Soon to Return to Perhaps More Programming than of Late

But not tonight. It’s my last night in St. Louis, and I’ll be catching a plane tomorrow. My cat-nap this afternoon means I’ll probably only sleep four hours tonight, but that’s cool. I need to get to the airport early anyway.

Here’s hoping I get an emergency exit seat on the plane back to Korea. If not, I think I’m gonna lose it…

My paper was fine, just too short a time to present enough of it; but I met some neat people and ate some good food. I think next time I’ll probably apply to a conference somewhere I’d actually like to go, however… but ah well, I have some nice beer and cheese to bring back with me. (And I’ve managed to work out every day since arriving — will again today before catching my plane, too — should help me sleep on the way home.)

By this time tomorrow, I’ll be… oh, crap. only partway home. Ah well… it’s still a miracle, isn’t it, this rapid global transportation stuff?

4 thoughts on “Soon to Return to Perhaps More Programming than of Late

  1. Ah, so you were at a conference in the U.S. No wonder I didn’t hear from you when I sent you a box of CDs. You’re gonna be too busy to care about much else as you try to bounce back from the jet lag and get back into teaching.

    I’m also going to U.S. for a conference soon.

    I can’t believe all of the replies people put to your questions about the shower sprayer head and the cat’s name. They seemed like such trivial (or rhetorical) questions but you’ve got a following of people out there who respond so earnestly.

    I was most amazed by those who actually are knowledgable about Asian art and could connect the butterfly and the cat through the alternate meanings or pronunciations of the chinese characters. I was stunned to find there actually could be a conventional iconographic connection between the cat and the butterfly.

    As for the shower heads…Personally, my wife would skewer me if I asked that question about shower heads. She would see it as a veiled (indirect and hence cowardly) criticism of Korea or Koreans. Good way to get me into a fight. I guess other Korean wives are more tolerant of that sort of question.

    Wonder how a Korean husband would react to the question…

    anyway welcome home, and welcome to the final blitzkrieg before final exams…

  2. Bradley,

    Yeah, I ripped the box today and was writing you an email when other stuff came up. Been nuts, but I did get the box and thanks so much! Will email soon.

    The cat/butterfly conversation blew me away too, and I hope to comment there soon.

    As for “criticism of Korea” — good lord, Koreans criticize Korea enough, I can’t imagine not being allowed to do it myself from time to time.

    Then again, has any expat who said he’d ask his wife come back and re-commented? Maybe a bunch of foreign guys got crucified over that post.

    Hang in there, we’re almost at holidays. I hope you’ll be allowed out of your cage for a day sometime before the holidays, as it’d be nice to see you but I’m going to be tied up a lot in December, and out of country for Jan/Feb. But let me know, if you can’t I’ll send you a bottle or two of nice homebrew…

  3. Glad you got the discs, Gord.

    Yeah, your fermentation projects sound fun. Reminds me of the days when I used to grow things under a plant light in my closet, becoming self-sufficient. But in the case of yeast and hops you’re doing something 100% legal.

    A lot better than those ho-hum Koreans just fermenting soybean mash in their closets. I remember seeing bricks of the stuff sitting on the sidewalk drying in the sun as I walked the streets of Wonmi-gu and Sosa-gu.

  4. Bradley,

    Actually, you know, homebrewing is kind of catching on in Korea. The availability of gear and supplies is a little — okay, a lot — spotty, but you know how Koreans are: when they get enthusiastic about something, nothing holds them back.

    As for the legality of homebrew, that’s relatively recent, but yeah, I ain’t breakin’ the law. Though if i use rice as a source for fermentable sugars, I might be breaking an old law. (Apparently in the Joseon dynasty, Mike told me, the use of rice for fermenting into liquor was banned, and the same happened during the Park era. I think the law must have been repealed by now, though few South Korean sojus actually use much rice that way — mostly they still use plain old ethanol, from what I read — so who knows?)

    But yeah, homebrew is certainly safer and wiser than other such home intoxicant projects. And, to be honest, I think the variety possible is more exciting. But what do I know about homegrow ops?

    The CDs are neat. Will emai you about them soon!

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