Notes | Summer So Far

I didn’t expect to spend two months recapping our Hawaii trip from last year (sorry!) but it was either that or stopping midway through those posts and picking up several years later like I normally seem to do. As you can imagine, real life continued outside of those posts.

A few notes on summer so far:

We had our first battle with the elusive Korean ninja mosquito (official name) this summer and it nearly made us lose our mind. For two weeks we hunted down this frickin’ mosquito. Knowing that it seemed to hide in our bedroom/bathroom/closet/patio area I set up camp in one of our spare bedrooms and waited it out. Weeks after I was initially devoured, Sly finally found and killed the damn thing. Have you ever seen those electric tennis racquet looking things that are supposed to kill bugs and wondered if they work? Well, they do. They are the best invention ever, and so damn satisfying to watch a terrorist mosquito sizzle. 

Buddha’s birthday is one of my most favorite times of the year in Korea. The weather isn’t quite hot yet and bright, colorful lanterns hang everywhere you look. It usually takes place at the end of spring/early summer and coincides with azalea season. Last year we hiked to Biseulsan to view the azaleas, but this year I hiked to a secret little patch of azaleas right in our “backyard” mountain. 

Buddha’s birthday also ushers in a summer filled with festivals. We attended some of the same festivals we visited last year including Daegu’s Colorful Festival and Buddha’s birthday celebrations along the Sincheon River that runs alongside our apartment.

The first friends we made in Korea, and also the friends who let our kitties stay at their house for months before we found and moved into our apartment, moved back to the States. Summer is usually when a lot of people move in and out of Korea so most of the lodging and kennels were full. Our friends and their two pups stayed with us for a couple days while they made the transition back home. The kitties were more nervous about people in their house over dogs.

Our friends left behind their dogs’ beds which I washed and placed in one of our patio areas. At first the kitties didn’t care much for the pillows but eventually they would fight over who got to sleep in them. One of the dog beds had the words “top dog” printed all over it and we joked that the kitties didn’t like that bed because it referenced dogs. Soon enough the boys discovered, and fought over, that cushion as well. This continued for the past two months until Max and Rufus decided that they preferred to sleep in orange boxes instead.

Koreans are really into handmade crafts and at all the festivals we have been to, there have been tables set up for kids so that they can make DIY projects. Renting a booth at a fair is really inexpensive so there’s usually a pretty good turnout with a good variety of items. The crafts for sale are rarely expensive. We purchased some cute kitty cartoon magnets at one of the art markets. We also had our portrait drawn at the same market and it was truly one of the worst we’ve ever had drawn. The technique was fine — the artist certainly took his time and was skillful — but it seriously looks nothing like us. Or at least I hope it doesn’t…

I received a free pass to attend a tea expo in Daegu so we both decided to go. I wasn’t quite sure what a tea expo was but it’s exactly as it sounds — lots of tea vendors offering samples of free tea, and of course selling all kinds of teas, teapots, etc. We were so tempted to buy a large, $300 hand-thrown Korean jar with a cat painted on the front but we eventually decided against it. Instead, we found quite a few organic tea growers and stocked up on enough tea for probably the next couple of years.

One of Sly’s friends and coworkers gave us a pack of movie tickets to thank Sly for writing a recommendation for him. We skipped the 4D movie this time and chose normal, non-moving seats instead. I love Korean movie theaters. They are so clean, and compared to US theaters, pretty inexpensive. My favorite thing, however, is the fresh-popped caramel corn. When Sly asked if I wanted to see 10 Cloverfield Lane (which we both really liked) the first thing I asked was, “can we get some caramel corn?”

Sly slipped out of work one rainy afternoon and we drove downtown to try out a new Thai restaurant. We have been really craving Thai food lately, or maybe just the fresh, bright, vibrant flavors found in Southeast Asian cuisine. It seems like the perfect food to eat during the summer months. Plus sushi. We can never get enough of sushi in Korea. It’s so cheap, fresh, and they always serve such huge portions.

Since we live right by Apsan I do my best to hike and explore the mountains whenever the weather isn’t too sweltering hot. I especially loved when the roses just started blooming. I often would go for a hike in the mountains and then intentionally get lost on the way back home in all the alleyways and secret gardens of the nearby neighborhood.

This is the other dog bed that the kitties finally started sleeping on in our bedroom. Notice the busted taped up wall corner behind me. When we moved in a bit of wallpaper was already missing from the corner. Rufus decided that meant it was okay for him to start peeling off the rest of the wall. I saved all the pieces he ripped off and glued it back together so that you can hardly tell, but bad kitty! It’s hard to stay angry at them too long though. Look at those sweet, cuddly faces! They always make everything better!

Sly has been cooking up a storm on the weekends, so much so that I often ask, “what’s on the menu at Sly’s cafe?” In addition to baked goods we have been experimenting with vegetarian-izing some of our favorite Vietnamese dishes. We still haven’t quite worked out an acceptable substitution for fish sauce but maybe soon.

There was a period of time when I pestered Sly nonstop for nearly two weeks to make me scones. He finally relented.  I am a very annoying wife. The only real recipe fail has been when Sly attempted to make healthy, all-natural gummy bears. The first batch turned out like glop. The second and third batches had more of a jello consistency over a gummy bear consistency. We’ll Sly will keep trying.

We have also been making creepy little wax dudes out of the red wax that encases cheese and have been leaving them around the house for the other to find. I don’t know why we find this so funny.

The end of spring/beginning of summer is also the worst time for yellow dust. Last year we were totally clueless about the dust and left all our windows open because the weather was so nice. Even with screens on our windows, and even living in a high rise (or maybe especially because we live in a high rise), the dust blows in and covers everything with Interstellar levels of dust. We don’t even really know it’s happening until it’s too late and everything is covered in micro particles of yellow dust. This year we caught it pretty early, mostly because I noticed Rufus had bad allergies. Luckily, after closing all our windows and giving our place a deep clean, Rufie’s allergies disappeared almost completely.

Last summer we left our windows open most of the time to catch whatever breeze we could coming off the mountains. We have A/C units but because the energy costs are so high here, we don’t like to keep the A/C running at all times of the day. For the most part we have relied on our Vornado fan, which worked wonderfully, until I accidentally plugged it into a power strip that was plugged into the 220v wall outlet and burned out the motor. At the same time the A/C in our bedroom decided to stop blowing cold air and we couldn’t quite determine if it was because we didn’t know how to operate the A/C remote correctly or if something was actually wrong.

After a couple of uncomfortably hot, airless nights I called our real estate agent (who is our liaisan for all apartment-related things) who called the A/C repairman, who showed up in a couple hours, assessed the A/C, and most amazingly, had all the parts needed to fix the A/C. We marveled at how quick and efficient the whole process was compared with our experiences back in the States of having to schedule appointments with repairmen weeks in advance, having to wait all day for the person to show up, and then most likely, having to reschedule the appointment because said person didn’t bring any parts with him/her.

As for our poor fan — we took it to a local electrical repair shop but it doesn’t look like something that can be fixed without sending it back to the retailer for repairs. Our fan isn’t a cheap plastic fan so we’d like to salvage it, but with the cost of shipping to/fro and the cost of repairs, it’s probably cheaper to purchase a new fan. 🙁

In addition to a new fan, we also purchased a new food processor to replace an old half-broken one that Sly has owned since before we were even dating. We don’t like buying new things unless we absolutely have to, preferring instead to fix, use, or re-purpose what we already own, but in this case it was time. While we were at it, we also upgraded our old, busted, ripped up, cheap gear bag with a slightly larger, more durable, bag with a lifetime warranty. Hopefully it’s the last gear bag we’ll ever have to buy. We’re looking forward to using it a ton this summer (and beyond).

For a while we craved baked goods and would walk to our nearest neighborhood Korean bakery every Sunday to select a few pastries to overload on carbs and coffee. Soon we moved on to the Korean Dunkin’ Donuts, which had an awesome mochi ring doughnut that is popular in Asia, and eventually we landed at Krispy Kreme. We have since been eating much healthier, but it was good while it lasted…

Over Memorial Day weekend we flew to Hong Kong to meet up with an old friend from our SF days and of course to eat our way around the city. We also managed to fit in our first camping trip of the season on a somewhat remote beach. We have both been to HK years ago but it’s always so different to experience a place together. A lot we remembered but a lot was different. My memories of HK were mostly of the bright lights and bustling streets of Kowloon. I had no clue about the natural outdoorsy side to Hong Kong. It was another great trip for the books.

When we returned to Daegu there was no doubt that summer had arrived. Daegu is one of the hottest cities in Korea but honestly, after being in Hong Kong, which was like next level hot and humid, Daegu felt like child’s play. Even so, with all our fan and AC issues there were moments when I couldn’t wait for it to be winter again.

It’s been an adjustment getting used to being okay with not having the A/C on all the time and just being in a hot and sweaty summer state in general. Growing up in the sweltering humid heat of Houston you would think I would be used to being hot, but in the States you go from air conditioned house to air conditioned car to air conditioned store with only brief blasts of the real (sweltering hot) weather in between. In the US, or at least in Texas, we like our weather to be crisp and cool despite what the thermometer shows outside. In Korea, it is thought that you can get sick if the transition from hot to cold is too drastic, so most people are OK with being warm. I still cannot handle the blaring hot sun when it’s directly overhead but I am starting to get used to walking on the line of what would be considered uncomfortably warm. It’s kind of like those first few bikram yoga classes – the ones that seem impossible to get through because it’s so damn hot. By the third or fourth class, it’s still hot as ever, but it somehow doesn’t feel so bad.

Anyway, that is what I tell myself when I’m sweating profusely while sitting on a bus crowded with people with a busted A/C. 

In addition to two new dog beds, I created a play room for our boys out on one of our living room patios using a bunch of old boxes I saved from Costco. I converted one of the larger boxes to a whack-a-mole type game and the others have become the boys’ favorite way to spend a warm afternoon. Never mind that the smaller orange box is way too small for either of them — that’s the one they love the most!

This summer has also been a difficult one and as usual, I took solace by going outside and absorbing whatever healing properties nature had to offer. I’m not trying to be elusive, but I’m still in the process of absorbing, internalizing and processing things. I’ll post more when I’m ready to talk about it.

On one of my walks, I discovered an awesome secret garden that I have never noticed before despite having walked in that area so many times. Despite the heat it was so cool and shady here, with wildflowers sprouting up everywhere. I want to *try* and get back into keeping a sketchbook, something I always (unsuccessfully) attempt whenever I travel. I think this little garden would be a good place to sit and draw for a while.

A couple weekends ago we took a last minute trip to the beach just for a night. We drove to Busan and stayed at an interesting Korean motel – most likely a love motel – that was walking distance from one of the smaller, less popular beaches. We spent the afternoon in nearby Gamcheon Village, also known as “Korea’s Santorini” and stuffed ourselves with so much fresh seafood from Jalgachi market. It was a short but much-needed getaway.

It was too cloudy to see the “once-in-a-lifetime” full moon summer solstice but we did get to see an awesomely bright orange moon one evening from our apartment window.

A few more happenings from this summer:

• I was finally forced to open a Korean bank account to receive payment for some freelance stuff I’ve been working on locally which meant that we had to get our alien registration cards (ARCs). Most people that live in Korea have to get their ARC within 90 days of arriving, but because of our type of visa, we are technically exempt. However, what nobody ever told us when we moved here was how much having an ARC card lets you to do — things like making ticket reservations, buying things online, signing up for library cards, signing up for discount frequent shopper cards, etc. Also, having a bank account, in a country where people pay via bank transfer all the time, is such a relief when trying to pay for things/services that won’t accept foreign cards. I also imagine that flying will be less of a hassle too as usually at least one of us is stopped in immigration whenever we try to leave Korea.
• Some TV shows we have been watching lately: American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson, BBC’s The Night Manager, BBC’s Back in Time for Dinner (If you ever watched Supersizers Go, you will love this. Giles is in this series too!), Game of Thrones (of course), America’s Got Talent (which I only watch because my mom loves it and enjoys discussing her favorites after the show airs), dumb summertime dating shows like the Bachelorette and Are You the One (made even better when discussing with sister and friends), and Epic Rap Battles on YouTube.
• I have been reading up a storm this summer and so far I have read over 50 books this year! Some of those books were graphic novels though so I guess they don’t really count. Last year I barely read 25 books — and it was a struggle! I have been making a concerted effort to read a little bit in the morning and a little bit at night and also to listen to audio books whenever I’m working out or doing boring chores. I am especially enjoying my online book club which I think has made me get excited about reading again. It’s always more fun to read and discuss/bitch about a book with other people! I have been saving up a list of guilty pleasure beach read type books to read during the summer – stuff that isn’t too complicated and that I can read rather quickly. Bonus points if the book is set in an exotic location. Any recommendations?
• We are planning on getting away to an island off the Eastern coast of Korea this upcoming holiday but it doesn’t look like the weather will be very good (it’s monsoon season) and most likely our ferry will be canceled. It’s kind of a bummer as we have been trying to get to this island for some time now, but I’m sure whatever we end up doing will be fun.

And finally, some other upcoming things we have planned for this summer: a music festival up near Seoul, an escape room (if Sly will ever go with me), a visit to a hotel pool, and maybe some rafting or waterpark type of thing. I’d also like to get back to Busan or just to a beach in general at least once more this summer. Sly’s work will pick up again toward the end of August and then mid-September we have plans to travel to Hawaii again for Sly’s work conference.

Talking about future plans always makes it seem as if the summer is almost over! But didn’t it just begin?

Hope y’all are having a great summer!