New Heights Karate Academy

Congradulations to our three new black belts: Audrey, Aleah and Jesse. Thank you to Jordan and Austin for helping out on the test. Being recent black belts themselves, they were able to sympathize with the testers.

After the main portion of the test was over, the three candidates participated in the Christmas show. As a finale, they each easily broke two bricks.

Even though these three tested as part of the program at Wauseon, they are now lifelong members of our dojo. They are welcome to continue their training and help out in classes.

Working on my bicycle

There is a great bike shop in the Bowling Green area called Cycle Werks http://shopcyclewerks.com/. They have shops in both Maumee and BG, but the shop in BG is definitely larger and better stocked.

I purchased my Trek Navigator a few years back from a shop in the Sylvania area called Bikeworks http://thebikeworks.com/. A shop in the Perrysburg area called Road Racer http://www.roadracer.com/ fitted the bike for me a year or two later.

I purchased my first road bike a Trek 1.2 WSD from Cycle Werks in 2008. I put about 800 miles on it this last season and would like to do more this coming season. Aaron at Cyclewerks is extending the handlebars on the 1.2 WSD. The part should come in sometime next week and he will install it for me. I would also like to have SPD pedals installed on my Navigator and a tune up done on a third, different bicycle. It's the cold season in this area of the country.

Microsoft Virtual PC

In my Microsoft Admin 1 class, I used a nifty application called Microsoft Virtual PC. It gave me the ability to run the same build of Windows Server 2008 on the classroom computers as my computer at home.

I had to upgrade the ram in my home computer which runs Windows XP with Media Center Version 2002 SP3. It came with 2GB and I upgraded it to 4GB. If you do not like clicking Right Alt + Ctrl to move the mouse from Virtual PC to your desktop, I recommend installing Virtual Machine Additions from the file menu.

MV SUPER JUNIOR - SORRY,SORRY

My dad used to play Korean music. Not himself, but he would play it from a cassette, I believe. I now realize that it was Korean folk music.

Amazingly, ITunes does not carry a decent selection of newer Korean music. Here is a selection from SuJu, a very popular Korean boy band. If you know of any other good Korean bands, I would love to hear suggestions. Enjoy.

2010 Planner

How is it that there are only about three weeks left in 2009? I remember selecting the planner that I have been using for 2008, and it is already time for a new one.

I have always loved empty journals/notebooks with their unique covers and empty pages just waiting for inspiration. There is so much potential in those pages, so much life to be lived and so many experiences to be recounted. Funny thing is that I will buy or be given journals and then not use them. It seems like such a waste. What, you ask, does this speech have to do with a 2010 planner? I'm glad that you asked.

One type of journal that I have been intrigued about is the moleskin journal. I like the fact that they seem thin and efficiently designed. At the local Barnes & Noble, the Weekly Notebook Planner comes in both red and black. While $20 seems like a lot to pay for a planner, it does have blank pages to jot down ideas and stickers to customize the pages. I will probably use those pages to jot down blog ideas while I am away from my computer Unexpectedly, the back cover is made in such a way that there is a pocket where receipts etc can be stashed. Time will tell, but I think that this planner will work.

Korean Restaurant and Farmer's Market

We visited one of the many Korean restaurants around Duluth, GA with my brother who is a PhD candidate at Georgia Tech.  The name of the restaurant is Abaee at 2476 Pleasant Hill Rd. Suite 104.  I ordered sun du bu which is a soup made of soft tofu with seafood and beef added.  I spoke to a Korean lady at a farmer's market later who said that the soup can be made with seafood only, beef only or oysters only in addition to the soft tofu.  It was a good soup, but could be a little spicy for some tastes.  My brother and a friend both ordered Bi Bim Bap.  One ordered Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap while the other ordered straight Bi Bim Bap.  I was confused because both dishes appeared to be cooked, but the same Korean lady said that the straight Bi Bim Bap ordered by my brother appeared to be cooked because it was served over rice.  Often the rice is served on the side in that dish and the vegetables are only cooked once instead of twice as they are in Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap.  He appeared to enjoy it given the emptiness of the bowl when he was finished. 

We also visited a very large Korean Farmer's Market called Nam de Mun si jang aka Gwinnet Int'l Farmers Market on Pineland Road.  Imagine a place where you can buy any ingredient that you would ever need to prepare a korean dish and this place would come close to that idea.  I imagine that some of the Korean restaurants in the area do their shopping at this market.  There is a place to sit down and order prepared food in the rear of the market.  Also, there are live fish swimming in tanks that appeared to be available for purchase for that night's dinner.  Many varieties of produce are available with cucumbers for example piled a couple feet high.  I purchased some candy to take home for Christmas and some Korean red pepper spice.  I have heard that it is different from the red pepper spice that one might buy at a normal supermarket, but I suppose that the proof is in the pudding as it were.

One thing that stuck out to me on my last trip to Duluth, GA was the strong Korean presence. The number of signs on businesses written in Korean was fairly cool. I am seeing even more on this trip. The businesses include restaurants (obviously), grocery stores, dry cleaners and I believe even professional type businesses. It makes me wonder why so many Koreans decided to settle in GA, but there don't seem to be that many in Ohio. There are quite a few Asians in Ann Arbor, MI, but I attribute a large part of that to the close proximity of the university.

Living in a place like this would help my what seems like endless attempt to learn Hangul aka the Korean language. The class that I take in Ann Arbor helps a lot, but it is only one day a week. I supplement it with flash cards, emailing in Korean and reading textbooks. It would be really cool to have someone with whom to practice. That reminds me. I found some children's books that are bilingual. They are written in both Korean and English. I can't wait. They should be delivered on Monday.