Hockey Night In Korea

Hockey Night In Korea
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Here's Mike and the boys, in an action packed shot from last August. That's Mike in the Flames shirt, from Gyopo Life, doing all the fancy footwork. Way to go Mike! I'll have to check out your site from August 2004, see who won.

Hockey Night In Korea!

Check this out.......it's Mike playing hockey in Korea circa August 2004. So there is some hockey there. I'm sure wherever there are some Canucks there is hockey in one form or another. I guess all you need is a rink, and some beer, and some Canadians.

Danny Syvret

dannysyvret
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

In action against the Oshawa Generals, January 7,2005, John Labatt Centre.

Did You Say The Knights?

Uh-huh...Yeah I did. The Knights have been added to the sidebar links just below Flickr.

London Knights!

How 'bout them Knights....eh? I mean really, if there was a year to have a champion hockey team, this was the year to do it. The NHL is on strike.....which maybe has turned out to be a blessing to us all. Th OHL is good hockey, and the London Knights are great to watch live.

The John Labatt Center is always full, whether it's Cher or the Knights, so those so-called citizens of London who whine about our taxes partially supporting the JLC, need a reality check.

The John Labatt Centre is the best thing to happen to London. It is sold out all the time, for shows too, not just for hockey. Anyway, it looks like this years OHL champs are about to become this seasons CHL champs. That's as great as it gets in Canadian hockey. And the OHL and CHL is still Canadian hockey......but enough about hockey patriotism and politics, let's just enjoy the game!

I've noticed that even people who normally are not that interested in hockey.....are interested in hockey!

Go Knights Go!

I wonder if there are any good hockey teams in Korea, or anywhere in Asia for that matter.

TD Canada Trust

TD Canada Trust
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Blue Sky

Sky

Sky
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Todays sky. A true blue day.

Sometimes Life Sucks...It Is Still A Beautiful World

So it appears that Julie and Shawn are no more. For well over 20 months the Shawn guy and Julie have figured prominently in my computer world. www.korealife.blogspot.com was for me, like it was for so many of you, the first website dedicated to Korea, that I ran across. That is where my Korean learning and Korean language learning all started. For hundreds of thousands of us, these two were always there. Good times mostly, sometimes tough times, but they were always there. How fortunate we were to be able to share their lives.

So now it's all changed, our two lead roles change direction, and now the webpage still continues to be a witness to the changing fortunes of Shawns life. If Shawn would like it to be. It must be tough to have personal stuff as public knowledge.

Maybe that's what they are both going to do, get a little bit of privacy.....for purely selfish reasons, I hope not, I hope Shawn still blogs, I hope that I can still find out about what Julie is doing.

Better start reading all the postings again while they are still available.

안녕하세요

Back home for a couple of days. It's pretty much standard operating procedure..... buy groceries, laundry, house clean, taxes and hang out with friends. Oh well, I should be able to keep busy!

I've also been doing a little research on herons and cranes. I got a tip from Teresa Seongsaengnim who recently returned from Daejeon/Seoul, that she had seen a number of waders in the Daejeon area. There should be alot of waders in Korea, I mean Korea is a watery place.....on three sides. So I should be able to find out if Korea and Canada have some common species of waders.

It seems to find info on these creatures you have to look a little, however when I do find some, it feels like I have earned it somehow.

The weather is beautiful here right now and it's supposed to be for the next few days!

My Korean education has been suffering lately. Although 3 days ago I did start to discipline myself to pick up the book and read.....even that helps .......in a small way. C'est la vie! N'est ce pas?

Work is work, the kids are fine.....life is good!

Maria Painting

Maria Painting
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

I like this photo.

Maria and Phillipe

Maria and Phillipe
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Maria and Phillipe. They're first language is Spanish.

Market Lane

Market Lane
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Market Lane

Market Lane

Market Lane
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Market Lane

Tag

Tag
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Yes dear readers, these ladies are doing their part to make the Canadian male population, smell better.

Especially with all those sweaty hockey players here in town.

Yes, these ladies were handing out free samples of Tag body spray for men.

Just for the sake of research I observed these fine women giving the free samples to the guys, they even sprayed some of this stuff right on the dudes and not one of those guys got offended.

Now what if it was Don Cherry suggesting that every guy stunk. I don't think that Don would have got as warm a reception as these ladies got.....I don't know, I was just there to see what was going on....you know... like a public service.

Anyhow, the stuff smells good, and they were very nice ladies.

Are they like Canadian domi girls? Was this an event?

Maybe I'll have to go back today and find out.

The Tag Team

The Tag Team
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

So London definately has it's share of teams here this May 24 long weekend.

We've got hockey teams, and we've got army teams, and we've got another team that the reader's of Korea-bound should know about.....we've got.....
Thr Tag Team!

1 RCR

1 RCR
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Some of the 1st RCR are in town for the Memorial Cup doing a little bit of recruiting.

The RCR were in Korea from '50 to '53. They spent some time on Jeju guarding POW'S, but they did see action and they did have casualities.

The Korean War was the first action in Canadian history where all three battalions of the RCR, the I, II, and III were active. The IV RCR has always been a reserve unit for the other three to draw replacements from.

The RCR for a long time had the III stationed in London.

This regiment makes for interesting reading as far as their contributions in the Korean War.

I ended up speaking to one soldier about the RCR and the Korean War, and this guy had done some research...he knew about the Jeju stuff, and I believe he mentioned a battle at Hill 166, that the RCR's figured prominently in. But it was cool because this guy looked like he was just out of high school and he knew this stuff.

I'm left wondering if The Korean War was the first United Nations action after the 2 World War ended.

And it was a United Nations action. Of course, as usual the Americans contributed heavily in terms of both materiel and loss of lfe in defense of freedom. That is not uncommon for Americans, to die in support of somebody else's freedom, I've seen them do it again and again.

I guess the Canadian Armed Forces recruits here because maybe they like hockey players, maybe they are good team players.

Anyhow there army stuff was neat.

Thames River

Thames River
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Looking west from Richmond Street bridge .....the heron is down past the curve to the right.

The weather has been great, the air is so fresh and the new growth is really lush.

Heron In The Thames

Heron 2
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Here's another one. I believe what makes this a Blue Heron is the almost black stripe running from the eye toward the back of the head.

White Herons which, apparently, are an abberation of the Great Blue Heron, do not habitate this far north. They're smart, they tend to live around Florida.

Blues, however, are a wide ranging bird, and cover the largest geographic area. Blues are known to set up colonies in Northern Ontario.

I have heard that they like to nest in White Pines. But they do colonise and they tend to get together in large groups to set up their birthing communities.

Supposedly it is not uncommon for upwards of 80 of them to colonise in the same stand of pines.

They go right to the top of the tree, and from these nests they fly for miles in search of food.

Once I started looking for info on these beautiful, graceful waders, I discovered ther isn't much info readily available.

I hope to establish, in the near future that this is in fact a Great Blue. For sure it is not a purple or brown.

Korean Mass

Korean Mass
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

This is the church where they have Korean Mass. It is in a really picturesque part of London known as 'Old South'.

This area has been chosen as one of the best neighbourhoods in Canada to live in. I believe the competition is in Vancouver.

There's a lot going on in London this weekend, because the Memorial Cup is being held here this weekend.

I thought the Knights had already won it a few weeks ago, but that was them winning the OHL title. Whatever that cup is called.

So, little old London is really hopping. Because of the Memorial Cup being held here, it is expected that $10,000,000 will pour into the city economy this weekend.

The weather is great it's like summer here, and the hockey championships are on, kinda makes you proud to be Canadian eh? Even if you're a Canuck in Korea, right? Hahaha!

Have a great weekend! Go Knights Go!

Blue Heron

Blue Heron
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

It was today just after noon. Thames River behind Labatts Brewery.

This one caught two fish in the 10-15 minutes I was there getting photos of it. They are incredible to watch.

They crouch down like a cat then lunge forward nailing the fish underwater. It's very spectacular, very National Geographic.

I was strolling along camera in hand when I spotted it through the trees. They stand about 3-4 feet tall, I think.

I'm about 30 feet away on the riverbank, in the shade. Taken with full digital zoom on an Olympus D-540.

I know it could see me and hear me. I still can't believe I got the shot!

This was the start to a great day!

To boa yo!

I Have Seoul

Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Check out 'I Have Seoul'. There are loads of really great pictures. If you want to see them go to his website, it has just been added to the sidebar links. Once there click the cursor over any picture and it will take you to his Flickr picture page.

To see Korea-bounds Flickr page, click the cursor over the flag photo, or any photo for that matter.

Spent about 3 hours doing spring cleaning in the bathroom and kitchen this morning. It's really shiny around here now!

The Classic Chili Dog.

The Classic Chili Dog.
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

If you can't get Korean food and you can't get Mexican BBQ'ued chicken, you're still going to do your belly good with this comfort food!

We get 'em at Duly's, where they are always busy. Duly's has been at the same location since 1921. They have old newspaper ads hanging on the wall from the days when they were a nickel each and then fifteen cents.

Now they serve them up for a $1.50 a piece and they're worth every penny.

Now that I've quit smoking, I have to be careful not make eating my new found hobby!

Actually I am eating alot of fruit and vegetables, but I'm having my fair share of these rascals too.

They don't sell these in Canada, but here at home I've got kimchi.....um-ummm.

Chili Dog

Mike050515 009
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Simply delicious. Maybe they need chili dogs in Korea. Perhaps someone will become a chili dog tycoon!

They do come with onions piled on top, but even though I love onions.....my stomach hates them. Regardless these rascals are delicious! You get two for $3. MexicanTown, South-West Detroit.

Yum yum.

Basketball Anyone?

Basketball Anyone?
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Of course, I had to get a shot of this. We don't have any refineries where I live, so to see something like this is a little unusual.

There is a little bit of Korea in this part of Michigan, but it seems if you want to enjoy it you've got to go to Ann Arbor or Romulus.....which is a fair trek from where we hang.

Now that the weather is improving, it may be feasible to do the trip, in spite of all the construction that is already underway on I-75 & I-94, in the Detroit area.

It's good to be back home in London again. I discovered that the fish merchants in the market downtown are Korean. I love seafood anyway, so this will present another opportunity to practice Korean with native speakers!

Th weather is cool here today. good for walking actually.

30 Years

It's been a week since I quit smoking. I went to the bar three times this past week to make sure that if I fell off the wagon, that I would do it early if it was gonna happen.

If nothing else I get to save $8 a day.

안녕히계세요!

Shyoon and his family have sold the store and moved to, where else? The USA. He says they are only going as far as Port Huron, Mi., and will continue to work at a convenience store in Sarnia, Ontario. In the last year, Shyoon, his family, and myself, have become very close acquaintances, if not friends.

For over three years, I have bought my bread, pop and other convenient items at their store. For almost a year, I have learnt something in Hanguel, on every visit. Gone less than a week, they are already missed. The good news is that they have sold it to a nice Korean couple, who speak really good English, and Korean of course. The new ajosshi seems to prefer English, but his wife seemed very pleased to hear me plundering Hanguel in my limited way.

Actually what little I know, sounds reasonably ok. My learning pronunciation was always one of Shyoons favourite lessons. Looking back on it, learning has been a whole lot of fun and the friendship was priceless...it still is, Shyoon was kind enough to give me his e-mail adddress.

Sarnia is only about an hour drive from London, so I'll be able to track him down.

I'm spending a lot of time in Detroit these days, and my postings and photos will reflect that. Of course, I will seek out whatever Korean or Asian I can.

Also, I have upgraded my Flickr account, so I now have an almost limitless number of photos that I can upload and store. It was reasonable....$24.95US.

Still can't figure out why I can't toggle between English and Hanguel. Once per posting is what I get. As soon as I turn it off, it's over.

To boa yo!

Rouge River

Rouge River
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Laker unloading. White piles of salt in the background. There are salt mines here.

Chili Dogs!

Chili Dogs!
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

And if the chickens aren't ready at Jose's....there's always chili dogs at Duly's Coney Island.

A hotdog bun with a big hotdog, chili sauce,with a generous dollop of mustard, topped with onions. I pass on the onions, the dogs are delicious either way. I had two on the one day and one on the other. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the rascals!

BBQ!

BBQ!
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Here's Fridays lunch! Half a bbq chicken, corn tortillas with salsa sauce....to the right of the chicken. To the left of the chicken is the salsa! Hot, hot, hot!

Pollo by Jose.

Pollo by Jose.
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Happy Cinqo de Mayo! MexicanTown was hoppin' man! Lots of floats in the parades. Music, food and dancing.....and just a whole lot of people, happy people.

Incredible barbequed chicken, by Jose from Guadalajara, Mexico. But he says that he is American now. He says he'll always be Mexican, but for a while now, he has been an American also. I asked him if it was worth it, jumping through all the hoops he had to ... in order to live in the States. He said " are you kidding man? This is the greatest country in the world!" He said he's never had it so good.

But the guy barbecues delicious chicken!

Too bad we were over there working, MexicanTown was hopping all weekend long.

Detroit Sundown

PictureMarch 026
Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

Downtown Detroit taken from Windsor, Ontario.

There are parts of Detroit that I really enjoy. And there are parts of Detroit that I have visited and promptly promised myself, to never return.

Still, I really enjoy being over there. Getting paid to be there makes it necessary.

I admire the diversity of the area. It seems like a land of extremes, to me. Incredible poverty - incredible wealth. When I first starting going over there it was difficult to understand.

Anyway, we spend some time in South-West Detroit. We drive through MexicanTown every day. Not too far from here is a large Middle Eastern community.

In Memorium

I always enjoyed Bob Hunter doing 'Paper cuts" on CityTv. I had no idea that he was the co-founder of Greenpeace. The world has lost a great person, and Canada has lost a great Canadian.

Konbae!

Originally uploaded by korea-bound.

This is the bar where we went for Teresa's first Friday night in Canada in over a year.

It is a hot spot with a crowd that is all ages. In London there is no smoking allowed anywhere indoors, including bars and restaurants. If you want to smoke, you have to go outside, and then go back in.

At a crowded place like this, with a constant lineup, if you go out, you get your wrist stamped so that you don't have to line-up again. This has caused the creation of a whole new industry. The 'doorman industry'. These guys probably don't get paid a whole lot, and they don't really have to do a lot of physical work.

So, we get there, we line up to wait our turn to get in. When you enter, the doorman stamps the inside of your wrist. These gentleman are very adept at holding a ladies hand as he stamps it for her. As he gently stamps her hand, he obviously is looking into her eyes, smiling at her, talking gentlemanly to her. And no cover charge. Of course if you're a male, they don't hold your hand, or look into your eyes, or tell you what nice hair you have,(thank goodness). The dude just whacks the stamp down on your wrist, and moves you along so that he can devote his working time to the lady customers.

These guys, obviously, have a great job, and I would assume, a great social life.

All in all, it was a fun time, nobody lost an eye or anything and we left just before last call to head up to another bar near the university.

I did get some pictures of our group, but I am waiting to hear from everbody
regarding which photo we're going to put in here. I want to put them all in, but some of the gang are cool to that idea.

All in all it was great fun.