Sunday Afternoon Thoughts

Thought I would share some photos I took this morning. I chose the police and ambulance cars because we NEVER see them on the roads. I also wanted to share the ridiculous logo the police have, Never knew until today that cartoon meant the police. Also thought I would try to share some fashions, since I have done little in this area so far. The bus is just a quaint little shop. The cartoon characters are in the children's theme park we visited for the first time at Heyri Village. If any of you are interested in more photos, you can access my public picasa albums.

Al and I have developed some routine in our life. I suppose this may be an indication that we feel more at home. Every morning Al gets up early to go to the gym and then we have breakfast together before he goes to work. His office is only yards from our front door, so there is no travel time to consider. Hours vary depending on the workload, which is often heavy. Some things don’t change.

We now generally eat our meals at home. This can be an interesting experience as I will buy something not knowing what it is and guess what the directions are. The larger stores have tasting stations, so we taste samples and buy what we like. When I buy meats and am not sure what to do with the different cuts, I ask the butcher and they have managed to use the international language of charades to explain. For example I have bought knuckles. Now as far as I know cows have hooves, so your guess is as good as mine as to what we have been eating. I can tell you when it has been marinated and stir fried it is tender and delicious! They have two different meat sections, Korean and America cuts. We have found the quality of the Korean beef better.

I am beginning to experiment with spices. Soy, bean, and chili pastes are generally used. There are also flavoured oils and vinegars. I have mastered the art of making the Korean pancake. Our favorite is made with shrimp, green onion, hot red chili oil, sesame oil and olive oil. I am only beginning to venture into the world of seafood. I have yet to try to cook a fish meal. By the way, life is possible without an oven. We now eat with chopsticks even at home and I am no longer offered forks when we go out to eat!!

Although my time is relatively unstructured, I am busy. Because we have no vehicle, I must take the bus,subway, taxi or walk a fair distance to do any kind of shopping, including groceries. One can only carry so much in one trip! My muscles have felt the strain of adjusting to the uphill and downhill walking. Speaking of subways, did you know that you can watch a sales pitch about magic brooms and buy one while sitting on the subway?

I have taken out a membership to the gym so this has also become part of my morning routine. It is a beautiful facility with all kinds of machines like ellipticals, steppers, treadmills, stationary bikes, rowing machines, resistance machines weight machines and free weights. Then there is an indoor pool and an out door pool on the roof.

Because Al only has limited time to do the tourist thing, he has asked if I would scout out new places for us to see. Of course I agreed enthusiastically! So much of my time is spent deciding where to go, finding directions via internet and planning the route by bus or subway. Finding restaurants that have English menus or pictures is much more challenging than we were initially led to believe. Saturday has become our tourist day and Sundays we like to stroll through Heyri Village.

Well, I think I have rambled enough. Until next time, Cheers.