A Traveling River Rat Returns

Hello again all!

Sorry for the absence. I've been pretty busy with things between having to leave Korea and coming back to the States.

To make a long story short, I had to switch jobs after 3 amazing years of teaching elementary and middle school students to a Kindergarten academy. I wanted to try my hand at a "normal" schedule, working from 9am to 6pm instead of 4pm to 10pm. It was great, but after three long months, it turned out that the school and I didn't quite see eye to eye and I ended up having to leave prematurely.

It's not all bad though, I got to see Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies on my way back East and now I am back on the job search and bloggosphere. (It's a word now).

Stay tuned Travelers. I'm working on some great posts about Vancouver and being back on the Island; and all island life entails.

In order to fully appreciate where we are, we sometimes have to return to where we were.

Some weird happenings

I'm not exactly sure what it is but the weird Koreans always seem to find me. I don't know if it's my shaved head or what, but they always seem to find me and always cause a scene. I've told you about the creepy lady at a store here downtown and how she thinks I'm Michael Phelps and thus wants to fuck me. Well, there's been some others recently. Four to be exact. What's the saying? It comes in threes..but I was on a roll

The first is a dude that Heather and I ran into while exploring the Hampyoung Chrysanthemum Festival. We were walking around and taking pictures of the Namdaemoon structure. When we noticed a group of people sitting around. We happened across them, just trying to walk by, but one guy, drunk, was really enamored by me. So much so that he got up and wanted to take a picture with me. Which is normal. But this got weird when he started trying to kiss me. I pushed him back, his friends held him back, his wife even beat the shit out of him, but he still persisted. Heather and I made our break for it and thought we were finally rid of him, until we were on a bridge and he reappeared, still hell bent on kissing me. I held him at bay telling him to keep moving and when he didn't listen to me or his wife yelling at him in the background; she roared and tackled him away from me and literally dragged him off.

The second was a older guy at the bank. I was at the teller getting my updates done on my bankbook and getting my number changed so that my new cellphone will get messages when I use my check card, essentially the debit card of Korea, when this older dude came up to where I was standing and tried to shove me aside so that the teller would help him. When I didn't budge as easily as he thought I would, he got pissed and started yelling at me for being a foreigner and not having the right to stand in his, a Koreans, way. The teller and I told him to wait, but that made him even more pissed off and physical. The bank tellers here work by number, you take a number and when that number is called it's your turn. This guy didn't have a number but thought that he was entitled to the teller over me because he was Korean.

He grabbed me by the shoulder and tried pushing me aside even more, so I reversed his grip, grabbed him by the back of the neck and kicked his knee out so that he lost his balance and had no choice but to stumble away from the teller. Now he was really pissed but some of the managers of the bank came over and escorted him out. He stood outside of the bank for a good amount of time ranting and raving about the injustice but the rest of the Koreans outside that he was trying to start a rebellion with just ignored him. When my business was done and was leaving one of the managers walked to the door with me just incase the dude was there and tried something. Luckily, he had moved on.

The third was a kind of a double happening. I was taking out my recycling one night and when I was sorting my plastics from my glass the janitor of my building came out and started yelling at me about something. When I told him that I didn't understand, he got louder and angrier. So I just made fun of him without his realizing it. Finally he got so fed up that he tried to take the box from me but when I refused to give it to him and told him that it was my box, he got really confused and dumped all of the plastic and glass onto the ground. I took the opportunity to bounce. While in the elevator, another man came in while I was entering and saw me back knuckle the button to my floor. He was very impressed by this, so much so that he asked my apartment number and tried to kiss me. Already on edge, I pushed him back and said "try to kiss me again and I'll punch you in the throat." He blinked a lot quickly hurried out of the elevator.

The most final and most recent one was when I was at the store the other night. I was there getting my stock of water and juice and was at the cashier behind the dude. He was middle aged and looked like he didn't have a decent place to go, but he was determined to buy his soju, the Korean vodka. It only cost him 2 thousand won, or roughly about 2 dollars. He tried paying with 2 cards, both were denied. Then he pulled out a wad of cash and flipped through it, grumblingly. He looked around and saw me, pocketed the wad of cash and started to ask me for money. The cashier, a nice, young woman was calling to him trying to get his attention back to her. But he was, once again, determined to get me to buy his soju for him. Logic and reason, unknown. But he finally left me alone after much of my telling him to "fuck off", the cashier begging him to come back to her and the manager of the store coming over to stand 'intimidatingly' behind the cashier. The dude paid for his soju and stumbled up the stairs.

I paid for my things, the cashier being very apologetic about the man, I just smiled and told her that it was okay. But when I got up the stairs and outside, the fucker was waiting for me. He persisted to demand money from me and tried to take my bag for himself. I kept walking, making him follow me and since he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, just on rambling on how I needed to give him my money or my drinks, I led him into the back of a car. He hit, fell and I kept walking.

Life changing event #5

Helicopter ride!! What an amazing experience! It was the perfect day for it too, hot, so with the doors off we had amazing air circulation, and it made for much better photography! A little hairy at parts when you lean over and there's nothing but your seatbelt to keep you from falling about 400 feet. Or when you accidentally stick your elbow out just past the doorway and 11o mile an hour wind hits it. Other than that, it's the coolest thing ever!

My dad and I were driving to Redwood to drop off some old mowers and we passed Maxson Airfield, I mentioned that it would be cool to take the helicopter tour. So on our way back, we stopped in and signed up for the ride. The ride itself was half an hour and it felt like it was 10 minutes. But damn, what a view! Seeing the river from such a long way up, you really get to see what the river is like and how islands are formed.

As you can see, the top of the rock is not even half of the real rock. The rest of it, like an ice berg, lurks below. This, for those that don't know, is a shoal. Basically it's a rock that comes out of nowhere in the middle of the river, to claim your lower unit, prop, or underside of your boat.

The other thing that is cool about being up so high is that you get to see things that you normally don't get to see when you are on the surface. Like this old dock crib. This dock was around long before the existing dock and boathouses ever existed but as time went on and the people moved, the dock was removed, but the crib remains.

There are so many other things that were awesome about this flight but they would make this post way too long, so I'll just leave you with the words of, if you ever get a chance to take a tour in the air around, do it. You won't regret it. It really is life changing when you get to see something from a totally different perspective.

Life changing event #3

So, a few days ago my cousins and I went kayaking around an island called Grenadier, it's a Canadian island with a golf course and is the summer home of the owner of Zippo lighters. On that eventful day, my cousins and I decided to go around the island. We started early and made our way over glassy water. It was pristine and just plain gorgeous.

Later in the day we found ourselves in a bay for our lunch break. It was much needed for the rest of the trip was insanely windy. At this bay we noticed a strange looking buoy, it turned out to be marking a sunken ship. After exploring it while in the kayak I decided that it would be cool to return to with a boat that could better fight the wind; so a few days later, my parents, brother and sister in law and their two boys all made the venture down to find the sight again.

We did and thought that it was the coolest thing, looking over the side of the boat to see what we could of this mysterious ship. We left the sight, saying "we are definitely coming back here with our snorkels." Well, like always, the intentions are there but things start happening and the time to do it runs away.

But, not today. My dad and I were thinking of what to do, the projects around the house are done and it was too beautiful of a day to sit around. So, at my mom's advice we made the venture back to the sunken ship with our snorkels. It was awesome!! It was extremely mysterious and creepy. Swimming over the ruins, we (my dad and I) realized that it wasn't just a small sailboat that sunk but a real, actual wooden ship. What this ship was before it crashed, we can't figure out, but it has all the tell tale signs; wooden decks, ribbing, and pointed bow and stern. But the thing that baffles us is the giant metal tank that seems to be at the bow of the ship. It's so big that part of it protrudes up and is close to the surface of the water, very dangerous. There were parts that you could stand on, ribs that were sticking upward, the tank, and other random sections of decking.

It really was the coolest thing. Life changing.

Life changing event #2

The second event on the list is something obvious but at the same time amazing. Have you ever wondered where osprey's get the sticks to build their nests? This question has bugged myself and my dad for a long time, but last week the bugging question was answered.

We were floating along and watching some Herons when we noticed an osprey flying in. We couldn't tell where it was heading because it was controlling its flight like it was going in for a landing. But, it wasn't slowing down. It was heading right for a dead part of a pine tree; we were there thinking, "well it can't land there" SNAP The osprey took the top of the tree right off, a good 4 foot stick.

Sitting there jaw open, watching the osprey carry its stick off to the nest, we couldn't believe what just happened. All these years wondering, answered in a single act. Life changing.

Life changing event #1

A new series spawned to replicate the series of things that are awesome about Korea, but now applied to river life.

Life on the river is a life of bliss and beauty. The river itself is something of wonder as it is 1/4 of the worlds fresh water, constantly flowing. But the things that really get me about the river is all of the life that it supports. The fish, insects and most importantly the birds.

There is a whole plethora of fowl that use the river as their home and source of food.

The first event that I'm going to blog about are the loons.

Loons are probably one of the more majestic birds that dwell on the river. They are huge, weighing up to or slightly more than 10lbs. The loon is a bird with a song that everyone knows and loves to hear.

On my kayak paddles around the river I have come to see many loons. They are a lot more tame than they used to be, so now I can get some great shots of them. Though recently, while paddling around I have seen events with the loons that many don't get to see. Either because they are too busy driving around on their jet-skies or "penis boats" so they don't stop to see what the river really is.

While kayaking around I have seen a mother loon on her nest, blended right in with the rocks that I didn't even notice she was there. It wasn't until I unknowingly got uncomfortably close that she shot off her nest and feigned injured to draw my attention away. This was such an awe to see that I sat jaw-dropped for a good 2 minutes.

Then the other night, I was out enjoying the nice evening and up I came upon two more Loons. But these guys were being very distant and making a point to keep that distance. I got as close as I could, and noticed that momma loon had two little babies on her back. This is the common loon mothering, she will carry them on her back and daddy will guard/hunt. It's a real relationship, raw and clean, right in front of you.

Can you slow down your normal life so that you can see what's all around you?

The River Rat returns

After two years in Korea the Traveling River Rat returns to familiar seas.

Living on the St. Lawrence River for over 20 years, I finally left for S.Korea. While in S.Korea I met awesome people and often talked about my life on the river. After 2 years there, I started to miss things that I used to find fun, but also tedious.

Like kayaking, I've always loved to do it, but never really appreciated the grace that goes into it and that it is the prefect way to see the river. When I decided to come back to the river after 2 years in Korea, I promised myself that I would no longer take living in such a glorious place for granted. That I would take my sense of adventure and exploration and apply it to my summer.

I'm proud to say that I've kept to my promise (even amidst the killer jetlag that has me getting at most 4 hours of sleep a night). But I've been pushing through it and getting out on the river and doing what I've been wanting to do for a long time.

One of the missions that I set myself on, is to get the ultimate shot of the iconic Blue Heron. While I've been successful on some fronts I still think that I can do better. And my mission is going to be a tough one, as the heron is a skittish bird and takes flight over the smallest noise. But its not in my blood to give up, so my mission continues.

One forth of the worlds fresh water flows as the St. Lawrence river. It's amazing to think about and even more awesome to be on. The past two days of kayaking around have been my greatest bliss. When I'm out on the river, I am in just pure heaven. I've seen some pretty awesome things in my travels but so far, nothing can really compare to being in a kayak, gliding along the water's surface; among fish, bugs and the abundance of birds that call the river home.

I missed the river, I missed the wildlife and ecology that surrounds the river. Living and watching nature happen right infront of you, is more of an education than any book can teach.