YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR MY RABBIT STYLE!

Oh, Tom, Tom, Tom. Rabbit style is all well and good, but pink rabbit style?

Just to show that Korea is not trapped in the past, here is evidence of ICE CREAM OF THE FUTURE! (Dippin' Dots, which are only 2000 won for a serving).

Lucy and Linda, noting the safe occupancy level of their chair.

Everland Chairlift. Foreground, Tom and Dean; background, Sarah, Kelly, Lauren, and Rose.

Everland's topiary, closed for the winter. It's kind of eerie to see a winter-hayed hedge garden, all uniformly done and uniformly yellow.

More of the crazy bar. Melting nipples and Dali-esque penises seemed to be the paint decor to complement the architecture.

At some Craaaaazy bar in Seoul. I don't know how we got there or where it is, but I know that this is what happens when centuries upon centuries of Confucian-surpressed creativity explodes into fiberglass molding. Those colored lights are unfocused because under them is a clear water sluice, which winds above patrons.

Frs. Mauritzio and John singing karaoke the day after Solnal. While the empty bottle of sherry was not Fr. John's, it is slightly indicative of our state of being at the time of this picture.

Detail of the top of the bell.

The bell itself. Probably about 2.5 meters tall.

The giant warning bell of the fortress. Ring it for only 3000 won!

A view of the watchtower through the commander's post.

The commander's post of Hwaesong fortress. I am standing on the lookout tower which really does provide an unimpeded 360 degree view of the surrounding city.

Walking up the fortress wall. In the background: Suwon.

Hwaesong Fortress after the feast below, this is one of the battlements.

Eddie throwing the bones. (nb: not bones, sticks)

From Nigeria we have Christian, Emmanuel, and Ossie. From America, Eduardo, and from Korea, everyone else in the picture (which means I don't know names).

Eduardo, who was on my team, and Fr. Mauritzio, who was on Fr. John's team, playing the game whose name I have forgotten. It's like parchisi, but instead of dice, you throw four sticks and their landing pattern determines your movement. It's also worth noting that we got utterly destroyed by the two priests, but what else can you expect, given the locale and the circumstances?

Eating

Bichi and Fr. Mauritzio getting us ready for the games of the Solnal (Lunar New Year). Possibly singing songs or making wishes of a fortunate New Year in whatever native tongue we might have.

Eating

Eating.

Random group shot. This isn't in the church, but in the Migrant Workers' Office operated by the Diocese of Suwon.

Marikka, Janice, and the back of Yola's head. Fried chicken, Irish stew, mandu soup, and various adobos rounded out the feast of the Lunar New Year.

What celebration would be complete without a Filipino barbecue? No celebration, that's what.

Eduardo and myself in the ol' picture in the mirror trick.

Janice preparing her Irish Stew for Lunar New Year 2006.

The proper landing for a forward diving roll. note the hand placement and the head angled away from the point of impact. The legs are already starting to curl up to finish the roll in a standing position. 

This is me, agile as ever, doing a foward diving roll over my hapkido master. With the greatest of ease, I might add. 

My desk, a disgusting close-up. An attendance book, a textbook, an old calendar. About what you'd expect from me. 

It's so cold here that the girls of my 1.30 class still wear jackets inside. Luckily I have been blessed with an abundance of arm hair that keeps me warm in these winter months. 

The boys of my 1.30 class actually working. It's a miracle! 

A Noraebang (or "Music Room") is the Korean equivalent of the Karaoke bars of Japan. Rather than get plastered and sing in front of a room of complete strangers, you can get plastered and sing in a room with your closest friends. They have plenty of English songs, and Filipinos are the friendliest people in the world, so it was a pretty rocking time. I was dragged to one a couple of weeks ago by my bosses with my coworkers, and it was as uncomfortable as one would expect an evening with 7 20-somethings and two 50-somethings who are socially superior to be. However, with the church group, we were belting out hits like "Sweet Child O' Mine" and I even electrified the room with the Goldfinger version of "99 Red Balloons," and people were singing with me! Surprisingly, my bosses didn't know exactly what to make of that song. I don't know why someone doesn't import this idea of a singing room establishment to Lexington and just make money hand over fist. 

Singing at the Noraebang with Gene and Eduardo (who is actually from California and of Costa Rican descent, which makes him the second of two non-Pinoys in the party). 

Condom machine label. Note the man saying "No Thanks!" to AIDS and another STD. In Korea, if it's good for you, it gives you a thumbs-up. My Hangul is rusty, but I think in the red print is saying "Love Harmony." 

The aftermath. I don't know if you can pick out those little green bottles, but there are 7 bottles of soju in the picture. Not pictured: the ones under the table (at least 3). 

The ladies at our party. We have more in the choir, but these were the ones that could make it after Mass. L-R: Yola, Sister Eframia, bless my heart, but I just can't remember her name, and Bichi. Not pictured: how bad I mangled those spellings. 

Gene and Brian at our Godeungdong Seongdang Choir party. Brian plays the guitar, and enjoys the soju well. The bottleneck you see in the foreground is my beer, because I do not enjoy the soju at all. I would not, could not, with the choir; I would not, could not: it tastes most dire.