Counting My Blessings in AR

I spent a wonderful week in Arkansas for the Thanksgiving holiday and am still reeling from how quickly it went by. I arrived on Sunday afternoon and got to combine spending time with my family and eating some Mexican food. On Monday, I ran some errands and hung out with Poppie.

Tuesday afternoon, I caught up with Megan and Amanda H. (Terp) over lunch. Amanda and I continued to hang out until heading to Briana's baby shower that evening

 

I know I'm biased, but my sister is the cutest pregnant woman I have ever seen. Even though she's not here yet, Hadley has solidified her place as the princess in our family.

Wednesday began with Christmas gift wrapping and ended with picking up Ryan from the airport and later enjoying some pizza with everyone at Dad's.

As tradition demands, Thanksgiving involved stuffing ourselves with too much good food. Dad found a butternut squash stuffing recipe that seems destined to become a family classic.

Christmas came early on Friday at Briana and Jason's house, where we enjoyed an amazing Beef Wellington dinner and opened our Christmas gifts to each other.

It was all football on Saturday and an amazing Arkansas win that just might take them to their first BCS bowl. Afterwards we checked out the lights on the Fayetteville square and enjoyed burgers at Hugo’s. Later we had a little cake and gave Dad his birthday presents. There was a lot of celebrating, too much good food, but most of all, it was just great getting to spend time together.

A Beach Hideaway in Phuket, Thailand

 No vacation is perfect, and this one was not an exception to the rule. That being said, it was a very restful stay with excellent food and the constant sound of ocean waves lapping against the rocks below us.  Additionally, it was the perfect interlude between a busy summer and the start of another busy school year, or in the case of Ryan – a new job. Our room was large and gorgeous complete with a sitting area as well as the standard desk and bed. The best part, however, was the large balcony overlooking the ocean.  There was more than enough room for a table and chairs as well as a very large couch area that was perfect for our afternoon naps. I think our enjoyment would have been greatly diminished if we didn’t have this area, because it rained almost the entire time we were there. Only during the last couple of days did we see any sunshine.  The food was delicious, and according to the reviews we read, the best on the island. Because of the rain, the difficulty of arranging transportation, and the lack of more enticing food or attractions, we spent the entire week at our resort. The only real blemish on the place was its pools, which were not very attractive and too small to do any actual swimming. The nicest of the pools was the seawater pool, and I splashed around in it a little until I realized that the rock wall surrounding it was the home to dozens of soft shell crabs. No wonder they were so abundant on the menu!

Unfortunately, the thing I most hoped to do on the island was go snorkeling in it’s famous shallow coral reefs. However, we had inadvertently timed our visit with the monsoon season, and the water was to dangerous to go swimming in. Every morning I woke up a little disappointed to see the red flag warnings everywhere.

Our resort was not very big to begin with, and given the low-season, there never seemed to be more than a few couples about. Every night, we were the last to leave to restaurant at only 9 or 9:30 to my bemusement.  But I don’t want to leave anyone with the wrong impression, we did enjoy this trip thoroughly, and it reminded me of how much I love Southeast Asia. I look forward to our next opportunity to travel to this region.

Final Week in Korea

The last week in Korea was by far the most pleasant of our entire stay.  Since my Korean finals ended unexpectedly the week before, I pretty much gave up on class.  I went only to receive my grades.  I would have liked to have done more sightseeing, but it rained almost the entire time. This August in Korea, it turned out, was the rainiest in 100 years. I even experienced my first level one hurricane, which was a little frightening in our 15 story apartment. We did manage a quick trip to Kyongbokkung, the main palace in Seoul. Set in the heart of such a modern city, it is always fascinating to see the contrast between the ancient and modern. We also found some fun trendy restaurants, which offered the most delicious meals of the stay in Korea. Finally, we were able to hang out with friends and squeeze in a little drunken karaoke as well.  Fortunately, there are no pictures or videos of that!

The Best TV Shows You May Not Have Heard Of

Sometimes it seems like we now have hundreds of channels and there is nothing on, but the wide dissemination of cable channels has resulted in more and more TV shows of excellent quality.  The trick is finding them.  For example, I would have never heard of my new favorite, Justified, if it wasn’t for my knitting group where I have learned that Ileana and Deanna have excellent tastes that happen to be compatible with my own.

Justified, an FX show, is set in rural Kentucky, and bills itself as a modern Western. In fact, it’s loosely based off of the short story “Ring of Fire,” by Elmore Leonard. Not being a particular fan of Westerns this initial description didn’t exactly grab me, but I decided to give it a try anyway on the long plane ride to Seoul. From the first episode, I was struck, how familiar these characters and places seemed.  Apparently Eastern Kentucky isn’t all the different from Arkansas. Soon I was hooked, however, on the careful exploration of complicated relationships – family, lovers, and even the meaning of friendship.  The father-son dynamic that pervades the show in multiple characters became increasing heart wrenching as the season drew to a close. The writing and acting are superb, and suddenly I’m a huge Timothy Olyphant fan. I really couldn’t recommend this show more highly.

I’m often surprised how many people still haven’t heard of Mad Men, now in it’s fourth season on AMC. Once again, the premise didn’t initially grab me, which is focused on an Madison Avenue advertising firm in the 60s. But the characters are richly portrayed, the writing and acting on this show, too, are superb, and the fashion and cinematography blow me away. Well worth putting on your Netflix queue to catch up to the current season.

So what shows do you think upstage the current state of going to the movies these days?

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Book Review

The entire time I was reading this book, I kept wondering what all the hype was about. It is a decently layered mystery with interesting characters, but definitely not a page turner. I found the title to be confusing, because I expected the plot to be about Lisbeth - the girl with the dragon tattoo. Instead, the book serves more as an introduction to her character for the next two books in the trilogy. I admit it's a catchy title, but the original "Men Who Hate Women," fits the actual story much better. Despite my disappointment, I haven't completely ruled out reading the next books in the trilogy.

To find this and my other reviews on goodreads, click on the link: http://www.goodreads.com/arkellogg

Living History at Seoul’s Seodaemun Prison and Independence Park

It's hard for most Americans to understand, but history is truly alive in Korea and present in daily life. No where is this more obvious than at the Seodaemun Prison - a minor tourist attraction in the process of a great deal of reconstruction with the goal of becoming a world class museum. To be honest, they have a long way to go to achieve this goal, and at present its main purpose seems to be demonstrating to middle school children that the celebration of Korean independence must be combined with a graphic awareness of the horrors of Japanese occupation.

The Japanese formally occupied the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. Soedaemun Prison was used by the Japanese to house the Korean resistance/independence fighters. All the visuals on display were devoted to emphasizing how bad the conditions in the prison were and the evils that had to be endured at the hands of the Japanese. The most striking were the numerous rooms that displayed mannequins of Japanese soldiers torturing Korean prisoners. The effect on me, though, wasn't so much profound as somewhat absurd.

Surrounding the prison is a park devoted to celebrating Korea’s independence from the Japanese occupation. What is not being mentioned, however, hovers loudly in the air. Immediately upon independence the Korean Peninsula was divided in half by the Russians and Americans. Neither country intended the division to be permanent, but the lack of a formal end to Korean War has seen this division remain for over sixty years.  There is a strong sense in Korea that true independence can only come from reunification.  And only then can they forgive their Japanese and foreign oppressors. Only then can East Asia achieve peace and stability. 

Postcard from Seoul: To All My Friends and Family

Spending the summer abroad in Korea is not as glamorous as it might sound. Mostly it’s a lot of hard work. But still, I’m having lots of interesting experiences and hopefully my Korean language skills are improving.  I think of you often and wish I could share these experiences more directly. I miss you tons and hope you know that you’re only a phone call or e-mail message away.

Love,

Anita