'stansick

I've been missing Kyrgyzstan of late... So I made this video. Makes me wonder why I ever left. Enjoy! (The song is by Tata Ulan, and the pairing of pictures and song probably will make more sense to people who speak Russian and know a bit about Kyrgyzstan. I tried to match lyrics to pictures wherever possible.)

Lotsa linkage

I have never had an abortion. I have, however, used Planned Parenthood services numerous times over the years, because despite what many people believe, PP is much more than an abortion provider: birth control, cervical exams, STD/HIV testing... At times when I had no job or health insurance, PP was the only place I could go that A) would take a person w/ no insurance and B) was affordable.

The U.S. House of Representatives has just voted to bar Planned Parenthood health centers from all federal funding for birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other lifesaving care. CLICK HERE to find out more and to learn how you can help.

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Something that everyone should read. Incredibly depressing, yet at the same time, inspirational. And highly informative. The shit that goes on against women in our modern world is just unconscionable. Read and learn, and find out how you can help. (And a big thanks to my Aunt Mary for sending this to me!)

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We've put up a lot of stuff over at Desolation Travel of late. On the blog, Derek wrote about his time in the Crimea, and Joe wrote about the madness of Turkmenbashi. Additionally, we've started uploading some of our own YouTube creations. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, if you're interested in seeing the photos from the Crimea and Turkmenistan, just click on the photographs below :-)

Crimea: Sevastopol, Khersones, Bakhchisaray, and Balaklava, Ukraine


Turkmenistan

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And lastly, here's Charlie, being cute :-)

Record snowfall!

I remember, early on in this trip, telling my cousin what he could expect out of the weather here in Daegu. "We might get a few snow flurries, but the snow never sticks here in the city." Hah. You might remember that back in December we had some crazy un-Daegu-like snowfall, and well, I awoke this morning to an even heftier blanket of the white stuff covering just about everything. Take a look:

The view from my apartment, 1:45pm on 2/14/11

On my walk to work

Somebody obviously gave up on biking, and left this chained to a tree.

Neighborhood park, where my cousin sometimes plays basketball

Meanwhile, in the northeastern province of Gangwon-do, they had a really absurd amount of snow (they're calling it a 'snow bomb') - check it:

'Snow-bomb' hits South Korea and Korea chaos after heaviest snowfall

"I like Justin Timberlake the most."

Hah. If you know me at all, you know that I despise Justin Timberlake and all of his ilk. Nonetheless, my silly voice is now immortalized for all time in a professional recording saying, "I like Justin Timberlake the most. I have all of his cds." There is actually a rational explanation for this. On Friday morning, Gwen, Samson, and I met up with some dude named Nick (who works at another Daegu area Oedae) and went to 팀스튜디오 (Team Studio), an audio recording studio located out in the far end of East Daegu. The purpose? To record a brand-new placement listening test for all the Daegu area Oedaes. It was actually rather fun, absurd phrases about Justin Timberlake aside, and the fellow running the studio made the following photo collage for us:

Putin: The Japanime Rabbit Zek? (UPDATED!!)

While I was lounging about my apartment being ridiculously lazy for my lunar new year vacation, my cousin George took the ferry to Japan and had a merry old time. He also discovered (and photographed) this:

Now, can anyone explain this madness to me???
(P.S. zek (зек) means prisoner, in case you were wondering.)

UPDATE: Hahahaha - I found it!! Not that it really explains anything, although it does reinforce my belief that Japan is weird. Wikipedia explains here. Or you can watch the madness below. Enjoy!

Book review times two!

But, as I've reviewed books about traveling to remote and desolate places, it should be obvious that the review is not below, but over on the Desolation Travel blog. Just click here or on either of the pictures below - and enjoy!

A Seolnal Walk

I'd be willing to bet that most Americans have at least heard the phrase Chinese New Year... although I'd also be willing to bet that most of them have no clue as to what it entails. Additionally, I'd bet that most don't know that China isn't the only Asian country to celebrate a Lunar New Year. The Korean Lunar New Year celebration is a three day holiday called 설날 (pronounced seolnal, with the 'n' being almost silent) and it is a huge, family-based holiday [wikipedia]. Businesses shut down and families load into cars, buses, and trains to travel to their parents' or grandparents' homes for the holiday. For those foreigners in Korea lacking in a Korean ancestral homestead to which to return, it's a rather uneventful time.

After January, when I was teaching extra 'intensive' classes, and working very long, sleepy days, I was quite thrilled to discover that the three-day Seolnal holiday fell on a wed-thur-fri, giving me a pleasant five-day weekend as a reward for making it through January unscathed. I had envisioned spending the entire five-days curled up on the couch, nestled between Charlie and Gwen's dog, Songi (I'm pet-sitting, while Gwen and her family do Korean family things), alternating between good books, bad tv, and wonderful naps. And then the most bizarre thing happened: it warmed up! While the US is completely snowed in, and my friends in the former Soviet Union are suffering through a typical winter, South Korea has stumbled upon some warm weather. The highs have been in the 50+ range (Farenheit; that's 10+ for you Celsius folks), and are expected to stay that way through Monday at the least.

I figured I should take advantage of the unseasonable weather, so yesterday I took a wonderful, long walk (wearing a sweater, no coat) along a rural stretch of the road connecting East Daegu and the neighboring community of Gyeongsan. The full set of 65 photographs from my walk can be seen by CLICKING HERE. Some of my favorites are below.

The red line is where I walked, from the top of it to the bottom and back.

Again, the complete set of photos can be seen HERE.

The Black Gate Opens

Ben Scott emulates a hobbit sneaking into Mordor by legally entering Tajikistan. No, seriously, there is a connection. Just click here or on the picture below to find out!