which is situated on the coast.  We were only suppose to be here for 2 weeks and then return to Incheon where Ivan was to start his official teaching position...however....after his interview here they wanted him for the year and the day after he started work they offered him a three year position.  They just love him.  Ivan signed a one year contract and we'll take it from there.  We may stay longer than one year though it's hard to make that decision so soon after arriving.  The city is truly amazing.  There are 5 million people here living very densely.  The city is situated in a series of connecting valleys that stretch out as far as the eye can see.  You only get this view, of course, if you climb a mountain and look down on this mind-boogling scene.  We are extremely lucky to be living with mountains close by (we only have about a 7 minute walk to reach two different access points to mountain paths) and we also have a view of the mountains from our 5th floor apartment.  We live on a main thoroughfare through our part of the city, so in exchange for the lovely view from our window we pay by having to endure the noise of traffic 24 hours per day and air quality that rivals that of Mexico City (another place in which I couldn't breathe).  Ivan is also suffering with the pollution and often wears a pollution mask when he's out, as do many others.  We will be purchasing an air purifier so that at least when we are in our apartment our lungs can relax.  The air in the mountains is refreshing and invigorating and we are up there almost every day.  Ivan actually hikes over the mountain to get to school!  It's very steep at times with numerous switchbacks and he is fond of refering to this twice daily routine as his "forced march".  He either likes it or hates it depending on how much sleep he got the night before!  All is well.  I'll write more later!

"Purple Spring Flowers on the Mountain"

All through the pine forest are these delicate purple flowers. They are bell shaped and swing on spindly brown stocks that look all the world for dead except that they hold a multitude of blooms. It was the first flower appearing on the mountain this spring. Soon after this I began seeing strawberry plants with yellow flowers instead of the white ones we have in Canada. And, there is forsythia,too, with cascading branches of lemon yellow blooms.  I must also mention the magnolia trees which also have their flowers before the leaves appear.  First they shed their furry brown coats that seem to give protection in those first unsettled weeks of spring, leaving the the closed flowers exposed and standing like shy candles along the branches.  Now, with the flowers fully opened, these very same trees look as though a flock of ivory birds are exploding into flight!

"Ferris Wheel at the Children Park"

On our first weekend in Busan we walked to the Children's Grand Park which is just up the street from where we live.  Even now, a month later, it's still remarkable how you walk up our noisy street  full of crazy traffic, shops one on top of another, vehicle exhaust that chokes you, and then at the top of the street is the Children's Park providing an oasis of calm.  As you walk through the archway the noise of the city seems to instantly subside.  Trees embrace you from each side of the wide promenade which leads over a stream to a narrower pathway up into the mountains. This path takes you to a small lake, jade in colour.  On the other side of the lake is an amusement park nestled in the forest.  

Infact, what makes this amusement park ever so enchanting is that there is a forest inside. There are full-grown pines around all the rides and the rollercoaster flies so closely into the top boughs of the trees that you could problably reach out and touch them as you clickety-clack past before plummeting down again out over the lake!

"Clouds on the Mountain" (right)

In the beginning of April we had a rainy Sunday afternoon. Not to be detered by a little rain, we donned our gortex, made a thermos of ginger tea, grabbed our large umbrella and headed into the mountains above the Children's Park.  The air was fragrant with the combination of approaching spring and last year's autumn leaves still on the ground.  We walked up stone steps, across bridges, wound our way up staircases made of peeled logs embedded into the hillside, through forests with tree trunks the colour of burnished copper. Up, up, up we went until we reached a pine forest through which we saw this view of a further peak.  The clouds swirled.  Ivan and I stood there silently in awe.  He said, "This is the place where myths are made." My thoughts exactly.  We sat on the ground and had our tea while I did a drawing of the mountain which I painted later. 

"Cherry Trees in Bloom"

Although I had read that Koreans look forward to the blossoming trees each year, that did not prepare me for the scene that unfolded as spring progressed.  Trees along certain pathways started showing their flower buds which soon opened into amazing displays of pale pink blooms. Very beautiful indeed.  But, that was only the quiet beginning.  I thought the mountainside was covered in almost exclusively pine trees until, day by day, more and more blossoming trees appeared amidst the dark green forest.    It was absolutely unbelievable to me.  So struck by the mountainsides was I that I'd look at them constantly with all my might so that the shapes and colours would be seared on my brain forever. This painting I did from the window of our apartment just around dusk.  At the bottom you can see the edge of the city nudging itself against the forest.

"A Page From My Korean Workbook"

Ivan and I have both been studying Korean.  We probably haven't been studying as much as we should be, but, as usual it's difficult to fit everything into a day.  Both of us can speak in various languages but, neither one of us has studied anything similar to Korean...and let me say, nothing can prepare you for it. 

The Korean language sounds beautiful...like water over pebbles.  Honestly, at this point I find it hard to believe that my mouth will ever be able to make those sounds!  And, to make things worse, I am very nervous to experiment out in public which is the only way I'm really going to learn.  I am in awe of Ivan who uses Korean words in any order,  guessing at the pronounciation, doesn't care if he stumbles, and laughs if he garbles it.  And, most of the time he actually makes himself understood! I ask him how he does this.  He says, "What have I got to lose but a few words?"  So what if I learn Korean on paper if I can't use it out in the world.  I am so annoyed with myself!

I could write about Korea all day everyday and still have more I'd liked to say! Today I'll talk about the traffic because it is an unignorable feature in our everyday life.  If there is a Driver's Handbook here then everyone pays it no never mind!  We learned very quickly that if you have a walking green light it is at you peril if you actually believe it's true. A walking green light means it might be safe to cross...maybe...if you are lucky.  It means that most cars will stop, though not neccessarily all of them.  So...before, during, and after you cross the street be on the lookout for that nutcase driver who is going to try to zoom through the tiny opening between you and the woman with the stroller.  But, if you are 102 years old, all of a sudden, they see you and you can cross the road at any time..... this is a good thing.  Riding in a cab can be hair-raising depending on your driver.  Recently I had a cabbie who rode the horn and played I'm-the-big-guy with every vehicle on the road!  Personally, I have no interest in seeing a cement truck 2 inches from the passenger window ever again!  We drove past the scene of a recent fire.  There were firetrucks still at the curb and policemen crossing the road.  My cabbie honked at them hey you get out of my way I'm comin' through! You'd be arrested for that kind of sass in Canada.  Some cabdrivers are perfectly wonderful however.  Tailgating is a way of life as is abrasively nudging yourself into a line of traffic...it's all a game of "chicken"...the person who has the most nerve to pull off some outrageous manuoeuvre wins!!  My brother, James, would just love this freestyle "creative" driving.  I think of him often as I'm in a  cab white-knuckling it off to somewhere! 

No paintings for awhile...our computer refuses to boot up (I'm doing this text from a large PC room in our neighbourhood, surrounded by the sounds of foes being hacked to death by the many gameplayers here)...so it's off to the doctor tomorrow.  Hopefully, it's nothing too serious.  I'd like to scan some of my recent work and put it on here....but, that'll have to wait.  Hmmm...speaking of doctors, doctors for humans that is, Ivan met a Korean doctor on the weekend.  He's a transplant surgeon who did part of his training in Texas.  He told Ivan that if he has Korean medical coverage then he has some of the very best available medical coverage in the entire world. He also said it costs 1/100 th of what it costs in the U.S.  He added that doctors here get paid less than car mechanics!  Isn't that interesting?

 Here's something that I saw the other day.  I was in a cab going up a busy street...new highrises all around...fairly upscale...an urban scene.  I looked out the window to see a dilapidated shop on the steep street with a little white dog on the sidewalk that caught my eye.  It was frantically looking in what I thought were the basement windows of the shop.  I imagined this sweet dog had seen it's owner inside and wanted in, too.  So, that was the first day.  On the second day I happened to be walking past the very same place and there was the dog again!  It was still in the same agitated and excited state as yesterday.  How strange.  Walking afforded me the time to see what those "basement" windows really were.  They were windows, yes. But, not to the basement.  The windows actually made a long makeshift rabbit hutch with an earthen floor along the side of the shop.  The dog was running up and down just dying to get in with those black and white bunnies! I was relieved to see that the rabbits appeared unconcerned with the dog's eagerness to join them!  One of the things that I've been enjoying about Busan is the contrasts...here we have highrises towering in all directions and in the middle of it all is this rundown shop raising rabbits right on the street! I am intrigued by cities that tolerate a little animal husbandry in the middle of the urban setting,  

I remember the first time I was in Mexico City, we arrived late in the evening and stayed on the 20th floor of some massive hotel in the heart of the city.  I'll never forget hearing roosters crowing in the early hours of the morning.  Roosters! I looked out the window onto a sea of grey concrete highrises.  We weren't in the country, that's for sure!  And yet, there were roosters somewhere out there!  If you are a Canadian reading this then you know very well that there are at least 100 laws and by-laws that would prevent you from raising any farm animal in the city or even in a small town.  The farm is the farm and the town is the town and never the two shall meet.  I wonder how and why cities develope differently in this area?

Today is May 5th.  We're been here for almost 2 months already. That's almost hard to believe.  Today it is just pouring rain...and I mean pouring!!! The mountains are covered in mist and it's just beautiful outside.  Everything is so lush that it has a real tropical feel.  There are palm trees here, actually.  Yes, it's true. I'm not kidding.  I'll try to get a drawing of one on here soon and you'll see for yourself.  Ivan went to study a music score at a coffee shop this morning. He took his bike and he said that some of the sidewalks were blocked off because there was water one foot deep in places. He was as drenched as a sponge left out in the rain when he got home!!  And, he was thoroughly disgusted with his Gortex coat that let the rain in like a sieve.  He said, "That's it for this coat.  Once it's dry it goes into the recycling box downstairs!"  On the way home he purchased a 3 dollar rain coat, transparent and it goes past his knees.  We went out together in the afternoon and he donned this beauty with a pair of shorts.  Oh, yeah, and his shoes were soaked through so he wore flipflops to complete the ensemble.  We both had a good laugh.  I comforted him with, "Don't worry! As far as I can tell, today is a fashion-free day in Busan"  Which was true. Today everyone is only concerned with staying dry.  I did inform Ivan that he smelled like a brand new beach ball in that raincoat, though!  

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