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Favorite Hobby: Geocaching

Favorite Food: anything with cheese in it

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Cancun

May 2006

 

 

 

Chicago

July 2006

 My favorite links

Before Blog Page
Korea Blog Page
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Day 1 Slide Show

Bug Juice
July 28, 2006

I had the pleasure of having to work from midnight to 4 AM this morning.  Now I don't have to work these hours often, but when you have to, you have to.   We had a fully online course that was acting rather peculiar and someone from the software's support team in Canada, and myself, had to work with it and get the "issues" fixed.  We had to do it at O' Dark Thirty because that's when people are less likely to want to access the course (at least I got to work from home).  While working on this course, in the wee hours of the morning, I had a thought.  Have you noticed that you rarely hear of haunted houses and poltergeists and ghosts roaming the earth anymore.  I figured out why, they are haunting our computers and computer servers.  Ever had an e-mail that you sent, but it mysteriously disappeared???  Or something weird going on with your computer, or car, and the symptoms right them self when the tech support person shows up??? That's just the spirits keeping themselves entertained.  Well, it's as good an explanation as any...

Ok, on to important stuff. While getting this course straightened out, I had about an hour of down time which I choose to use doing some research about Japan and Korea. While on the trip I'm hoping to get a couple half days to myself so I can go Geocaching (anyone adventurous soul on the trip is welcome to join me).  If you know nothing about Geocaching, you can use the link listed on the left under "My Favorite Links," or there is a really good, short (I like short) article that explains it that was written in the Bartlesville Online News Journal.  I've "cached" my way through a couple of different cities and have found that it is a wonderful way to see the sights and have some fun.  I've also found that people hide caches is some really cool places, and I get to see and learn things that, seeing a city the traditional way, I would miss.

While looking at comments people about caching this time of year in Japan and Korea, I learned 2 things.  One, though I know it's monsoon season there and we need to expect rain, what I didn't know was that this year has been particularly bad and they have had some major flooding...note to self, bring rain gear.  Two, the mosquito's are terrible this year!!!  Bring bug juice (spray)!!
8 days and counting!

Images from my trip to Chicago slideshow

Moving Right Along
and
Movie Test
July 25, 2006

I managed to miss the big dinner on Friday night, I was really upset about that but there wasn't much I could do. I want to thank the groups who have posted their blog summaries of the lecture and the dinner.  Those helped me catch up on what I missed and let me feel like I was at the dinner, if only virtually.

The computers are here and loaded with the appropriate software, the plug adapters for the computers (1 for each group) arrived yesterday, I have headsets ready to go and have borrowed a couple of computer bags.  We are moving right along.  I'm in the process of creating a couple of templates that will make embedding images and video clips easier for the groups. 

I've been testing different types of video clips and how they react on the server we will be using.  The evidence of one of them is above.  For those of you with a low bandwidth, I apologize.  When I'm done with my testing I'll replace the automatic load to a link.

In my on-going search to find information that might be helpful, to myself and others, I give you Useful Korean words and sentences a .pdf document that has common phrases in English, Korean pronunciation, and the word written in Korean. I don't know about anyone else, but for me the word written in Korean will be what I'll use.  Purchased your English - Korean/Japanese dictionary yet??

Creature Comforts
July 20, 2006

Kulture Korner-A McDonald's in Japan.wmv

I've been doing a lot of research about Japan and Korea.  Some of it is so I can learn more about the history, culture, etc. of the countries and some of it is to be certain that my "creature comforts" are met while I'm abroad.  The Kulture Korner video clip (linked above) is very interesting.  I don't know how old it is, therefore I have no idea how accurate it is, but I got some interesting information out of it.

Back to creature comforts...  I checked into electrical currency in Korea and Japan, I didn't want to blow up the lap tops when we plugged them in to charge, and found out a couple of things.  First, their plugs are different than ours here in the states, so I purchased some plug adapters. I learned that our computers will be ok plugging into the wall because computers these days will run on a range of voltage and wattage (this would not be the case in all countries, but it is in Japan and Korea).  However, for higher wattage appliances, such as blow dryers, you need a transformer.  A good website that explains all of this electrical "stuff" in terms that are easily understood, is Walkabout Travel Gear.  Though they sell items, they also explain why you need a voltage adapter and gives information about transformers.  They also have a worldwide electricity index, and information about plug adapters in every country.  One more note about electricity, you need to bring a 2 prong adapter is you have any items that use 3 prong plugs.  And a disclaimer, I've never purchased anything from Walkabout Travel Gear, I just noted that they have a good website for explaining things.

Adventure
July 15, 2006

I generally don't like attending conferences.  I'm the type who gets bored very quickly and either sits and constantly moves around in my chair, or I simply leave.  The conference I attended last week in Chicago was different.  I actually enjoyed myself and learned things.  Overall, the presentations were entertaining and informative.  I only walked out of one session, but that was because the persons voice was so high pitched and whiney that my ears hurt.  The hotel accommodations were excellent, as were the lunches they served us and the service.  My only beef was having to pay almost $14 a day for internet access.  I'm spoiled, I'm used to getting it for free.

Chicago is an absolutely amazing city.  I had never been there so I decided, in lieu of doing the same old tourist thing, to go on an adventure.  I did some research before I left home and decided to geocache my way through the city. If you've never heard of Geocaching, visit http://www.geocaching.com/ and learn about it, it's a fun sport.  The readers digest version is Geocaching is a scavenger hunt.  People plant "caches" all over the world, post the co-ordinates of the caches (in Long. and Lat.) and others use GPS units to locate the treasures.  When the co-ords are posted, the people who placed the cache usually post some history of the area, or cryptic clues about things you can see along the way, as well.  I saw some wonderful things, talked to some interesting people, learned more about the city, and had way more fun, than if I had taken a tour.  I also walked more miles while I was there than I have in months put together.  All in all, a very successful trip.

On another note, while I was in Chicago we tested the Elluminate (vClass) product.  It worked really well.  We used Plantronics DSP gaming headphones and the sound quality was outstanding.  The only down side to using this technology is that you have to push a talk button to speak, which means only one person can talk at a time.  They have changed that with their latest update, but we won't have it installed in time for the Japan Korea trip, oh well.  The idea that it can save us a bunch of money on phone calls makes the small inconvenience worth it.

Appetizers

Well, we are almost exactly a month away from the beginning of the trip and my excitement is growing.  I’ve lived and traveled all over Europe, but have never ventured into the Asia countries, though I’ve always wanted to.  For me, one of the best parts of this opportunity is that I’m going with someone who has lived in Japan.  I know from my own experience that having someone who knows where to go and what to do and see is invaluable.  We’ll get to see and do things that we’d never do going with a commercial company, or on our own.

The weekly classes and the information I’m reading on the Asia Study web site are like appetizers that I can see and smell, but not quite get close enough to taste.  Learning about the formality of the countries we will be visiting has been a little unnerving (I’m a California girl who has become very attached to my Birkenstocks and cargo pants), but I figure for 2 weeks I can learn to live with it.

The technology plans and equipment, for which I am responsible, are falling into place.  This has been a challenge because we didn’t get a grant we were desperately hoping for.  It’s strange how skills you learned in one job comes to your rescue in another.  I taught in the K-12 public school system for a number of years.  As an underpaid school teacher you learn to become very resourceful when looking for materials and equipment.  In this case I’d like to thank Apple Computers for the loan of 5 lap top computers, and Nathan from the Georgia State University’s Digital Aquarium for providing us with 4 video cameras, and a computer lab and instructor for some hands on training.

Another exciting aspect of this trip is some of the technology we will use while we are traveling.  Not only will we be blogging and sharing our video clips with the world, but we will also be able to communicate with our friends and families state side (in the USA) using Elluminate Live, better known on the Georgia State campus as vClass.  This will give us all the opportunity to log on to a web site and, using our laptops, a headset and microphone, talk to our friends and families via the internet.