Oh My Back

The Stumbler has been having a lower back pain on and off over the past few months. Suddenly, this week the pain was so strong I had to go visit the doctor. In the past, this back ache would bother me at night and in the morning, but during the day either it went away completely, or at least the pain was so small that I forgot about it. Well, that changed. I could NOT forget about the pain during the day, and it was making me really tired and grumpy.

So, CH took me to a nearby doctor's office which specialized in bones and muscles. The doctor took a couple of X-rays, and bent my legs around. "Does THIS hurt? How about THIS?" Finally he announced that there was nothing seriously wrong, but I had a lumbar sprain. Gave me some medicine, and sentenced me to recommended 1 hour of physical therapy. All that for $25 doctors fee and $7 pharmacist's fee.

CH left me to go to the drugstore, while I stayed behind for the therapy. First, they had me lay down on my back, with a heating pack under my lower back. I think because I have poor posture, my back doesn't like laying in that position. I was a little bit uncomfortable for the first few minutes, but soon it actually became pleasant. After about 20 or so minutes of that, they came and changed to electro-shock therapy! Two electropads were positioned on my lower back, and the machine shocked me. It was a very weird feeling, kind of like a strong vibrator. In fact, the feeling was so strong, I called them back to lower the setting. That went on for about 15 minutes - the machine went through a progammed cycle of various shock patterns. Next came the ultrasound treatment. Some kind of ultrasound probe was rubbed around my back for 5 minutes. Finally, I received infrared treatment - basically they shined an infrared lamp on my back for 5 minutes.

For all that treatment, you'd think my back would be in perfect shape. I can't say it was, however. For the rest of the day, my back felt pretty much the same. The only improvement I have noticed is that it didn't hurt as much during the night, so I have been able to sleep better. The medicine they gave me consisted of a muscle relaxant, an anti-inflammatory drug, and something for "gastric distress" which the other pill causes. So I can't say if the therapy or the medicine was helping.

I'll have to decide tomorrow whether or not to get more therapy. They only give medicine for 3 days here in Korea, so you have to return. I'll have to decide whether to get more "treatment" or not. I am inclined to say no. My friend JI told me his brother worked at physical therapy hospital, and could give me free treatment if I wanted it. Also, he recommended I try accupuncture first, before returning for more therapy. Finally, I read this quote on the internet about lumbar sprains: "Physical therapy and spinal manipulation are of limited benefit in most patients"

I'm Not in Kansas Anymore

I took a short trip on Friday to Kansas City, which actually spans two states: Kansas and Missouri. I visited my colleague John, who worked and travelled with me throughout Asia for a couple of years. Because of various job changes and home moves, we haven't seen each other in maybe 2 years. Here are some photos of the whirlwind tour of Kansas City.

Here is the hotel that John recommended. This is the view from my room on the 5th floor. As you can see, the middle of the hotel is a big open space. They served a free breakfast down below, you can see the many breakfast tables.





On Friday morning I met with John and his new business partner Brian for breakfast at The Cracker Barrel (so I didn't take advantage of the free breakfast at the hotel). After that, we visited their new offices and had meetings until lunch time.



At lunch time, we drove around the city some, and stopped by John's parents house. I had heard so many stories about his parents and family, it was nice to finally meet them.





We had another business meeting that afternoon, then headed out for dinner in the downtown Kansas City area. I am so embarassed to admit what I ordered for dinner. The restaurant was very nice, and had many interesting items. Of all the choices, I had meatloaf. I know this is a simple, normal food, but this restaurant made a very special kind of meatloaf from beef and sausage mixed together. It was delicious. After that, we went for a few drinks until we met a fellow for a late business meeting.

The next morning, John took me out to see some farmland where he will build his new house. It was very large and beautiful, I think they will enjoy living there. Also, it began snowing, which made everything look even more pretty. We stopped by his wife's parents house, where I got to meet them as well. Here are some photos of the area near his land. First, here is a tobacco barn that is used to hang and dry the leaves after harvest.



Here is a view of the "Main Street" in the small town near the farm.



And here is the church established in the middle 1800's.



I had a great time, and look forward to our next meeting ... in Korea.

Stick Shift

Made it back to the USA for a 4 week visit. As usual, things have been very busy on top of the jet lag. I did find time to introduce Young Stumbler #3 to driving a stick shift. I think she is a natural at it. After one more practice session, she will be ready for the roads. Also, I will take her Monday to get her drivers license. Full report to follow next week. Here is YS#3 happily behind the wheel of a stick shift pick up truck...





EDIT: Congratulations to YS#3, who passed her drivers license test on Monday. She passed the test in the first try, unlike one other Young Stumbler who shall remain unidentified. She took the test in an automatic transmission, but soon she will be a confident stick shift driver I am sure.

Day Trip

This is the last weekend in Seoul before going to USA for a long business trip. I decided to take a short day trip today to the sea. When I arrived at the sightseeing place, it turns out maybe 100 or more motorcyclists were having a day trip also:





After touring around the fort and seaside awhile, I found the nearby restaurant street. This "street" was really a gravel road alongside the fishing docks, and each store's name was that of the corresponding fishing ship!



I chose one at random, and proceeded to negotiate with the store owner. You see, Koreans like to eat this fresh fish raw. While I can eat raw fish, I really wanted to have it grilled. I finally negotiated with her to grill my fish, but then I had to pick WHICH fish to grill. They were swimming around in the tanks. I chose one - I have no idea how, but later when they explained the name in Korean (숭어), I looked it up in my dictionary and found I was eating a "Gray Mullet".

Here is the guy scaling and cutting the fish for the grill:



And here is the result (I had already attacked some of the tail before I remembered to take this photo):



It really was quite good. As I hiked back to the tourist area, I kept looking for a taxi driver to take me to the bus terminal. The taxi driver assured me there would be plenty of taxis, however none were to be found after 10 or 15 minutes waiting. Finally I went to the nice man at the information booth and asked him to call a taxi for me. He proceeded to dig out bus timetables, and assured me that a bus would be along in 20 minutes. Well, after 30 minutes, I asked him to call the taxi again, but instead he called the bus driver! He assured me once more that the bus was just running a little late, and to keep waiting. After 30 more minutes of waiting, I went back and insisted that we give up on the bus and would he please call me a taxi.

At this point, there were some guests that had arrived and were meeting inside his little information booth - an elderly man and two elderly ladies. The old man asked me where I was going, and when I explained it, he told me to come inside and wait a moment, and he would take me! I sat for about 5 or 10 more minutes, wondering how I was going to politely get out of this situation. Suddenly, they finished up and took me to their car. As we drove off, I realized that two of these people were wearing some unusual clothing. It reminded me a little bit of a Hanbok (Korean traditional outfits), but very very simple. Finally, after taking in all the various decorations in their car, and listening to some of their conversation (which was quite difficult, being in Korean), I figured out these were Buddhist Priests! Here is the man driving me.



Initially they were going to drop me off at the closest subway station, but instead they took me 95% of the way to my destination. And it was way too far out of the way for them. He was just too kind.

I wrapped up the evening by meeting JI at a new Mexican restaurant where we ate some tacos and nachos for dinner.

That's A Drill

Saw this huge drill outside the office this week. I know this construction effort involves an underground passageway from our building complex to the subway station, but I can't quite figure out why they're drilling such deep holes. Anyway, it is a cool machine to watch in action. And MUCH quieter than the pile driver I once had outside my condo window in Hawaii.



It wasn't actually running in this photo, but I've seen it in operation earlier. It was interesting to see the dirt riding up the drill bit and falling out to the ground. In the photo below, there's a closeup showing where the dirt falls down a chute.



This is just like a hand drill, but on a much larger scale. And for whatever reason they're drilling, they're making several holes. They are moving this drill around the site and preparing lots of holes. I'll just have to wait and see what develops.

Taxi Theory

I wish to put forth my new Taxi Theory I've been developing (maybe it is a hypothesis?)...

"As The Stumbler approaches the street to take a taxi, one (usually more) empty taxis will cruise by. When The Stumbler arrives at the street, there won't be another taxi for 5 or 10 minutes".

Since I am only one person, I cannot say if this applies to other people or not. Certainly not to anyone walking 100 meters in front of The Stumbler...


[photo shamelessly stolen from Yonhap News website]

Speaking of Taxis, I noticed a problem in the last few weeks. I can't say if it is something all across Seoul, or only because I've moved to a new area. There seems to be a general lack of taxis. Furthermore, I seem to encounter a large number of taxis that (a) won't stop to pick me up, or (b) stop, but refuse to take me to my destination. Before, I've rarely encountered these situations. But these days it is happening with alarming frequency. What's up???

Sandwich and Food

I've frequently heard that Koreans don't think a sandwich makes a meal. This restaurant opened up in our office building, which reinforces that belief. The name of the restaurant is "Sand and Food". They sell sandwiches AND food both!

The Team

Here are some photos of our production "team" from last week. They're big on "teams" here in Korea, and I had to chuckle softly to myself when the ladies referred to our small group as "the team".



The giant man on the right in the next photo is The Stumbler. I admit I'm bigger than the average Korean, but I don't normally look so out of proportion. Our "team" members must be shorter than average.



By the way, I caused quite a stir one night with the factory management. Being tired of the dinner time food, I proposed to call out for a Pizza dinner for our "team". The manager nixed the idea, saying that the other factory ladies would be jealous and it would cause all sorts of problems and gossip. Of course, he didn't tell us this until AFTER I told our team we would be having pizza, so I had to do some back-pedaling on that one.

Fish Shoes Anyone?

Working at the factory has a few dietary challenges. For lunch, everyone eats in the cafeteria. Precisely at the lunch bell, all the factory ladies proceed with haste to eat lunch. And they are fast - even though they have 1 hour for lunch, most of them wolf it down in less that 20 minutes. The menu was very plain Korean foods, and not so great. After 7 or 8 days eating it, I was more than ready for a change. Dinner was even worse. They came through the factory handing out Gimbab. We passed on the gimbab, and went down to the convenience store to eat dinner. After a week of eating sandwiches or ramen, I'll be happy to never eat a meal at the convenience store again in this year. While eating at the counter (provided for this purpose), I happened to look up and see a fish tied to the wall!



CH explained that this is for good luck. Maybe similar to hanging a horse shoe over the door in the states.

Hello Yellow

Just finished a whirlwind week of 12 hour days at the factory. No time for blogging or much of anything else for that matter. I was coughing some this week, and one morning at the factory I went to the store to get some throat lozenges. Came back with this package, which upon opening, was not a lozenge at all. It was a powder. Reminds me of a candy we used to eat when I was a kid - it was sweet flavored powder sold in a paper straw. This stuff was lemon, and quite sour. I tried one package, it couldn't eat any more. It certainly didn't help my cough any...

Violent Dentist

I had to take a photo of this new dentist's office moving into our building complex. I saw an advertisement for this place the other day, and couldn't believe the name "Violent Dentist"! Yesterday they hung this huge banner advertising the new office, so I had to take a photo. The banner shows us that the owner's intention was to spell the English word "BILANT". I don't know if that is someone's family name, or perhaps it is a dental procedure? Anyway, when you spell it in Korean, it sure looks like VIOLENT. I wonder if (s)he'll get much business?

EDIT: One Korean friend suggested that "BILANT" might be an abbreviation for BICON IMPLANT, something I've never heard of.

Good Bye McD's

One of the few reasons I occassionally visit McDonald's in the USA is their breakfast menu. I really like their Sausage Egg McMuffin. Similarly, that is one of the only times I will visit McD's here in Seoul. I thought it was a good thing that there was a branch right in the subway station I use every morning. In order to keep the unhealthy food at a minimum, I limited myself to stopping there once a week. Twice now I've eaten the Korean version of the Sausage Egg McMuffin, and it is no good. It doesn't taste bad, it just doesn't taste at all. There is no flavor. If I had to guess, the sausage patty they use is different, surprisingly it must have less spices that in America.

Anyway, last week I noticed this small shop across the street from the station, where this lady was making egg and toast sandwiches. I stopped there this morning. The taste wasn't bad, and while different than an American Egg McMuffin, at least it HAD a taste. The eggs were scrambled and mixed with vegetables. She put a slice of ham and cheese on it, and served it folded in half stuffed in a paper cup! I got that and a small box of milk for about $2.50, whereas the sandwich alone at McD's was about $3.00 I believe.







The front "door" was intentionally low like that because it was freezing and windy outside. This lady proceeded to tell me how she had been on a vacation in America. When I asked what city, she started rattling off a list of at least a dozen or more cities, all spread out around the country (from LA to NY to Atlanta, plus many more). I asked if this was in one single vacation, and turns out it was. But it was a 1 month long vacation/ tour.

Chicken Enchilada

I made some Chicken Enchilada Casserole in my new oven tonight. It worked out pretty well. CH was here in the early evening as the blind man installed the roll screens. He helped teach me how to defrost in this new oven. The casserole turned out pretty good. I added a new garnish this time, cut up some fresh tomatoes and put on the top.



I bought some green grapes at the store this weekend for snacking on:



Answer me this, Batman... when the tap water is not safe to drink, should you rinse off the grapes in the sink? Or eat them straight from the store? (I won't tell my answer, lest I confess to a sanitary faux pas...)

Light Snow Day

A nice snow fell today, and I hope it will continue falling all night long. Here are some photos from the office window:

Patriotic Recycling

The new apartment doesn't have anyplace to keep the recycling, so I got this amazing rack for recycling bags. Notice the patriotic (well, for America at least) color scheme:

Sunday Stroll

I woke up this morning and decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. First, here is the mandantory statue associated with my new home. On closer inspection, this statue appears to be a fountain, but it looks unused.



As I continued to walk, I stumbled onto the building that we almost chose for the office. The office space was on the very top floor of this building, and had a spectacular view, surrounded by a large patio. The one problem, this building is otherwise entirely occupied by a kindergarten, the Rhino school:



I found myself heading towards Costco, and encountered this unusual Tea Shop building:



I made it to Costco, got a few small things like cheese and milk, and headed back home by taxi.

View of the Office

A couple photos of our new office building.

Celcius or Centigrade?

I had a chance to use my new fancy combination microwave / oven this week as a real oven. Sunday night I went to the pizza restaurant, and brought back some pizza to eat the next night. I decided to heat it up in the oven. I thought, hmmm, let's reheat this at 350 degress. I began playing with the oven controls, and saw I was able to set the temperature with the knob, but it wouldn't go any higher than 230 degrees! Ah ha! This is in Celcius, not Fahrenheit. I got out my calculator, and decided to use 175 deg C. Clearly baking in the oven will require a temperature conversion chart, similar to the one I had for the weather.

Therefore, as a public service, I am posting my ever-handy temperature conversion nomograms today in this post. The general weather one is posted on my fridge, and the oven chart is posted on the top of the oven.





The reason for the break in the scale is that the oven jumps from 40 to 100 degress, then from 100 to 230 it is settable in 5 degree increments. I'm not sure what 40 degrees is for, maybe just warming bread?

BTW, is it Centigrade or Celcius? When I was in school we used Centigrade, but everyone uses Celcius these days.

Nut Eating Day

Yesterday was Nut Eating Day here in Korea. As the name implies, you were supposed to eat nuts. I had this fact forced on me when I stopped at shop in the food court that sells Pizza, Coffee, and Soft Serve Ice Cream (what a combination). I ordered an ice cream cone, and while I was waiting I noticed they had the little plastic coffee stirring sticks. I've been looking for these, and couldn't find them anywhere. I asked the ladies behind the counter where they bought them. They asked why I needed them, and I explained for my office. Suddenly one lady began climbing up a ladder to some storage shelves, and the other lady got out a thick binder full of documents and began searching. Well, turns out they were going to sell me one package of these sticks, because they have so many. One lady was getting a package from storage, and the other lady was looking up the price in her book of receipts.
I now have enough stirring sticks to last me a decade or more:



As I was paying for this, I noticed a large basket on the counter containing individual bags of peanuts in the shell. Each bag had a walnut, too. The ladies starting saying something to me in Korean which I couldn't understand. It seemed that they were insisting that I buy some nuts. I kept saying that I didn't want any nuts, and finally they opened one of the bags and gave me a big handful of nuts at no charge. Later in the day, CH was munching on the peanuts, and explained to me that it was Nut Eating Day. Apparently it is the first full moon in January of the lunar calendar. Later I asked one of my friends about "Nut Eating Day", which was misunderstood as "Not Eating Day".... Do I need a diet?

Bus

I have never taken the bus by myself in Korea, unless you count the airport limousine "bus". I've noticed a few buses at a stop next to my apartment, and they seemed to be going to the subway station which is about a 12 minute walk. That's not too bad in fair weather, but in the freezing cold it's a long way. Also, I recently discovered an english-language website for the Seoul Bus System. Between observations and studying this website, I determined I could ride the bus to the train station and transfer for no additional cost. I can now report, it actually works. The transfer is handled seemlessly, mainly because I have a special T-Money widget on my handphone (sorry, that's cell phone for my American friends). I remember in college in Atlanta, when you transferred from the bus to the subway you had to take a slip of paper from the driver... here it is all done electronically. (It probably is eletronic in Atlanta, too, these days).

Today at lunch I had an interesting experience. I was eating alone in the food court of my office building, and a lady and man came up to me. The lady spoke to me in English, and said that the man wanted to meet with me when I had finished my lunch, and that she would translate for us. He was the developer of our building, and wanted to talk to me about his development and his dreams. Hmmm, okay. When I finished eating, I met them at the nearby coffee shop. He is indeed the developer of not only our office building, but the entire complex of buildings surrounding the station. His dream is to have a place where Koreans and Foreigners live and work together. Apparently I am the first foreigner to live or work here, so he was eager to talk to me. We had a nice conversation, then they took me on a tour of the 5th floor public outdoor garden. Even though it is only one floor below our office, we had no idea there was a full garden and park out there - there is even a carpet golf course! Next, it seems the lady is the owner of a health club which occupies the 4th and 5th floors of the building, and we took a tour of the facilities. It was a pleasant experience. So how did they know that I was a foreigner working at the building, and hadn't just wandered off the street to eat lunch? you might ask... because I was wearing my office slippers to lunch, that's why....