"That's OK."

"That's OK."
Originally uploaded by digitalnut.

My new game is to randomly turn one of my students out to take pictures with my camera. After a 20 second lesson on how to press the shutter, with no other instruction, they usually take off and return 15 minutes later with as many as 50 pictures. I am rarely disappointed by the results. In fact, I am frequently stunned by some of the amazing pictures they take.

One such conscripted photographer, a middle school girl, took this picture. Though these girls are two of my best, most vocal and experimental 9th grade students, I doubt they ever would have posed like this for me.

A few tweaks in Picasa to remove the haze and sharpen the colors and, wallah, here's my latest favorite guest photograph.

$5 more for water

The apartment building where I dwell, far out in the Korean countryside, draws its water supply from a well. When the water level in the well is low, it is difficult, if not impossible, to get water for such extravagant tasks as washing the dishes or taking a shower. It doesn't happen often, but once it caused me to miss church because I couldn't take a shower one Sunday morning in time to get dressed and catch the one bus that would get me to Seoul on time for opening services.

Two weeks ago, a petition was circulated to convert the building water supply from the well to piped water from the county. If switched, our individual monthly service fee would rise from about $10 a month to $15 a month. A small price to pay for reliable water, right?

The problem is the buses. Not only do they only pass through every one or two hours on the way to and from the "city" of Gapyeong where I can catch buses and trains to bigger and better cities, they stop running altogether at 8 PM. This means I must frequently rely on taxis to get home from excursions to Seoul or Chuncheon at night or during the day when I don't want to wait an hour for the next bus home. Taxis into the country are expensive, nearly $9 from the Gapyeong bus terminal to my apartment building.

With a minimum of two or three $9 taxis a week, I don't relish the thought of being forced to pay even $5 more a month if I can avoid it, even if it means going without water on occasion. I signed "No" on the petition to change to piped water.

Last week the results of the petition came back: Yes - 46, No - 1.

I lose.

The apartment building where I dwell, far out in the Korean countryside, draws its water supply from a well. When the water level in the well is low, it is difficult, if not impossible, to get water for such extravagant tasks as washing the dishes or taking a shower. It doesn't happen often, but once it caused me to miss church because I couldn't take a shower one Sunday morning in time to get dressed and catch the one bus that would get me to Seoul on time for the opening services.

Last week, a petition was circulated to convert the building water supply from the well to piped water from the county. If switched, our individual monthly service fee would rise from about $10 a month to $15 a month. A small price to pay for reliable water, right?

The problem is the buses. Not only do they only pass through every one or two hours on the way to and from the "city" of Gapyeong where I can catch buses and trains to bigger and better cities, they stop running altogether at 8 PM. This means I must frequently rely on taxis to get home from excursions to Seoul or Chuncheon at night or during the day when I don't want to wait an hour for the next bus home. Taxis into the country are expensive, nearly $9 from the Gapyeong bus terminal to my apartment building.

With a minimum of two or three $9 taxis a week, I don't relish the thought of being forced to pay even $5 more a month if I can avoid it, even if it means going without water on occasion. I signed "No" on the petition to change to piped water.

Yesterday the results of the petition came back: Yes - 46, No - 1.

I lose.