were going to do exactly that. 

The vet gave us the good and the bad news: thankfully, she hadn't broken her leg. She'd fractured it. Because of her young age, there was a good chance that the bone would heal fully. She wouldn't need surgery. She would, however, need to wear a splint and stay in a quiet, dry place for the next two months.

Yeah. You try making a kitten sit still. To give you a visual, we have a little furnished "shed" attached to the studio that was allotted to be her "house." However, Mango refused to remain passively indoors. She learned how to walk on that bright purple cast frighteningly fast; give her an inch, and she'd be off, loping at an odd gait because one leg was higher than the other. The first time she pulled that, our landlord and his daughter chased after her as she made her escape through their backyard; she evaded both of them and disappeared. 

"She'll come back when she's hungry," we told ourselves. "Preferably with the cast on." In fact, the cast was still on when she came back, whining desperately for food, but the bandages were a disaster. The look on the vet's face when we brought her back said it all, and we got another stern lecture about how we needed to keep her "secluded." Only one-and-a-half more months to go. Mango would claw her way to the top shelves of the shed and meow, her face pressed against the top window. I felt like a cruel prison warden. Of course, she'd always "done her business" outside. There's no time like teaching a cat how to use a litter box like when she has a huge clunky cast on. 

She never gave us any trouble when we took her to the vet. Her trust was refreshing. Soon, she stopped trying to escape. The x-rays were promising. When we finally saw the last x-ray two months later, we all breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of new, whole bone, not a fracture in sight. We could take the splint off. Now she just had to wear one of those big white cones to keep her from licking the matted fur of her back leg until it healed, as well as undergo daily massages to regain her muscle strength—but she was free! Ordeal over, bank account lighter, family happy.

Now I'm pleased to say that Mango has filled out and has a beautiful glossy coat that reminds me of a sun bear's. She's still loud, but has learned that there is a time and a place for that (not at six in the morning). She also sticks by her territory. No more roaming. The craziness seems to be toned down, too: no more wandering on the neighbor's rooftop, although she does like to scare me by waltzing along our thin stone wall, nine feet up in the air. And no more attacking dogs—she picked up a bad habit of stalking passerby walking their dogs, waited until they got close, and then exploded from the bushes in a hissing mass of black fur. (Pomeranians, beware!) Now she spends her days lounging in our backyard, content with chasing geckos and playing with anything that wiggles funny. We're so thankful she came back to us. In honor of such a unique and funny personality, I decided to give Mango her own blog post.

*Names have been changed for the sake of privacy. 

Disclaimer: The above is depicted as fiction, not fact. 

So you've heard of this song. Have you also heard of...

1. Mirrors by Justin Timberlake

Justin Timberlake scored another hit with "Suit & Tie," but his second song in the most recent Saturday Night Live was a memorable performance as well: 

 


2. Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Get to the chorus and you'll be sold. Yes, I first heard this song on a commercial for Assassin's Creed III. 

 
3. Higher Than the Clouds by Anuhea

Older song, but wonderfully sweet and fun to sing along to. 

 
4. Dream Girl by SHINee

The Korean pop band SHINee has always been fresh and strong, and their latest song is no exception.