너무추워요!
It's been so cold here for the last few days! Minus 30's windchill again. It's ok, if you don't have to go outside, but, problem is .....I do have to go outside. And I don't have a car. I sold that, to see if I could live without one. Actually the last winter I had the car, I used it very little, so I knew I could survive Canadian winters without one. I had owned a car for 29 years, and I had never envisioned life without a car. I mean in our Canadian culture, eh, living without a car is never really even considered seriously here. I mean if you are going to go to protest the destruction of the rainforest, you get in your car and go! We should think of the backward irony that sometimes takes place in our culturally ingrained thinking about automobiles, and other resources.
In cool London, Ontario, you can ride a bus for $1.65, and that's Canadian! You can get a transfer from the driver when you pay your fare and it is good for up to an hour and a half or two hours, and, you can even use it for a return trip on the same route or bus. Quite often, I am able to plan my itinerary so that I end up getting four bus rides for $1.65! Now they are buses, there is no subway here. But still, it is an incredibly cheap alternative to supporting a car. It's not that I think everybody should sell their car and invest in a pair of Adidas' or Nike's, but I think there are times when, even if you have a car you can still take the bus. One thing I do like about cars, is that they are a secure form of transport, and they are necessary for some people that have mobility issues. I don't mention Dave often, but he can make the case better than me. I think that eventually some time in the future, we will have that car that runs on vegetable oil or whatever, and cars will have their parts made out of some kind of teflon,steel, plastic stuff that won't wear out for like, 100 years or something. I think we can get better value out of the resources we use, and that we should veer away from the " replace everything, every 4 years, regardless", mentality.
My Korea focus has changed. I am fortunate enough to have both my children living here with me now. So now it's me, my 19 year old daughter and my 16 year old son. There are support and custody requirements that have to be put in place within the next few months, and once they are dealt with, I can re-adjust the focus and timing of The Korea Dream Project. I think, that within the next year, myself and my son may go to Korea. He will be 17 in October, and I think he needs a change. I think the year off from Canadian school will be beneficial, and his going to Korea would really take him to the next level of maturity. If I can make it work ...... him and I going there together, that we be so cool! There are people in our lives that we have to build bridges to, that we have to find ways to bond with, and between him and I, if this works, it will be ultimate bridge between him and I. My son has been taking guitar lessons for almost a couple of years, and he is a wicked guitar player. I think he was surprised when I suggested that he and myself go to Korea together. His first question was, ' What about school?', and my response was 'What about it? You can afford to take a year off, can't you?'. I told him he can go to Korea take guitar lessons, and go to concerts. Of course, I didn't have the camera handy to take a shot of the huge grin that erupted on his face. But he did say that he would have to think about it. Strange how one day everything changes from out of nowhere.... that doesn't mean we have to throw our dreams away right? Just make the dream bigger, or better, or change direction. We'll see how it ends up playing out. If nothing else the Korea Dream has gotten me out of a huge rut, and now I am aware that there are opportunities out there for me and mine. I learnt that from reading the blogs that you have written from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and countless other nations. Those blogs are where it became obvious to me: if you can make it work, I can make it work. A collective thanks to all.
Anyway, I still am not doing an hour a day of Korean study, so that needs to be improved. Sometimes it's half an hour, or sometimes it's 20 minutes down at the Korean Learning Hotspot. I figure if I can get 20 minutes with them, that's equivalent to 2 or 3 hours of me trying to wrestle with the language by myself. There is a Korean church here in town......hmmm, I wonder.....maybe learn a little Korean, .......hmmmm.......maybe meet a nice available Korean lady to teach me...... hmmmmm.
I wonder..........안히계세요. Mike.
In cool London, Ontario, you can ride a bus for $1.65, and that's Canadian! You can get a transfer from the driver when you pay your fare and it is good for up to an hour and a half or two hours, and, you can even use it for a return trip on the same route or bus. Quite often, I am able to plan my itinerary so that I end up getting four bus rides for $1.65! Now they are buses, there is no subway here. But still, it is an incredibly cheap alternative to supporting a car. It's not that I think everybody should sell their car and invest in a pair of Adidas' or Nike's, but I think there are times when, even if you have a car you can still take the bus. One thing I do like about cars, is that they are a secure form of transport, and they are necessary for some people that have mobility issues. I don't mention Dave often, but he can make the case better than me. I think that eventually some time in the future, we will have that car that runs on vegetable oil or whatever, and cars will have their parts made out of some kind of teflon,steel, plastic stuff that won't wear out for like, 100 years or something. I think we can get better value out of the resources we use, and that we should veer away from the " replace everything, every 4 years, regardless", mentality.
My Korea focus has changed. I am fortunate enough to have both my children living here with me now. So now it's me, my 19 year old daughter and my 16 year old son. There are support and custody requirements that have to be put in place within the next few months, and once they are dealt with, I can re-adjust the focus and timing of The Korea Dream Project. I think, that within the next year, myself and my son may go to Korea. He will be 17 in October, and I think he needs a change. I think the year off from Canadian school will be beneficial, and his going to Korea would really take him to the next level of maturity. If I can make it work ...... him and I going there together, that we be so cool! There are people in our lives that we have to build bridges to, that we have to find ways to bond with, and between him and I, if this works, it will be ultimate bridge between him and I. My son has been taking guitar lessons for almost a couple of years, and he is a wicked guitar player. I think he was surprised when I suggested that he and myself go to Korea together. His first question was, ' What about school?', and my response was 'What about it? You can afford to take a year off, can't you?'. I told him he can go to Korea take guitar lessons, and go to concerts. Of course, I didn't have the camera handy to take a shot of the huge grin that erupted on his face. But he did say that he would have to think about it. Strange how one day everything changes from out of nowhere.... that doesn't mean we have to throw our dreams away right? Just make the dream bigger, or better, or change direction. We'll see how it ends up playing out. If nothing else the Korea Dream has gotten me out of a huge rut, and now I am aware that there are opportunities out there for me and mine. I learnt that from reading the blogs that you have written from Korea, Japan, Taiwan and countless other nations. Those blogs are where it became obvious to me: if you can make it work, I can make it work. A collective thanks to all.
Anyway, I still am not doing an hour a day of Korean study, so that needs to be improved. Sometimes it's half an hour, or sometimes it's 20 minutes down at the Korean Learning Hotspot. I figure if I can get 20 minutes with them, that's equivalent to 2 or 3 hours of me trying to wrestle with the language by myself. There is a Korean church here in town......hmmm, I wonder.....maybe learn a little Korean, .......hmmmm.......maybe meet a nice available Korean lady to teach me...... hmmmmm.
I wonder..........안히계세요. Mike.
posted by Mike at 6:58 a.m.
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