Malaysia/Singapore/Japan Itinerary

Well... I'm almost off to Malaysia. Just have to do a few days of English camp (from Aug 2 - 4) before I head out. Click on the underlined text to get a better view of where I will be.

August 4: Arrive home from camp, panic, then head to Busan, where I will stay with Melissa, my roommate from Beijing trip.

August 5: Fly from Busan to Osaka for 1 hour stopover, then on to Kuala Lumpur.

Have booked one night at Backpackers Travellers Inn in the Chinatown area of KL.

It should be quite the adventure trying to get there. I am trying to cross-reference how to get from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to my hostel using two guidebooks (Lonely Planet and Rough Guide) and a KL Tourism map. Funny thing is that none of the maps resemble each other in the slightest and every one of them gives different, conflicting information.

August 6: Move on to Melaka (south-west of KL)

Melaka is an awesome historic city - and the name just happens to mean something rude in Greek - and I'm looking forward to staying at the Kancil Guest House and taking in some of the history, including the first burial place of St Francis Xavier (!), the Museum of Enduring Beauty and some neat forts, shops and maybe even a light show.

August 8: On the move again! Have to get to Singapore before August 9, which is their National Holiday. Staying with Brent and Stephanie and their friend at her apartment in Singapore. Will be sure to get to the Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling and to Sentosa Island to play, just like my mommy did 20 years ago! Unfortunately, it seems that there aren't as many transvestites in Singapore as there were back in the day.

August 12: Off to Pulau Rawa with Brent and Stephanie and their friends. Pulau Rawa is a private island, so we are staying at the only hotel there. Most of these islands, though gorgeous, are infested with sandflies.... but no worries, just use your own urine to combat the itch (ewwwww! Think I'll go with Tiger Balm instead!)

August 13: Will continue up the coast. Haven't planned that far yet.... Don't have anything reserved as yet, nor any clear idea of where I will go. Would like to get to Pulau Kapas and chill out at the Lighthouse, but neither of their phone numbers seem to be working. I think that the Perhentians are out of my league, but there are tons of islands and beaches to explore, and I have a few days to do it too. Given my time restrictions, I might not even make it further than Cherating, where I will attempt to sneak into the Club Med. However, as a dirty, disheveled, smelly backpacker, that might not be so easy.

But wait... maybe I will go from Mersing to KL and then on to Penang. Ohhhh, I don't know what to do!

August 17: Back to KL - will stay at the same hotel as when I arrived (if it's a good one). I am not giving myself much time in KL. Hopefully, I will have time to get to the Petronas Towers before I leave.

August 18: leave KL in the evening for Osaka where I have 26, count 'em, 26 hours to visit Japan! My plan is to a) sleep on the plane from KL, since I arrive in Osaka in the morning of August 19 and b) not sleep until I get on my plane the next morning bound for Busan.

August 19: Taking Stu's advice and getting the heck out of Osaka to get to Nara, which boasts several awesome temples and UNESCO World Heritage sights.

August 20: Leave Osaka for Busan, South Korea. Have to get home that afternoon to unpack, pick up friends' dog (Marley) that I am dog-sitting and prepare class for next day!

*p.s. have finally mastered how to add put links into my posts. Perhaps I overused this new-found toy with this post, but I'm slowly gaining blognerdsomeness so that my blog will soon be better than Brent's. And, then Pinky, we will take over the world!*

Jakob likes feet

This is a video of Jakob playing with my feet that I shot with my digital camera - there is no sound. Your computer has to be of a certain quality in order to see it, probably your internet connection too (sorry Mom!).

Having embedded a YouTube video in my blog, my transformation to total blog-nerd is now complete.

I want to live in Bollywood

Now, I do not want to get into the habit of posting weird news stories or whatever, but this simply needs to be shared.

Condi entertains at Asean forum

Ms Rice is an accomplished pianist

Condi performed a piano recital, India sang about nuclear proliferation and Japan performed a cartoon-based sketch featuring giant frogs.

The gala at the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Regional Forum (ARF) in Kuala Lumpur appears to have lived up to expectations.

The forum has become known for the party, where delegations traditionally present some kind of entertainment.

Officials perform songs and sketches commenting on topical regional issues.

Highlights of previous years have included then US Secretary of State Colin Powell performing the song YMCA dressed as a builder and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appearing as Star Wars character Darth Vader.

'Nuclear Neros'

This is the first year that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has attended the regional security forum.

Ms Rice chose a more sombre performance, reportedly to reflect concern over the fighting in the Middle East. She used her skills as a trained pianist to perform a piece by Brahms.

PREVIOUS STAR PERFORMERS Russia's Sergei Lavrov: Yellow Submarine, Jesus Christ Superstar Australia's Alexander Downer: Spirit in the Sky, Kokomo US' Madeleine Albright: Thanks for the Memories

But other delegations went all out.

The Indian delegation put on a Bollywood-style sketch that highlighted nuclear proliferation issues.

"Oh, if only the world was Bollywood, we could all dance and happily prance and declare the world as jolly good," the song went.

"Then we add some handsome heroes, some villains and some nuclear Neros, a Mr Khan, a Dr No, a Mr Kim and a John Doe," they sang, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and disgraced Pakistani scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.

The South Korean delegation, meanwhile, came together to sing ABBA, led by Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon in a green sequined jacket.

Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso sported an overcoat and hat to perform in a sketch featuring cartoon characters such as giant frogs, a Power Ranger and a mutant lobster.

The Chinese group formed a choir and sang a song, while the Russians performed a sketch in which Asean became the world's only superpower.

The Canadians put on football outfits and mocked up a Canada-Asean football match, which ended in a Zidane-style head butt and a red card.

The North Korean delegation did not attend the dinner, reports say.

The forum ends on Friday.

In other news, I yelled at a Korean woman with a dyed green dog last night saying, "You are making Korea look bad" before Nina dragged me away. Then, I came home and read this article.
Thanks to Natalia for sending this to me.

Only in Korea III: PANIC AT HOMEPLUS!

So, I had to go to the bank to exchange money for my upcoming trip to Malaysia/Singapore/Japan today. On my way back, I decided to stop at HomePlus, the nearest department store to Shidae Apartments where I live.

When I arrived, there were no less than 5 firetrucks parked in front of the store. Noting the general lack of panic, I went inside to take advantage of the aircon and see what was happening. As usual, I was greeted by a nice lady. All the staff was lined up next to their cash registers and wares as if on a normal day. A very pleasant soothing voice was making announcements on the loud speaker. All in all, it looked like a normal shopping day at HomePlus.... well, except for the two staff members who were holding a firehose that they'd unrolled from the wall, but even they were very calmly holding it, waiting for further instructions. There was even a man sitting there with his two young children, just waiting to see if the store was open or not.

Another announcement came on... this time a little less calm. About 10 employees came running out of one part of the store, motioning for everyone to move towards the exits. One of the staff ladies smiled at me, and gently indicated the exit door. I bowed, and left. As I walked to the taxi that was parked along side the 6 firetrucks and 2 ambulances, I couldn't help but muse that this was possibly the most relaxed emergency situation that I have ever seen. And, as my taxi sped away, I saw a group of schoolgirls wandering in to the door that I'd just come out of.

Special Bonus Blog Game!!

Here is a selection of the currency that I currently have on me. All of this currency (except for the twoonie) will have been used or will be used within the same month. Can you identify it all?

Last Saturday...

... I went to a honky tonk show in Gwangju. The band that was playing was all from Suncheon, and it was funny to walk into a place, in a different city, and somehow feel that I knew almost everyone there.

Met some new friends too, which was awesome.

Yes - I was dressed as a cowgirl.

p.s. Ever dreamt of visiting Italy? Follow Fred and Myrianne's link on the right to see some absolutely gorgeous vacation pics - and you can practice your French too.

Life goes on...

Let's face it, a blog is rather.... egocentric.

Even I get sick of talking about myself all the time. Here's a bit of what's happening out there, while I'm over here.


Carl and Julie (friends from La Poc) are trekking through South America, holding jaguarundis.


Tiffany and Jeff got married!


My mom went swimming with my niece and nephew.

Just had a houseful of visitors, as Stuart and Nicola stopped by on their way from Daegu and to Wando/Naju. Went last weekend to Gwangju to my friend's honky tonk show - wore my cowboy hat, which ended up being worn by half the people in the bar, much to my hat-headed chagrin.

Am currently stranded in Suncheon, watching people move out (bye April!) or go home (Carol??? Where did you go?) or get ready to leave (Jen??) or go on vacation (Matt and Helen!), as I am here doing summer school and organizing a summer camp.

Can't wait to get to Malaysia.

...

No! Little Beast! Off the curtains! Stop that!

Little Beast! Where are you? No... come out from behind the fridge!

Do not eat your little brother! Stop! Mummy will smack! Mummy WILL smack!

* Little Beast is Jakob's nickname, said with love. No, he did not eat Mr. Shane. And Mr. Shane was completely nonplussed by having a carnivore staring at him. He just kept eating. "Mummy will smack" is, of course, a direct quote from "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason", oft repeated throughout the book.

Jakob arrives

And he is small and young and loud.... Here are some pics of him with my friend Karen and of him eating (he climbs into the bowl and sucks on the food).

Feel I should apologize for amount and length of posts this week but, you know... I went to China and got a kitten. I'd say it was a busy week!

China Trip

What a busy few days! Last Friday, I left school and went straight to Busan, where I had to negotiate through the subway to get to some place that might be near the airport. Well... after a good night's sleep in a rather seedy Love Motel in Busan, I was off to the airport (Love Motels are great, cheap, clean motels - mine was only $20 a night and featured a great round bed with pink sheets. No neon though...), where I met up with the rest of the group. We were only 10 people on this particular tour, and ended up gelling like you wouldn't believe! Once again, I give thanks to my good roommate karma, as I was put in the same room as an awesome girl named Melissa. We really got on well, which helped make the trip that much better.

In Beijing, the first thing that hit me was the oppressive heat. The air seemed... grey. I don't know how to explain it, but even in all my pictures, it's as if the camera is dirty or something. Just walking to our air-conditioned tourbus was enough to make the sweat start rolling out.

I won't go into detail on everything that we saw, or else nobody will read my post!

Here's the quick and dirty version...

Day 1: Arrive Beijing
Temple of Heaven: With only 20 minutes to tour the grounds, we simply didn't have enough time to appreciate it all. One totally surreal thing was that the entrance corridor to the temple was full of people gambling, playing card and singing. I'm not talking about 25 people either, but a couple hundred! Took a couple photos, but the best part for me was walking back to the tour bus through a park where a group of people played some really odd instruments and sang.
Chinese Acrobat Show: WOW
Hotel: Holiday Inn... absolutely incredible. Total luxury. After going off down the street (we were smack dab in the middle of a local area full of streetside restaurants) in search of beer, which we drank on our private rooftop garden at the hotel. Okay... it was basically a bunch of benches (that tip at the most inopportune moments) but it became our place.

Day 2:
Jade Carving: So nice... forgot to bring my credit cards, which is probably a good thing as there were some really nice things. Bought a pair of earrings.
Great Wall! Okay, how hot are you right now? Hmmm, okay, multiply that by 5 billion, then put yourself in a huge crowd and attempt to climb some uneven stone stairs. My dress was literally sopping wet. Mark, Melissa and I ended up wimping out after the first watchtower, buying shirts that said "I climbed the Great Wall" and heading back down. It's unbelievable - your first view of the Great Wall just hits you...When you are driving out of Beijing, and suddenly the mountains rise up (much much higher than in Korea) and then you see it. Impossible stairs winding along the spines of these sleeping dragons. Amazing.
Cloisonne Factory: Saw how they make the cloisonne objects - beginning with hammered copper and ending with something that is quite nice. The working conditions would not have passed muster in North America... but Melissa asked and it was not a sweatshop or anything. Still... it brought me back to reality.
Tea House: I never knew that tea could taste so unbelievably good. Bought some white tea that is supposed to be good for cleansing out the effects of alcohol and nicotine. I mean, not that I need that or anything....
Summer Palace: Glorious, but mostly closed for renovations (Olympic facelift). Would love to go back to paddle a boat across the Emperor's lake.
Pearl Shop: Stupid girl! Where is your credit card????
Supper: Peking Duck. I couldn't get enough of the food!
Hotel: Well, what do you expect? We went to our private terrace again!

Day 3:
Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City: There is no way to describe the size of these places! Or the crowds... or the feeling you get walking there. Completely dwarfed by time and place and history, but in the middle of a huge bustling city. Got separated from my group at one point, and truly felt small and lost. We saw in only 2 hours these places that really need DAYS to see. Once again, a place I must go back to.
Shopping: Must say a big thanks to Zhao Lei for teaching me basic Mandarin phrases like "How much" and all the numbers. This made my bargaining much easier. Bought way too many things. We went to two different markets and ended up getting shopped out! Earlier in the day, we'd also gone to a silk place. I picked up a nice blue and silver chongsam for myself and regret not buying a quilt.
Evening: Headed with the gang to a streetside restaurant and filled the table with bottles. Went off to buy beer and met two monks who helped us get it cheaper! They happily posed for pics with us. We went back to "our" rooftop.

Day 4:
Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art: Melissa and I, armed with a photocopy of the Beijing subway and a Lonely Planet, went off searching for a museum. It was our free day and we could do whatever we wanted. The subway, the bus, everything was really easy. People were super helpful, and we ended up having a really nice museum visit. I got a free poster from the museum, which I will always treasure, I am sure.
Black Eyed Peas: I'd read in the paper that BEP were playing in Beijing that night, so decided to head out to try to get tickets. If I'd brought more money for the scalpers, I could have had a ticket quite easily. A Chinese guy (Cheng Kai) walked around with me for over an hour, trying to negotiate a better price for me. He even offered to loan me the money to meet the scalper's price. I finally told him to go to the concert, where his friends were waiting, and headed for home. There was a huge square, full of people. Earlier, I'd asked Cheng Kai what was going on and he was like, "Nothing, just people hanging out". Well, I'd never seen anything like it.... 10 pm and there were people doing rollerblade stunts, ballroom dancing (!) and about 200 people line dancing!
Hotel: Met up with everyone and headed out with Mark and Melissa for a late supper (it was near midnight). Went a bit further out from the hotel to a streetside restaurant and pointed at the menu until we ended up with a table full of amazing food - it's the picture I have of me with a mouthful of noodles.

Day 5:
Leaving Beijing: We were up at 4 am! Our group was just amazing - we have promised to get together again one day. I really hope it happens.

Through the magic of Korea's awesome bus system, I made it home to Suncheon at 6 pm. What a day! And... the next day - school!

I felt extremely safe wandering around Beijing at night, and I've decided to try to learn more Mandarin in order to go back to China one day, maybe for the Olympics, who knows? The weird thing is that I find Mandarin easier than Hangeul (Korean). Oh, and since my entire experience of Beijing was shopping and eating, I will fit right in!

Do please take the time to look at my Flickr page, for pictures and more explanations. Sorry for such a long post, but it was an amazing trip.

NI HOW!

Okay, I'm back from Beijing. It was absolutely wonderful.... Can't quite get over just how awesome it was to (among other things) walk on the Great Wall, bargain in Mandarin, and spend one full day just wandering around on the subway. Went with a great group of people too.... will upload photos to flickr and do a full post when I'm able to string 3 words together in a clear sentence.

The food was AMAZING. The shopping was AMAZING. The people were AMAZING. Makes me want to go there again, on my own, and actually see the real thing - far from the madding tourist crowd.

*UPDATE* -- photos are uploaded onto the Flickr site - follow link on the right. Each photo has a description to give you an idea of what you are looking at. For whatever stupid reason, they are all out of order.... and this is only 1/3 of what I took... But, you get the idea.

Last Post

You will have to check back here on July 19 to get any news from me. I'm off to China for the next five days - and I hear tell that they're just a tad restrictive with their Internet.

Am convinced (as usual) that have brought all wrong clothes, and even though I am looking at my passport right now, am still sure that I have left it at home...

One thing that I branged though -- my Strega shirt - will take a picture of it on the Great Wall (Strega is my best friend's restaurant.... she'll be off in Nova Scotia, though, so it will be a big surprise when she gets back....).

Jakob Oscar Parker-Kingston

So, it seems odd to me that a post about my hair gets more reaction (and comments) than posts about North Korean missiles, cultural differences and my upcoming trip to China. Hellooo??? China! Like, wow!

Just to let you know, it wasn't even a good hair day but a good hair hour, making me doubly happy that I actually caught it on camera.

So, you know how I can't live without a cat? Well... One of Jen's students found a kitten and brought it to her... which was the right thing to do. But, Jen is leaving soon to move back to Canada. After thinking about it for about 4.3 seconds, I decided that I truly need a little orange tabby kittenhead to make my life complete. The problem was just that I won't be around until the end of August. Enter Kristi, who is also a cat person, works at a hogwan and thus will be around during the month of August.

Kristi and I have come to an agreement to share the little guy. I'm naming him Jakob, she likes Oscar, and to conclude we added both our last names.

Everyone say hello, bonjour, hola, annyeong haseyo, ni how ma and marhaba to:

Jakob Oscar Parker-Kingston!

Good hair day

Hey - in a country where humidity is usually a curly-haired girl's worst enemy, this is blogworthy, okay?

Basic Mandarin

To see my itinerary for my fabulous five days in Beijing...just follow this link

http://www.kangsantravel.com/pkg_pek_confirm_0601.htm

Looks pretty cool, eh?

Why not take a few minutes and master Beijing Mandarin?

How much = duo shao qian (doe shaow chien)
How sell = Zen me mai
Zhe ge = this
Na ge = that
Yi gong = all together (Yi gong duo shao qian?)

I want = Wo yao
I don’t want = (wo) bu yao

Too expensive = Tai gui le
Pianyi dianr = Make it cheaper

Do you speak English? = Ni hui shuo yingwen ma?

1. Yi
2. Er
3. San
4. Szi
5. Wu
6. Liu (leo)
7. Qi (chee)
8. Ba
9. Jiu (geo)
10. Shi (sheu)


The irony here is that I don't know how to say half of these things in Korean! Well, I mean, I can count to ten and all that....

Stag Beetles and Girls' Night

On Friday, Nicola came up from Wando, via Gwangju where she'd had a meeting. Like an old married couple, we sat and read until it was time to go out. While Nicola hung out with Matt and Helen, I went out with a gaggle of gals for Girls' Night - we went to a Korean Jazz bar and it was kind of funny because they sat us in the table at the front window. Were we window dressing? (In picture from left to right: Giselle, Jen, Emily, April, me, Cassandra, Kirsten, Annie, Candace.)

Before heading out, we stopped by the grocery store. Just outside the doors was a 3-inch long stag beetle. While I waited for Nicola, I watched him wander around, often being narrowly missed by passing feet. It took a bit of courage, but I picked him up and put him in a nearby garden. His first reaction, of course, was to pinch me. That's his job, you know. The pinchers on a stag beetle really don't hurt that much. Still, it was a thrill to hold him!

On Saturday, I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean with Nina and Karen, then went out on a whim to Gwangyang to see some of Karen's friends. We ended up coming back to Suncheon where we went to.... Julianna bar of course, and danced until the wee hours.

Now, I am trying to plan lessons for summer school and summer camp while learning Chinese and getting more than 2 notes out of my NEW (used) GUITAR!



This is a stag beetle, by the way.

SKYPE: In other news, I have installed Skype on my computer at home. If you have Skype installed (think free long distance over the Internet), just look for msparkerinkorea. If not, expect a call from me from time to time. I miss hearing everyone's voices.

Arang - Korean horror movie

I just spent the afternoon watching "Arang", a Korean horror movie with 200 screaming Korean teenagers.... if you thought that random loud noises, bumble bees and thunder could make them scream, just try being in a movie theatre! My ears are still ringing.

And, yes, it was in Korean. But I got the idea, especially since I had a bright student next to me. Right: Girl's boyfriend dies saving her from attackers, she dies, she comes back and enacts revenge on attackers one by one, accompanied by her unborn baby... but sends them an e-mail first to warn them. Then, the story kind of degenerated into the sort of thing you would expect from a Korean music video: unrequited love, tragic stares over the ocean, tears, shootings etc.

In other news, we had a lively debate in the office today between two Canadians (me and Lucan), the Chinese guy (Zhao Lei) and my Korean head teacher (Sung Myeong) over whether or not North Korea will cause a war with the US because of sending missiles into the Sea of Japan, how South Korea will react, how Japan will react, and if China would take North or South Korea's side. Whew. It was pretty interesting and, word on the street is that most South Koreans do not feel any immediate threat and are all pretty relaxed about the whole thing.

Strategically, since Jeollanamdo is pretty much the middle of nowhere, I don't think we have much to worry about.

Only in Korea, Part III

A few more fun little quirky things about my home:

Mmmmm punta punta punta punta: Every morning, there is a man who walks around the Shidae apartment complex. In a very deep voice, he chants something that sounds like "punta punta punta". At first, I thought he was either praying or crazy. Turns out he comes around to collect your dry cleaning! Haven't tried it out yet.

Gardenia: Jen came by on Monday evening with a Gardenia blossom, plucked from one of the bushes near New Core (department store). I've got it sitting in a teacup full of water and it smells amazing. Lots of flowers bloomed last week (with the rain?) like lilies and tall things like I saw in Cuba. I'm not all up on the whole floral species thing as my flower divisions are "pretty", "nice", and "smells funny".

Exams: We are in exam week. Every morning, I have to proctor exams. There are two teachers per class of 35 students to discourage cheating. All of the exams are multiple choice, done on those computer cards where you fill in the box. The students fill them out in black magic marker (!) so you spend your time giving them new cards everytime they make a mistake. Also, I have had to wake a few students up DURING the exams -- they fall asleep at a moment's notice.

Whacking sticks: On Monday afternoon, I went on a picnic with all the female teachers of my school. It was soooo nice. Sitting at a low table, next to a fountain, under trees, and I ate VERY deliciously. After lunchee, we wandered up to Seonamsa, the nearby temple. I bought a bell and some bracelets for my nieces. The teachers all bought new whacking sticks! It was so funny.... we all came out of the shop to show off our purchases and they were all taking turns slapping each other's hands with their new bamboo sticks. My head teacher asked me if I wanted one and I said No, but now I kind of regret it. I should have bought one (not to use, of course, just for the culturality of it).

Camp Panic! Every Waguk teacher who has to do a camp is currently panicking over what to do and how to plan it out. It's kind of funny how we all end up with the same problems at the same time. Me, I'm waiting until the last minute so that I may partake of the "all-nighter designing of an entire camp panic" myself.

Rice and shoes: After over two months of eating rice every day, I have stopped taking it at lunchee at the cafeteria. This has led the teachers at my school to believe that I am somewhat mentally deranged and/or anorexic. Sitting down at the table with other teachers guarantees pointing and comments on what I am or am not eating. Tres annoying.
Wearing chopsticks in my hair also resulted in peals of laughter from some of my badboy students. I told them I'd wear a fork next.
When I arrive at school, I am supposed to change into my "indoor slippers". These are not slippers, but sandals. The other day, Zhao Lei (Chinese teacher, takes the same bus as I do) and I arrived, looked at our feet and said "Hey, we're already wearing sandals", so just walked in. Ya. BUSTED! We were both told that for the "well-being of the school environment", we need to change our sandals every day. Now, from what I can observe, it doesn't matter if you change into shoes that you have already worn outside, or plastic flip-flops, or high heels, or whatever, you just have to change your shoes.

*Meaghan and Bridget: your b-day presents were sent off yesterday. Should arrive in 2 weeks or so. Sorry that they are late, but I really wanted to include those bracelets, and had to get to Seonamsa to get them*

Okay okay okay... how about a happy entry now?

I had a post here, and then tried to edit it.

And then it disappeared.

I don't understand.

Ummm, Canada Day was fun.

Follow Stu's link for more photos. Look on Jen's blog and Brent's blog for more photos and text.

July 2, 2006

Standing on the roof at Julianna's, looking over at neon signs that flash in Hangeul, advertising Hof, Soju, a form of billiards with three balls and no pockets.... Down on the street, people are walking - oblivious to the knot of Canadians that has formed a few storeys up.

Lighting up long sparklers, we wave them in the air. As if it were already choreographed, we move into a circle and begin to sing - "O Canada!" - first in English, then in French.

Magic.

We are different here. Even if it seems that there are tons of Waguk here, we are a minority. Maybe there's a hundred of us in Suncheon (a very generous estimate). In a population of hundreds of thousands, that is hardly even a drop in the sea.

Have been homesick this week.

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Here I am, in South Korea, celebrating Canada Day with an Australian (Stuart) and a South African-born Brit (Max).

Tonight, all the Canadians from far and wide will converge on Suncheon to celebrate in our home away from home....

Missing you all terribly.