Very disappointed with the result, but there's nothing that can be done about it now.

Current economic, political, and diplomatic situation in Korea is quite bleak, but I am not sure what I can do about it.

This summer probably is the fieriest summer I have ever experienced in Korea. The constant swelter that that fails to abate even at nighttime is causing the plants in the display gardens at my work behave weirdly; it is causing late summer and fall blooming plants to bloom very early. Solidago canadensis, which usually start blooming around late August has bloomed early this month and is now all spent. Chrysanthemums, which usually start producing visible flower buds at September (early blooming cultivars bred to be less affected by photoperiod are an exception, but they are usually raised by cut flower producers under glass, and are rarely planted in outdoor beds) is producing them now. I have even seen the bulbils formed on the stalks of Lilium lancifolium producing small deformed petals at their tips.

The heatwave is impacting agriculture, husbandry, and aquaculture in Korea too; mass die-off of chickens and fishes has recently been an issue. In addition, increased demand for air conditioning is seriously straining power grid, and the risk of blackout is looming over us, but this is in large part our government's fault; for the government tweaked their power demand forecast to support their absurd environmentalist agenda of decommissioning the nuclear power plants and replacing them with well, solar panels.

Anyway, I wonder how the rest of the world is faring. I have heard that Britain is suffering a severe drought, and heatwave is affecting North America as well. Are the other parts of the northern hemisphere fine?

Yesterday, Democratic Party of Korea, the current ruling party of South Korea, made a proposition to amend the constitution by deleting the expression "free" from the preamble(....and To afford equal opportunities to every person and provide for the fullest development of individual capabilities in all fields, including political, economic, social and cultural life by further strengthening the basic "free" and democratic order conducive to private initiative and public harmony,....) and article 4 of the first chapter(The Republic of Korea shall seek unification and shall formulate and carry out a policy of peaceful unification based on the basic "free" and democratic order.), then retracted it after four hours.

Although they have retracted the proposal, I think that the simple fact that the ruling party of a liberal democratic nation has even proposed such thing does not bode well for the future of said country. However, it appears that no one around me are concerned, at least in serious manner.

I am confused. Am I overreacting?

So, about two months ago, I have managed to get a job as research assistant in an arboretum in Pocheon. It probably would be more accurate to say that I was handed out a job, because the only reason I could get the job was that a kind old lady overestimated my passion and competency in plant classification and identification. Still, I got a job. I finally can call myself a productive member of the society, opposed to bumbling incompetent I was (well, at least I hope I no longer am), who only wasted his parent's hard earned money for rasing some useless weeds and scribbling doodles like an idiotic child.

Thus, I should be happy and proud. But strangely, all I feel is tiredness and apathy. I wonder why. Perhaps it is something natural for someone apporoaching his thirties? I just hope that this state of mind does not last.

I am currently back in Korea. Things are quite confusing and hectic right now, thus please pardon my lack of response and activity in general.

 televassi did this meme sometime ago, and I decided to give it a try since it seemed to be fun. The challenge is, to quote his journal, "to take existing music from the internet that is as close as possible to a character, faction, or piece of art you've made!"

Following are the music I found fitting to the Occidental Empire, factions and important cities within her, and her immediate nighbors in my fictional world, around the time when the great war between Hui and Jandaharids were going through a temporary lull, and humans made their first contact with the canids not long ago. While I would have liked to do this with eastern factions as well, I couldn't find decent music for them. Also, at first I tried to exclude music with human voices or wind instruments in it, as canids, being creatures with muzzle, probably wouldn't be able to make human like voices or blow air. But I realized that it only made a task hard enough by itself more difficult, and had to compromise.


Jandaharid Empire - www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLSlSBxqkvY
--The City of Dimitriyye - www.youtube.com/watch?v=PormtZtffQk (sorry, this was the only video I could find with this track alone)

-Khedivate of Phergistan - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypw-XCdZflg
--The City of Chenarbagh - www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLw71ypWqQU

-Khedivate of Maghreb - www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIk3T8rzZHU
--The City of al-Stafaniyyah - www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBz_z-hZk80

-Principality of Ervan - www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUv0xyasM70


The Holy Confederacy of Christian Nations - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czv7WFtCMWw

-The Holy Empire - www.youtube.com/watch?v=vblwrws-JOI

-Duchies of Sofiya, Domamir, and Slavagrod - www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Jgau0r524

-The Commonwealth of Roorig - www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XDrMaTK3NE


The Human Colonists - www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sseo4usdIAQ
--Fort Escher - www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTLCjq7Zwio

Or in modern name, Cordoba.

The Mezquita was wonderful, and Medinat az-Zahra was mesmerizing as well, though I couldn't spend enough time observing the ruins as I was afraid of missing the bus back to Cordoba. It was a shame that I couldn't visit the Botanical garden(I didn't know that it closed after 2pm), but other than that, I think I saw all that I planned to see.

Now I only hope I can get back to Morocco safely tomorrow.

....the city currently called Granada.

I only spent few hours here as I arrived here late, yet this marvelous city managed to capture my mind already. I managed to survive despite the fact that I cannot speak Spanish at all, though I keep embarrass myself by unconciously blurting out Arabic(like saying shukran when I should say gracias, or saying nam instead of si).

Alas, I couldn't make reservation for ticket for Alhambra.... I dearly hope that there are tickets including visits to Nasrid palaces available when I head there tomorrow early morning.

Lately, I found myself becoming more and more indifferent to things I encounter in my life that once elicited great wonder and joy in me. While interest and devotion lingers still, I no longer feel the same amount of excitement I would have felt 3 or 4 years ago when encountering new plants or meandering among historical sites. It seems that the more the time passes by, the more my passion dries and things become insipid. I came see more limits than possibilities, and have become increasingly accustomed to acceptance and giving up.


I began to wonder if this was normal, and became slightly worried. Then recently, I found a Korean song that I could identify with, portraying something similar to things I am feeling;




Perhaps this feeling I have is just a part of natural process of aging. Though, it does feels kind of odd considering that I still have 6 years left till I hit my thirties.... But then I am 26 years old under Korean age counting systems.

Anyway, I enjoyed the music greatly, so I wanted to share it with you all. Thats all. Thanks.






P.S. Aaaand, while writing this rambling, I encountered another Korean song that I found heart touching. The lyrics are quite poetic, that it's a shame that they can't be delivered to most who would read this. Anyway, below is the link for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRWxGCDBRNY

Today, January 31st, is the New Year’s Day according to Chinese lunar calendar.
To some older fashioned Koreans, this is the real 'New Year's Day', opposed to Gregorian January first. Perhaps this is why my mother often says that my age is 26, not 25. But anyway,-

May you all have a year of good fortune and health.

I believe that the reason is obvious.


Anyway, I find this occasion a good chance to introduce my watchers a version of ‘Happy Birthday to You’ sung in Korea;

왜 태어났니?
왜 태어났니?
엄마 실수 아빠 실수,
왜 태어났니?

Sometimes, the third line changes to,

사람도 많은데,


It is my favorite birthday song, though I don’t sing it for others. I can also tell you that this is probably not the version appropriate for children.

today, exactly a year has passed since I have first set foot on Morocco. Alas, time has been wasted, and nothing has been accomplished.
I’d better try not to repeat this mistake from now on.

The 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar(which, in Gregorian calendar, falls tomorrow, September 19th, in this year) is a holiday in several North East asian countries, similar to Thanksgiving of the United States in it's nature. The holiday is called Chu Seok(추석, 秋夕, also called Joong Chu Jeol[중추절, 仲秋節] or Ga Bae[가배, 嘉俳]) in Korea, and Zhong Qiu Jie(中秋節) in China.

So, happy holiday for my Korean and Chinese watchers!

And as for me, I guess I should finish weeding the nursery after the lunch break ends.

Like the barbary figs sprouting new pads and blooming under the sweltering sun or Xanthium spinosum suddenly prospering in the dry fields and poking people's ankles, these Moroccan brats are so lively, full of joy, and harrasive despite the oppressive heat.

Their incessant chatterings of 'Hello', 'Hi', 'Whats your name', and 'Nice to meet you' is not much of a problem, and screaming 'Ni hao' and blurting 'Chinois' is fine for me too; but mock chinese like 'wang wong chi chao' or 'chi chi chu chong' they always add after speaking something at me is quite irritating, and throwing half eaten candies and empty plastic bottles at me is outright insulting.

But then, I guess there is nothing I can do about this.... I don't want to cause any problems when I am a foreigner in a small and somewhat remote village, and especially when I don't think people from my workplace would support me. I guess I'll simply have to leave earlier or later from the work.




And I think I'll never be able to like children, Moroccan or not.

It seems that most Koreans, including my family, consider North Korean threats as another bluff, and war is unlikely. Considering the fact that it would be suicidal for the Kim dynasty to declare war (I'd bet that by the chance of 99.99999999999%, North Korea will be wiped off the face of the earth within a week from the outbreak of war), this is probably true.
However, historically, there were wars that could not be explained by reason or rationality. I just hope that the current situation would not escalate into another such example.... For we have a lot to lose and little to gain if war happens.

So, the students at the institute are now offering......



to teach me vegetable cultivation.

I don’t know how things came to be like this. I am just shuddering at my own incompetence.

Didn't notice until now.

So.... in the spirit of this day(Orly?), I shall introduce a Korean poem(well, more of an internet meme, but anyway) for those who still haven't found their other half....

---

여러분들 안생겨요(Ladies and Gentlemen, You Still Won't Get One, No Matter What)
by Seol Min-ju, recited by Yoo Hee-yeol

The nursery for seedlings in the institute I work for has many problems, as it has clay soil floor filled with weeds, and is infested with tons of snails. To me, this is unbearable (especially after losing a whole batch of Brassica juncea seedlings), and thus I devised several steps to rectify this;

1. The weeds should be removed to prevent disease transmission and to remove hiding place for snails.
2. The whole floor must be mulched with sharp grit, which (I hope) would repel the mollusks and suppress weed growth.
3. Several nursery benches should be made and the plug trays must be placed on them, not on the floor; placing trays on benches would promote air circulation, provide more light to the seedlings, aid good root ball formation by air pruning effect, prevent soil borne diseases, and make the seedlings less susceptible to pest damage.
4. A raised bed for cuttings, filled with sharp sand (or ideally, vermiculite) and shaded by a cover should be made; as I think that current practice of just sticking them directly on the nursery floor reduces their survival rate and will cause difficulties when transplanting them after they have rooted.

The problem is, I am currently facing a humongous barrier of language, and failing continuously to explain my intentions and convince people here. This morning I tried again with a teacher who understands some English, and I failed again to convince him that sharp grit would prevent snails reaching the seedlings (perhaps it was due to my choice of words.... Or maybe snails here are different from Korean snails?), and benefits of greenhouse bench. After that, he looked around the nursery and told me that I should remove the weeds (which I thought I already had pointed out and told him that I will) and advised me to buy snail repellants and some general insecticide. I replied to him that to me, the damage seems to be caused entirely by snails (there were lots of slime trails on leaves, but I couldn’t observe any frass), and expressed doubt on necessity of insecticide for this situation. At this point, I think another misunderstanding happened, as he suddenly requested a pen and my notebook and proceeded to write down ‘mollusk repellent’ and the brand name of the insecticide he recommended. At that point I just gave up in frustration, and replied simply, Shukran bezzaf.

I know that this is not a good attitude, as it is true that I am under qualified (after all, I am merely a 학사 나부랭이), knows almost nothing about Moroccan agriculture, and have no idea on what to do in field cultivation (In Korea, agriculture majors have more experience in that; horticulture students have more experience in greenhouse cultivation and hydroponics, and those who focused on floriculture like me are even more so, but yeah, honestly, this is more of an excuse for my incompetence and lack of responsibility), and perhaps I should learn from them, not the otherwise, but still, I am receiving so much stress from this, as I am the one who’s supposed to be helping them. Probably I am overreacting…. I guess I should drop my ego, have more control on myself, take more time studying the languages, read more references, and try to be more competent(though I think it’s too late for that now)

If I were in Seoul, I would have bought myself an orchid.
If I were in Shanghai, I would have bought myself a Narcissus tazetta.
Here, well.... The weekly market is in Thursday, so I'll have to wait and then see whats there.

By the way, I looked up for people who were also born on January 8th for fun, and found that Alfred Russel Wallace, the British naturalist and co-discoverer of natural selection shared birthday with me. How interesting.

However, it was not so amusing to find that current leader of North Korea also shares birthday with me.

I came to Khemis M' touh, el Jadida after my training in Rabat finished in late november.

As M' touh is a small rural village, it was quite difficult to get things I needed, including access to internet. But after some difficulties(including rats eating all my soap and a 'Moroccan two-step' so severe that I had to make a trip back to Rabat to get treated) I think I am begining to get settled now.

I still have problems, like some administrative problem with local gendarmerie(which is getting quite worrisome actually) and my inexperience with arid climate agriculture(now that I have access to internet now, I really should search for lots of references), but I believe they will sort out eventually, insha'allah.



Despite all these problems, I am finding myself unendingly impressed by this 'verdant winter'. While the scene of lush sprouts of peas and fava beans filling the plots and sunflowers glowing under december sun delightens me immensly, the most astonishing are the wild flowers. Calendula and Matricaria grows everywhere, and on sunny days, plots filled by them looks as if they are carpets woven by brilliant orange and white yarn laid on endless floor of emerald tiles. And along the tracks among the hills one can observe Lavandula multifida, Reseda spp., Echium plantagineum, Asphodelus ramosus, and a kind of bulbous plant that has brown hyacinthus-like flowers that I haven't identified yet(They were Dipcadi serotinum).

So, yes, I think I'll fare well. I think....

and the experience of waking up to the sound of the azan was quite interesting.

So, now I'll explain the whole thing.

Everything started approximately four months ago, when my professor recommended applying for KOICA(Korea International Cooperation Agency) for alternative service. After that talk, I searched through their website and found that they were recruiting two agents(volunteers) for crop cultivation, one for teaching/researching olericulture in Morocco, and the other for promoting pomiculture and organic farming in Ecuador. As my specialty differed from both of those, I wasn't so sure whether I was qualified enough for either of those positions. But I decided to apply anyway, as there were very little information on their application procedure and I thought learning through firsthand experience wouldn't be bad. Of course at this point I had no idea things would head this way, as I thought, who in right mind would send a floriculture major who can't even speak the required languages?

But well.... I think you can guess the outcome.

So, I got basic military training for one month, then recieved another training for international volunteering, again for one month. And now, I am here, in Morocco, nervous and unsure whether I am qualified enough to help people here.





So, I think that would be a sufficient explanation for the cause of my unannounced hiatus and what events occurred during it. I greatly appreciate all those who decided to watch me fav my doodlings during hiatus. Thanks.

au Maroc.
Mais mon français n'est pas bon, et je ne peux pas parler arabe.

I have to leave for the airport right now, so details will be written later.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1V28zd41AU

I accidently found this artist while searching random things on google.
I find her works quite intriguing and sentimental. Somehow, they make me to reminisce about those old, dusty stores selling teapots, vases, and traditional art supplies that my parents often visited when I lived in Shanghai.

Though, the part where she says that she used some late 18th century letters to make her artwork made me feel slightly uncomfortable, as I think such letters could be invaluable records for cultural history researchers, especially to those who study microhistory. But then, it is hard to decide which is more important, between art and historical research, with both contributing immensely to enrich people's lives.

Anyhow, I wish I could get a chance to see those works with my own eyes one day.

Today is Arbor Day in Korea. Though weather is still too cold(Two days ago, we had snow. In April. For the love of god, in April! That was something quite new yet unsettling thing for me) for planting trees, at least around Seoul, I'd say.

But probably nobody cares about that, I think. Ever since Arbor Day bacame non-holiday, It is largely forgotten among people. How sad.