Miso the Play

I went to see the Korean play 'Miso' today at the Chongdong Theater with Kate.  It's a Romeo and Juliet type play, but they don't die at the end.  It was really cool to watch and listen to traditional music and dance.  I'm a big fan of the drums... (Erik if you read this... you know what I'm talking about... "Drumline ya dig?")
It was almost entirely free of speech... The musical was full of choreographed dances and rhythmic beats. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l4HX9k1pe4

We thought it was gonna be a perfect day to watch go to the matinee, since the weather report was all rain all day... But when we got out of the theater the sun was poking out a bit.  It was a bit muggy but once the sun went down it began to cool off a bit.  It was a good Saturday all around. 

Now I'm relaxing to some Otis Redding... good Saturday all around indeed.

America is a Salad Korea is a Soup

America is a Salad   Korea is a Soup

By, Josh Niehues

My title may not make since in the way it initially reads.  You may think, “Oh, this post is going to have something to do with the cultural differences between the U.S. and Korea.

That’s not what this post is really about.  It’s about smell.  Now before you start thinking about all of your favorite soups, Creamy Potato, Tomato with Ricotta cheese, and Chicken Noodle, let me define what I mean when I say, “America is a Salad” and then describe this soup that is Korea.

America is a salad.  America has a smell to it.  Not all its smells are lilacs and lavender.  There are areas for sure, that produce pungent odors, back alleys, dingy night clubs and gas station toilets to name a few.  Then there are the areas that are fresh like a salad.  There are the expansive fields of fresh cut alfalfa, the crisp ocean breeze of the Pacific North Coast and the fragrances of fall in the Mid-West.  These smells are the better side of America.

Korea is a soup.  Korea has a smell to it.  Some of the smells are comparable to those of America.  The coast has a sweet smell when the wind rushes across the ocean.  In fall, the fallen leaves give off an aromatic scent.  It also has its unpleasant smells as well and in these days of summer an undesirable smell beings to emanate from every building, street and crammed subway entrance.  The summer air becomes stagnate.  The humidity seems to trap in every smell and coat you in it; similar to dumping soup on your head.

Garbage is picked up on a regular basis, but there are no trash cans only pink and yellow plastic bags.  The pastel colored waste piles up next to the buildings.  Yesterday’s dinner becomes a furry creature’s treat that is scattered into the streets.  There are no street sweepers in Korea.  The garbage that is not collected is washed into shallow gutters.

The summer rains are hot and sticky.  It liquefies the contents of the soup.  Red peeper paste, kimchee, spicy noodle soup and a marred of other condiments and edibles mix into an odor frenzy crescendo.  Sprinkle in the occasional dash of urine and you have the pungent aromas of my part of Korea.

Day 75 or something like that

The Missy Elliot remix of the Tina Turner song "I Can't Stand the Rain" is playing over and over again in my head.  You know, that part;
Me I'm supa fly (uh-huh)
Supa dupa fly (uh-huh)
Supa dupa fly
{singing I can't stand the rain!

It must be the 75 days of straight rain!  Or something like that.  I hear it rained in California yesterday.  You can have some of Korea's if you want... and the muggy, greasy feeling the air produces. 

Note to self:  I couldn't live in a perpetual muggy place for an extended period of time.  Sweatbox central!

The Grand Scale

He was staring at himself yet there was no mirror.  It wasn't an out of body experience. 

 He touched his own face for the reassurance. 

"Who are you?" he said to himself.

"I am you." replied the other.

Baffled, dumbfounded, struck utterly speechless.

"B... B... But how?"

"I am you the same way that you are me.  The same way that we are more than each other. 

 The same way that we are everything.  Everything is us, thus we are one.

We are inside a universe encapsulated inside an even larger universe inside an infinitly larger universe underneath the thumbnail of an unsuspecting woman.

You yourself have an infinite amount of universes hidden inside your being, each unaware of

the grand scale of things.

Internet Woes...

Where Are You Internet?

The Saga of the LCI Network

By, Josh Niehues

5/3/11

I’m wondering why the internet here doesn’t start to work until 9am?  It seems to be a reoccurring pattern.  Last Thursday and Friday I was on this very computer around 8:30am and there was no connectivity.  Then by some miraculous act of God the internet blockage was parted like the Red Sea.  Now I sit here and wait for that holy number like a Mesoamerican Shaman waiting for the summer rains to decree his peoples crops will grow.  Will my crops grow or are my fields to lay fallow? 

Oh internet how I beseech you to do what you were designed to do… Hmmm… maybe PS ( our computer technician and all around go-to guy) has a secret switch that he flips in the morning releasing all that is the internet.  Should I pay homage to the mighty PS, for he is the one with the all knowing all encompassing knowledge? I had a piece of toast this morning for breakfast… was that an image of PS?  8:45am… no internet………………….

How will the children ever receive their report cards?  How will their parents ever be able to find out how they’re doing in class?  These are only a handful of questions that may never be answered.  8:49am… no internet.

8:55am the time approaches!

9:00am where is the miracle?

9:10am I have lost my faith! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! 

5/4/11

Day four of a saga that has only been chronicled for two days, but those two days tells the story just the same.  No internet.  Previous assumptions about a secret button and PS holding the key to our internet woes seems to be unfounded.  More than likely it’s either the North Koreans or the Chinese.  Perhaps a collaboration of both to hinder the children of South Korea from learning English?  Well, they obviously don’t think very highly of the teachers here.  The internet can be a great tool in adding diversity in instruction but it is not the only tool or the best.  So block my internet and make my life a little less convenient you rapscallions!  But I shall teach these children English and tell them not to buy anything made in China! 

*Internet came on at 9am! The Prophecy was fulfilled! 

What I Miss...

  It doesn't get easier the longer I'm away but I wouldn't say it gets any worse either.  The longer I'm away from family and friends the more I think about the details of what makes me happy when I'm around them.

  Going for a ride with my dad... with no particular place to go.
  Talking with my mom... and disagreeing about politics.
  Punching my sister... not very hard.  Brotherly love.
  Stopping by Grandma's unexpectedly... just to visit.  And hoping she has some sweetbread.
  The Amaro's barn... no matter what kind of mood I was in I left with a smile and a helping of happiness.
  Throwing horseshoes with the boys... just wish they could beat me once in awhile.
 
  I miss the comradre of my friends.  I miss the ease of a summer night and the smell of fresh cut grass.  You're all never more than just a skype call away and it's always great to hear your voices.  I miss you.

Drove My Chevy to the Levee

 A month just dissipated before my very eyes.  Like the exhale on a frost covered morning.  The month floated off, twisitng in the winter silence.

 February has brought a lot for me to contemplate.  I guess it's just like any other day or month.  Everyday brings new experiences, fresh views, and complex questions.  But unlike what Don McLean sang in his song 'American Pie', February didn't make me shiver.  It brought me closer to my center, closer to my contentment.  But I still have many mountains to climb.  

 To sum up my February in a few words... We all should be aware of the future and the inevitable change it will bring and the lessons of the past.  But living and life happen now.  I will prepare myself for tomorrow by embracing today.