Michelle in Korea

I'm turning this post over to Michelle.
Curtis is allowing me to use his blog to share my adventures in Korea. 
I arrived in Korea September 7th and was very happy to see my second daughter, Darcy, at the airport.  True to Whetten form there was a prank in the works as she greeted me with a sly smile.  She informed me that we didn't have to take the bus home; that two men had offered to drive us in their car and she had accepted because she didn't want to deal with luggage on the bus.  I was a bit alarmed.  Really?  Then she introduced me to Bro. Sutherland and another missionary.  Sigh.  What a relief.  They were very nice and drove us and a large sleeping pad all the way to Darcy's apartment, which was quite a ways away from where they live.  It turns out that this is the way church service happens in Korea.  The members are spread out but very willing to serve each other. 

Rather than post the 60-something pages of my Korea Memoirs, I will post a few pictures and tell you about them.

The Korean people work very hard at preserving their cultural arts.  Traditional foods are an important part of the culture. 

Darcy's employer, Nan, and her supervisor, Colin, took us out to dinner at a famous traditional restaurant called "The Korea House".  It's a VERY nice traditional Korean restaurant where you take off your shoes and sit on cushions at a low table.  They brought out a gazillion small dishes with small portions of soups, meat and side dishes like kimchi.  Everything was delicious.  I ate fish cakes, potato cakes, radish, jap chae, shrimp, eel, rice, kimchi soup, rice cakes for dessert, a pear slice for dessert and dried octopus for dessert.  I can't believe I ate the shrimp, eel and octopus without flinching, but I DID.  And they were good!

After dinner, we enjoyed the performance of traditional music and dances.  It was beautiful and interesting and entertaining.  At the end, the performers asked Darcy to join them on the stage to dance while playing a hand-drum.  She did a great job.



Michelle with some of the performers

 Nan and Colin are very kind and gracious.  Darcy is very fortunate to work for them.  They complemented Darcy and said she is a favorite teacher at the school.  The way they treated me was an indication to me of how much they appreciate Darcy.

I'll write more about her other friends in a later blog.
Michelle

First Fall Scenes from the North Georgia Mountains

Every fall Michelle makes a pilgrimage to Hudson Apple House.  The original intent was to buy apples for canning.  The trip has evolved into something else.  How would you describe an event where you meet with old friends that you have not seen in a long time and listen to funny stories and sometimes poignant ones; you relax in the comfort of not worrying about what anybody thinks of you - they take you as you are.  These friends are what we've come to love about the south.  Earlier in the week, a co-worker  asked me why we did not return to San Diego.  "It's so nice there."  Indeed there are some nice things about San Diego - but there are not nearly as many good people like our friends who run Hudson Apple House, and as you will see in pictures below, it's not nearly as beautiful as the mountains of north Georgia.

After visiting with our friends, we wandered around the fields and took some more pictures.

Clarissa took our picture in this same spot (facing the opposite direction) in October of 2010.

 The following picture was taken by Josh in 2010, as I examined interesting rocks in the road to the barn.  This is included just for the contrast in my hair.  I'm still wearing that same hair cut.  In fact, it has not been cut since my appendix was cut out.

Artsy picture taken by Clarissa in 2010.

Clarissa at Hudson Apple House, 2010.

I never ever imagined my daughter would be so drop-dead gorgeous.  Yeah, that's right, click on her picture so you can see for yourself up close.  And how did she end up being so kind and nice too?  And sensitive?  And knee-slappin' funny?  And self-reliant, and... and... well, it must be because she's married to Josh.  Thanks, Josh. 

OK.  Back to the present.  As we were wandering about this year, we met Cici, the beautiful Belgian horse and Roxy, her foal.  As soon as we saw them, we started walking towards the fence.  As soon as they saw us, they did the same. 

I love the blond mane and tail with the dark coat on Cici.  Roxy, to the surprise of her owners, turned out to be a "pinto" as they say where I come from.  Here they call her a "paint".  I was pleased to see how docile they were... except Roxy likes to nip people.  Once that had been established, we got along just fine.

Here Michelle is counseling with Roxy about her nipping problem.

See ya!

FAMILY REUNION, BEAR LAKE: 2011

Once upon a time, Jean and DeeAnne had 10 children.

On day in July, they were all together in the foothills around Bear Lake, Idaho.  Why Bear Lake?  Because the mother's father was raised in George Town, which is near the north end of Bear Lake.

Over time, (a long time) the whole family grew to look like this.

The newest addition to the family, Whitney, is sitting next to the patriarch.   The Bruces are missing (Julies' husband and Lorenas').  Also missing are Lorena's Joseph, her oldest two girls, Jesse and Mary; and Darcy is in S. Korea.

One day the Georgians went for a drive under the paradigm of "I wonder where this road goes."  It turned out perfect.  We saw a golden eagle.  I took lots of flower pictures and we eventually found a beautiful view from the mountain behind the hill that served as a back drop to the first picture on this blog.

 This picture shows what I miss while living in Georgia.  While our trees are beautiful in Georgia, they cover everything and we never get vistas like this one!  Matt is missing from this picture because he was on the lake.

Peter and Joseph are facing backwards, Matt is driving.  Thanks to Clark for providing the teenagers' toys.

The picture below shows Lorena's youngest daughter on the far left, Conals oldest daughter in the middle and Angies oldest daughter on the right. 

Outdoors above, Indoors below.

I don't know what Matt and the St. Georgians are playing, but at the big table they were playing Pitt, and yes, it got very exciting.  At the far table, a game of Dominion is being set up.  Dominion - in my opinion - was the most fun new game at the reunion.

Clarissa and her Dad getting ready for the frisbee throw from Ced.

The volleyball game between the Whettens and the Jordans.  Jordans won :(

Volleyball was officiated by Ced.  I liked the way he laid down the rules and there were no exceptions.  Not even Grandpa got a second chance to serve.  And don't mess with the net!

Not shown in these images are the table tennis game put together by Joshua, or the Risk Games.  I don't have any pictures of those.  It's late.  I have to wrap this up.

A year from Spain

The transition from March to April marks the 1 year pre-anniversary of our trip to Spain.  Let me explain that more clearly.  We are planning on being in Spain at the end of March and beginning of April 2012.  As a teaser, my good friend Paco sent me a CD with pictures of Galicia, the province in the North West corner of Spain.

For many centuries, pilgrims have been walking from all over Europe to Santiago de Campostela in Galicia, where they believe the apostle James is buried.  Paco and I will be either biking or hiking the Camino de Santiago in Galicia.

It would be fun to hike the entire Camino from France to Santiago, but I might not be in shape for that just yet.  I know our budget is not and I know my responsibilities at work won't allow it.  Let's try this out and maybe later do the rest.

Michelle is not particularly interested in walking for three or four days.  Paco's wife, Idoya, has graciously agreed to host Michelle while we hike.  They will meet us at an Inn for lunch and then at the next one for dinner and to spend the night.  When I say Inn, I mean the real thing.  They are not like anything we've seen in the US, since they've been around since before the US existed.

Paco is an excellent photographer - I'm honored that he let me show these to you.  His CD also included pictures of the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain.  I'm reserving those for now.  Picos de Europa are the most beautiful mountains in Spain.  Some time soon, I hope to spend a couple of weeks there.

What's going on?

Time between posts is evidence of life's increased complexity.  In March and April I served as part of the logistics staff for Wood Badge Course S9-101-26.  Wood Badge is the highest level of training for volunteers who work directly with the youth in all of Scouting (i.e. Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts, Ventures, Explorers and Sea Scouts).  It was a great experience:

1. The content of the course has been useful to me not only as the Cub Master of Pack 521, but also in my responsibilities at Motorola Solutions and - most importantly - in my responsibilities at home.  In a separate entry I will share more details of how the contents of the course has affected my life.
2. The volunteers who attend Wood Badge are the cream of the crop.  These are people who are willing to sacrifice their own comforts and time in order to become better for the youth.  The concept of "magnifying a calling" is internalized in them to the point that they're confused as to why everyone doesn't do this.
3. The leaders who present Wood Badge are the creme' de la creme'.  These men and women - all volunteers - are the working embodyment of the principles taught in Wood Badge.

Here is a picture of the Staff.

This course took place at Camp Rainey Mountain in north east Georgia.  The name is right.  It's in the county that receives the most rain in all of Georgia.  Fortunately for us, it was not a serious problem.  It kept the dust down and kept us honest as Scouters: no sloppy tents.

I tried to download the picture with the participants... but it took so long I gave up and cancelled it.   

COLOR: From midnight blue to orange

This is the view from our front door step a few moments ago.

I like the transition from dark dark blue - almost black...

through light blue, light pink and then...

into orange.

By the way,  Darcy is back home (in Seoul, Korea) from her trip to Guam.  She had a great time - rented a scooter and toured the island.  So far she has only posted pictures on Facebook.  Hopefully she can get them on her blog soon.

Chattanooga Aquarium

The second major side trip that Criag and Jenette took during their visit to Georgia, was to Chattanooga.  Our primary destination was the aquarium with subsequent alternative visits to Lookout Mountain, a short river cruise on the Tennessee, and the IMAX movie (if there was a good one showing). 

One of the fun things about touring with Craig and Jenette is that she's great for always packing bounteous healthy snacks for these kinds of trips.  Craig drove all the way.  I enjoyed the back seat to myself with a good book.  Michelle couldn't make this one - she had piano students who, after a long Christmas - New Years break, were getting mangy on the piano and needed to get back in the routine of regular lessons.

When we got to the aquarium I realized it had expanded since my last visit... probably 10 years ago.  They've added a building specifically for salt-water fish with sharks, manta rays, a sea turtle and many more that I can't remember.  The tour starts at the top of the building and you work your way down.  The first area is like a jungle: warm, with spray misters, banana trees, exotic flowers (like the orchid below).  Around the base of the trees, there are pools with the fresh-water manta rays - beautiful.

This is Craig and Jenette at the petting pool.  You could actually touch the fish here. 

The next section was an enclosed butterfly habitat.  A young girl is holding the butterfly in the picture below.  She just put her hand down near the butterfly on the ground and it crawled on.

There was a display of cocoons with labels - one of which piqued my interest.

From the jungle we went to the Antartic.  There was a section with penquins that facinated Jenette.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures.  It was particularly fun because we could watch the penquins above the water and below.  They are facinating swimmers.  Since it was the middle of the week, there were relatively few visitors and we could spend as much time as we wanted at the displays and not feel like we were blocking others from the view.  After the penquins we came to the big tank.  The most memorable part of the big tank where the sharks, the manta rays, and feeding time: the fish eat lettuce!  The guide told us the sharks prefer a certain kind of food, and as long as they can get their preference, they don't bother the rest of the fish in the tank.  She also pointed out that the other fish still make it a point of staying away from the sharks mouth.

The picture above illustrates the point... or more like quite a few points - all pointing in the wrong direction from where I want to go.

After the salt water tank we went to the original section of the aquarium.  The tour started in the basement with a huge variety of sea horses and sea dragons. 

Sometimes you wonder what the animals on display think of the creatures that walk by their home.  This is what they see - except my little point-and-shoot does not have a fish-eye lens:

Then from the basement you take the escalator to the top of the building where theres a mountain stream with trout and otters, only it was dark and we could not see the otters - but wait - they're nocturnal!  So we searched a good long while for the otters, but to no avail.  All I have to show for that section is this trout:

I enjoy this original aquarium because it's structured with tanks and displays built around a central atrium.  There is a lot to see without having to walk too far.  So, from the mountain stream at the top, you walk down through several climate zones, seeing all kinds of fish and then swamps (yes, including alligators and snakes - big ones).  (OK, the snakes had their own private habitat.)  There is a salt water tank in the original section too, and this one had a HUUGE sea turtle.  Cranette (Craig & Jenette) have better pictures of that guy. 

One of the last displays we visited was another petting tank.

This species of fish (I forgot the name) have been around for a long long time - hence the prehistoric look.  They were surprisingly docile and didn't mind being touched.

We thoroughly enjoyed the aquarium.  As at the Biltmore, where the guides were closing off the rooms as we left, we were probably the last ones to leave the aquarim.  Touring with Cranette is sooo much fun because they are both so curious about lots of things and they respect curiosity in other people.  So, I never felt rushed - although I must confess we spent so much time in the first few habitats that I wondered if we would get through it all.  We did. 

The next time they come, we might make it to Lookout Mountain and the river cruise on the Tennessee... and Stone Mountain and the CNN building and the Civil War Battlefield at Kennesaw and a show or concert at the Fox Theatre and Tallulah Gorge and down to the Okefenokee Swamp near Florida and up to the Great Smokey Mountains Naitonal Park and... and... lots more.

Visiting the Biltmore

With Craig and Jenette, we drove to Ashville, North Carolina to tour the Biltmore Estate.  It's fun traveling with these guys.  Jenette makes sure there's healthy snacks (a la Elaine) and water.  They're both excellent conversationalists - we talked about many different things.

It was a beautiful clear, but cold, day.  Here and there you can spot small patches of snow remaining from the previous weeks storm.

The estate was developed by George Vanderbilt in the late 1800's while he was still single and in his 20's.  He fell in love with the property while walking through the woods surrounding Ashville.  George's grandfather grew up on a New York farm, but went on to build a fortune in commerce.  George's father doubled the fortune.  George's mother would travel to Ashville in an effort to improve her health and George, the youngest of 8, would accompany her.  It's easy for me to see how a New Yorker would feel healthier in Ashville.

George bought 1000's of acres to create the estate.  He enlisted the help of Fredrick Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park, to develop the landscaping for the estate.  If you ever wonder what Landscape Architecture means, a visit to the Biltmore would give you the answer.  The grounds are beautiful.

These pictures are a poor representation.  You can see more through the website:

http://www.biltmore.com/visit/

I must confess that I struggle with the appaling lack of symmetry.  "My friends tell me (and they should know) that I have a very discerning eye for art in architecture."  (Paraphrasing Mrs. Elton in Jane Austen's Emma)  And while I'm criticizing I might as well go on to say I'm dissapointed that the style is borrowed from a French chateau motif.  An "American" theme would have been better.  If only Frank Lloyd Wright could have been there, the lack of symmetry would be overridden by facinating structures.  (I'm getting no help from Michelle here - she disagrees with my opinion on this - and probably with that part about my friends who "should know".) 

This is the only interior picture we came away with.  Had we been allowed to take pictures I would be posting images of things like the rubber floor in the electrical room that was setup to use either DC or AC electricity, the winding stone staircase, the indoor swimming pool, the massive organ, etc.

We could only take pictures outside the mansion.  That's OK.  Looking away, and to the west you can see the Smokey Mountains, part of the Appalachians that run from Georgia to Canada.  On the other side of these mountains is Chattanooga, and that's the theme for the next blog entry.