Seoul
The other night we were in a hotel in Seoul watching a movie ("Bobby", it was pretty good) when I heard fireworks, I said to Mike, "come and look at the fireworks" and he said "Where are we?" I thought "Oh boy, it's starting, by July I am going to be feeding him strained peas". He said he sincerely had no idea where we were since he has been to 11 Asian countries since Jaunuary. (Are there 11 Asian countires? Can he name them?)
The most interesting thing about Korea is the DMZ.
Oh, Mike ate ocotpus that was still moving, you need to chew it right away or it uses it's suckers to attach itself to the inside of your mouth.
The photo here is the changing of the guard at the Josean Palace.
12 comments:
If you are to assume the mantle of "blogger," you must acknowledge and assume the responsibilities peculiar to wielders of the public pen.
Let's start with the title of this literary endeavor.
Which "McCarten" is blogging? Surely you didn't intend to indicate that both Kathy and Michael are the authors, or else we would be reading "The McCartens' Blog."
Ah, the power of punctuation ...
Back to those pesky responsibilities: We shall expect your postings to be rich with observation, insight, and wry humor. Surely your mastery of the mother tongue will be in evidence throughout.
Further, we are certain that you will eschew boastfulness (for ego, as we all acknowledge, is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity) in favor of a sensitive,generous sharing of the fantastic experiences afforded by your life choices.
"Guess where we went last week?" just ain't gonna cut it.
Finally, we look forward to the courageous examinations of self that, in the agregate, remain the sine qua non for great writing in general and what is celebrated as "travel writing" in particular.
A most fascinating starting place -- at least for this scribe -- would be a collection of your reflections on how the diverse religious experiences encountered in your travels have impacted your own faith.
Has your faith been challenged? Expanded? Diminished? Altered in any meaningful way?
A cautionary tale: Upon his return from a 1970-something trip to draught-ravaged Africa, ProJo "columnist" Mark Potemkin published a collection of his reflections on how dogs and cats are the same everywhere.
We look forward to your best efforts, and wish you Godspeed.
Love,
Charlie
Oh, really? I just want to post pictures of us standing in front of Japanese stuff.
Go Kathy! I'm with you and really look forward to viewing tidbits of the McCarten's Asian Life.
Joanne
Alright.
Never mind.
And Joanne ...
It's the McCartens' Asian Life!!!!!!!!!
Very cool! Are you loving Asia now as I did? Each adventure is something new! Just think of the things you get to see that others here only read about.
I would be careful regarding how much information you provide. I think Charlie is planning on using your experiences for his next book.
The first time one of his characters eats a still moving Octopus with the surgeon general of Korea I'll sue.
What's the difference between the surgeon general of Korea and an octopus?
The surgeon general of Korea doesn't squirm when you're eating him.
(At least that what the little woman claims.)
And besides, I prefer my "still moving" (Well, which is it? We oxymorons demand to know.) octopus with wasabi. The surgeon general of Korea is too salty.
If I ever visit you in Japan, I don't think I'll be the one experimenting with food. It sounds "intersting" but I'm not sure that I could handle it. My work is across the street from a pork "factory" and we can hear the pigs squealing almost everyday, inlcuding the ones when I'm eating pork. I usually don't finish. So I think having my lunch actually fight my eating it would be a little more than I can handle. Sounds like you are adjusting as best you can. Better than I probably could.
Wow, Kathy, you are quite a trooper. Maybe I should visit you in Japan so that I can shed a few pounds. That grocery store looked like a horror movie for fish! I think if I were you, when you made your wish into the clay pot at the church and then broke it, I would've wished for a cheeseburger.
I love reading about your adventures, but it is hard to imagine what life is like over there for you. Are you working in a salon?
As a new mother, I think I would find it hilarious (although somewhat disturbing) to let a sumo wrestler scare my baby to see what kind of reaction that invokes! We would flip it on the sumo wrestlers and scare them by letting them change the babies' diapers!
Keep up the great work! I love reading these!
Heather
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