I don't really have the right to be surprised at the changes to JU. I haven't regularly blogged here in FOREVER and rarely stop by to check in on anything. But I was pleasantly surprised by the changes to JU. It looks great and all the new tools are awesome. I don't know that this will be enough to bring me back regularly but it is nice to see the improvements! One question that I didn't search very hard for an answer - is there a way to import your old blogroll?&nb...
Well, my boss stopped by today to let me know that he was looking at me for the next immersion trip to Korea. He was actually slated to go but some scheduling conflict has come up and it looks like I'll be getting the nod! This will be similar to last year's trip. I'll take a group of students from our school over to Korea and study with them at a Korean university (namely Korea University). They'll have the opportunity to live with a Korean family and experience the culture and society...
I've always enjoyed reading comics, whether they were the funny pages in the newspaper or the monthly Superman comic books. That hasn't changed with my discovery of webcomics. I mostly read "gaming" webcomics and check them on their normal update days, like Penny Arcade , PVP , Red vs Blue , and Ctrl+Alt+Del . Lately, I've been checking out some other webcomics and have found a few that I'm bookmarking and checking out. This brings me to the webcomic that I hope you'll check...
Well, it's been a while. Last time I posted anything, I was in Korea. Since I've been back, I've had funeral detail twice and I've gone down to NTC to serve as an augmentee O/C twice. It's been pretty hectic and busy, but I'd be lying if I claimed that was the reason for my absence. Mostly, I've just not had the blogging bug in me at all, really. I still don't really feel it, but I figured if I posted a few things, maybe it would catch on. If not, I'll see you again in 6-12 months. I...
Well, the third week of our trip has come and gone. We have less than a week left before we return to California. This last week, we'll be taking one more weekly quiz, finishing up our interview projects, taking an end of course test, and then having our closing ceremony on Friday. One night this week, we'll likely go out with our instructors for dinner and maybe some Norae-bang (private karaoke room) action. As far as pics go, I only have three this time. I took a lot more than that...
Okidoki, we had another field trip today. And a visit to a Korean company yesterday. On Fridays, we do task based activities. Last week, we went to the museums and had to get pictures of certain things and be able to explain in Korean what they were when we got back to class to the other team. Yesterday, we went to two Korean companies and got a guided tour of their places of business. The other group went to a company that sells music on the internet in mp3 format and also for ringt...
OK, now that I've found a few places I can go to connect with my laptop, I can upload and show some pics from the trip so far. Last Friday, we had an assignment to go to two museums and find some things. One group went to the War Memorial and my group went to the Korean National Museum. I really wanted to go to the War Memorial, but that's mostly because I've been there a number of times before and figured the assignment would be easy for me to complete. HAHA! The National Museum was nice...
Just a quick note. I am in Korea. I'm living in probably the least wireless accessable area of the capital of one of the most wired nations in the world. HAHA! Oh well, I'm having fun with all the studies and the other students that came with me. I'll update more later when I can jack a signal and I have more time. Just working on some coffee and watching the passerbys do double takes when they see five Americans looking out at them in an area that doesn't get our kind of crowd too ofte...
So, fueled by greywar's return and my own return to a more normal schedule, I've decided to update my readers (all three of you). My supervisor went on leave last month. He's the Chief MLI and that means he's the senior enlisted person in the school. Before he left, he told me that I'd be holding down the fort for him while he was gone and that he had wrapped up a lot of stuff, so I just had a few loose ends to tie up and then manage anything new. To give you an idea of how the three ...
Busy blogging day for me today... Maybe I'm making a comeback to regular stuff or maybe I'm just teasing the three of you that still check this site once a month. HAHA! So, what better day than today to have a power outage in the school? I mean, it is the 65th Anniversary of DLI and we had a representative from the Pentagon touring our school when it happened! HAHA! Perfect timing. So, apparently, if you have one of those fancy motion detectors installed that turns your lights ...
Just another no news flash from email, just less sexy than my last one . In a report released by Reporters Without Borders , North Korea " remains, as in 2005, the worst internet black hole in the world ". I'm guessing this really comes as no surprise to the average person, but I guess it requires reporting (without borders). And as far as Reporters Without Borders goes... Well, Doctors Without Borders seems like a nice organization. They try do a lot of good all over the w...
Today we are celebrating the 65th Anniversary of the Defense Language Institute. There will be a number of special things going on today, to include the inaugural induction ceremony to the DLI Hall of Fame . We have a bunch of special visitors coming out, including Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey. Rumor also has it that the Governator will be visiting, too, along with members of both the state legislature and the US Congress. I can't even imagine how far we've come in training lin...
Browsing news headlines in email this morning and I just had to share this one. South Korea moves to legalize miniskirts . Now, I've spent some time in Korea and I never knew it was against the law to wear mini skirts or short, hot pants. Even in the winter with snow piled up and wind whipping through the city, you'll see women all over the place wearing short skirts. According to the article, the law has been on the books forever but hasn't been enforced in decades. Of course, wh...
Well, another funeral detail cycle has come and gone. We had a busy last week on duty, though. There were two full honors services last Friday and then a two man service on Monday. The service on Monday was actually for a retired Sailor of 22 years but it was being held in a funeral home in downtown Salinas and the funeral home recommended to the family that they not have rifles fire in the middle of town (the funeral home was located just a block away from the John Steinbeck Library, ...
When you are in the service and stationed overseas, you get military TV channels. The Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) has tried to do their best to provide decent programming for the people overseas but one thing that you're stuck with is military commercials. They don't charge companies for air time and they can't give it free, so during show breaks, they play military made/public service type commercials. Many are "Name this State quiz" or "Once upon a time in histo...