Late For Dinner

"Home"

2008-08-08T07:34:00.002+09:00

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce the completion of my trip. I'm "home."

Thursday night I rode into South Lake Tahoe from Carson City, over Spooner Summit, and crossed the border into California. There my former pastor Mike and church band bassist Dennis met me. They got a hotel room for the three of us, and the next day we rode to Cool. A mere 120 miles, through some incredible mountain scenery. We got to Mike's house at about 9:30pm; we left South Lake at 6am.

From Cool it was another 22 miles to Colfax -- not an easy 22 miles, but after a week of 80-, 90-, and 100-mile days, 22 was nothing.

I rolled down my brother's driveway in Colfax, California at about 6pm on Saturday, August 2nd, putting my trip length at almost exactly 2 1/2 months -- which is what I had guestimated.

However, my odometer was only at 3,927. Almost 4,000. And I couldn't stop at almost, so I rode up to my parents' cabin in the Sierra Nevadas and back, putting me at 4,021 total miles pedaled.

Now I'm done riding for a while. I need to let my rear, and the rest of me, heal.

It will be some time before I can fully appreciate the enormity of this trip. I think I'm going to try to write a book. There's a lot that happened that I haven't shared here on the blog, for various reasons. A book is the best way to tell the full story of my adventures. So I'm going to try. It might take me a while, so don't expect it any time soon.

I'll post pictures when I can. I just wanted to let everyone know that I made it, in one piece and under my own power.

More soon...

Utah and Nevada are beautiful

2008-07-31T10:47:00.002+09:00

God willing, I will reach my destination this Saturday. It's a bitter-sweet realization, that I'll soon be done with my epic trip. I'm going to miss the road, the expectation of seeing new things, dealing with my bike and my camping gear--I'll miss camping almost every night. The independence, the wild sense of freedom you get from touring on a bicycle. Soon I'll be back to the world of job, car, rent.

Enough emoting. Three more days of riding left. Here are the new pictures: Utah/Nevada; Nevada. Enjoy.

On the edge of the big desert

2008-07-26T06:35:00.003+09:00

Well, I've arrived at the last stage of my journey: the Loneliest Road in America, aka Highway 50 from Hinckley, Utah all the way through Nevada. It's all desert, and there are like six towns. Yesterday I rode from Heber City to Hinckley, a 150 mile marathon starting at 7am and ending at 2am. I'm taking it easy today, in Delta, about five miles east of Hinckley. Tomorrow in the wee hours of the morning I will begin the 83 mile trek from Hinckley to Border, and maybe further. We'll see how I feel.

In Heber I met up with a friend my brothers and I met in Beijing (click the link and scroll down), Carrie Mehr. She and her sister hung out with us at our hostel, played poker and hunted Easter eggs. It was fun to catch up and meet some of her friends, Mike, Brittany, and Stephanie especially. Mike fed me and gave me one of his bike lights "just in case." Brittany used to be a pro golfer, and she was fun to hang with. Stephanie put me up in her house, and let me hang out there while she was at work, before she had even met me. Good people, all. Carrie's quite the outdoor enthusiast: she trail runs, bikes and skis. Her mountain bike is always in her car, except when she rides it which is often. She bought me dinner. It was good times.

New pictures here.

Two States Left...

2008-07-23T04:38:00.003+09:00

Yesterday I conquered Colorado at last. I'm now in the beginning stages of conquering Utah. I'm writing this from the Duchesne (du-SHANE), Utah public library. Tomorrow I should be halfway through the state.

Here are pictures for your viewing enjoyment: new and newest.

That's all for now. As soon as this thunderstorm moves on, so will I.

Hotchkiss to Fruita

2008-07-19T07:10:00.002+09:00

Western Colorado is something else...

...and it's taking it's toll. I'm pretty tired today, after having climbed Monarch Pass, ridden the toughest 20 miles in my life from Sapinero to Hotchkiss, and taken a very difficult scenic detour to the Colorado National Monuments, a fantastic series of redrock, sandstone canyons (see the pictures).

I'm going to take a day off tomorrow, then head north through Colorado for a bit to avoid riding on the interstate through Utah. Which, if I tried, would result in unwelcome police attention. So, north for a bit, then west again.

I know I've resorted to abbreviated posts lately, and I do apologize. I'll try to catch you all up on the highlights of my trip soon. Until then, peace unto you...

More New Pictures

2008-07-18T02:24:00.002+09:00

Sorry for the silence! I survived the Rockies and am about to brave the desert. Here are new pictures: Oldest; older; newest.

I'm in Delta, CO, and will be in Utah hopefully tonight or tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

Thanks for all the comments! Keep 'em coming. I'll write in more detail when I get time (30 minute time limit at this library).

Those of you in California, I'll see you soon!

Minneola, Kansas

2008-07-07T04:59:00.004+09:00

...is where I'm at currently, in the home of Reed and Carol Hindman, some very kind, hospitable, retired wheat farmers. Minneola is about 40 miles from the Oklahoma border, and about 20 miles from Dodge City. I rode here yesterday from Laverne, Oklahoma. Zoom out on the Google map of Minneola and you'll get a sense of the distance between towns in this part of the country. It's a little daunting.

Anyway, daunting or not I'm going to ride it.

To get back to my list of hightlights:

In Walthall, Mississippi, I stopped at a little gas station/restaurant for lunch and got to talking with the owner, a very nice guy named Pat. I told him my story, about Korea and my trip, and he didn't charge me for the meal.

In Grenada, Mississippi, I met Alison Moore at the library (her picture is here). We started chatting and discovered that we had a million things in common: She's from California (Sacramento, too, if I remember correctly); her husband Jonathan is a musician (originally from Britain, and my drummer Dan is British...stretching it a bit I know); her foster son's name is Ethan, my youngest nephew's name is Ethan; they're involved in prison ministry, my dad is a retired correctional officer...the list went on and on. She invited me to stay at their house for the night and I gladly agreed. I was very impressed with their family and the welcome I received. They made me feel instantly at home, and I was sorry to leave the next day.

I broke a chain as I left Grenada. An easy fix, but still a bummer.

Then I took a wrong turn and went 30 miles south, out of my way, down to Greenwood, MS. I was on Highway 7/8, and didn't notice where they split into separate roads. I stayed on 7, much to my chagrin when I realized it 30 miles later. But I did ride past Avalon, the home of Mississppi John Hurt (picture here).

And I met Marvin and Becky Sheffield, whom I wouldn't have if I'd taken my planned road. As usual it was getting late and I was tired. I was on a very lonely stretch of highway with vast cornfields on either side. I needed water and had determined to beg or "borrow" water at the nearest house or barn I saw. I pulled up to the Sheffield's house, they were home, and I asked for water and if I could camp somewhere out in the fields. They said yes to both, and asked me to stay for dinner. They were young, probably very close to my age. Marvin was the manager for Shellmound Plantation. After a very tasty dinner they took me out to a grass airstrip in the middle of one of their cornfields, and I set up camp. And I think I set a record in how fast I pitched my tent -- the mosquitos were viscious. Even when I was safely in my tent I could hear them whining all around it. A chilling sound.

To be continued...

(Pictures)

Prague, Oklahoma

2008-06-29T11:14:00.005+09:00

That's where I was last weekend. It's a little town about 50 miles east of Oklahoma City. I took two days of rest at Rick and Kathy Hawkin's house, a couple I met at the Baptist church here in town. I stopped last night at the church to ask if I could camp and they invited me to stay in their son's room (he was at a friend's house and didn't mind, apparently). It was nice just watching TV and sitting in an air-conditioned living room, luxuries I'd been living without.

I've been having a lot of good days. I've learned that I have to keep the body happy, and spend the money to make that happen, so I am. And so my quality of life on the bike has increased. I'm having fun most of the time, and when I'm not, I'm still glad I'm out there.

I've covered a lot of ground since I last wrote at length, so I'll just give you some highlights:

In Maplesville, AL, I stayed in Diane and Clem Clapp's hunting lodge (I met the couple at the Maplesville Baptist Church), replete with various hunting trophies. Animals I saw displayed: boar, deer, squirrel, duck, various birds I don't know the names of. But it was indoors and out of the bugs, so I was happy.

I met Gerald Allen, Alabama State Representative. He stopped in front of me on the highway outside of Tuscaloosa just to talk to me. He rides too, and is planning to go from California to Virginia next year. He was very excited and impressed, and gave me all kinds of advice, some peaches, M&M's, and $40. I was especially excited about the last part. And impressed with his generosity. If I lived in his district, he'd definitely have my vote.

In Reform, AL, I met Walt and Jean Chambers through an interesting set of circumstances. It was getting towards evening and I was looking for a church to camp at. I'd already passed a church that was doing VBS (Vacation Bible School, a weeklong summer day camp for kids that churches often put on), but I wasn't ready to stop. So when I was ready to stop, about the time I rolled into Reform, I was again looking for a church doing VBS. (Which would mean people at the church whom I could ask if I could camp. I like to ask for permission if I can.) At the main crossroads in the town I saw a sign for VBS at Friendship Baptist Church. I asked some locals how to get there, and it turned out to be about four miles off my route, which was okay at that point. I was willing to ride the extra miles in the hopes of camping there.

So I rode the miles and got to the church. They had an identical VBS sign up near the church, and when I saw it, I actually read it carefully. And discovered that I had my dates wrong. VBS was the next week! So I'd ridden four miles for nothing. I asked a lady out doing her yardwork if she knew who I could talk to about camping at the church and she directed me to Walt and Jean's house. Walt is a deacon at the church.

So I rode up to their house as it was getting dark and put on my best cold-call salesman face. Jean answered the door and was surprised to see me but very welcoming. She invited me in to talk to her husband Walt. So I told them my story, how I had got there by misreading their VBS sign, what I was doing, how I had recently returned from South Korea, and they were fascinated. Before I was done telling my story Jean had fed me and they'd invited me to sleep in their guest room and have breakfast with them in the morning. Of course I accepted.

They are fantastic people who love the Lord, have 20 grandchildren and some great-grandchildren, and were as happy as they could be that I'd found my way to their door. I was too. It was quite a unique experience.

In Columbus, Mississippi, I got my first flat on my rear tire. And met Tina and Crystal at a hair salon -- Tina was a hairdresser and Crystal's son was getting his hair cut. I stopped in for directions and Tina gave me coffee and water and was very hospitable.

To be continued...

(Pictures here.)

From Little Rock, Arkansas

2008-06-22T02:44:00.001+09:00

More pictures. Anecdotes to follow in due course.

More new pictures

2008-06-14T00:20:00.002+09:00

Shots from the road...

(I'm now in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at the U. of Alabama library. I hope to be in Columbus, Mississippi by tonight.)

New Pictures...

2008-06-11T02:00:00.000+09:00

...here! Enjoy.

A burger "all the way," lessons learned, heat

2008-06-10T07:50:00.010+09:00

Hello again. First, the numbers: I am now up to 780 miles pedaled, and 20 days on the road. So I'm averaging 39 miles per day, between 9 and 10 miles per hour. Which is down a bit from my previously posted average of 45 miles per day, but hey, there have been some hills. And some heat.

I'm in the Auburn University library in, you guessed it, Auburn, Alabama. This is another day of rest for me. I'll be honest, the last few days have been a bit rough. Near 100-degree heat has really been taking it out of me, even with taking a break during the worst of it every day. Aaaand...I realized that I'm going to have to change my route if I want to make it back in August. Without going broke. So, while I haven't finalized my new route yet, I have decided not to go up to Franklin, TN, as it would take too much time and money. So I'm going to go straight northwest from here, as straight as I can. Don't worry, I'm still going to avoid the worst of the desert.

I've continued my stealth camping ways, and enjoyed the hospitality of the church. And I stayed in a motel in Columbus, GA. Yes, I cracked. I don't plan on that happening again. Too expensive.

To back up a bit...

After quitting Quitman (haha, do you get it?), I rode to Moultrie. As I was heading out of town, at around 6:30pm, a thundershower hit. I stopped off at Lakeside Assembly of God, seeking shelter. Only momentary shelter, but I met Bryant, a real nice guy and the children's church leader there. We got to talking and he offered to let me camp there at the church. I took him up on his offer, and was setting up my tent when Jean Sellers walked up.

After learning what I was doing, and that I was intending to spend the night there under the church's carport, he said, "Why don't you come stay in my guest room?" He seemed like a nice guy so I accepted his offer. He and his wife Lucille took me to pizza, then back to their home, where they did my laundry and put me up in a wonderful bedroom, complete with a fan to drown out any noise and help me sleep better. In the morning Jean took me to breakfast and dropped me off back at the church. It was great, and very, very generous of them. And trusting on their part. They're both retired, Jean from Proctor and Gamble and Lucille from a large sewing company there in Georgia. Both wonderful, hospitable, Christian people! Thank you Jean and Lucille!

I should also mention Jimmy Chapman, who was also there at the church. He made me feel extremely welcome, and offered all kinds of help and support, even giving me his phone number. Thank you Jimmy for your warm hospitality!

From Moultrie I rode to just outside of Albany, camping behind Mt. Hope Baptist church, which was out in the middle of nowhere, between two cornfields. On the way there I stopped off at Bob's Country Store and had excellent food, cooked by a guy named (I believe his name was also) Jimmy. The burger was great. I had it "all the way," which means "with everything on it." First time I'd heard that phrase. The black-eyed peas were great (my first black-eyed peas ever, if my memory serves me right). The pudding was excellent. I hung out there for a while, waiting out the heat and reading. I'm reading The Odyssey, by the way, a gift from my coworker Daniel. It's extremely apropos.

I should also mention the All-Pro Grill in Leesburg. I heard "all the way" in relation to burgers for the second time there. The burger was good, too. I watched Regis and Kelly while I ate it. Good, ol' fashioned, mindless entertainment.

After Mt. Hope it was another church, which had no sign so it shall remain nameless. This one was just outside Americus, GA. From Quitman all the way to Moultrie I took the back roads. The highways in Georgia are terrible for bikes. Georgia is either indifferent to or has a strong dislike of bicycles. There are no bike lanes, and major roads have deep, horizontal grooves on the shoulders, warning drivers when they're about to go off the road, but also making it hell to ride on. I can't ride on the grooves, which puts me on the white line -- with semi's shooting past me. No fun. So when I got to Americus, the edge of my good map that showed back roads, and couldn't find another map with back roads, I became frustrated. And decided to get out of Georgia.

So I headed straight west on Highway 26, going to Columbus. As it got toward the heat of the day, I stopped at Friendship Camp, a Baptist summer camp. They were winding down a week of jr.-sr. high camp, and were kind enough to let me hang out for a while. Janet got me water and took me to see Lance, the camp director and a real nice guy, who gave the okay. I also met Scott, a biker like myself (perhaps less crazy). I sat at some shady picnic tables, where a couple of students and a counselor (Josh, Ashley and Libba) were hanging out, playing guitar. It had been two weeks since I had played a guitar, so I asked if I could borrow one of theirs. It felt oh so good to play again. I played a couple songs for them before they had to leave. Josh, Ashley and Libba, it was nice meeting you guys! And thanks, Lance, Scott and Janet for making me feel so welcome.

I rolled out of there at 5pm, headed toward Buena Vista. About an hour and a half later, I rolled into the outskirts of town. I camped in a field behind their sports complex, in what I thought was a great location. In the morning, I discovered...ants. Now, there are red ants everywhere in the South, but these had actually chewed through the netting on my tent and gotten into my backpack, where they smelled goodies. They didn't bite me at all. I only saw it when I woke up. But it was a bummer de-anting my pack and tent.

After that delightful morning, I rode toward Columbus. I made good time, stopping off at Zion Hill Baptist Church in Cusseta. They were having a barbecue fundraiser to send their youth to Six Flags in Atlanta. So naturally, seeing the sign and the smoking grill, I stopped for lunch. Douglas was manning the grill, and he did a fantastic job. The ribs and chicken were superb. I also talked with a gentleman who had ridden his motorcycle all over the States, so we had something in common. Pastor Harris was a very welcoming, friendly man. Everyone there was very friendly, actually. Thanks, Zion Hill Baptist Church!

Zion Hill was the last good thing that happened that day. I was on Highway 30, which was pretty nice. But it deadended into 280, which was basically a freeway. The grooves returned. It was hot. And on both sides of the road -- military property. I found this out the hard way. I kept seeing signs that said, "U.S. Property, no trespassing." This frustrated me. If it's U.S. property, and I'm U.S. citizen, I should be able to ride that road, I thought. Now, in my defense, I was sick unto death of freeway riding, was hot, tired and pushing to get to Columbus before it got too hot. So, seeing a nice road that seemed to go the right direction, even though it was closed, I got off 280, road through some tall grass, and made the nice, abandoned road that wound through the woods. It wound past a large, open field with a sign that said, "Babbot Drop Zone."

Not good. I was on military property, military training grounds, no less. So I promptly decided to something else stupid. I saw a dirt road that seemed to maybe take me back to the freeway by a quicker route. Bombing down it, I hit some sand and took a spill. I was okay, I just couldn't get free of my clip-in pedals. Then I compounded my stupidity. I didn't go back to where I knew I could get back on the freeway. No, I kept going on the dirt road, till I came to another, more overgrown dirt road that seemed to go straight back to the freeway. It led me to dense brush. Which I had no choice but to go through. So about 50 yards of dense brush later, with cuts and stratches and sand all over me, I made it back to where I would have flown past 15 minutes earlier, had I stayed on the freeway. The lesson? Don't trespass, for one. Don't take unproven shortcuts, for another.

I made it to Columbus after riding through the heat. It was about 4pm. By 5, I was toast. I had no energy, was not in the highest of spirits, so...I checked into the first motel of the trip. It set me back a pretty penny, but at least I had a shower and bed. Columbus is beautiful, very historic. I just wish I had had more time and a car to enjoy it. Yes, I wanted a car. I was tired.

After Columbus I rode to Opalika, Alabama. Once you cross the Chatahoochee River going out of Columbus, you're in Alabama. So, another new state. To get to Opalika I had to ride on 280 again. No grooves, just a horrible chip-and-seal shoulder that I couldn't ride on. So, I was on the white line, with cars and trucks barreling past me at 65 miles per hour. I took my life in my own hands all day that day. Once again, the heat was intense, reaching 100 on the blacktop. I got to town and was drained. I stopped at Burger King, thought I could keep going after that, and was wrong. I immediately had to find some shade and just sit. Which I did, for two hours. After regaining my strength a bit, I rode off in search of a place to crash, metaphorically speaking.

I happened upon First Baptist Church of Opalika, in a huge, beautiful building in the Greek style, recently renovated. Their youth choir was practicing for the evening service, so I sat in. They were very good, led by a lady named Tamara. The evening service (it was Sunday) was full, maybe 500 people. Pastor Steve and Pastor Mike gave me the okay to camp on church property for the night, which I gladly did. Thank you, gentlemen!

I woke up at 5:30 (Alabama is Central Time, so I gained an hour). After riding casually around the historic district, I headed for nearby Auburn, where I did my laundry at the laundromat. After cleansing my garments, I went across the street to R and R Music, where I met Larry and Toby and another guy who doesn't work at the store whose name escapes me. Larry gave me a pep talk about my ride, and about music. So I'm feeling better about my chances of making it all the way by bike. Toby showed me his band and had some very kind words to say about my music. The other guy, who shall remain nameless until I remember his name (he has spent a lot of time in Canada, though he's not Canadian; just so he knows I'm talking about him) was very impressed with our stuff. I'm glad I stopped in; thanks guys!

And that pretty much brings you up to date. Now I'm off to find a place to sleep for the night, and up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat. Your prayers are appreciated!

Until the next library...

From Quitman, Georgia

2008-06-03T04:30:00.004+09:00

Pictures here!

So I decided to deviate from my planned route, and am now in Georgia. I hadn't planned on hitting Georgia; more on that later.

This is day 13 of my trip. I'm getting into some good shape, averaging 45 miles a day. Only 10 miles an hour, but hey. Slow and steady wins the race. I've camped at a Baptist church (in Anthony, FL -- thanks Pastor Jim and the folks there for your hospitality!), by the side of road among some trees (only setting up my tent when it was dark, so as to aviod detection), and on the floor in a guy's apartment in Gainesville. That's an interesting story:

I was exhausted as usual, and had made up my mind to get a motel room, for the first time on this trip. First, I went to a Subway. There, I met Christina, who was extremely helpful. All I had to pay with was a $100 bill, which they couldn't break, so her manager gave me the sandwich. And Christina gave me a free drink. She told me where to find a good motel, and called around to see if there were any churches I could stay at. Though she wasn't successful, I appreciated her effort.

So then, with my gas tank full (of free Subway) I felt enboldened to search for cheaper lodging. I was cruising around the university district (the University of Florida is there) looking for another church when I passed a guy and a girl around my age, carrying beer and pizza. The guy gave me a very supportive "how you doing?" and I got a feeling. I turned after them and asked him if he knew of a place I could stay. He said, "It's cool you asked: I just got done with a 4,000-mile tour myself! You can sleep on my floor!" His name was Josh, and he had just ridden from Key West, FL to Idaho. He was trying to make it to Anchorage but got sick. Anyway, I showered for the first time in four days, and slept indoors for the first time since I started. Thanks, Josh! (You can see pictures from his ride at http://www.keytoanchorage.com/.)

After Gainesville I stayed at two campgrounds, Ichetucknee Springs and Suwanhee River. At Suwanhee River State Park, I met an Anglican high school youth group. They were camped across from me, I asked to borrow a hammer for my tent stakes, we started chatting and they invited me to play Texas hold 'em with them (no money, just bragging rights). They gave me some Gatorade and Pop Tarts, and prayed for me. Thanks Patrick and guys!

From there I rode to Madison, FL, a delightful little southern town with beautiful, historical architecture and a community college. It was Sunday, so I hung out on campus for a while for my afternoon break. Then, as I was looking at my maps and realizing that my Adventure Cycling maps were making me ride more miles than necessary, I decided to head straight north. So off the beaten path I went, and am now in Quitman, GA.

My plan was to ask a church if I could camp on their property. I stopped at Quitman Church of Christ. I met John Sikes, told him I needed a place to stay, and he said, "Let me talk to an elder about that." Elder Walker offered to put me up in a motel room, but I told him all I really needed was a plot of grass to pitch my tent. They did even better: they had a small apartment with a shower and restroom that was being used for storage, and let me stay there for two nights. Thanks, Elder Walker and Mr. Sikes!

At seven that evening the church held a public sing-along in the town park. The Church of Christ doesn't use any musical instruments in their services, believing that if the first-century church didn't do it, they shouldn't either. Many people from other churches in the area came to the sing-along. There were maybe 200 people there, all singing hymns a capella. It was actually quite cool; all the Church of Christ people were singing in harmony. It was beautiful. Everyone was amazed at what I'm doing, and were extremely friendly.

So here I am in the Brooks County Public Library in Quitman, taking a day of rest and catching up on my Internet-related chores. I'm going to re-tool my route and see if I can shave some more miles (and time and money). Thanks for the comments -- keep 'em coming! Talk to you again soon.

Day Seven

2008-05-28T03:19:00.003+09:00

Hello from the Webster, FL public library! I'm enjoying the air conditioning, waiting out the afternoon heat, and catching up on my correspondence. So far I've pedaled approximately 240 miles, and camped every night. Some stealth camping, so I won't tell you exactly where...

I've been very commando, as it were. While I have taken showers, I haven't taken as many as could be desired. Nor have I dined in style. Grocery stores have all I need to survive and thrive; restaurants only take too much of my money. Though I have hit a couple restaurants. The Subway sandwich I had earlier really hit the spot.

My body is beginning to adjust to being on the bike for long hours, though I'm still fighting aches and pains here and there. The bike has performed like a champ. And I think I've packed fairly well. Everything I have I either will use, am using, or have used. I haven't kicked myself for not bringing something...yet. I have kicked myself for buying that copy of Lonely Planet Florida. It's not worth the added weight and subtracted space.

The best part so far is the people I've met along the way. I mean, if Florida is any indication of the rest of the South, I'm a believer in and big fan of Southern hospitality. Especially some folks I met just outside of Fort Meade. I was rolling by, it was getting late, I was looking for a place to camp, and I saw a Christian camp for boys, called Camp Wilderness. It turns out it's a Royal Rangers camp, a Christian Boy Scouts, basically. I was a Royal Ranger Straight Arrow for a short time as a boy in Lincoln, CA. So it was neat being there. Anyway, I rode in and asked if I could pitch a tent for the night. The guy in charge said yes. Fortunately there was a group there from Fort Myers, camping for the weekend (this was on Saturday). They were extremely hospitable and invited me to camp near them and join their group. They fed me steak and chicken and made me feel as welcome as could be, inviting me to join them for movie night (they watched one of those Tim Allen Santa Claus movies and The Incredibles on a portable canvas screen they had set up).

The next day, they did a small church service, and I played a couple songs for them and they prayed for me and gave me a bunch of food. I stayed there all day, as I needed a day of rest. I hung out and played in the creek (no gators, that we saw...) with Richard Pringle and his wife April and kids Hannah, Luke and Faith. They are great people. The whole group are great people. Paul the painter, who let me use his camp shower and first invited me to camp near the group, was a real cool guy. All told, it was a really neat experience, one I will long remember.

And I met many other good people:

--Barney (I hope I remembered his name correctly) from the motorcycle/furniture/antiques and curiosities store in Lakeland, who gave me directions and water.

-- The Blanchards in Lakeland, who gave me directions and fed me barbecue.

--James at the produce stand outside of Polk City, who told me his story and gave me water and more bananas and oranges than I had paid for.

--David on the Van Fleet State Trail, who told me all about gators big and small, and where to possibly find a camping spot.

The list will only get longer, I'm sure.

That's all for now, folks. Check back for more updates and anecdotes. I'm going to try to do pictues eventually.

Godspeed!

News

2008-05-21T12:57:00.003+09:00

Greetings, all! I break my long silence to inform you that:

1. The CD is, of course, finished and available from these fine online retailers: cdbaby.com, iTunes, and our Snocap store at our myspace page. For CD Baby, you can either order the physical CD or download the entire album in mp3 form. If you want to download the whole album, we get paid more if you use CD Baby than iTunes. If you only want some of the songs (why you wouldn't want all of them is beyond me...) you have to use either iTunes or Snocap.

2. I left Korea for Florida on May 5th. I've been here at my brother Drew's house, getting over a sinus infection and hanging out with him and his family. So I'm back in the States, and will be for the foreseeable future.

3. Tomorrow morning early I'm leaving on my big bicycle trip, from Ave Maria, FL, to Colfax, CA. I expect it to take me 2 1/2 to 3 months. But I've never done anything this extensive, so I really don't know how long it will take me. I'll be camping as much as possible to up the adventure quotient and lower the cost. I'll be posting pictures and anecdotes as much as I can, using public library computers.

So, the adventure continues. I'm back in my home country, but still far, far away from home. Follow along and feel free to leave comments. And buy the CD!

A Musical Announcement

2008-03-19T15:38:00.003+09:00

The long, long wait is nearly at an end:

You'll be able to download all 11 songs on the album from our myspace on April 5th. We're working on a way for people to order a physical copy. Stay tuned, I'll let you know what goes down. Until then, enjoy three new tunes and two newly-mixed familiar tunes on our myspace.

My Friend the Piano Prodigy

2008-03-19T15:12:00.004+09:00

Last night I went to my student Eun Bi's piano recital. She played Franz Liszt's "Rhapsodie Espagnole." I was blown away. Here are some pictures:

Eun Bi in action:

Her classmates who also performed. They were all amazing. And beautiful, as you can see:

I was very proud of her:

My friends Sung Eun and Emily Reesor came too:

Emily and her husband Jon:

A Very Merry Christmas to You All

2007-12-25T14:12:00.000+09:00

An Impromtpu Rock Show

2007-12-22T14:52:00.000+09:00

Last night The Jordan Emmans Band had a last-minute opportunity to rock Speakeasy, an opportunity at which we gladly jumped. There were a grand total of maybe ten people in the bar, but we had a good time regardless. We're playing there again this Sunday as part of a Holiday open mic.

Dave watches me intently, wondering, "What chord will he play next? And why is he playing a song which we've never practiced?" --

Dave SMILES! for the camera:

A moment of levity:

Singing, slightly out of focus:

(The CD is still in the works. It's getting there. I'll let you know when.)

No Pedals

2007-11-22T09:53:00.000+09:00

My coworker Daniel recently made a fantastic purchase:

He allowed me to borrow it:

It was very cold. But I also borrowed his very fashion-forward helmet/goggle combination, so at least I looked super-hip.

Here's what I saw:

It was so cold, in fact, that it was hours after my ride before I felt comfortable again. However, tons of fun. I'll do it again, provided Daniel lets me.

Rockin' the English Festival

2007-11-17T13:27:00.000+09:00

The day after my birthday party we had a gig at a public middle/high school English festival. There were hundreds of Korean teenagers milling about the place, taking part in English-themed games and activities, including a very impressive talent show. We were the special "native speaker" entertainment: a real-live foreigner band (not to be confused with the real-live band Foreigner). Our bassist Dave's wife Dawn took these pictures. Dave and I both wore red shirts, not by design but by chance. Honestly.

This is the venue, which was pretty full when we played:

They had us at the back of the stage because of all the other acts; when it was our turn to play, the huge screen you see above us went up, revealing The Jordan Emmans Band in all its rock-n-rollness:Leading the crowd in clapping:

Birthday Bash

2007-11-17T13:11:00.001+09:00

Yes, I know it's been many moons since I've posted...and I regret to say, I don't have a good excuse. But, regardless, here at last are some pictures. It was my birthday last month, and we had a big party that was a rollicking good time. Around 30 or so people attended, mostly students of mine (mostly female...funny how that happened). First was dinner, then karaoke and drinks.

I didn't have my fancy camera, so these very poor quality pictures, taken on my cellphone camera, are all I have. Here's my coworker Eric and student Sei Hee trying to figure out her camera:

Taking a picture of Eric taking my picture (my student Do Hae is to the right of Sei Hee):

Very blurry, but that's Daniel and Dina, two of my other coworkers, singing U2's "With or Without You":

Fun times, until 3am. And now I'm 30...

My apologies for the blogging silence. I haven't really been inspired to blog; living in Korea is pretty normal for me now. Teaching is still going really well, I love my job most of the time, my students are great. The CD is getting very close to done. We're looking at finishing by January, which is exciting. I will, of course, let you know when that wonderful day comes.

Cadence Rose Emmans

2007-07-31T13:10:00.001+09:00

Born on July 17th, 2007. She's beautiful, isn't she? My brother Nathan's first child:

Daddy and Mommy:

Album Teaser

2007-06-03T22:25:00.000+09:00

It gives me great pleasure to announce the recent establishment of www.myspace.com/thejordanemmansband, at which Internet site can be found two brand-spanking-new songs, a taste of the full-length CD to come (I can give no deadline for the CD release as of yet; every time I do give a deadline, we miss it, so when we finish, we finish, and I'll let you know). Currently you can only listen, you can't download. We haven't decided what to do as far as that goes. But feel free to listen, and leave a comment. Thanks!

Shanghai, and Home

2007-05-22T14:15:00.001+09:00

Did I mention that we didn't shower from Lhasa to Shanghai? Well, it's true. So we were oh so happy to get to our hostel in Shanghai, the land of real toilets, a variety of food, and good old fashioned civilization.

It's a cool city, very hip, very cosmopolitan, not very communist. In fact, you wouldn't know you were in Red China just by looking.

Here are me and my rockstar brothers on The Bund:

We were in Shanghai for four days. Drew and Nate went golfing (and Peter was sick and stayed at the hostel) one of the days, so I roamed The Bund. I managed to get inside the Cathay Hotel, even though it was closed for renovations. Here's the dusty piano in the lobby:

This is the ceiling in the lobby of the HSBC Building. You're not allowed to take pictures. Which annoyed me, I confess. I also confess that I managed to take this picture:

After roaming The Bund, I crossed the river to the newer part of town and went to the top of the Jin Mao Tower, the world's 5th tallest building. The views were spectacular. This is a shot of the building they're constructing right next to the Jin Mao Tower:

Here are the spires of the Catholic church we attended on that Sunday:

Here's the interior of a Protestant church I found while wandering around town:

April 30 was Nate's birthday, so we celebrated at the hostel's rooftop bar. Drew got deathly ill the night before, so he was out of commission. Here's the cake:

The gentleman on the left is Johann, a South African and a very cool guy. He's an author (in Afrikaans, his mother tongue) and a university professor, and he stood us all to drinks. He also bought the cake:

The next morning, May 2nd, we flew our separate ways, me back to Korea and the guys back to California. It was a strange feeling saying goodbye to my brothers, but I'll see them again in a year or so.

It was really good to be back in Korea, where I at least know my way around. It's funny how it felt like coming home. It's not home, but it is, in a way. Do you know what I mean? Anyway, so ends the China trip narrative. Hope you enjoyed it, thanks for reading, stay tuned for more adventures.

The Road Home II

2007-05-22T13:31:00.000+09:00

On our way out of Tibet, we stayed in a little town on the border for a day, visiting a real working Buddhist monastary, in which were various interesting statues:

This statue was enclosed in a kind of closet. Looking through a crack, you could see, quite suddenly and unpleasantly, these guys glaring bloody murder at you. Eerie:

After that we traveled to a Catholic church, the only one we saw in Tibet, and it was like coming home. We had grown weary of all the prayer flags and the sense of mysterious cruelty you get from Buddhist monastaries. The cross was a welcome sight:

Back on the road; more remote Tibetan towns:

We finally made it to Yunnan Province in China, after four days on the road through amazing, dramatic, remote, rugged country. The Chinese town we ended up in was Zhongdian. There we saw one of the cooler sights on our trip: a large crowd of Tibetans were all basically line dancing to traditional music in a public square. They all knew the steps of the dance, and it was a trip to watch them as a whole, rather than focusing on individual dancers. They moved as one, as it were:

We stayed in Zhongdian for one day and two nights, then boarded a plane for Shanghai and the final stop of our trip.

Tibet III: The Road Home, Part I

2007-05-22T12:43:00.000+09:00

From Everest we drove Emma, our British friend, to Tingri, which is close to the Nepal border. From there she was going to find a ride over the border, then take a bus to Katmandu. She's quite the independent adventurer.

Now, about Jennifer, our driver. We started calling him that (I think it was Nate who came up with the name) as a way to vent our frustrations. He spoke basically no English and never caught on to the joke. But he was an interesting character. He was very rude, very uncooperative, treated Emma poorly, and tried to pull a fast one on us.

By which I mean, he suddenly said that no, he wouldn't drive us to Tingri, that the plan had been all along to go to a different town (which wouldn't work at all for Emma). So we had to call his boss, with whom we had worked out our whole Everest trip, to rectify the situation. His boss said of course, Jennifer was to take us to Tingri. That was the plan from the beginning. So it was very strange how the itinerary took a sudden turn.

We later realized that Jennifer was probably trying to avoid the road to Tingri, which was basically a 4x4 trail at some points. The suspension on Jennifer's Land Cruiser was a little worse for wear, so we figure he was worried about it. But it was really not cool of him to try to scam us, to take advantage of our vulnerability, especially because Emma really had to get to Tingri; it wasn't an option, as her China visa was nearly expired.

Anyway, it all worked out, Emma made it to Tingri, we made it back to Lhasa (after spending a miserable night in what was easily the most miserable, fithiest "motel" of our trip), and we were rid of Jennifer. And good riddance, too.

Then we had four days of down time, waiting for our permits to drive from Tibet back into China. I got the flu, was out of it for two days, then we were back on the road, with a new, much friendlier driver (and a guide who was also a nice guy), through some really amazing country. It was much less arid than the road to Everest. Here are some shots:

Here we are exploring a cave we saw from the road:

Drew wishing us peace:

Turns out it was pretty shallow, not the labyrinth we were hoping for. But still fun to climb up to.

The terrain changed dramatically every time we turned a corner. We went from the high desert, to the Rockies, to the jungle, to the Sierra Nevadas in one day. Crazy steep slopes, plunging gorges, rushing rivers, and lush vegetation -- the road had it all.

Tibet II: The Big Mountain

2007-05-22T11:52:00.001+09:00

Alright, back to the China trip narrative. Sorry for the delay.

After Shigatze we hit the road again:

We stopped for lunch at this little town, and were promptly descended upon by a group of Tibetan boys selling...fossils. You got that, little fossils, basically rocks with imprints of small sea creatures that the kids find way up there on the Roof of the World, and sell for a bit of spending money. Here, Drew and Nate are haggling with them over price:

The Tibetan man is our driver, whom we Christened "Jennifer." I'll explain later. For now, just know that he deserved it, though he didn't understand the joke:

Here's a portion of the road to Everest. You're looking down an incredibly steep, high mountain, at endless switchbacks. It was an adventure:

Mountains, among which is Everest, though you can't see it through the clouds:

A small Tibetan dwelling, tucked away among super-high, super-remote mountains. There were quite a few of these along the way:

These folks had broken down on their way from the monastary near Everest. I think their suspension had come a cropper, from what I could gather. We gave one of the guys a ride back to the monastary, where I assume they called the Tibetan version of roadside assistance:

At around 5 pm we came into view of this:

It's big. Real big. And we're standing at about 15,000 ft. above sea level. Everest is 29,028 ft. high (8,848 meters). It blows your mind. That's near where airlplanes fly. You can actually watch the mountain create its own weather; see the clouds streaming off to the right of the mountain?

The next morning we watched the sun rise on The Mountain. It was the coldest I've ever been, but also an incredible experience:

Then we hiked to the closest point allowed, the beginning of Base Camp. You can see the tents of many a mountaineer, from all over the world. (If we had gone farther, the Red Army, which had a presence there, would have nabbed us and fined us $200. So we didn't try it.) On top of a little knoll, we smoked (as Drew would say) a delicious, delicious celebratory cigar:

Peter was too young to smoke, of course:

We also discovered the location of the true Hotel California:

I like this shot. It's very representative of the whole area -- massive, incredibly beautiful mountains, peopled by tough-as-nails, dirty-as-can-be, friendly-as-can-be yak herders:

Tibet I

2007-05-10T10:29:00.000+09:00

Here we are right after the egg hunt, packed and ready to hit the road...

...and on the train from Beijing to Tibet in our four-bunk soft sleeper compartment...

...and outside the train at a stop:

It was a 48-hour train ride, through some pretty bleak country. We saw extreme poverty and extreme environmental damage, crumbling towns built on and around hills that have been terraced and tilled to death. Once we got to Tibet the scenery changed for the better. There were untouched wide open spaces and majestic mountains rising out of the permafrost. And lots of yaks, though I didn't get any shots of them.

On our second day in Lhasa, Tibet, we visited the Potala, the Dalai Lama's former residence:

The next day we hit the road for Everest Base Camp. We hired a Land Cruiser and driver, crammed into the back seat (Emma, a British girl we met on the train, went along with us and got the front seat) and drove through the high desert:

Our first stop was a dirty little town called Shigatze, where we committed accidental sacrilege. You should never walk counter-clockwise around this particular monastary, and we knew that, but we didn't know where we were when we started walking. We only realized that we were indeed committing sacrilege when we were already halfway around the monastary. It was a little awkward, especially when certain of the faithful vehemently insisted that we turn around and walk the right direction. Also awkward was when a group of tourists, walking in the correct direction, informed us in no uncertain terms of our major faux pas. Not a fun experience.

Anyway, here are a few shots of our walk.

There was an ubelievable amount of trash outside the monastary walls, some of it old prayer flags, but much of it just garbage:

Lots of yak skulls, too:

Prayer flags, and mountain goats:

This venerable monk is telling us to turn around. He did it in a nice way:

This box was outside a monk's tent. The Govinator's influence is felt even in Tibet:

This is the monastary we walked the wrong way around:

We were happy to get off that trail, happy to once more be on the right side of Tibetan etiquette. We spent the night in Shigatze and headed off in the morning for Everest.

Coming soon: The Big Mountain.

Easter in Beijing

2007-05-07T12:33:00.000+09:00

Though far, far from home on Easter, we still mangaged to celebrate in style. First, Drew, Nate and I attended the 6:30 am mass at the Beijing cathedral (Drew and Nate are Catholic, I'm not, but it was still very cool). The mass was in Latin, though the congregation chanted and sang throughout the entire ceremony. This is apparently not the norm in Catholic masses. We assume that because most Chinese Catholics converted from Buddhism (which of course involves a lot of chanting) more chanting and singing is allowed and encouraged during the mass. Very interesting.

After mass we went shopping for eggs...

...hardboiled them...

...colored them...

...(with some musical accompaniment from Nate)...

...and had an Easter Egg hunt in the hostel courtyard! It was guys vs. girls, and though we talked some serious smack, we were soundly beaten, 24-17. Here are the victorious girls -- left to right, Christine from Germany, Emily from Texas, Natalie from I can't remember which state, Carrie and Shelley from Utah. Christine is traveling the world, Emily and Natalie just finished a stint in the Peace Corps in Thailand, and Carrie and Shelley are teaching English in China. (Peter is in the background for some unknown reason. He hid the eggs for us):

And here are the L-O-S-E-R-S! (Thanks to Emily for the photo) Why am I making a zero with my other hand? I'll tell you why. That's how many eggs I found. I'm not proud of it, but there it is. Not one of my finer moments, I'll tell you that:

Even though we lost, in humiliating fashion, it was still very good times. After that, we left for the train station and Tibet.

Strange Food

2007-05-06T17:37:00.000+09:00

Peter's goal on this trip was to eat as many strange things as he could. So, at a Chinese souvenir market, he got his wish.

First he had that perennial favorite, fried scorpion kabobs. Just so you know, these cute little critters are still alive in this picture; they haven't been fried yet. Which means they're moving, trying to sting you, etc.:

Here's what Peter had to choose from. In this picture you can see starfish-on-a-stick, larvae-on-a-stick, scorpion-on-a-stick. Not shown, but available, is seahorse-on-a-stick:

Peter goes for it:

"Best thing I've ever tasted!":

"The starfish isn't so good...":

Of course, since Peter did it, we had to do it, too: Here we older brothers are asking each other, "Do we really have to do this?" The answer was, "Yes, unfortunately.":

Next Peter had a cute little baby bird-on-a-stick. I didn't get a picture of that, nor did we join him in trying it, as it was rather repulsive. He swore it was tasty.

Also on the list of strange things he/we ate: dog (tastes like dark meat turkey!) and donkey (a little chewey).

After Peter ate a hardboiled duck egg that had a black yoke, he was cured of eating strange things, for a while anyway. The egg gave him sores in his mouth, which could have been expected as it was BLACK, for crying out loud!

So much for strange food. Still to come, tomorrow or soon thereafter: Easter in Beijing, Tibet, Shanghai, and many things inbetween. Stay tuned!

Beijing II: We Go Hardcore

2007-05-06T17:11:00.000+09:00

We had originally planned to be in Beijing for only three days, but Communist red tape (an ironically appropro term, now that I think about it) kept us there for a week. We had to get a special permit to travel to Tibet, due to its being a sensitive area of the Red Empire. To do that we had to go to a travel agency. The one Drew had found online wasn't open, but fortunately we met a Chinese girl named Kiko who spoke a very small amount of English and helped us find another agency.

Anyway, after much wrangling and hoop through-jumping we got our permits and train tickets. They first told us that we simply must have a guide, to the tune of $20 a day, or, if we didn't hire a guide, we could only stay in the city limits of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and then only for a max of 7 days. And we were told we had to check in with another travel agent there in Lhasa once we arrived. All of which was bogus, we later discovered. We didn't hire a guide, nor did we check in, nor was our permit ever checked by anyone, travel agent, police officer, Red Army officer, no one! So we experienced a little bit of authentic Communist China for sure.

After the first two days in Beijing we moved from our hotel to a youth hostel, where we met Timmy from South Africa. He was in the middle of a one-year, 'round-the-world trip, stopping off in Beijing to study Mandarin.

Kiko was a very cool girl. She took us, including Timmy, to a Chinese hardcore concert (of all things), a fascinating window into the (sub) culture. Here's the gang waiting for the subway. Timmy and Kiko are in the middle:

Here are some (blurry) shots of the concert, which included something like 7 bands, all of which sounded just like American hardcore bands, but with Mandarin lyrics:

By the seventh band (there were 12 slated to play), we were all longing for some good ol' major chords and pretty melodies. Needless to say, we didn't get any such thing that night. Hardcore, in any language, is only palatable in small, small doses, and we had a solid two hours of it. Way, way too much.

The Great Wall

2007-05-06T16:49:00.000+09:00

Here we are at The Wall itself (well, here the guys are; I didn't make it into any pictures yet). Peter and Nate:

Nate and Drew, with The Wall stretching out below them:

The section we went to is a little less touristy, mainly becuase it's a pretty tough climb, as you can kind of see from the pictures. Parts of it reminded me of Cirith Ungol, with the ancient, broken, stone steps going almost straight up, with hundreds of feet of empty air below you if you fall. It's really amazing how the wall is built along these knife-edge hilltops, winding away into the distance as far as you can see. Also interesting was how low the wall is -- in some places no more than 4-6 ft. high. Which is why it didn't really keep out the Mongol Hordes. Apparently its main benefit to the Chinese was as a reliable road for commerce and communication, rather than as a system of defence.

China: Beijing I

2007-05-06T16:29:00.000+09:00

Well, I'm back from China, safe and sound with nose once more dutifully pressed to the grindstone in good ol' Korea. It was an awesome trip, a big trip, I keep telling everyone, but I'll try to recount the many highlights, accompanied by photos that don't come close to doing the country justice. But they're still fun to look at, anyway.

So we flew into Beijing on April 2nd. Our hotel was near the infamous Tiananmen Square. Here are the brothers in front of the Square's massive Red Chinese flag that is raised and lowered with much military fanfare every day. It's a little hard to see, but from left to right you have Drew, Nate and Peter:

The entrance to the Forbidden City, with a gargantuan portrait of the late Chairman Mao:

Inside the gate we saw members of the Red Army doing running drills, apparently for the tourists' benefit:

The Forbidden City was fairly anticlimactic. Much of it was under renovations for the 2008 Olympics. Here's part of it. The guy with the brown jacket and big hair is Drew:

Shameless Self-Promotion

2007-03-23T19:28:00.000+09:00

As you can see, my younger brother Nathan is going to open for us, which I'm excited about. All three of my brothers (Drew, Nathan and Peter) are going to be here on the 28th, hang out with me for a few days, and then we're off to China on April 2nd. We'll be in China, mainly Tibet, for a month. Then I'll come back to Korea for another six months to a year.

We're about halfway done with the CD, which might grow into a full-length by the time we're finished. Which might not be until June, but rest assured, it will be worth the wait. In my opinion, anyway.

Rock 'n' Roll

2007-02-07T12:36:00.000+09:00

We played Speakeasy again last month, opening for a band from Seoul (A Taste of Dinomite). I didn't get any pics of them, but they were pretty good.

We rocked, I'm happy to say. We played a blistering one-hour set, getting many positive reactions from the assembled.

Dave and Dan enjoy the moment:

Dave and Dan rock out:

I had one fanatic fan in particular, a young Korean girl who may or may not have imbibed too freely. As you can see, she stood RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME, staring at me, for the last two songs; a little awkward:

Overall a fun night. We're currently working on a CD, which we'll hopefully finish by March. When we do, I'll make it available via MP3 download. It's going to sound good, I think.

Snowscapes

2007-02-07T12:29:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown...

2006-12-25T11:00:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas, family and friends! I wish I could be there, or you could be here, or some variation thereof, but alas, we must send our good wishes from afar.

How do you like my Christmas tree? It reminds me of an animated movie usually watched this time of year...

On Christmas Eve, we teachers had a little holiday dinner, complete with gift exchange (I got a scarf). Here are Daniel Yoo -- our newest teacher and a fellow Californian -- and Dan Kim, our head teacher:

Keith and his girlfriend:

Sophia and Nathan (engaged to be married; Nathan's from Wisconsin, as I've mentioned. Sophia is native Korean and teaches our low-level students). Eric's peeking into the picture:

Here's the whole gang:

On Christmas Day my church had a service, at which I played and sang. Afterwards we had lunch and a white elephant gift exchange. I ended up with a bread maker...which I stole from someone thinking it was a rice cooker. After that, we watched the Nativity Story, the new Christmas movie. It was a little boring, but overall pretty good. More of a rental than a see-in-the-theater. After that, dinner with some other friends. In short, I kept busy. I still would have rathered to have been home with y'all, but I made do.

I love you all! May God bless you, and may Christ give you His peace.

History, Ancient and Otherwise: Students

2006-11-28T11:37:00.000+09:00

Some of my mid-level students. We're having lunch at TGI Friday's, which looks just like TGI Friday's in America:

These are lower-level students (we're at a really nice Korean restaurant)...

...as are these:

One of my high level students with his wife and son, at his son's first birthday party:

Some of my highest level students, at a guitar bar (a cozy little establishment that basically has an open mic; I played a few tunes to entertain the folks). A good time is being had here, as you can see. We're laughing at a hilarious Frenchman who is taking our picture:

There was a group from a French class there, including four French folk. We had an international, non-competitive sing-off. The Korean bar owner played a song, the Frenchmen played a song (in French), and I played U2's "With or Without You" to represent the USA (yes, I know U2 is an Irish band).

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!

2006-11-23T09:29:00.000+09:00

Speakeasy II

2006-11-07T11:51:00.000+09:00

Saturday night was all about rock 'n' roll. First, Canadian Matt Amond played a solo acoustic set...

...then I tuned my guitar...

...then we became the Matt Amond Band (We did several covers and several of Matt's originals. He writes countrified, funkified, Beatlesque-ified, tongue-in-cheek-ified, all-good-ified tunes)...

...followed soon by a transformation into the Jordan Emmans Band (that's me, appearing to scream bloody murder into the mic, with bassist Dave Janssen and drummer Dan Lloyd looking on in concern. I'm not sure if the girl on the left is dancing or just saying, "Whatever!"):

(The sharp-eyed reader will notice that the date has now changed. Yes, the Jordan Emmans Band didn't start playing until after midnight. Oh yes, it was a late one.)

Matt, intently playing tasty ear candy and appropriate leads on his gorgeous Epiphone hollowbody:Deep in the musical moment:

Oh, remember when I said playing in a bar was like practicing in public? Not this time! I think because we were better rehearsed, and I was playing an in-your-face electric (the guitar sounded like a dream, by the way; I was mucho happy with it), people were by-and-large listening to us. And I brought a bunch of my BCM friends, so it was a friendly crowd.

Probably the coolest moment came at the penultimate song, which was U2's "With or Without You." There were times when Dan said he couldn't hear me because the crowd was singing along so loudly. Very epic. I can only wonder how Bono and the boys must feel when 50,000 + of their closest friends are singing along with them -- and they, of course, actually wrote the song. We were just temporarily borrowing a bit of U2's glory, riding their coattails, so to speak. But it was an amazing ride nonetheless.

Thus far, this gig was probably the most fun I've ever had on stage. I mean, it was awesome! These guys are a ton of fun to play with. We'll be playing again in the near future, and hopefully recording some stuff. Apparently a lot of people really like my tunes, so we need to produce something for the eager fans.

BCM Language Center Party

2006-11-07T11:19:00.000+09:00

These are from October 27th. It was my birthday party, our teacher Jeff's going-away party, and new teacher Daniel's and new night secretary Ji Un's welcome party.

I didn't take a picture of Daniel or Jeff, but here is Jeff with his little son, Hugh, at his first birthday party. They're both arrayed in Han-bok, traditional Korean garb (Jeff's wife is Korean). This was back in February when I first got here:

Here some of us are at the restaurant. From left to right: Nathan (Korean-American from Wisconsin), Yun Sik (pronounced Yoon Sheek), and Alex (Yun Sik and Alex are native Koreans):

A close-up of Yun Sik, because the assembled demanded it:

Here are, l-r, Sun Ae and Kyung Ae, former night secretary and current morning secretary, respectively. They initially refused to be photographed...

...but I persisted:

Actually, Kyung Ae continued in her refusal, but I was too quick for her:

Ji Un, our new night secretary, had no problem:

It was a fun night, replete with various forms of carousing. We imbibed, we puffed a few stogies, we shot pool, we even went to a night club and got our grooves on. Zero sleep and a good time were had by all.

Ancient History: Jejudo

2006-10-31T11:55:00.000+09:00

Here at long last are my Jejudo (also spelled Chejudo) pictures. I did this trip in four days last June, all by bicycle (well, except for the plane ride there and the taxis to and from the airport). It was one of the crazier and cooler things I've done in my life.

Day 1:

I barely made my flight, but all went smoothly once I got to the island. I rented a bike and promptly began my trek...into a very strong wind. There was absolutely nothing to see, not even near the water. I made the mistake of wearing my backpack, rather than strapping it to the bike, which made for a miserable existence. My butt ached, my back ached, my shoulders ached, my mind cursed me, my emotions raged against me. The bike's seat was not made for long-distance riding, I can tell you that. Nor was the bike iteself made for one of my proportions. But I endured.

I also made the mistake of not taking enough money with me. I thought I could do the trip on a shoestring budget, and I was right, but there were moments when I wondered if I would have enough money to eat by the time I got back to the airport (I made it with money to spare, mostly by eating very cheaply).

So, the first day was one of extreme discomfort. I was questioning my sanity in even going on this trip. To make matters much worse, I stayed in a little homestay place that was also a
raw fish restaurant - with loud, progressively drunker patrons. Nonetheless I slept better there than at any other motel that trip.

Here's a view of the room in Seongsan (or Sungsan). It looks nice, but it wasn't, believe me:

Day 2:

Here's what I saw right outside my door in the morning:

The next three days were awesome, the polar opposite of day one. I wised up and strapped my pack to the bike instead of to me, which made all the difference. Though my derrier was still unbelievably sore, I was able to carry on and even enjoy the experience, which included lonely roads like the following:

One of the island's ubiquitous mandarin orange groves:

Me, resting briefly from my labors:

I reached Seogwipo late in the day.

A funny thing happened to me at my motel.

First of all, I had to slay several beasts: two healthy cockroaches and a couple of tiny spiders, the latter of which were hiding in the bedclothes (needless to say, I slept poorly that night). Then, I turned on the swamp cooler. It made a funny, flapping sound. I thought, "What is this, more cockroaches?" But no, it was...two 10,000 Won bills, equal to $20, and also, coincidentally, equal to the amount I payed for the room. So I stayed that night for free. Who would stuff 20,000 Won into the vent of a motel swamp cooler, I don't know. A kid, maybe? Regardless, I consider it my bounty for slaying the vermin.

Day 3:

The daytime view from Seogwipo:

The day was incredible; so incredible that I took few pictures. I went up in elevation, into the high country and away from civilization. The terrain reminded me of Northern California, specifically Grass Valley. From there it was all downhill to Hallim, a mid-sized fishing town that was under a blanket of fog the entire time I was there.

The motel in Hallim was the best yet, except that the A/C didn't work. So I had to leave the window open all night, which let in the light from the bright, bright neon sign across the street. I slept poorly again.

Day 4:

I was on the road early, as I had to catch a 5pm plane from Jeju City back to Gwangju and I had about 20 km (approx. 40 miles) to ride before then.

I noticed an interesting lighthouse on the way. You'll notice the turtle foundation (see this previous post for more turtles -- apparently, in Korean mythology, a turtle is carrying the world):

A peaceful little park, perfect for comtemplative relaxation:

The decals on my bike were interesting; I'm still not sure what the second one means...

"I found the mind million miles away"...?! Huh?

I saw this rather humorous sign, and dutifully photo graphed:

I made good time back to Jeju City and was able to do a little sightseeing. Here's the famous Dragon Rock:

This was the coolest place I saw on my trip, and it was right in the middle of town:

The girl at the bike rental shop took this picture. I think she wanted to emphasize my height.

So I made it home (to Gwangju) safe and sound, very sore but satisfied. I'll do it again if I get the chance.

I have many more "Ancient History" posts coming. As I've mentioned, I've been a little behindhand in posting the evidence of my adventures, but I'm working on being more current.

My new toys

2006-10-20T12:36:00.000+09:00

I bought this sweet little setup on Monday. The amp is a Roland Micro Cube. It's cute, but yea verily it screameth. I can't even turn it up halfway for fear of bringing the wrath of my neighbors down upon me. The effects pedal is a Digitech RP50, which is all I could afford. I'll be upgrading in the near future. The guitar is a Samick Malibu, made in Korea (well-made, I might add), and obviously based on a Strat. It plays and sounds great. And....I got out of there for a mere 460,000 Won (approx. $460). I'm excited!

Coffee remains

2006-10-20T12:35:00.000+09:00

The view from my apartment window...

2006-10-20T12:23:00.000+09:00

Mike and Dave's Speakeasy

2006-10-18T11:59:00.000+09:00

Last weekend I...

...had dinner with students (the guy grinning is hilarious; the guy to his left is his friend and straight man, also very funny; the girl and guy aren't a couple, though he wants them to be; the guy in back is an air traffic controller for the South Korean Airforce. We had sushi.)...

...went to Mike and Dave's Speakeasy, the local foreigners' bar owned and operated by two Canadian guys, where we (my students and I) saw a Canadian named Matt play a bunch of covers and originals (all I could capture was his lower half)...

...and played a few of my songs with my new jamming buddies, Dan from Britain and Dave (not of Mike and Dave's) from Canada.

The gig went well, considering that Dave hadn't heard any but two of my songs until that afternoon, and we didn't know we were going to play until about 5pm (we ended up going on after midnight; we played for about 45 minutes). Dave's quite accomplished. He can sing backup as well as play very tasty grooves on his bass. Dan's also a consummate musician. They're easy guys to play with.

Playing in bars, as those who have will know, is like practicing in public. Most people are there to socialize, not listen to the band, so they pretty much ignore you and talk louder to hear each other over the music. But it was still fun. And the owners loved us so much they said we could come play anytime (I don't know if there will be any payola involved...).

Talent Show Biz

2006-10-17T11:04:00.000+09:00

September 24th there was a talent show at "The 12th Gwangju International Community Day," which is long for "Foreigners' Festival." I played a couple original tunes with a British drummer I go to church with. It was a BLAST, let me tell you! As you can see, it was a big stage, and there were probably 600 people there, mostly foreigners. The sound system rocked, my guitar sounded great, my vocal was crisp...life was good. And Dan (the drummer) and I had 'em dancin', screamin' and encoring'. Loads of fun!

You can see the judges on the left. We won third place (100,000 Won, which is about $100). Second was a Chinese girl who did a traditional dance, first was a group of Filipino women who did a traditional dance, and the audience choice award went to another group of Filipino women who, coincidentally, also danced.

I think we would have won if we had also had dancing girls up on stage with us...oh well, live and learn.

Here's me greeting the assembled throng and explaining the tunes (you can barely see Dan in the far background):

Here's me rocking out:

(One of my students took these pictures with his cellphone camera, hence the lack of zoom and focus.)

My sincerest excuses...

2006-09-14T10:52:00.000+09:00

Hello, dear readers. Yes, I know you are probably shocked senseless by the mere sight of something new on this page. I have good reasons for my long silence. Well, maybe good excuses. All right, maybe they aren't that great, but nonetheless here they are:

1. I'm lazy.

2. It takes FOREVER to load pictures through Blogger. (Unless I load them one by one, it usually doesn’t work. Each pic takes about 30-50 seconds to upload, which doesn't sound like a lot, but just multiply that by the 50 or so pictures I need to upload. Which still doesn't sound like a problem, but see excuse number one. If anyone knows how I can get around this technical problem or what I might be doing wrong, feel free to enlighten me.)

3. I don't own a computer; I use one at my school. It's also the computer I use to prepare for my classes, so I'm never eager to spend extra time on it, or to spend more time than necessary here at school. When I'm done working, I just want to go home.

4. Also, I'm lazy.

So that's my story, and I stand by it.

As to how I'm doing...

Life is pretty good here. I'm getting the hang of teaching, even enjoying it much of the time. It's nice to be doing a job that is meaningful and exciting. It's certainly never boring. I'll say it again, it isn't easy, but the successes are very sweet. It's the best and the hardest job I've ever had.

Interpersonally, I do have some friends, though not as many as I would like. Teaching adults every day gives me the illusion of having many friends (and many of my students are my friends, but I only see them in class), so I'm not starved for human interaction at all. But I don't really have any kindred spirits here. You can pray for me in that regard; specifically, I need a good guy friend or two.

Romantically, well...let's just say that there is definite potential for imminent progress in that arena. Know what I mean? (But by no means is anything official or certain at this time; I will say no more...)

Contractually, I've decided to work an extra two months, until April instead of February. As I may have mentioned to most of you, my brothers and I are planning to trek China at the end of my time here. However, February is winter, and winter in China is no joke -- especially in Tibet, which we simply must see. But April is primetime for traveling, hence the extension.

So, again, please accept my sincerest excuses, errr, apologies for waiting approximately three months to post an update. I'll try not to let it happen again!

May 18 Memorial Cemetery

2006-05-29T12:35:00.000+09:00

A few weeks ago I did a six-hour ride, in the course of which I visited the May 18 Memorial Cemetary outside Gwangju. It is a monument to those who gave their lives resisting the military dictatorship that was in power at that time. One of the Korean teachers I work with was a little boy when it happened (May 18, 1980). He remembers walking through the streets of Gwangju and seeing dead bodies and armed soldiers everywhere. Pretty intense stuff. It's a reminder that South Korea is still very much a new democracy, and a testament as to how far they've come in only 26 years (let alone since the Korean War, which absolutely devastated the country). South Korea is now an important player in the world economy, with peaceful, democratic elections instead of military coups.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the cemetery. This is the main monument. It's about 100 ft. tall and represents two hands holding an egg, the egg being a symbol of brand-new democracy:

These sculptures are to the left and right of the main monument:

This inscription tells you all you need to know about the following bronze sculptures:

I hope you are all doing well. I'm fine. I have a four-day vacation coming up, and I'm planning to do a little traveling. I will, of course, take many pictures. Stay tuned!

Top of the mountain to ya!

2006-05-19T13:02:00.000+09:00

These are pics from my Easter Sunday bike ride. Foothills of Mudoung Mt.:

And here's the view from near the top of the mountain, looking northeast, away from Gwangju:

A look downhill...

...and uphill. At the end of this dirt road is a South Korean military installation. This is actually as far as I got that day. As it was, I barely got back before dark:

See the icicle hanging by a thread of some kind? (Yes, it was pretty cold up there. I almost froze on the ride down.)

More hazy views from high above:

Gwangju from a distance:

This was my most epic ride so far. I basically climbed for three straight hours. My goal is to eventually ride to the top (or as near the top as the military will allow) in one day.

Temple-icious

2006-05-16T17:23:00.000+09:00

Apparently not all Buddhists are peaceful. This large, bronze one sure isn't. This is at Wonhyosa, a temple about an hour's ride from Gwanju:

Just down the road is this smaller temple, whose name I don't remember:

This Buddha looks a little scarier than the others. His eyes are wide open, ready for action. Like the bronze warriors at Wonhyosa:

Up these stairs to the next level...

...where I was greeted by yet another pagoda!

A variety of Buddha statues and rock carvings:

The ubiquitous satellite dish:

Various and Sundry

2006-05-16T12:20:00.000+09:00

Here am I with some of my students. L-R, Matthew, Cecile, and Ellen. We're at a board game room, which is just what it sounds like -- a room where you can play games and drink beverages, for fairly cheap. We played Rummy Cube and I won, which is why I look so happy and they don't:

Here's a Korean punk band that was playing in downtown Gwangju. They were pretty bad:

The setting sun:
My pastor, Dan Hornbostel, taking a picture of his wife...

...whose name I can't remember, but here she is, talking on the phone:

Here's Se Ah, who is mentally handicapped. She's in my prayer group:

Pastor Dan again. He's a former attorney from Illinois and has been in Korea for many years. He's studying to be an official pastor at a seminary in Seoul:

Geun Su, a young guy also in my prayer group:

My humble abode

2006-05-08T12:49:00.000+09:00

Hi, I'm alive, yes I am. Allow me to apologize profusely for my long silence. My schedule is a little more sane this month, so I'm trying to catch up on my blogging. For starters, here's a peek inside the shoebox that is my aparment.

The kitchen, which is approximately 3' x 8':

My front door, closet, guitar:

Where I eat, read, and sleep:

Sometimes, when I want to waste time, I watch the black-colored contraption. Behind it you can see my clothes dryer. Behind that is the door to my utility closet:

Aaaand...here's the bathroom. Or what I call the water closet, since it's all in one: shower, toilet, sink. It's pretty typical of Korean residential restrooms, owing to the lack of space in this country. Economy of square centimeters, don't you know:

Anyway, so that's where I live. It's actually not bad. It faces south, so I get a lot of sunshine, and the decor is very bright and cheery. And because it faces south, my cooling bill is going to be astronomical, but what are you gonna do?

I just finished two months in sleep deprivation Hades, and am slowly starting to recover. I'm back to starting at 7:30 am, instead of 6:30, (still ending at 9 pm, unfortunately) and it's amazing what that one hour will do for you. This month I only have five classes instead of six, so that's also better. And I have a lot of material ready to go, so my planning time will be reduced. All in all, things are looking more upper. Oops. Been around non-native speakers too long :-) !

I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers, and I ask for more of them! You know the saying, "Wherever you go, there you are." Though I'm in Korea, I still struggle with the saaaame old junk that plagued me in the States. And there are new and exciting challenges, too. Right now I just want to be back to normal emotionally. I'm still in the post-vacation-mode blues, when it isn't really fun anymore, and my emotional state is a little fragile. I'm praying for a deep healing while I'm here. You know, a significant inner change. Hopefully that's in God's plan.

Well, thanks again, everybody. Don't be a stranger: leave me a comment!

Educational Anecdotes

2006-04-01T16:36:00.000+09:00

Want to hear a funny teaching story? Last month in one of my lower-level classes we were talking about items in a house, like tables, chairs, walls, etc. Then one of my students asked what I thought was a completely random question: "What's the difference between 'cabin' and 'log'?" The two go together, yes, but they were pretty far off-topic.

So, shifting gears, I proceeded to explain what a cabin was and got blank, confused stares. Then some other students said, "No, teacher, KAHr-BEDD!"

Then I understood.

Koreans pronounce "carpet" and "rug" ("lawg") the same as "cabin" and "log." And we were talking about a rug, so now the question made sense. So I gave them a little pronunciation lesson, and then answered the question. Adventures in ESL. Very funny stuff...

I was also told by a student that I look like this guy:

Yes, all you "Smallville" fans out there; that's Tom Welling, who plays Clark Kent on the popular TV show. "You look good, and kind, and innocent...like the guy on 'Smallville'." That's almost a direct quote. And speaking of direct, Koreans are VERY direct and open with their comments...yes, even the women (the comment above was from a male student). No, I'm not letting it go to my head. But I'm not complaining either :-) !

All very interesting and humorous, don't you think?

Yet more pagodas...

2006-04-01T16:02:00.000+09:00

I'm starting to realize that if you've seen one pagoda-looking structure, you've pretty much seen them all. So my apologies if you're getting as bored as I am with pagodas. But here's another one anyway -- and it's a little cooler than some of the others, I think. It was a study retreat for royalty, I believe.

From far away:

Zooming in:

...and here we are! Observe the nifty rockwork:

Stone reptilian waterspout:

Intriguing stairway to...

...a very anticlimatic platform thingy:

But, hey, who's complaining? I also rode about 20 miles in the course of that trip, so it was all good. I just think I've seen enough pagodas, that's all.

Temple Tourist

2006-04-01T15:23:00.000+09:00

Me, contemplative...

...in front of a real "working" Buddhist temple, used by the denizens of a small rural village about a 40 min. ride from Gwangju. I know it was in use because, well, it was in use while I was there. I could hear one of the faithful, chanting inside the main pagoda:

Here's a view of the village:

An interesting mix of ancient and modern -- power poles, concrete, and tiled roofs:

This is just down the road. You are looking at a creek that has been developed into basically a canal, like any urban cement "creek." The hills in the distance are part of Mt. Mudeung:

Yours truly:

The road goes ever on...well actually this one led me to a dead end. I had to hoof it through some farmer's fields. I treaded lightly. It looks cooler than it really was:

More pics to come; stay tuned!

My 'hood

2006-03-27T12:12:00.000+09:00

Hello, all. Yes, I'm still alive, yes I'm doing okay. The past month has been a bit hectic, what with starting at 6:30 am and ending at 9 pm every day (with an 8-hr. break in the middle of the day). The schedule is starting to wear on me, to be quite honest. And teaching while tired is not at all ideal. But I'll be okay.

Here are a couple shots of my apartment building. I live in the bottom righthand-corner apartment:

See the trash bags? That's where the neighbors and I put our trash every week. Free recycling, but you can only put trash in special orange bags, which cost a little money to buy. You can get them at any convenience store (a little glimpse into everyday urban, Korean life):

Here are a couple more shots of my immediate 'hood:

Nice narrow streets, eh? Oh, yes, they're two-way. Yes, it's an adventure riding my bike through these. No, I'm not worried about it.

Here's Dong-Myoung Presbyterian Church, which is where I go every Sunday. The English service meets on the fourth floor of the smaller building on the left:

I have a bunch of pagoda pics; I'll try to post them later today. Peace unto you all.

Some Random Shots

2006-03-06T11:35:00.000+09:00

Another shot of downtown:

The front door of my school; see the blue sign that advertises "TOEIC, TOEFL, TEPS"? That's BCM Language Center:

The view from Mt. Mudeung above Gwangju:

Here are a few more of my students, r-l, Will, Saera and Danny (Eric is on the far left):
(Flashing the peace sign is quite popular here, as you have no doubt observed...)

Here's James, a very funny guy and soccer fanatic:

Later That Evening...

2006-03-06T11:09:00.000+09:00

...I had dinner with a student. Yes, one student. Yes, she is female. No, I didn't plan it that way. She was the only one of five students to show up. Anyway, it was fine, as opposed to awkward. Here she is with her friend who showed up near the end of dinner. The funny-looking one is me, Sally is my student, and her friend Lauren is wearing the blue coat:

After dinner we headed for coffee; we met up with my fellow teacher Eric, Diana (sister of one of my students) and Chong, her friend.

Sally was cracking me up. She refused to let me take her picture again:

...and again:

Diana and Yours Truly, flashing the universal sign for scissors:

Chong and Diana:

I had an interesting exchange with Diana. She found out I was a Christian and said, "Oh, I don't like Christians! They are always shouting in the subway and downtown, 'Believe in God!'" But she excepted those present from her condemnation, of course. She's a very open, talkative person, and speaks her mind freely.

Then she and Chong discovered that I'm a Republican, and started debating U.S. foreign policy with me. And I was the only one at the table who supported Bush; I was on the spot! But it was all good. I think I held my own fairly well.

Another Sunday, Another Ride to a Shrine...

2006-03-06T10:29:00.000+09:00

...this time Chungjangsa, which is a little farther along the same road as Chungminsa (see the link in my "At Long Last" post for info). Here's the main building in the inner courtyard:

...and the door to the hillside above:

...yet closer:

...and here I am among the statues on the hill, betwixt a stone Korean warrior and a stone goat. Why a goat, I'm not sure:

More statues:

Small pillar-toting turtle:

...big pillar-toting turtle:

My Students

2006-03-04T16:39:00.000+09:00

Here are some of my students. From the left: April and Rena (their English nicknames; most Koreans choose an English name to make it easier on us foreigners. Korean names are hard to pronounce, and harder to remember).

(They were rather reluctant to let me take their picture...)

Here's John, an older guy who also speaks Japanese and Chinese. To the right you can see half of Eric's face. He's another American teacher at my school. He and I hang out quite a bit. Also, a typical Korean meal: tons of kim-chee, of all descriptions, and other types of pickled veggies. Can you find the spicy pork?

I'll post more pics when I can...

More to come...

2006-03-04T16:13:00.000+09:00

Here are a couple shots of downtown Gwangju, a mere one minute walk from my school (which is a ten minute walk from my apartment). Downtown, as it is called, is a labyrinth of small streets crammed with all the shopping your heart could desire, including the ubiquitous Starbuck's, Burger King, KFC, etc. It's the place to be in the evening, especially on the weekend:

Here's the view from the top of the building in which I work (I work on the 4th floor; there are 9 floors):

I'll post more pictures, of my apartment, neighborhood and school as soon as I can.

At long last...

2006-03-04T15:46:00.000+09:00

Hello, everyone! Now that I've finally set up my blog, I'll be able to share all my magnificent pics with the world. Above is me at Chungminsa, a shrine about 5 miles from my apartment, which is very near the edge of Gwangju. I rode my bike here, which is why my pants are pegged and I'm wearing my colors. Here is some information about the shrine (click on "Shrines of Patriotic Ancestors"): http://eng.gjcity.net/e_tourc/e_tourc01/e15_02_01_03.jsp

Here are more pics from the shrine:

Here is me--and my trusty Alton mt. bike--at a smaller shrine (which was locked) just down the road from Chungminsa:

The same small shrine: