bugs!

Maybe we're weird, but one of our favorite things about summer in Korea is the appearance of cicadas...except when they land on our balcony screens early in the morning. We don't have cicadas in our part of the U.S. and the most dominant species in the U.S. have very long life cycles, so they only appear every seven years or more. The Korean cicadas apparently employ a method of survival called "predator satiation," meaning that there are so damn many of them, some are bound to survive. And there are so damn many of them. And they're loud...at least the males are. They're the ones who make the crazy "whaa-whaa-whaaahaaahaaahaaahaaa...." noise. (Explanation of cicada song and sample sound recordings here.)

The Korean name for cicadas is 매미 (may-me), and the kids around our apartment complex hunt them with butterfly nets. Matthew picks them up with his bare hands to show them to Liam, which I think horrifies some of the kids. Seriously, Koreans of all ages are pretty skittish around bugs. (To the point of silliness. I had to "save" a college-age girl from a fuzzy caterpillar last summer, which her boyfriend was trying to beat off of her pant leg. Pregnant foreigner saves caterpillar. Classic.)

cicada blending in with tree:


and his not-so-bright cousin standing out on a rock at Mt. Seorak


the cicada I startled off a tree, which decided Matthew looked like a good spot to hang out...for several blocks:


me holding that same cicada after we got it off Matthew's shirt:


Dragonflies (draggy-plies in Liam-speak) are also abundant here in the summer. They're friendly little guys, very curious about human beings. Our friend J.E. tells a great rendition of her battle through a swarm of dragonflies at Mt. Seorak. It involves her covering her face to keep them out of her orifices.

Here's one lone dragonfly hanging out on a bridge at Mt. Seorak:


random weird bug on a tree near our apartment:


the white things are caterpillars:


There are a ton of different caterpillars here, ranging from flashy to brilliantly camouflaged. Matthew took his hands-on "after class" class on a "nature walk" (quotations used because it was down the sidewalk) one day to see a variety of insects (cicadas, caterpillars, etc.) that blend into their environs. He had randomly discovered at least three varieties of caterpillars skillfully blending into the sparse landscaping in front of a bedding shop.

The exception to the general queasiness about bugs here are boys and their beetles. Japanese rhinoceros beetles (AKA "fighting beetles") are sold in the pet department at E-Mart (and I'm sure other places, too). While we were out taking pictures of the cicadas one morning, we came across a boy and his pet beetle at the playground. He even posed his beetle so that I could take a better picture of it:


...but this picture gives a better perspective of the actual size of the beetle (it's perched on the boy's thumb) as it "meets" a cicada held by Matthew:

weekday wanderings

One of the best things about our life in Korea is all the time we spend together as a family. When Matthew was working a 9-5 job in the States (salary, which means it's never just 9-5), Liam was usually still asleep when he left for work in the morning. By the time he came home, it was time for dinner, then bath, etc. in the downward spiral towards bedtime. Here, Matthew doesn't start work until after lunch, so we have the mornings (usually Liam's best time of day) together.

We try to get out most mornings, so we've built a repertoire of usual spots. On average, once each week we visit downtown (usually including the traditional market), Sokcho Beach, and Expo Park. We also squeeze in errands like haircuts, quick shopping, banking, etc.

Once or twice per month, we also visit Daepo-hong (a harbor just north of Sokcho with many fresh fish restaurants) and Mt. Seorak National Park (a 20 minute bus ride). Both are nice on weekdays because they're not so crowded. Below are a few pictures from a weekday trip to Seorak earlier this month.

Matthew & Liam waiting for the bus.


Liam & Rowan -- I love that baby bear has his jet sticking out and daddy bear is halfway covered by the carrier.


Matthew & Liam strolling through the woods. "If you go out in the woods today, you'd better be in disguise..."


Matthew & Rowan sitting down for lunch at one of the trailside eateries. Rowan looks awfully interested in the sanchae (wild mountain vegetable) bibimbap.


Besides the aforementioned wild mountain vegetables (such as mushrooms and assorted greens), bibimbap also includes rice (bap), a freshly fried egg, and gochujang (fermented red pepper paste), which is served separately here, so that the customer may add the desired amount. It's delicious! Also appearing are the requisite kimchi, doenjang jjigae (soybean paste stew, with tofu and vegetables), and a (cut-up) potato pancake that she brought service-uh for Liam. He was more interested in his goldfish crackers, though. (Don't worry, I ate it!)


These cats belong to the restaurant owner. The mama's name is Nabi (Butterfly). Her kitten was a bit skitish, but she is friendly. I remember seeing her last summer when we went through. Her kitten from last year is now much larger than she is, but still very, very wary of Liam.


Monks walking down the trail ahead of us. I don't usually take pictures of monks. In fact, I think this is the first time I've ever taken pictures of them, but they were RIGHT THERE. If one has the right temperment, being a Buddhist monk in Korea seems like a pretty good gig. The temples are located in some gorgeous areas, perfect for zen hiking.

just another day in "paradise"

It rained until noon -- thunder, lightning, the works -- then abruptly stopped and the sun came out.

Just when we'd decided that nursery school wasn't going to work out, because Liam didn't want to go, he pitched a fit that Matthew was going to return his backpack. So Matthew took him to school, paid for June, left him there crying, and...this was the first day he didn't bite anyone. He was in a great mood when I picked him up.

At the playground, some kids let their dog crap all over the playground. I supplied the "water tissue" (baby wipes) to clean up the dog poop. Maybe 10 minutes later, a dead mouse seemingly materialized from out of nowhere. One minute everything was fine, the next minute one of the moms was standing on a bench screaming. All the other moms kind of wandered off, leaving almost a dozen elementary school kids to poke at the poor, dead, most likely disease-infested rodent. My friend finally went to fetch a doorman to dispose of it. He apparently just threw it on top of the bagged garbage in the dumpster area.

On the way home, waiting for the elevator, a grandmother was trying to figure out Rowan's gender. Another mom told her that he's a boy. So then she asked me if both boys were, well, boys. And she actually gestured at herself, like, "Do they have penises?" I replied in English, "Yes, they have penises." (I also told her in Korean that they are both sons.)

The last thing was actually yesterday, but I got stuck in the elevator going down with nosy grandmother. She was babbling away to Rowan, then suddenly reached out and touched my breast. What? I told her (in Korean), "Don't touch me," and looked at her like she's insane, which I seriously think she may be.

Seriously weird. Is it a full moon?

bakery wars

On a lighter note (than my previous entries about suicide and swine flu), two big Korean bakery chains have opened stores in our neighborhood in the past few months. We now have four bakeries within a five minute walk from our apartment. One is located inside the local grocery store and doesn't sell anything that really appeals to me, so I won't bother to mention it again.

People of Bread Village is the old neighborhood bakery. The Korean name literally translates to "Bread Village People," but the English name is also prominently displayed.



They make a decent apple tart-type pastry, although I always have to double check as to not buy the sweet potato-filled version. (Apple is square; sweet potato is rectangular.) Liam likes to stop in for their W300 (about 30 cents) cream puffs.



Paris Baguette opened a store a month or two ago. My favorite item there are the blueberry muffins, which come in a two pack. (You can see Liam's fingers sneaking in to grab the muffin on the right.)





Tous Les Jours opened right across the street this week. They have decent banana-cranberry scones. I know that sounds weird, but the banana flavor isn't very strong. They also have walnut scones (too flat and dry) and chocolate chip (not my thing).





All of the bakeries have various pastries, breads, cakes, etc. Most of it is distinctly Korean in style, which means less sweet, somewhat bland, very soft, often containing sweet potato or sweet red bean filling, etc. Blueberries and cranberries are nearly impossible to find (and very expensive) in Korea, which is another reason the muffins and scones are noteworthy.

Maybe our neighborhood CAN support four bakeries, the way people apparently increase their caffeine intake to support Starbucks on every corner in PNW cities. Only time (and expanding waistlines) will tell.