Oct 2006

HIYA!

It's Sunday 4:30 pm. I'm here at school with my boss and the president of a company that my boss translates things for. My boss asked me to come in. I'm thinking that my boss wasn't honest with me regarding this. I swear he told me we'd go somewhere.

Well, he wanted me to work. To check his translation. Maybe I misunderstood what he said when he asked me to come in, but anyway, I'm here and, it's turning out quite nice for me.

The company produces a liquid used on shrimp ponds. It's organic, made from herbs and microorganisms. Bacteria.

After finishing, I told my boss that this is just the sort of thing that I've been looking for to use in my garden. After my boss translated a question or two for me, the president said he'd give me some. A liter, I think.

He says to use half a liter per 20 liters of tap water. Let it sit overnight, then water the garden with it in the morning. Need to let it sit overnight so the chemicals in the water will settle to the bottom.

Now wait a minute! I thought the tap water was safe to drink. I've been drinking roughly two liters a day. If it's not safe for the garden, how could it be safe for people?! I haven't yet asked.

Didn't get the liquid fertilizer that I wanted yesterday but if this is just as good or better, then, great. If I get a liter bottle, I'll use half of it, as the president says, then mix the other half with brown sugar for 10 days to boost the amount of bacteria, then maintain a supply so I won't have to buy the stuff again in the future.

I put some wild plant seeds in the garden this morning, I then watered the garden well. There are lots and lots of seeds sprouting. Some of them look like brassicas. This is a family of plants. Cabbages and kales and such. If I'm not mistaken. That would make lots of sense here in Korea since people eat so much cabbage, chinese cabbage, and other brassicas.

The president said I could plant seeds 2 or 3 days after watering with the liquid that his company makes. I may dilute it even more than he suggested because there are so many tiny sprouts coming up. I don't want to kill them. We'll see. Maybe I'll try watering a small spot and see what happens.

I'm ready to plant in one part of the garden. There are two main parts to this garden. They are connected by a long walkway which is wide enough to plant a strip of vegetables and still have enough room to walk.

I collected more wild plant seeds today. Found a tomatillo plant with mature seeds. No, I found two! Got lots of seeds from these plants. There's a black nightshade plant not too far from the apt. I've eaten the seeds, the ripe black ones only, in Thailand. Delicious.

Lots and lots of dandelion around. I've got lots of the seeds in the garden. Purslane. There's a beautiful plant not far from the temple that I'm watching. When the seed pods start opening up, I'll get those seeds. This plant is in a disturbed area, right next to the road, wedged in between the asphalt and a cement wall. Growing out of a little crack in the road. I'm always amazed that the most beautiful of plants (what we call "weeds") can grow so nicely in such places. But I'd never eat the plants themselves. Not so close to the road.

And later tonight, after meditation at the temple, I'll get 15 or 20 "weeds" from just in front of the temple. This is the most wonderful plant. I have eaten tons of it in Thailand. Most Thais don't know it, most Koreans don't know it. I haven't met anyone who knows its name or will even say they've seen it before.

I've asked a university professor if he can help me find someone at his university who knows wild plants. Someone in the Botany Dept should know. Or at least know of someone, who might know of someone, who might know of someone, who ...! But he still hasn't contacted me. I'll try elsewhere.

I'll plant some real vegetable seeds later this week.

I really hope to get some pictures of this garden, and other things, on this blog. I just saw a little while ago a camera box in my boss' office. We'll see if it's digital. If it is, I think I'll snap click snap click and snap click. Then paste paste paste.

There's another part of the garden. Just as big as the part I've already started. I haven't done anything with this other part yet. I will after I feel like I have more time and feel like I'm ready in other ways.

Troy.

HIYA!

Boy, had I gone to Japan, I would not have nearly the communication difficulties I now have. Oftentimes here I hear and see Japanese writing. More often than Japanese writing I see Chinese writing, which is similar enough to Japanese that I fairly often understand the meaning. I occasionally speak Japanese with people. Usually older people who were required to learn Japanese when Japan colonized Korea from 1910 to 1945. (Lots of things happened all over the world in 1945.) I feel funny though because it's a language they were "forced" to learn, and with all the enmity these days that many Koreans feel for Japan, for me to speak it with the older ones feels funny. But there have been a couple of times when I haven't been the one to introduce the Japanese language into the conversation. One time I asked some teenage girls directions to the airport. One of them spoke a fair amount of Japanese. More than English. We used Japanese to get my directions. Worked well. I remembered lots. More every day.

Sometimes I see something written in Korean and say to myself that the word is the same as in Japanese just spelled in Korean. A few days ago I was walking home, past a parking lot where you can park your vehicle, apparently, for free. The sign said, in Korean letters, mu ryo. In Japanese this is "free". I suppose it's the same in Korean. And there have been other instances like this.

A language book I bought just today is good for Japanese and English speakers. The vocabulary is written in Korean, English, and Japanese. YES! I'm able to brush up on Japanese vocabulary! Very nice.

I've decided to really get an understanding of this language. It'll be so helpful in daily life to understand Korean. And, a bit deeper than that, it'll be a way to tweek how I see the world. I understand that Koreans express themselves in very different ways than we do in English. More feeling-expressive than thought-expressive. These are my own terms. I don't know really how others say this difference. To learn how to express feelings differently than the way I've learned to up to this point in life seems a valuable thing to do.

I've got an iPod that broke a while back. So I couldn't do anything at all with it. I tried so many of the troubleshooting tips that I got sick of it and finally brought it to a shop. My boss brought me to an Apple repair center. They said they'd replace it for free if they determined that I didn't damage it. It'd be ready Monday, October 9th, they said. They called that day and said they'd replace it. They called again on Thursday and said I could go pick up the new one. I was gonna go today, Saturday, but couldn't get there in time so I'll go next week. I wanna use it for language study. Listen again and again and again to recorded conversations in my textbook. I listen to people talk, which is sort of enjoyable. But I don't understand but a few words here and there. Gets a little old after a little while. It's a neat way of meditation though. Just pure listening! You can do the same with listening to foreign language songs with singing. Never mind the meaning. The voice is another instrument.

Troy.

HIYA!

I have decided I want to do some sort of physical work out. I was thinking I'd really like to learn something distinctly Korean. Like a martial art. So I looked into a few of them. But there all full of kicking and punching. Really violently too. I woulnd't mind something full of punching and kicking if it were a bit mild. But these are intense. I'm not comfortable with the idea. There was a time when I felt I'd be okay with it. But I've changed my mind.

Decided on yoga. It's big among Koreans. Somebody once told me of a Korean style yoga. And my boss took me to a yoga studio near the school. Only a few minutes walk. The teacher there said it was Korean style yoga. Sounds great. 60,000 won a month. About $US60. Not too expensive. I could go five days a week, an hour each time. The lady serves tea afterwards too. And there's meditation afterwards. I'm still really interested.

But, the lady suggested buying some Korean style clothing to wear in class. So I went to a place that a lady at the temple suggested. The shop sells monks' clothing and traditional Korean style clothing for daily wear. Not "costumes". I went and told the lady at the shop that I wanted to wear the clothes for yoga. She got really excited. She fussed over what would be best for me. I didn't really like what she had picked out for me. But in the end we agreed on a suit that I like a lot. (If I can borrow a camera or a cell phone with a camera on it I'll put a picture of me on this blog. Actually, I do have three pictures taken just a couple of weeks ago that I will put on. Give me a bit of time please.)

Well, this lady does yoga. She suggested I go to the studio where she goes. So the next Monday her daughter brought me to the studio. Her daughter is charming. Studying English and able to commmunicate better than so many others. Because she's intersted and so motivated.

Anyway, at the studio, the daughter introduced me to the teacher. The guy speaks some English. Then the daughter left. I talked with the teacher for a couple of minutes. We agreed that I'd just watch. He gave me a couple of cups of some nice Chinese tea.

The studio is fairly big but even at 9am on a Monday morning, there were lots of people there. This teacher is called "Master". I wonder what he has done to be called this. Maybe his long hair and that "Chinese style" beard helps. Plus he's been to India for study under some really accomplished ... Master? The guy does amazing things with his body. Incredible. I don't mean to be cynical, really.

The guy seems really adept. Nimble, flexible, and wow. But right away I noticed he didn't say anything to any of his students. Never once in the 45 or so minutes that I sat there did I see him touch anyone to nudge them into the posture better, I never noticed him say anything to any one individual. I felt that I could get the same thing from a DVD.

I had told the first yoga teacher (the Korean style yoga) that I'd go that very Monday morning. At 11:30. But by 9:30 I'd decided to just buy a DVD. And since I'd recently been shopping for a jacket on eBay, I knew how cheap things are on eBay. And that you can buy an enormous variety of things. So I looked on eBay that day.

But then how do you decide what kind of yoga? I looked around a bit and decided I was interested in Kundalini. So I looked on eBay for Kundalini DVDs. There's this lady named Gurmukh. I read a bunch of the reviews and most are positive. Some really really like her routine while others really don't. I read enough of the reviews to decide that I'm really interested. One of the reviewers also recommended another teacher. So I've decided on these two Kundalini yoga DVDs.

I'll save so much money this way over going to a teacher. And I expect to get much much more out of it. Because I'll understand the language! I was in the back of the room watching the teacher and many of the students. Those in the back probably get less from their routine than they can get from a DVD. This teacher didn't give anyone any individual attention. You listen to the teacher, and watch what he does, copy him as best as you can, don't push too much, don't do what you know you shouldn't do.

How is this any different from using a DVD? You can talk with the teacher before and after, and, I suppose, perhaps during the class too. But nobody spoke at all. Of course, you get the energy and serenity of being with a group of people doing something similar. Great. Plus, doing it at home, it might be real easy to find excuses for not doing it. Whereas if you've paid and commited yourself to a class, then you're more likely to go.

Nevertheless, I have decided that for me, in my situation, it's better for me to use a DVD. I'm still interested in this Korean style yoga. Can there really be such a thing?! I may go sometime before my year here is up.

I can't buy the DVDs just yet because I can't use the pay service yet. Soon, I hope. Don't understand what's going on with the pay service.

All right, this was a long one.
Troy.

HIYA!

This is turning out to be topical, isn't it? Never mind. Read on.

I was looking around the neighbordhood at a place just across the road. There's a vacant lot. Weeds. So I thought maybe I could grow some vegetables there. I asked my boss about it and he said I could just go and start working the land. He said if it's public land then there would be no problem. I wouldn't need to pay any money or get permission! He didn't think anyone would care. I was shocked. So I asked a friend at the temple. She thought about it good and answered that she agreed with my boss! Shocking. Well, I wasn't convinced. I wanted to ask someone in the local government. Don't need to see the inside of a jail. I'm not so interested.

But then there was one day that the landlord, my boss, and I were together just outside the apartment so I asked my boss if he knew who owned the land. They said I could just use the small sliver of land just next to the apartment. I decided it was fine. Really small. A tiny sliver. But I'm happy to use it. The landlady said they've never used chemicals. Or, I'm not sure now, what they've never used. But I'll just use it.

So the next day I started in with a shovel. It's actually quite loose and friable already. But I just have this idea in my head that soil should be mechanically made soft and loose. So I dug it up. Glad I did actually because I found lots of rocks that are too big to be so close to the surface. Too many too big too close. Lots of garbage too like plastic and cement.

After digging I covered the soil with dead grasses and weeds from the neighborhood. There are lots of gardens around but since I doubt that any are organic I didn't want to ask anyone if I could use the dead plants from previous harvests that they really just toss aside. Why in hell don't they see the value of strewing them on the soil? So many good reasons. The weeds and grasses I got for the most part don't have seeds. Except for the wormwood. I'd be pleased to have lots of little wormwood plants growing in the garden. Why do people go buy wormwood at the market when it grows so easily?

Well, I've got the garden mostly dug and mulched. My friends at the temple have given me some seeds. A kind of mallow, Japanese radish (daikon, giant radish), and Chinese cabbage. I'm happy to plant these but they've given me more seeds than I expect to plant. These mixed with lots and lots of local plants. Like the wormwood. Plus plants that I've known from the US and Thailand. I imagine a beautiful garden. Green, lush, full, thriving. And very unconventional. I hope to have it the way I want it sometime next year. I walk around and see the plants I'm wanting in my garden already blooming. That means the plants are going to die. I don't see nearly as many in the younger stages. So I wonder if most of the wild plants that I want in the garden are not winter plants. I don't know what grows here in winter. But I also wonder if, given water, the seeds of these wild plants will grow in my garden. The seeds are there. Purslane, wormowood, and others, dandelion, and others that I have no name for.

The garden, which isn't yet a garden, really, has gone from a place of dry, hard dirt, with nearly no insect life at all, to a moist, insect-rich place that has potential. I've laid stepping stones. This way I won't step on things I want to eat. And won't step on insects that are down there. I'll just step on insects that are beneath the stepping stones!

I've been waiting on this liquid fertilizer. I thought it'd be really easy to find but nobody knows of the stuff. Almost nobody. Anyway, I haven't been able to find it and might have to settle for more typical organic fertilizer. But the stuff I was introduced to today has to be dug in with the topsoil. I don't want to dig any more. I've made the soil loose and friable. I just want to add some nutrient. I don't know how much there might already be in the soil. But I feel certain it's not as rich as it could be.

I'll finish some other things I want to get done right away. And Dong-u (a friend) will call around a little to see if he can find this liquid fertilizer. If there's nothing around I'll just plant. In Thailand, you apply the fertilizer a week or so before planting. So I don't want to sow and plant seeds, then water with this liquid fertilizer. I've seen plants die (in Thailand) because the liquid fertilizer was too much for the young plants.

Enough.
Troy.

HIYA!

So, yeah, my boss is one. But I meet lots of people who are wonderful to me. I'll tell of some people who have not been wonderful at all. My next door neighbors. We've never met. I've said hi to them several times, politely, in Korean, and a "hello" in English. But they never respond, never acknowledge me, never make eye contact, never show any outward sign that I exist. I'm surprised, really, that they don't at the very least, bow their heads a little as an acknowledgement that I've greeted them and that they've heard me and know that I'm somewhere in their general vicinity! But, hey, never mind. I don't take it personally. I don't really care that they are like this. I don't say that I understand. I might understand why they are like this, but my understanding may be a misunderstanding! No, I'm fine. I'm only writing about them to give balance. And there are others who are not all smiley face and nice and everything. It's just that the majority are.

The landlady brought down some holiday food after coming back from visiting relatives. She knows I'm vegetarian so the only "non-vegetarian" food she brought down was fish! I unknowingly at one piece of this stuff that didn't look like fish. While eating it I suspected that it might be so I looked at the other piece ... sure enough. It was good but I don't feel like I want to go running out to look for fish food. It was no big deal. She brought two big pumpkins from the visit, and gave me one! Nice.

Today, a guy I met a week or two ago drove me around to do some things I've wanted to do. He took me to a place that another friend recommended. I want to get some liquid fertilizer like I knew in Thailand. The method originated here in Korea. The guy's name is Dong-u. He drove me to this incredibly isolated place. Took a long time to find it. When we got there a lady was really really helpful. They have a product I could have bought. But it's in powder form and would need to be mixed in with the soil. I want a liquid that I can pour on. I gave this lady some information about the Korean Natural Farming Association, which pioneered this liquid fertilizer but she couldn't contact anyone. Before we left, another lady brought in several long long cucumbers and some kind of squash and gave them to me. These were grown with the fertilizer that they sell. She just gave them to me. Wow.

The people at the temple, I won't even go into it. They're so good to me.

And my boss, he's good to me, really good. But I can see that part of his motivation may very well be that I'm an employee. He should get along with employees. I do feel that he's going way beyond what's necessary to build a positive working relationship but I don't complain. We agree that our relationship isn't just about money. But it's about respect and yakity yak. I really feel comfortable around him. But I can see some really negative things his personality and his behavior. For some reason though, I am comfortable with him.

Enough of this.