Wednesday

It's been cold here lately. Not as cold as Lethbridge, but cold enough for me to complain a bit. But that doesn't stop Cate and me from walking to Carmen's school every day to pick her up, and Cate wouldn't have it otherwise.

Yesterday, as we were walking home, we saw all the usual goings on of life in Yongsandong. Kids in Taekwondo suits, kids in school uniforms, kids buying large quantities of cheap candy, kids playing video games on the sidewalk and kids narrowly dodging high-speed traffic. 4:30 is right between the end of the elementary school day and all the evening stuff like English academies and martial arts classes, so the sidewalks are overrun with 10 year olds, and they all need a way to get where they're going so there are dozens of vans and small buses parked along the street. The drivers of these vehicles usually sit on the sidewalk and play cards or eat kimchi while they wait for their load of sugar junkies to finish whatever they're doing. They usually look quite bored and I've even seen them putting back a few beers in their spare time, before they get behind the wheel.

However, yesterday was a bit more interesting. I saw a well-dressed driver, about 50, standing with his hands in his pockets and a cigarette in his mouth. He was standing next to a tree, which was next to the road, and he leaned back and gave it a little kung fu syle kick. Nothing much and I didn't really think anything of it. Heck, I've kicked a tree out of boredom - plenty of times. As we got closer, he assumed a more fierce stance. With his hands still in his pockets and a dart still in his mouth, he spun around and gave a beautiful but deadly roundhouse, chin-high kick to the unsuspecting poplar. We were right next to him at this point and I gave him a smile and the usual half bow, thinking we both found it amusing, but he only glared in return. The funny thing is, neither Carmen or I said anything about it at first, like it wasn't out of the ordinary - and it's not. But I couldn't let it go. "So . . . that well-dressed older gentlemen just karate kicked that tree with his hands in his pockets and a smoke in his mouth on a busy sidewalk in the middle of the day, and was completely serious about it."

Other than that, life's been uneventful - but really good. Christmas is a lot more prevalent here than we thought it'd be, which is nice, even if it's mostly the consumerism part that's promoted. A few stores and restaurants are playing festive tunes and some even have decorations. Our iTunes switches between Sufjan Stevens' Songs for Christmas and Hanson's Snowed In (Questionable choice? Maybe. Guaranteed to bring Christmas cheer? Definitely). Some friends of ours gave us a little tree and some decor when they left in the summer so it won't be completely depressing to be away from home during this holiday season. It's hard to believe, though, that after Carmen's holidays at the end of this month, we've only got eight weeks left.