With the internet, the world has become so small. I remember as a child when we moved to Seoul from 1968 - 1972, we had to write letters to family back in the States. Making a phone call was a HUGE deal costing a ton of money for just a few minutes. My parents were on the cutting edge of technology by using reel-to-reel tapes to send "audio letters" back home. Back then, we were a lot alot farther away from those we left behind. Nowadays, I call friends and family all over the world for free (or very cheap) via Skype or Jahja on a regular basis. Emails, photos, and videos fly back and forth like nobody's business and if I need to see a form or bill, my father scans it and sends ... read more

I wrote this article for the Vegetarian Network of Austin Newsletter This Ain’t Austin Austin is a wonderful place to be vegetarian. There are plenty of grocery stores with vegan products and lots of vegetarian restaurants. I left Austin at the end of February, pretty sure that there would be no such convenience in Korea. In some ways this is true, but there are vegetarian options. Over here, restaurants are incredibly cheap, and Koreans love to eat meat. If you learn the Korean words for eggs, meat, and “NO”, you can enjoy a wonderful meal called bibimbap. This is a rice dish with stir-fried veggies for about $3. There is also ya che kimbop which looks like a vegetable sushi roll. You still have to ask to take out the egg and ham. I’m guessing ... read more

I organized a potluck/kayak outing with my vegetarian group. The moon was supposed to be full and beautiful. There is a regular full moon kayak organized by the local rowing club that is supposed to go from the city dock on Town Lake. I showed up at 7:10 pm and I didn't see any of my friends on the dock. I thought for sure this would be a popular event. It was a perfect night, perfect weather to howl at the moon a few times. I was feeling rather dejected that no one showed up, but then I wound up on a totally different adventure in true Austin style. I was sitting on the dock with my Thai rice noodles and feeling rather discouraged by the veg group when a woman came up to me and ... read more

I'm on my way home tomorrow, so this is my last entry. I don't want to go. There have been too many different things to see and do here. When I left Utila I took the most direct route I could back to Guatemala City. It was a long days bus ride to Copan and found that there was no other transport until the next day so I settled in and had a very nice relaxing dinner in a vegetarianish restaurant. The next day the only tourist shuttle or bus heading back to Guatemala wouldn't leave until 2 PM and would drop me in Antigua at 8 PM to look for a hotel. So, I had to do it the Central American way... First there was the shuttle to the border which wasn't bad except that ... read more

Well, I'm in a funky hotel here in La Cieba, Honduras waiting to catch the boat to the Island of Utila tomorrow morning. It's really hot and humid here, which I'm not used to lately. I don't have guide book for this town, so I'm winging it and thus the funky hotel. It's only one night. I hear that computer costs are sky high on the island which is an hour ferry ride from here, so you'll probably have to wait until I get back to a computer back on the mainland to hear how the diving went. Yesterday I went to the Copan Ruins just on this side of the Honduran border. The ruins were nice, but small. They aren't Mayan but similar enough for me. The sight was small but impressive with some very ... read more