Archive for June, 2007
Saturday, June 30th, 2007
LOTS of students!
Students at CM2007
As we stepped out of our hotel today on the way to the opening meeting of CM2007 (”Campus Mission 2007″) we got an idea how big it really is. We are a five minute walk and three stops on the subway from the convention center, yet there were conference volunteers directing people just outside our hotel! We traveled in a pack to the convention hall.
One of the really fun things has been seeing so many friends here. Two of my neighbors are here (from next door and across the street) as well as many others from Orlando. But at the subway stop I ran into a bunch of friends from Budapest that I had not seen since we left there a year ago. That was a breath of fresh air. And then tonight my brother arrived. So this should be a fun few days for that reason alone.
No Comments » - Posted in Ministry by Jerry
Friday, June 29th, 2007
Eating and Drinking in Busan
EveryStudent.com Booth at CM2007
After the first full day here in Busan we have our booth set up, we’re oriented, and we found a local restaurant that didn’t have a Latin alphabet character anywhere in it.
Busan Restaurant .
Their menu was painted on the outside window, so to order we stepped outside with the waitress and pointed to which dish we wanted. It came in a big skillet that stayed hot with a gas burner built in to our table. It was authentically Korean, but after that my two coworkers decided they would either eat in their room for dinner or go to McDonald’s. I gave in later and grudgingly went along to McDonald’s for dinner. In Budapest we referred to McDonald’s as the American Embassy because you could always find Americans there. That was a fitting description of the one here, too.
Envelope Cup
I also learned a new way to drink water; out of an envelope. Instead of paper cups that look like a cone or a cup, next to water coolers here they have the equivalent of an ATM cash sleeve. You open the top, pour in the water and do your best to drink it before spilling it all over the front of you.
After dinner we took a stroll on the walkway along the beach. It was a nice end to the day.
1 Comment » - Posted in General by Jerry
Thursday, June 28th, 2007
Kimshi for Breakfast
Busan, South Korea
For breakfast this morning I had fish soup and kimshi, along with rice, barbecued dried fish and something else that was pickled green, looked like asparagus and tasted sweet and tangy. My waiter said it was “ooga” and didn’t know the English word for it.
Last night we rode on a bus to our hotel with a bunch of American students who are also here for this conference. The conference organizers expect 20,000 students to attend, most of them Korean, so I am sure I’ll be meeting many more.
Today our tasks are figuring out how to get to the convention center by metro and then setting up a booth for EveryStudent.com. And adjust to this time zone. (I’m already adjusted. 24 hours traveling with ~3 hours sleep leaves me quite ready to sleep on any schedule.)
1 Comment » - Posted in Ministry by Jerry
Thursday, June 28th, 2007
Arrived in Busan, South Korea
Busan, South Korea Elevator View
I arrived in Busan a couple hours ago feeling like this picture looks but happy to be at my hotel.
1 Comment » - Posted in General by Jerry
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007
Off to Korea for CM2007
It’s late, and I need to wake up in four hours to start the long journey to Korea. I’m going for CM2007 (”Campus Mission 2007″), a conference to rally students for the purpose of bringing the gospel to the unreached campuses of the world.
No Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Andrew Busts a Move
2 Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Saturday, June 23rd, 2007
Q: How is Florida like Korea?
A: Similar GDP’s.
(And I’ll be in both places this month.)
Here is a really cool map on an interesting site that shows what the U.S. looks like economically if you replace each state with a country having an equivalent GDP. California = France, Florida = Korea, Texas = Canada, etc.
USA GDP Map from Strange Maps
hat tip to Randy C.
No Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Giant Birds Eat Helpless Snake
Sandhill Cranes In Our Backyard
These two adult sandhill cranes (red caps) picked off a helpless baby snake from our yard this morning for their baby crane. From the picture you can see why these birds exist in plentiful numbers here in Central Florida. They aren’t intimidated by suburbia in the least, let alone a snake.
Everyone hates snakes which makes me like them more. I had one as a pet when I was a kid, so they have my sympathy and protection. The cranes have just lost both. (Yes, I know it’s the natural order of things. I’m just trying to keep the tabloid interesting here.)
I took two things out the back door when I took this picture; my camera and the dog. Rather than fly away like most backyard animals, they turned and gave me and the dog the once-over. Annie was even barking at them, but they didn’t flinch. I suppose if I had a beak like theirs I would think it might be fun sport to jab it into a yappy little dog like Annie. Especially after devouring a snake.
1 Comment » - Posted in Annie the dog, Orlando by Jerry
Friday, June 22nd, 2007
Now I’m a Pro, a Flickr Pro
For Father’s Day Cathy gave me a Flickr Pro account. This makes all my “sets” visible again, as well as all 440 photos I have uploaded to Flickr so far. After realizing I wasn’t in a position to maintain my own photo site, I gave up and resumed using Flickr to share photos. Someone wrote a helpful module for my website software (WordPress), so now I can display my Flickr albums on my site.
2 Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Friday, June 15th, 2007
Aniko Arrives!
Aniko Arrives
Aniko arrived today from Budapest to spend the next ten days with Audrey and our family. It’s good to see friends from Hungary again. She brought us a few of our favorite things from there; candy, chocolate, paprika, etc. But at dinner she gave us news of Andrew and Audrey’s friends, and that was just as nice as the gifts she brought.
No Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Friday, June 15th, 2007
Loft Finished
Audrey’s Finished Loft
This week Cathy finished sewing pillows and making the pad for Audrey’s loft. I am sure you were waiting for this day as much as Audrey was, and I am sure you are as grateful as Audrey that we made this available to you. Things have been pretty exciting around the Hertzler house lately.
3 Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Saturday, June 9th, 2007
Audrey’s Loft
Audrey’s Loft
This was the project Audrey and I finished today, building this loft. We came up with the design together, did most of the work cutting, routing, painting, and assembling it together, too. It’s even big enough for her to sleep on (diagonally) if she wants.
4 Comments » - Posted in General by Jerry
Thursday, June 7th, 2007
The Dynamic Duo
Muffin & Annie
Annie stayed with her best friend, Muffin, while we were in St. Louis last week, and now Muffin came to live with us for a few days while her parents are away. While she is here, she’s teaching Annie some new tricks.
At Muffin’s house all the good stuff is out of reach of the dogs, but at our house it’s just above dog-nose level. This is where Muffin has the advantage because she is taller than Annie and can locate the canister with the doggie treats. Annie never knew this before today, but Muffin showed her all about it.
First you locate the canister then knock it off the shelf with your nose. This causes the lid to fall off, and then the rest is easy.
When Cathy came back home she said dog treat wrappers were spread around the house and hardly a milk bone was left. Annie slinked off into her corner with a guilty look on her face, but Muffin couldn’t have been happier. Any place that puts the cookies on the lower shelf is all right in her book!
3 Comments » - Posted in Annie the dog by Jerry
Thursday, June 7th, 2007
On Green Pond
The Green Pond
Yesterday the retention pond behind our house turned a teal shade of green. It looks like the liquid in portable toilets. My guess is that the neighborhood association added weed killer – in enormous amounts. So far the fish have not died, so maybe it’s not quite as toxic as it looks. It takes a lot to really frustrate me, but this succeeded.
