I, and I would venture to say we, have become so accustomed to multiple stimulus that it took conscious control for me tonight to relax in silence. Well, not complete silence. I was watching television, but also recording the show for my wife to watch later. During the commercials rather than flipping away, stimulating myself, I sat with the set muted and waited.

Actually it was an interesting experience. At first I noticed my heartbeat and could feel the pulse of it circulating blood through my body. I could hear the VCR humming, and the rattling of the cars passing by outside. The background stimuli that fill up our heads and ears.
But it was interesting because I started to notice what was around me in the room. On the left side of the TV is a hand-painted sushi plate and cross-stiched picture. Two unique items that no one else has in their homes.
On the right side is a 2x3 foot oil painting. It is unique not only because each stroke was placed on the canvas by a human hand, but it depicts a picture of an obscure mountain in the Philippines that no one I show the painting to has seen. In front of it stands a paper lumberjack, a hand-folded piece of art from Korea that is simple and yet stunning. Beside it a picture of my wedding, and on the back wall a Koa-wood framed, signed print of a photograph of a white Hawaiian plumaria relfect on a white surface that makes it look like two flowers.

All of this, each piece so vibrant, each a testament to the artistry of life. Each a witmess to the world that exists, real and physical, more than a digital description of life. And yet with this surrounding me, I sit on my couch watching a show that will come back in re-runs and on DVD, I sit and watch and suffer through the silence during the commercials.

For me there is an amazing catharsis in writing. I am surprised that I don't do it more often. Writing is a great outlet for me, because while I am like talking to people, even large groups of people, I don't feel that I am very engaging as an orator. When I have the time to sit down and deliberate over my words before using them, the effect is much stronger and more clear.

One of the more random thoughts that I had today while listening to the radio is that I wouldn't do well writing about pop culture, or trying to incorporate pop culture into my writing. I just don't know that much about it, and personally, don't miss it all that much. I am surprised by how who are my age or older put so much importance on popular music, movies, clebreties and etc.

To change topics again, work has been pretty crazy for me. But I am enjoying my work now immensly more than I ever did at Schwartz. It is great to have a place where each day is exciting and I know that people respect the work I am doing for them.

Not that I don't still have plenty to learn. I haven't gotten any official training yet, so I have been pieceing together some of the procedures, and I can see where the cracks are. But overall things are going well.

So, here I am in Korea. It has been a couple of days and I could describe the shopping that we have done with my mother, but that wouldn't interest too many people. Though I will say that Koreans sell everything. I had forgetten just how many shops and carts are set up along the streets. Even in districts that aren't known as shopping areas, you will find people selling pants or luggage or food (especially flattened, dried squids) and just about everything else. I am amazed at how they all manage to stay in business.

But, today was what I believe will be the highlight of our trip here. We got to go to the DMZ or DeMilitarized Zone. This is something of an ironic name because while the actual 4 km wide, 250 km long zone is empty of military, the border on both sides is one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world. All South Korean men have to join the army at 18 or 19 for a year. Many of them are posted along this border. Additionally, many of the new US Army recruits are sent to Korea for a year, again along the border. And North Korea as a military state has a large Army, most of which is deployed at the edge of this zone as well.

We toured the small UN area know as Pan-mun-jom or the Joint Security Area. Both North and South have some of their own buildings, as well as UN buildings that facilitate meetings between the two. We got the chance to go into one and were allowed to walk to the North Korean side of the building.
I have been in North Korea. How many people can say that!!!

It was a very interesting tour. We felt very privledged to be able to see where our soldiers were putting themselves in danger to protect the Korean people. I have to say that I have a deep respect for the men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting others. Too often we take for granted all the hard work that goes into keeping us safe.

Well, after nearly 19 hours in-flight and almost 24 hours of traveling (which includes driving and airport time) we made it to Korea. One nice thing about the flight over the Pacific was that they had little TVs for every seat and a variety of movies that they constantly replayed. We got to pick a choose a couple of the movies that were interesting to us.

Our first day in Korea we burned through 100,000 Won. That comes out to about $80 and we got a lot for our money, but it is amazing how quick you can spend money over here. On the other hand, that is what we came for, so we are going to keep going.

My parents apartment over here is quite amazing. I want their kitchen and some of the closets they have. The whole apartment makes great use of space. I am really quite jealous.

We are off to see a Korean palace now, I will have to describe some of it later.

Hmmm and I will have to describe the Kimche. Hmmmmm

We are getting ready to leave for Korea. It is crunch time now. I hope we don't forget anything.

I can't believe how behind I am. Palm released a new handheld over a week ago and I am just now finding out about it.

Since I have been thinking of getting a new Palm anyway, I am going to have to keep my eye on this one.

I have been hearing it everywhere!

"This is the Red Sox year"

And this started before they made it to the playoffs...

Another weekend come and gone so quickly. This one was nice though. We took a short road trip to visit my wife's family. While we were there we got to watch conference and generally enjoy the company out there.

I am always so amazed at how close together her family lives. My family is scattered across the globe (quite literally) and the idea of all of us living within 3 hours of each other seems so strange. Not that I wouldn't like it, but I doubt that there is any one place that we could get all the members of my family to agree living in. Maybe the East coast would offer that solution, but in our hearts we are a Western family, so I don't think I could convince them to come out here.

But fortunately for us we all love to travel, and having family in interesting places just provides one more excuse to get out and see the world.

I got up at 5:30 (OK it was really 6:00) to make bacon and pancakes and orange juice for breakfast this morning. It really made the day.

Embarassing as it is, I didn't have the patience to make pancakes correctly until last year. I was making them for my family at Christmas and was pressing down after I had flipped them to try and get them to cook through. My dad told me that I was ruining them because I was compressing out all the air out of them. It was quite the revelation.

And now, my pancakes are light and fluffy. They turn out so great. Hmm, I love pancakes.

Well, I started my new job today. They are very excited to have me working there, which is such a great feeling. I am not sure why they want me so much, but it excites me rather than making me feel self-concious.

I started at a weird time because we are going to Korea in two weeks, and will be gone for two weeks. That means that I am not really getting into my real work but just hanging out helping people.

In case you are wondering, I am now working at Protocol as an Associate Project Manager. The office is very interesting, we make sure that all the direct mail pieces are prepared properly, that the distribution is set up correctly and that the production happens smoothly. I really think it is going to be an interesting job.

I also just found out that placing a heavy emphasis on writing during my interviews was a good thing. I know that I want to write and I enjoy writing, and today found out that the Quality Assurance head is glad to have another good writer on board. Someone she can pass along writing and proofreading assignments too. This tells me that I have many paths open for me through this position.

So, more updates to come as I get into my job and as I prepare to head to Korea. That will be fun. I can't wait to eat kimche again