I'm coming back ...

Yes, coming back to the good ole U.S. of A.

With the economy in such robust shape, I figured now would be a better time than ever. I'll be back around the end or middle of February and staying for good. Stay tuned for more info.

Nam and Cambodia

OK

I've finally written all my captions to tell you about Vietnam and Cambodia, where Marissa and I spent two week holiday in August.

Just click the link and you're there.

Nam and Cambodia

Enjoy

James

I love election season ...

Even from afar, I still listen to National Public Radio podcasts and reading the online news sites (I still refuse to visit blogs for some jackasses opinion when that jackass is not me.)

But I worry a little, my absentee ballot has not been processed, according to the Los Angeles County registrar's web site.

But the election has a lot of interest here. Koreans feel like it impacts them, which it does, because their economy is closely tied to the U.S. Also, there are still U.S. bases here with thousands of various military personnel in the country. So foreign policy is important for these people.

A lot of Koreans I've spoken to though, don't have a preference to McCain or Obama. There are many who like Obama, and there are many who respect McCain. Regardless, they're watching.

Most of the people I speak to though, are other foreigners from English speaking country. It's been amazing. I can't count a single English speaker I know, whether from the States, Canada, England, New Zealand or Australia, who like McCain. It's unanimous support for Obama.

Granted, this is anecdotal evidence, but it's still pretty amazing. All of these people are other English teachers, so I'm sure if I new one of the military people they might think differently. Most of the teachers here are more liberal than conservative. Hell, some are commies.

But in case my vote is not counted (which doesn't matter because I live in California where Obama will win by at least 20 points) please Californians, let the gays get married. Vote no on 8. Don't let religious and personal moral beliefs be legislated and forced upon you. Remember when I warned you about the ban on smoking and the mandatory seat belt law. Well this is the next step.

Let people practice their own beliefs and teach their children what morals they want them to believe. Don't let the government do it.

Also vote no on any bond measure. We just don't have the money this year.

(in my best John McLaughlin style voice) PREDICTIONS:

-Obama wins by a landslide, even picking up Colorado, New Mexico (there's a New Mexico, Nevada, Missouri, Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Virginia.

-Sarah Palin shoots two six-shooters in the air and then flashes the audience in a drunken concession speech that includes a shout out to her favorite NASCAR driver. (This is a fantasy, rather than a prediction.)

-Some jackass propositions will pass in California though the state is bankrupt and can't afford any more damned borrowing.

-Republicans, though they lost fair and square, will accuse the democrats of voter fraud, thus continuing the cycle of conspiracy theories about who really won.

Taking the LSAT ...

the law school equivalent of the SAT. Will be back in a few days with another wacky adventure. Hang in there Keller.

OK I'm back

A big I'm sorry to Rod and Jeff, my loyal and obsessive readers, for being gone. Here's what happened since my last post:

Went to Nam.
Got back from Nam.
Did NOT receive a parade.
Marissa left for back home. (Her contract finished and mine doesn't finish until February.)
Picked up a teachers training program that means extra money, but also 12 hour days three days a week.

OK now you're officially caught up on my life. Pretty amazing, huh? Old people who sit on benches at the mall have more interesting things to write about than I do.

However, I can not fathom being removed from Rod's favorites list. In fact, I am disgusted with myself I allowed this blog to drop a few notches.

Now, back to life in Korea. More coming later. For right now, enjoy some random images (with captions Al.)





Korea has tons of theme bars. This one is a tent them where you sit in a, yes, you guessed it, tent. To my right is my friend Paul from New Zealand and to my right, some Korean guy whose name I never remembered so I couldn't have forgotten it. TOTH to Matt.



Out one night in a unversity area, and we saw this dude in a beer costume. This is very common here. In any given area of Korea, you will see costumed things like this walking around every weekend. So my friends and I took a picture with it. Then I decided to hump it. What are you gonna do? (TOTH to Matt for the pic from Facebook.)

Life in Korea, #1

Hello all


I've been slacking again. See when I lived in Turkey it was such an interesting place. It seemed as though each day was a new adventure and experience with a fantastic cast of characters.

But Korea seems boring sometimes when I compare the two. It's probably because, yes, it is a little more boring than Turkey. But I think it's also because things aren't that different for me any more.

Everyday life in Korea doesn't seem like a wacky adventure, but a normal existence. So I must find my subjects for you, the dear readers.

Today I begin with a commitment to write each week, at least one time. The series, Life in Korea, begins today.

Life in Korea, #1
Health care

Last week I found myself with a cold and ear infection.

So I went to the doctor.

But get this: I walked in without making an appointment. One almost never needs appointments for doctors here.

I was seen right away.

The doctor, who speaks English fluently, gave me a standard examination for a cold and ear infection followed by a prescription.

My cost for all this, was $2.50.

I went to the pharmacy for medicine which cost another $2 and I was done. The entire process took 30 minutes. A few days later, I felt fine.

It's one of the great things about this country. They have a national insurance system that means you pay a small co-pay for doctor's visits and medicine. It makes me wish we had something similar in America. Yes, I am advocating national health care.

So Life in Korea #1 is finished. Not too exciting, but I'll add some more later. Post with questions or issues you want addressed. I intend for this topic to address both good and bad and even have some multimedia.

These are my last six months here so I'm going to get off my lazy ass and write some blogs.

Vietnam Here We Come!!!

So Marissa and I are getting ready for summer vacation. We've got two more weeks, but I'll fill you in on what we're doing and where we're going.

August 2 we land in Hanoi where we'll stay four days. Then we're going to make our way down south to Saigon and cross the border to Phnom Penh, Cambodia where I will shoot an AK 47 (hopefully at a live chicken. I'll have marissa turn her head for that one.)

We'll go to Siem Reap where we'll see Angkor Wat, one of the oldest collection of temples in Asia.

And of course, we'll exploit each of these countries for their poverty while were there. It should be a lot of fun. Two weeks in Southeast Asia.

The DMZ

A few weekends ago, Marissa and I headed up to the Demilitarized Zone, also known as the DMZ, between South and North Korea. It was awesome.

Below are pictures from the day. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These guys are supposed to be intimidating, but I thought they were adorable.

 

 

Big News

Well folks I haven't written in a while.

And I'd like to say it's because I was having SO MANY wacky adventures that there was just no time.

It's been the opposite.

I've been working a few after school programs and am pretty busy these days with mundane teaching stuff.

Other than that it's been the usual stuff going out to dinner at that one Korean restaurant and general day to day living.

But alas, the big news.

I'm getting married.

I asked Marrisa and she said yes. Well, at first she said "maybe," and then she said, "OK". I would have
rather she used the word, "yes," but marriage is one of those things that requires men to constantly settle for
OK when you want a yes. So I figure I'm already on top of things.

I'm also getting really good at just nodding my head and replying with grunts, indicating I'm listening.
I think I'm going to be an excellent husband.

We've been engaged for a month now and so far so good.

I want to get married Dick Cheney post 9/11 style in a secure undisclosed location. But we'll see about that.





--
http://loughriedoeskorea.blogspot.com

Cockfights ...

This video shows just how much fun Filipino cockfights are.

It's not graphic, anyone can watch.

This was taken about a minutes or two before the fight, when the place goes nuts with bets being made.

The man sitting to my right was my handler who made all my bets for me.

Cockfights in the Philippines.

Admission: $1.50
Profits Made: $10
Cockfights: Priceless

St. Patrick's Day

One wouldn't think Seoul to be a hotspot of St. Paddy's Day activities. But there is actually a parade (which lasts about ten minutes) and then a cool festival with Irish music afterward. The festival is a neat mix of expats and Koreans themselves who get into putting on green and wearing stupid hats.


So here's a few pictures from the day.

Me and the Guinness man.


Koreans marching in the parade.


It's not St. Patrick's Day without the Korean chapter of Hell's Angels.


Very few countries would let foreigners use their military for a prop. Fortunately they let us use them for a picture with our friend Matt.



OK. This is really wrong. Marissa, our friend MinJong and I standing outside a bar called Texas on St. Patrick's Day in Korea.

The picture you've all been waiting for ....

From the Hobbit House Bar in Manila.

That was the best beer I ever tasted ...

and what made this beer so good?

It was brought to me by a midget. Yes, a midget.

For my last night in Manila I patronized an institution called the
Hobbit House.

The wait staff and servers are all midgets or dwarves. (They have a
normal size bartender, but I think that's just for logistics like
reaching.)

It was incredible. Words cannot describe the joy one gets in a
restaurant full of midgets. They're walking around everywhere with
their little hands and legs, bringing drinks. It was AWESOME.

It's been almost 24 hours now and I'm still feeling high.

The Hobbit House itself was pretty cool. It's a large hall-style room,
with wood fixtures and furnishings. Scenes from Tolkien, one of the
most prolific authors in the fields of Midget Fantasy, adorn the wall.

Wait til you see the picture of me and all the wait staff. They all
come up to my waist. I've never felt so tall.

And if any of you think this is exploitive, walk through the streets
of Manila and see the poverty that exists. These midgets have it good.

Right now I'm on Mindoro Island, at Sabang Beach. There was just a
power outage, but fortunately, most of the bars have generators.

More to come.

--

http://loughriedoeskorea.blogspot.com

I won ten dollars ...

in the most honorable manner one can while in Manila.
Cockfights.

Yes it was day three and I was overdue, so I headed to the cockfight
arena and placed my bets.

I'll have video posted here when I get back. But take my word for it,
if you ever get a chance to partake in a cockfight, do it.

--

http://loughriedoeskorea.blogspot.com

Hitting the road ....

Yes folks, I was given a grand opportunity and I'm going to take it.

My school district offered me a free flight to anywhere in the world as a bonus for renewing my contract. So I'm going to the Philippines. My flight leaves at 8 a.m. Friday morning, Korean time, and I'll be gone for three weeks.

I might dispatch a story or two from the road, but don't come here for much entertainment over the next three weeks. (And if this is one of your primary sources of entertainment, you should find the nearest gun and put yourself out of your own misery.)

When I get back I'll be nice and tan having been in warm weather for three weeks. (It's bloody cold here in Korea.) Golf, snorkeling and laying on the beach await me in less than 24 hours.

Ciao, see you back here on the 1st.

Who I WOULD HAVE voted for ...

had the Republicans let me vote.

Then again, when I received my ballot, I would have voted for Rudy Giulliani. But that ship has sailed.

So who would I vote for if I were in the booth Tuesday, for Super Duper Extreme Mega Tuesday ... McCain. Even though I hate his stance on immigration, he's going to win the nomination and he's the least scary of the other three dudes.

Mitt Romney was a cool governor of Massachusetts because he didn't give a damn about how people live their social lives. He flip flopped and tried to make himself conservative overnight, which is worse than the militant conservatives who genuinely believe it.

I was impressed by Mike Huckabee's performance in the debates and on talk shows, but then I heard a clip from a speech given to other religious whackjobs.

Huckabee said, "I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view."

OK. Now we're done.

And Ron Paul has been great. He has integrity and doesn't mind calling it like it is. But he's also a little crazy.

So I'm left with McCain, who will win anyway.

Now, I normally don't vote for Democrats unless they are Horton Scioneaux (a kamikaze candidate who ran for California State Assembly against Sharon Runner in 2004.)

But this time, there's a Democrat I kind of like. Barack Obama.

The politics of failure have failed. It's that simple.

For one, he smokes.

But he has a good message, he's upbeat and it's a change. America needs some change right now. Obama could be much like Ronald Reagan in 1980, coming in with a positive attitude to fix things. Will he be as great as Reagan? No, absolutely not.

But America is not in good shape right now. The economy is tanking, worldwide hatred of America is at an all time high and it's time for a younger voice to get in and shake things up.


But I could stomach him, which is more than I can say for Hillary Clinton.

Democrats listen to me. This is yours to win, but you have to listen to me. There are a lot of Republican and independent voters out there like me, who will vote for Obama. There are a fewer, if any, who will feel energized at all to vote for Clinton. If you nominate Hillary, you can blow what should be an easy win. You will have the right energized and ready to fight. They hate the Clintons and they especially hate Hillary. It will get them knocking on doors, writing checks and voting on election day.

Now, My Super Duper Mega Extreme Tuesday predictions:
Obama and Clinton will take about half and half. Clinton will be hurt by California not being Winner Take All.

McCain walks away the clear winner.

I ate a dog.

Yes. It happened. I told y'all it would and when better when my old friend Chris Amico was in town to go and chow down on man's best friend.

The most popular dog dish in Korea is called boshintang and it's served as a soup.

Koreans typically eat it in the Summer as a method of cooling down. (I don't get it either, but they eat soup and sweat to cool down.)

It was great seeing Chris again and even better catching up over a bowl of Fido.

For the record, dog tastes pretty good. It's chewy and stringy, but has a nice flavor to it. I'd like to get some of the meat itself and try putting some nice dry rubs on it, or maybe a few different marinades, but I doubt Marissa would let me.

Ah shit ...

So I got my ballot.

I have enough time to send it and have it arrive in America, but why bother.

Here's what happened ...

I am registered decline to state. I registered as such when I went into journalism, as I don't think it's appropriate for journalists to belong to political parties. You may disagree, but it was something I felt strongly about.

Well I left America but am still registered decline to state. In past primary elections, I would just walk into the precinct, ask for any party ballot and vote in that primary. Since 2003, I've voted as both a Republican and Democrat in the primaries. I usually pick the ballot of the party with the most contested elections.

Anyway, the California Republican Party, which I used to work for, decided they don't want decline to state fence sitters to play with them Feb. 5, also known in political circles as "Insane craziness super duper extreme to the max Tuesday."

I didn't know this when I requested my ballot. I requested a GOP ballot, which I cannot have because I am not a registered Republican.

So they sent me a ballot to vote for either the Peace and Freedom, Green, Libertarian or American Independent parties.

So I'm not going to bother wasting my vote on one of these jackass clowns.

Anyway, that's today, tomorrow we learn how I would have voted if I received the ballot of my choice.

I will probably also endorse a Democrat for the first time ever. You people are about to witness history.

Where is my absentee ballot?

Ok, Now I'm getting worried. I requested the damn thing from the Los Angeles County election's office a month ago, and while I understand the absentee applications didn't begin processing until January 7, I still worry.

I need to get the damn thing in my hands.

Why is it that the elections office only gives us a month to apply for and receive an absentee ballot? Why can't I get it sooner? The election is Feb. 5, I want it now.

And this isn't just impatience, I need to make sure it arrives by mail in enough time to send it back.

In addition to the time factor, I go back and forth each day on who gets my vote. I know I'm going to vote Republican, and I'm constantly back and forth between Guilliani, Huckabee or Ron Paul (I'll explain these in my "who I'm voting for" blog.)

Should I get my ballot, I will blog and share with you, the dear reader, who I am voting for.

Until then here is the first in an occasional series titled, "An open letter to ...." Today's open letter is to Hillary Clinton.

Dear Hillary

You might have fooled the people of New Hampshire, but they're idiots. You won't fool me however.

That crying stunt was just that. A cheap attempt to manipulate votes.

You are a robot and robots don't cry unless they have been programmed to do so. And even so, why would someone program a robot to cry when it could do something useful.

How come Edmund Muskie becomes a joke and you get a pass? He was crying real tears and you weren't.

Anyway, I was never going to vote for you, but now will campaign against you and persuade Seoul expats to deny you their vote.


Sincerely

James C. Loughrie
English Teacher and political activist against people who fake crying to get votes

Just got in ...

and boy, it's nice to be among the Koreans again, speaking a language I somewhat understand.

Anyway, I'll have pictures and stories up later.


For now, here's a video of a baby panda from the Beijing Zoo.