KLB - Julie Cheated on Me!



I came home last night and found Julie in bed with another man! I have the evidence right here. It's just too painful for me to look at, so you'll have to click on the link to see the proof:


Shocking Evidence!

written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Praying Mantis



Yikes! Take a look at this praying mantis that was hanging around outside our building on a discarded burlap bag. It's hard to see in the photo how big it really was, but it was as big as my middle finger. I wanted to keep it as a pet, but Julie had another idea: run away and fast.


Information about praying mantises


I've seen a bunch of these since I've been in Korea, but according to this information, they are common in southern parts of Asia.

"Praying mantids can resemble flowers and can catch small, unknowing hummingbirds. Praying mantids also eat other nesting birds."

written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - 안녕 다음 카페 국커 친구들


나는 션입니다.
내 블로그에 놀룰와서 고마우요
comments 많이 남겨요오 ㅎㅎㅎ
나 한국말 잘 못해요
그러지만 영심히 공부하고 있다
줄리 사랑해요

Your friend,

Shawn (션)

written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Hot Roasted Squid


You know you've lived too long in Korea when...


You enjoy the fine taste of Hot Roasted Squid!



I really have become quite a dried squid connoisseur these days. This is one of my favorite kinds. It goes well with a bottle of ice cold beer.

You know you haven't lived in Korea long enough when...

You still think pastries stuffed with tomato, kiwi, pineapple and thick cream look very unappetizing. Julie ate that. Yuck!

The other item in the photo is a DVD rental from LG25, which is the most popular convenient mart in Korea (there's 6 within a 5 minute walking radius of our home). Some of them are carrying DVDs now. In Korea, you can rent a DVD for 2,000 won, about $1.80. We pretty much ran out of new ones to watch, so we picked up this copy of What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Remember that one? It has Johny Depp in it. His mother weighs 1000 pounds. His brother, Leonardo Deshouldbecapitated, in his greatest role, is mentally handicapped. It's a pretty decent movie, though awfully depressing.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Pepero Day!


It's 11/11 and that means it's Pepero Day in Korea. This is a day when people give each other copious amounts of Pepero, which are chocolate covered cookie sticks. You can read more about the holiday here.



This is part of what I scored today, mostly from the cute little girls who turned bright red as I thanked them. I already ate a bunch with the kids. Julie came home from her Kindergarten with just two measly sticks. I felt kind of bad for her so I gave her some of mine.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Credit Cards Accepted


You can now order my book from me directly by credit card. The price is only $10 each. In Korea you get free shipping, no matter how many copies you order. The rest of the world pays $5 shipping, or more based on quantity. (The total price will be adjusted in the check-out cart.) Click here for more details.

All books will be signed on the inside cover unless otherwise requested.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Namsan Park and Shawn in NANTA!


After seeing my pictures of Incheon Park, the touring manager of NANTA, Mr. Kim, who has been a major part of the NANTA team since it's conception, sent me these nice pictures of Namsan Park nearby the theater area.











Actually, while I was walking to the NANTA theater, which is located in central Seoul (Jung-dong) I was very surprised by the surrounding area. It is a very natural, peaceful place. You walk down a sidewalk bordered by colorful trees along the stone wall of Duk Su Palace to get to the theater:







Here's the Nanta Theater Building. Yes, it's so good it has its own theater. Mr. Kim said there are other theaters for it in Korea too. The show is also performed on Broadway in NYC. Mr. Kim spent a year there himself.




You're not allowed to take pictures inside the theater, so I only have a few shots of the entranceway to the building. It was crowded with foreigners. A lot of western people were there and also Japanese. The show is performed regularly in Japan.


You can see some pics of the performance by doing a Google image search:

NANTA Google Search



Some souvenirs and the performance program. After the show I bought a T-shirt and a Chef's hat, which I had signed by the cast. I believe we saw the White Team perform. There are a number of different teams.



Another shot of inside the entranceway. I love the interior design.



Here's Julie waiting for me to stop taking pictures and go inside for the show.



One of the most embarrassing (yet memorable) moments of my life. About halfway into the performance some of the cast came down and dragged me and another "victim" (as Mr. Kim called us) onto the stage to take part in the show. Though I definitely experiencing severe stage fright, I managed to improvise a little and get a few laughs. The place was packed and I felt pretty nervous. However, it was very funny, especially for Julie, who was watching safely from her seat. At the very end of the show, long after I had gone off stage, there was a scene about a wedding and they put his photo blown up on the huge screen. That poor girl. I think she was Japanese. "Nihongo ga scoshi wakarimasu. Konbanwa. Mata raishuu. Blah blah blah."



After the exciting, energetic, dazzling, electrifying show, Mr Kim introduced Julie and I to the cast and someone took a few pics for me with my camera. These poor guys must have been tired after all that banging away on pots and pans all night. You don't realize how much the sweat up there on stage until you get up there and see them up close. Even I started to sweat just standing there.





I don't want to give away anything about the actual performance, but I definitely recommend seeing the show. It's highly entertaining and not very expensive. It would be a great place to take your special somebody, or even just a friend. If you want to know more about the show, times and ticket prices, etc., goto the NANTA site:

NANTA Homepage and click on the English link.

I took this sumary from the webpage:

We give a title as "COOKIN" to approach the show to the audience easily and quick to understand it abroad which is called "NANTA" in Korea.
'NANTA' means figuratively reckless punching as in a slugfest at a boxing match. Our 'NANTA' is a non-verbal performance of reckless rhythms that dramatize customary Korean percussion in a strikingly comedic stage show. Integrating uniquely Korean traditional tempos with a western performance style, NANTA storms on stage into a huge kitchen where four capricious cooks are preparing a wedding banquet. While COOKIN', they turn all kinds of kitchen items - pots, pans, dishes, knives, chopping board, water bottles, even brooms and each other- into percussion instruments. Rhythm rules and audiences are swept along in the primitive sound explosion and actions on stage. Though the performance is built primarily on captivating rhythms and has very few spoken words, audiences of all ages and nationalities can easily enjoy the plot and dramas.

(Non-Verbal Performance is a genre without words but consists of only rhythm and beat)


I would also like to thank Mr. Kim for buying my book, for one, and also for inviting us as his special guests to the performance. Not only that, but he took Julie and I out for beer and anju after the show and told us all about the history of NANTA and a lot of other things about the performing arts in Korea. I'm looking forward to enjoying more shows in the future.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Incheon Park


Here are some photos from Incheon Park, which is about 15 minutes by bus from where we live. I had no idea it was there. Julie suddenly suggested going and I wondered why she hadn't thought about it before. It's a really nice park, though it is pretty crowded. The again, any nice nature area in Korea is crowded this time of year.



The air was fresh and the trees were very colorful. Looking at these pictures makes me want to go to the Adirondack Mountains in NY , which are an hour from my house. I really miss central New York this time of the year. The scenery at the park was like seeing a little piece of home again.



Hello tree. Nice to see you. Can I take your picture? Thanks.


All that talking to trees is for the birds. Who is that pretty babe up ahead? Maybe I'll stop and say hello to her instead. Wait, it's just Julie. Oops. She bought a curling iron the other day.



Walking around really wore me out. Phew. Julie had to call an ambulance to revive me.



Some more scenery. For being so close to the big city, the park is really nice.



This walkway goes on and on. We never did get all the way down. Because it was so crowded up ahead, we decided to stop at the little man-made pond nearby and relax. I think there's a lot more to the place than what we saw, so we'll have to go back.



People outside flying kites and enjoying the nice day with their families and/or special loved one. We hung out here on a bench for about an hour.



This was one of those times the 5X zoom feature on my camera came in handy. I got a bunch of nice shots of the ducks including this one.



One more shot of the ducks with the hazy mountain in the background.


Now that we've lived in Songnae for awhile, we're starting to find more and more things to do and places to go. It's really not a bad area to live in here. It sure beats Nowhere-dong, anyway.


Here are a few recent shots of autumn from the window of our office-tel.








Upcoming posts:

Hot Roasted Squid
Shawn's Stage Debut in NANTA
Inside Julie's Kindergarten
Kimchi Chigae!
Special Edition

written by shawn matthews    -|link