Weddings and Baking class

So after about ten days of intense photoshoping (and some avoidance of the mass of pictures thrown in for good measure) I have finally finished editing Sora's engagement pictures which turned out to be wedding pictures with full out dress and all.

I was quite happy with my first time attempting such a project, and I delivered the pictures yesterday and she saw them and also was extremely pleased. I had two worries before starting a) Not being in Victoria b) Not having a flash/artificial light. Turns out neither one was a massive problem. I scouted rather extensively and it turns out City Hall near my house is the prettiest place around here. All the pictures (except on the street) are from there. Check out a slideshow here -->

http://picasaweb.google.com/mattbrouwer/SoraSWeddingShoot#slideshow/5397278539516552050

Oh and Brownies? I was getting sick of the crap baking that is Korean bakeries, so I decided it high time to show the girlfriend how it was done. Jenny was in shock when one of my friends made a birthday cake for someone's birthday. So I thought it was time for another jolt. I don't have measuring cups and I don't have an oven, or a pan....and it was still better than the bakeries here. What does that tell you Paris Baguette and Tous Les Jours??

Jenny was super cute "what?!? this is delicious! Not possible! Normal people can't make this!" So she made a second batch and wouldn't let me help. Never thought I'd teach my girlfriend to bake...

Wow four blogs in like a week....look at me go

Dorkorama

So for my friend Phil's going away party (sniff) he wanted to have a big game of Starcraft. For those not in the know, it's Korea's national sport (half-kidding...actually...more like 10 % kidding) and exactly like Age of Empires (blatant copy), or to put it in boardgame terms, a glorified cross between risk and Settlers of Catan.

Having never played before, I practiced once yesterday and then today was the big tourney. 8 players, 2 teams. Jenny is amazing at it....she tells me she once went 2 yrs without watching any dramas or anything on TV except for live Starcraft matches. Seriously, I said live Starcraft matches on TV.

It is a profession here....the games ARE on TV....live audiences pack in to watch, and the pros are both well paid and have rock star status. No joke. Koreans win the Starcraft World title every time I have been told, and people are crazy proud of it....(whether or not having the best/most dorks per capita is something to celebrate is another matter altogether but anyway) it was quite fun....2.5 hours flew by...Jenny was the best, we won one match and lost the second....

We played in a 'PC Bang' (Bang means room in Korean) which if you haven't been here, is where students (more guys) live. Maybe it helps them escape the insanity that is their school system and all it's crazy life-determining tests. Whatever the reason, places like this are everywhere.

And yes Bethany, they're better in Korea than they were in China...Yuck!

Swine Flu Swine Flu

So at least seven kids from my school have swine flu....like actually have swine flu...confirmed and all....

The province where I live is the hardest hit in the country, the city where I live is the worst in the province, and you guessed it, the elementary school where all my kids go is the worst in the city. There are 70 students at the elementary school absent because of swine flu. Not good folks, not good. I don't recall reading about anything this bad in Canada, which has WAY more fatalities so far than Korea. Here's hoping I don't catch swine flu. Or maybe here's hoping they close my school for an extended break AND I don't catch swine flu. Haha. I can dream right?

Been busy photoshoping......some pictures from that wedding shoot will be up soon....probably this weekend.....cheers ~Mattsimus

Weddings, Allergies, Olympic Fiascos

Greetings and Salutations.

I seem not to have much of the blogging type blocks of time these days...but I guess if I get my butt in gear I can still hit the once a week average of the past several months.

What's new to update you on....hmmm

I now believe the allergist who told me that I am allergic to dust mites. As per his instructions I was washing my sheets etc quite regularly in hot water. And then while they were being washed I was lying on my bed (sans covers etc. ) The result when I went to work about 30 mins later was not pretty. The entire day was non-stop sneezing, fountains of tears and enough tissues to make anyones nose chaff. I think I need to buy another allergy cover (my old one had an unfortunate accident) , cause the symptoms aren't entirely gone. Still sniffing and sneezing up a storm....

On a related note, you'll remember my eyes have been bothering me for at least a couple years, I tried every eye-drop known to man, was given a special eye cleansing regimen and nothing really helped...anyway, I am pleased to report that simply stepping up the aggressiveness of the cleaning seems to have eradicated the problem almost entirely.....for about four months now I haven't used any eye drops....so that is really nice......

On a non-bodily related note.....I did my first wedding shoot this weekend. Jenny's friend Sora is getting married next month...and in Korea you do the pictures before the wedding....they are very un-Korean in that they are going backpacking in Europe for their honeymoon and didn't really care about staged studio formals that are the norm for weddings in these parts. So since I like taking pictures and I want to build up a portfolio and experience do that sort of work, and since they like free pictures we were pleased to make an arrangement. Maybe they were more pleased but anyway.....it went well...

I was worried about not knowing what kind of pictures Koreans like....and about jollying them into some nice expressions and not being able to etc etc but they were really easy going and couldn't stop smiling and laughing so it wasn't awkward at all.

I did yearn for Victoria where the scenery in phenomenal and I know where to go. But considering I was working with available light (i.e. I don't have an expensive flash) and in a strange country with models that don't really speak English....I am quite pleased. I will post a link to a slideshow soon....

Oh and the Olympic Fiasco? The tickets which everyone applies for are given out randomly...and we thought we found a schedule showing which ones were Canada but apparently we didn't. Our round robin games are two US games, and Russia-Czech. Russia-Czech will still be amazing ...Ovechkin and Malkin come to mind. Our semi-final should still feature Canada. Assuming they make it. So I think we're gonna sell the US games. Quite disappointing, but beats the Belarus-East Prussiajikstan games that my friends acquired....