top of page

Korea Change













Life in Korea required many adjustments. Some were tough to make. We lived in a city, and the environment wasn't as nice as Dublin and Delaware. 🏙️ No green grass growing right outside the door any more. For that, we drove to a nearby park. My realm was much smaller but reigning became more difficult. Take my command posts, for example. Gone. Even if I had ten, they would've been useless. A concrete wall eight- or nine-feet tall surrounded our property, so no spot on the first floor provided a view of the outer world. 🧱 The second floor of the house wasn't any better. The short horizon was blocked in all directions by other homes, apartment buildings and a condo building called 'Utopia' that needed a fresh coat of paint. Tracking incoming monsters became difficult.


New threats existed, too. Loud motorcycles and scooters being the worst. 😭🔊📢 I never had to contend with them in Ohio. In the city of Jeonju, Korea, they're the primary delivery vehicle for local Chinese restaurants and chicken and pizza shops. Starting Friday night and ending Sunday, the delivery fleets would invade our neighborhood, throttles wide open, determined to deliver on time and depart bullet-like. I spent a lot of time peering through the crack in our front gate in vain, trying to pinpoint their location. One time the front gate was open a crack, and I raced through it so fast Dad couldn't grab me. Down the street I streaked, chasing a noisy car that had sped by. When it made a sudden turn, I ran into its rear tire and scraped my front paw. After limping home, Mom and Auntie fixed me up. Then, as the photo confirms, on went the Cone of Shame. I learned my lesson, and it never happened again.


Some adjustments were positive. Dad was with me every day, just like the last two months in Ohio. For most of the first year he took Korean language classes twice a week. Every class day I went with Samchun, Mom's brother, to pick him up at the Cultural Center after class. Our house was old, and we wanted to find a newer one. That meant taking frequent day trips to look for a better house. In the first four months, we visited every ocean surrounding Korea and occasionally house-hunted, too. We saw the South Sea during a visit to Namhae. During the Chosun Dynasty, political exiles were sent there because of its distance from Seoul, and we decided it was too far away for us. The West Sea had many nice cities and beautiful oceanside parks. But many of the parks forbid kids like me to enter. Dad's favorite was the East Sea. When I asked him why, he said, "Because Johnny is on the other side." One spot on the central eastern coast, near Pohang, home of Korea's steel industry, is called Homigot. In Korean, a homi is a sharp edged garden tool used for digging. Check the map and you'll find it easily. It looks like the tail of South Korea. Near there, despite the cold weather we had fun taking pictures of hand sculptures projecting from the ground and the ocean. When winter ended, we experienced our first Cherry Blossom season in Korea. Mile after mile of the beautiful flowers. Have you ever seen anything quite so beautiful? 🌸


Another plus was I had I had my two cousins to play with. In an earlier post, I told you about my older cousin Ddori, Mom's older brother's Maltese. He was joined by Cha-cha, Mom's younger sister's Bull Terrier and my younger cousin. You'll see them with me in one of the photos in today's deck (Dad's sitting next to a replica of a political exile). Pepe had passed away in late 2013 and Auntie's husband died in early 2018. Cha-cha came along to fill the gap in Auntie's heart and I enjoyed playing with Cha-cha. Well, most of the time. Cha-cha, much bigger than me, was sometimes frightening. At dinnertime, she'd freak out if anyone started eating before her! I'm not afraid of bigger dogs, but I have to admit that her barking got to me.


Another good point was the Polar Vortex had yet to visit Korea. The winter weather was cold but nothing like Ohio. We had a wood-burning stove, too, and I enjoyed laying in front of it and letting the heat warm my tired muscles. 👨‍🚒 Oh yeah… did I mention that I ate fresh meat every day? 🍗 Fresh chicken breast and chicken gizzards served daily. You'd be impressed if you saw the work required to prepare the gizzards. Even Dad helped! 🤔 Cha-cha loved the chicken and Ddori loved the gizzards. I loved both and, as I'll relate to you in a later post, I began to gain weight.


So, there I was, in Korea for the duration. There were ups and downs, but the good points far outweighed the bad. I'll tell more tales about my new life in Korea next time. Until then, thanks for reading my blog.


Tango 🐾

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

Rated 0 out of 5 stars.
No ratings yet

Add a rating

Drop Me a Line, Let Me Know What You Think

Thanks for submitting!

2023 by Tango's Tales. Powered and secured by Wix

bottom of page