Catch up time...

It's been a busy few weeks. I believe I left you with my last blog about four weeks ago with the Hampyeong Butterfly festival. Wow, how time flies!

Ok, so the weekend after was suppose to be my big first year beach party, but as commonly happens, the weather gods decided to be funny buggers and made it rain for one day that week. you can guess what day can't you? Saturday! The day we were suppose to be camping on the beach, enjoying the sun and having fun. Instead it was bucketing down from the skies above.

So I decided to ride over to Mokpo and have some indoor fun with friends over there. I went to Crystals and with a group of friends, we had a night of board-games. Wow, have they changed since I was a kid. These days, board games seem to involve little electronic devices that throw words at you which you have to make others guess (without using that word) and DVD's that throw questions at you from the TV.

What ever happened to a board on the floor with some dice?

Am I getting old?


Sadly over this weekend, I also found out that a good friend, Nick Hamilton, passed away. Nick was one of my best friends in Japan and he was the guy who introduced me to Canadian Connections here in Korea. It was a big shock to learn of his death. Especially as he was exactly the same age as me... to the day.


So on the Monday, I went to work and asked if I would be able to get leave to go to a service being held for him in Japan. Thanks to my great co-teacher and caring school, I was on a plane the next day and heading back to my old stomping ground, Osaka.

I was very apprehensive returning to Japan because most of you know, I didn't really leave under the best circumstances. I had an old grandma trying to sue me because she ran into me on her bicycle and hurt herself, and I had quite a large tax debt that hadn't been paid. I was expecting to be grabbed at customs and locked away in a Japanese prison, never to be heard from again... or something to that effect.

As it turned out, I was let into the country with no questions asked. So I'm not a wanted man in a foreign country after all... Sweet!

I went over with one of my friends from Oz, living in Korea, Tony. He had to go over for a visa run and I said I'd help him find his way around. While we were in Osaka, we did a bit of site seeing... more for his benefit than mine.


Tony at the Osaka Castle



The Silver Ball. Where all the wanna be break dancers come to practice.


I stayed with a friend in Osaka and had the chance to catch up with most of my friends over there. I have to say, the 2 days I spent in Osaka only confirmed the idea that I'm much better off where I am now. I had a great time seeing my friends, but I'm very glad I'm not living in that city working for that evil corporation anymore.

I did a quick trip down to Hiroshima for the service and spent a day looking around the city. I was surprised at how clean and beautiful Hiroshima is. I didn't get to go to the museum but I looked through peace square and saw the Atom monument. Amazing to look at.


One of the monuments in Peace Park.



The Atomic Dome. This was virtually under the Atomic bomb when it went off in Hiroshima. Ironically, it was one of the least affected buildings.




In the park, there were thousands of kids (possibly no exaggeration) who were interviewing people for school projects. I think about half a dozen groups came up to me while I was there. They were sooo cute!




That night I went to the service and spent the evening with Nicks friends and workmates remembering the good times we had with Nick. He was one amazing guy. One of the most optimistic people I've ever known.

He will be missed.




The beautiful sunset from the KTX on the way home.