Piano Lessons

The Koreans know how to do piano lessons! Everyday my girls go to a piano studio and study piano for an hour. Half of the time they are on their own practicing and studying theory and the other half they are with a private instructor. No more fighting to get them to practice while Maggie climbs all over the piano seat. I'm in "mother-heaven" and the piano is music to my ears!

Little Women

When I moved to Boston last year I set a goal to read the book, Little Women. For me this was a lofty goal, I'm a very thorough, painstakingly slow reader. I usually read about two books a year and they have to be less than 350 pages (Little Women is 670 pages). Nevertheless, living in Boston inspired me to try and read this American Novel; not to mention my ten year old daughter plowed through it in less than two weeks (Dad's genes). While in Boston, we visited the Orchard House (where Louisa May Alcott lived) but this hands-on experience didn't help my reading. I made it only through the first few chapters of the book. But, having started the book I felt a connection to it because of the four daughters (I am one of four daughters and I have four daughters). Mrs. March made me feel like a slacker mom every once and a while but I didn't let that get me down too much. So, I kept the book handy but never really delved into it until I made a trip to the States by myself. I missed my connecting flight in San Francisco and ended up staying overnight there. The book was my sole companion. On my flight home to Seoul I was crying so hard while I read that I had a few passengers wondering if I was okay. The book is one of the sweetest tributes to womanhood and sisterly companionship that I have ever read. I give it five stars!

Gazpacho

Last August a really dear friend of mine from Chicago gave me a bowl of Gazpacho to try. It was the first time in my life that I had ever heard of it. It was sooooo good. A month later I was in Boston (Lexington to be exact) at Wilson Farms. They were having their tomato festival and had free samplings of Heirloom Gazpacho. I thought of my dear friend and felt a sentimental tenderness for Gazpacho. A year has passed since I moved from Chicago and I made me some Gazpacho as a tribute to the tomato harvest (one of my favorite times of the year), to Chicago, and to my dear knitting club friend.

Heirloom Gazpacho

5 pounds of big heirloom tomatoes

1 medium cucumber cubed

1 C red onion diced

1 green and 1 red pepper diced

2 T cherry vinegar

1 T lime juice

1 T olive oil

splash Tabasco

1 T orange juice

1/4 t pepper

2 t salt

Cut tomatoes in half. Dice half of them and puree the other half. Add other ingredients!

(Yummm. This has me written all over it)

Warning: my children hated it. One said, "Can you make it without tomatoes?" Oh well, all the more for me, right?

Favorite Pix

In many ways Beijing is very different than Seoul. The roads in Beijing are wider and less crowded. There are areas of small villiage-like homes right next to brand new department stores and hotels, which gives the city a feeling of past and present all rolled into one; a city emerging and transitioning. Beijing has lots of bikers. I rarely see bikers in Seoul. Seoul seems to have a stronger Western influence commercially and politically, although this is rapidly changing in Beijing. South Korea's average individual salary is: $20,000/year, China's: $2,000/year.

Beijing 2008!
The spirit of the Olympics can be seen in the architecture of the new buildings: The Olympic Torch Hotel and the Eagle's Nest Arena.

The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace, Beijing. A nice bit of green space in the city. My interpretation: Central Park, with a Chinese spin on it.