Jakob says "Happy Halloween!"

Halloween in Suncheon

Well, it's been quite a weekend.

It all started on Friday afternoon, when Stu arrived from Naju. We went for a jaunt on the scooter before returning home to carve some pumpkins and await the arrival of Nicola, Chad, Maura and Jessica. We cobbled some costumes together and headed out to Julianna's, then Elvis.

The next day, everyone did their own thing, with Nicola and Chad taking my scooter out for a spin, Maura out visiting friends, and Stu, Jessica and I heading to the motorcycle shop to visit Jessica's new motorbike. I'm pretty happy because I got a free helmet (probably the nicest helmet I've ever had) so that now my mascara won't run when I am riding to school.

I made three different curries for supper, and served about 10 people, which is no mean feat in an apartment of my size. I can liken my kitchen to the galley of a small boat - no counter space, one drawer, and a 2-burner hotplate. Matt, Helen and Nina joined us and helped us get into our costumes (I was "Bend it like Beckham" and it took a few attempts to get my sari wrapped correctly. Once Lana, Bryce and James arrived, we headed out to the world-famous Sixth Annual Yeosu Halloween Party.

It's amazing to see what the ex-pats can do for Halloween (and quite trippy to walk around in costume and be stared at and photographed by some mildly terrified Koreans). It's not like we can just run to Value Village or the local costume shop to get our disguises. And, unless you want to dress like a pretty princess, there is a dearth of pre-made disguises available here. Somehow, though, the creativity comes through and all of the costumes were really amazing.

Here's a breakdown of various disguises...

Friday night:

Matt and Helen: Very disturbing sort of psycho killer and his leashed slave/evil fairy
Karen: Woodland fairy
Me: Cowgirl
Nicola: Daphne from Scooby Doo
Jessica: Bad-ass popular girl in pink
Chad: Emo boy (even carried around a pad of paper and wrote bad poetry throughout the night)
Nina: God's gift to men
Cassandra and Haydar: Miss America and Saddam Hussein
Dave: Hulk Hogan
and others.... Julianna's was full of tons of people.


Saturday night:

Nicola: Fan death (2nd place in Best Costume Contest)
Chad: Holy Sh*t!
Me: Bend it like Beckham
Stu: Highlander Scot
Lana and Bryce: Two-faced George Bush and Blood Money
Maura: Mermaid (was actually part of a mermaid tribe)
Jessica: Sexy cowgirl
James: Prince Harry (of course)
... and about another hundred costumes, including an Oompa-Loompah, Smurfette and a carton of milk

*pics are of Friday night... Saturday night will be coming soon, I hope.

The Scooter Diaries

So, today I had the day off. Yes, well, I haven't actually taught a class since October 16. My students had exams last week, and this week is some sort of class field trip (token foreigners not wanted on the voyage - boo!) to Jeju Island.

Although the weather has changed (autumn is in the air!), Nina and I decided to brave the cooling temperature (and a bit of rain) to take the scooters out again.

It's amazing how the landscape changes: Only a few streets away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Suncheon, we find old style houses and fields. It's the real Korea, where farming and harvesting and the way of life hasn't changed in decades, where Nina and I were flagged down by two young ladies who wanted a lift (my first time driving my scooter with someone riding behind!) just because we happened to be going past, where goats and chickens cross the road, where I saw one of my first Korean cows (not many of them here), where dog farms are out in the open, where a village of mudbrick houses twists up the side of a valley, following the terraced fields, and an abandoned school stands to prove that this way of life is on the decline for future generations.

Photos are: man carrying threshed stalks of rice on back in traditional style carrier, dogs in cages (note ostriches behind!), inside hallway of abandoned school, small village where ladies asked for a ride, bridge leading to more fields.

And then I booked a trip to India

My friend Karen and I just booked a tour to India in January.

Here's the description from the website (www.intrepidtravel.com)

Days 1-2 Delhi

The exciting capital of India is awash with sights. Head to the crowded bazaars of Old Delhi and see the Jama Masjid, the city's oldest and largest mosque.

Day 3 Agra

Constructed from marble and inlaid with jade, crystal and sapphire, the Taj Mahal must be seen to be believed.

Day 4 Fatehpur Sikri/Bharatpur

Wander through the deserted palaces of Fatehpur Sikri. For a change of pace take a rickshaw through the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary.

Day 5 Rural Rajasthan Heritage Stay

In the middle of rural Rajasthan we stay in a former fort, now a beautiful hotel. Meet the villagers and see local craftspeople at work.

Days 6-7 Jaipur

Visit the beautiful Amber Palace en route to Jaipur, Rajasthan's famous Pink City. There is also time to see that other cultural icon, the Bollywood film!

Day 8 Ranthambhore National Park

A safari into Ranthambhore National Park reveals deer, monkeys, lakes and palace ruins. You may even catch a glimpse of the resident Bengal tigers.

Day 9 Bundi

High above the rural town of Bundi sits an ancient palace adorned in murals. Explore the palace and experience life in one of the most remote areas of Rajasthan.

Days 10-11 Bijaipur

From one extreme to another: camp under the stars at the lakeside then spend the night in the luxurious Castle Bijaipur.

Days 12-14 Pushkar

With India's only temple dedicated to Brahma, the creator, lakeside Pushkar is a major destination for pilgrims and sadhus. Take a camel ride into the desert for a magical sunset among the dunes.

Day 15 Delhi

A fitting end to our Rajasthan adventure as we come full circle to Delhi.

... And then I'll take a week or two to explore India on my own.

In other news, Meron hates me because I booked a trip to India.

Scootering, Orphans and Monkey Attacks

Today, I picked up my scooter from the shop (it now purrs like a kitten, while my kitten purrs like a scooter) then Nina and I headed out to points unknown around Suncheon. We motored out of the city, and into some of the most scenic countryside I've ever seen here. Half the time, I had to keep from driving off the road as I gazed around at mountain vistas and farmers working in their fields, harvesting rice.

We stopped at a place called "SOS Children" (we assume that it's an orphanage of some sort), where we were swarmed by a herd (flock? gaggle?) of young kids. They were more interested in the scooters than in Nina or I, and took turns honking the horns, stealing our keys and hopping on and off our bikes. Nina took the boy in the white shirt for a little ride before a man waved at us, telling us to go away.

We continued on, while the road dwindled from blacktop to concrete, winding up and up a mountain. Not really knowing where we were, we just kept on going, asking for directions from time to time. At one point, we found an abandoned school. It was small, with only three classrooms, and what seemed to be living quarters off to one side. The yard was overgrown with weeds and the building was absolutely crumbling. In Canada, it's sure that this place would have been vandalized, graffitied and full of garbage. Here, however, it was just naturally falling down.

We continued on, still "lost" but having a real hoot. Our next stop was what seemed to be a restaurant with a "mini-zoo" behind it. The zoo consisted of 2 macaques in a cage (not the ones in the picture, but you get the idea), with no food or water. I took my water bottle and passed it through the cage bars to one of them, who guzzled it, then began shrieking. Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bamboo thicket behind us. As Nina yelled at me to get back on my scooter, a larger version of the guys in the cage arrived. He studied us for a moment then, as we sped away, actually gave chase!

The rest of our trip was, thankfully, less eventful. I'm probably going to head out there again tomorrow, and take pictures all the way through. It's just amazingly gorgeous, and a great (cheap - about 2 bucks in gas) way to spend the afternoon.

Sometimes I forget my camera....

So no pictures in this post. Which sucks. Because I had an awesome couple of days.

On Thursday afternoon, I went up to Gwangju, a city near Suncheon. The Jeollanamdo Education Office was having a day of workshops on Friday, and I was (woohoo) one of the presenters.

Stu, Nicola, Max and I had arranged to meet up in downtown Gwangju. Imagine our surprise when our meeting place coincided with some sort of battle-of-the-bands concert thing. We danced a bit, then waved goodbye to the band on stage (they waved back and shouted "See you later!") and wandered off to enjoy some sort of random cultural festival - every corner had artists, fashion shows, drum concerts, dance shows... whatever. And there was a ton of people. The thing about Gwangju is that, even though it's a much bigger city than Suncheon, they seem to have less foreigners there. This means that there is a lot more pointing, whispering, giggling etc. I don't get that anymore in Suncheon, and it does bring you back to reality (hey, we're not Korean... who knew?)

We shopped, met up with Lana (from original orientation group - her blog is at left. She lives near Suncheon, but I don't see her enough!), ate at TGI Fridays (non-Korean food), then went back to our motel, where Nicola, Lana and I had a sort of pyjama party (Sex and the City on TV, face masks and girl talk). Lana and Nicola were also presenting workshops on Friday, and we were quite nervous as we'd just heard that our presentations were to be filmed and posted online!

On Friday, we went to Damyang, to face the cameras. Lana presented a real class to students, while about 60 Korean and foreign teachers watched her. Vanessa (her blog is also listed on the left) also presented. I can't imagine how stressful it must have been for them to do that. They both did an awesome job, to say the least. Then, we went back to the main auditorium for the other presentations. For the rest of us, we had only 10 minutes to present a lesson plan that we had already used in class. It all went well, but the best part was reconnecting with people I meet here and there in Jeollanamdo, but don't see often enough, like Jessica (yes, her blog is also listed at the left....). The whole day was such a whirlwind that I hardly even got to chat with folks like Carol and Maura.

Anyway, feeling peckish, Max, Stu, Nicola, Lana and I headed back to TGI Fridays, (once again dodging concerts, and crowds. Nicola almost got run over by a male model in a fashion show in the middle of the street!) and then to a... DOG CAFE. No, we were not eating dogs. We were petting them. Imagine, if you will, a bunch of well-groomed dogs (some dyed pink or green, some wearing bows and dresses) and a handful of cats (wearing t-shirts!) running around a... well... a cafe. It was great fun, and I was able to pick up some very reasonably priced toys etc for Jakob (owning a cat in Korea can be expensive... they are not common pets, so litter can cost up to $20). Then, it was a mad dash to the bus station for everyone to go their separate ways again.

Something strange is happening: Sometimes, I can read and understand Korean. I don't know if it is just a case of recognizing certain words or what. Of course, there's the problem of reading a sign, but not having a clue what the words actually mean. With the amount of English (or Konglish) here, however, it's sometimes amusing to spend a few minutes sounding out a sign to realize that it says "ka ser-bi-suh" or "Car Service". This evening, the cabbie was listening to the news and I could recognize certain words: Kim Jong-Il, meeguk (USA), hanguk (Korea), chunguk (China). Okay, the news report was about North Korea and, obviously, the response from the US and China. What they were really saying is beyond me, but it's interesting to me that the language is no longer just a bunch of incomprehensible noise. While shopping, I can understand the prices, and even hand over correct change now.

Then again, I have been here for.... 6 months.

Happy Birthday greetings need to go out today to:

Meron, my best friend and constant blog commenter (Oct 19)

Kelly, my best friend, who surprised me this week (Oct 20)

Green Belt!

Next step: Blue

Lucky Me

I'm extremely lucky to have had my Mom here in Korea for the past 2 weeks. We saw so many things, and I think she got a good idea of the ex-pat Korea lifestyle. She left this morning, and my apartment feels very empty without her. My Mom's birthday gift to me was a large poster of everything that we did together during her trip (you know.... my Mom's an artist...) which is proudly displayed on my wall (out of Jakob's reach).

Her last weekend in Korea was punctuated by late night after late night and some new adventures. On Thursday, we (Nina, Karen, Helen, Mom and I) went for supper, then off to Julianna's, where we met up with Cassandra, Kirsten, Lesley, Melissa, Chris and Steve (and others...). Thanks to Karen (for the cake), Nina and Cassandra (for the presents - what an awesome surprise!).

On Friday, I was really not feeling well at all (something I ate?), which was a sucky way to spend my birthday (in the nurse's room at school!). Mom and I headed to Mokpo, finally visiting Brent and Stephanie. We started off at a vegetarian buffet with Nicola, Chad, Maura, Max, Brent and Stephanie, which was really awesome. Maura and Nicola surprised me with some nice gifts, then Steve found us and we were off to wander around Mokpo (which is a really nice place to visit). After a few beers, we found ourselves in a Norae room, where we sang our lungs out before heading home. Mom, forever the trooper, did a duet with Steve for "Hey Jude", and managed to keep on going until 3 a.m.!

Saturday, Chad and Nicola served us all a delicious breakfast, before we (Chad, Nicola, Brent, Stephanie and Stu) headed either over or around Yudal mountain. Once again, we were blessed with gorgeous weather, while news of SNOW in Canada had my Mom asking if she could just stay forever in Korea. After a lazy afternoon, we headed out shopping (again), then out to say hello to the folks at the infamous Mokpo P-Club, before returning home.

Sunday morning, my mom and I exchanged a few hugs and tears before she boarded the KTX to Seoul for her flight home.

Thanks to Brent and Stephanie for sharing their apartment with us, and to my friends in Korea for helping me celebrate. Thanks to everyone who sent virtual greetings and e-cards and e-mails. Makes me feel special to know that you haven't forgotten about me. :)

Thanks to Mom for visiting me in Korea. I love you lots.

Hey...

I'm 32.

Hi, it's Mom

I can't believe it's almost time to leave.

I feel very fortunate to have experienced Korea, not as a tourist, but through an ex-pat teacher's lifestyle. It's brought back memories of when our family lived in Saudi Arabia - not the culture, of course, but the stong bonding of everybody here, who all happen to be in the same boat whether they come from Australia, New Zealand, England or the various provinces in Canada. When ex-pat teachers get together, their main topics of conversation seem to be 1) where the next party is, 2) foods that they miss from home, 3) where the next trip will be (Japan, China, Taiwan, Cambodia, India) or 4) "shop talk" - teaching methods and what they ate for lunch (tentacle surprise?).

When we visited Seoul and stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel, it was as luxurious as one would expect and the service-oriented Koreans couldn't do enough for us, always with a bow and a smile (p.s. no tipping expected). But, if I'd only stayed in Seoul, I would have been deprived of the "real Korea" of Suncheon. I feel sorry for tourists who only get to see Seoul and nothing else.

I think one can easily sum up a country's people and standards by the taxi drivers. All the taxis are kept spotless and immaculate, the drivers dress as if they are going to work in an office (minus the suitcoats) with crisply pressed shirts, and white gloves. I've seen several taxis with hand-crocheted white seat covers for both front and back seats.

The parking attendants are in uniform, bowing to each new arrival in the parking lot. There's no litter or graffiti, and elders are respected. In what other country would the high school students not be searched for drugs or weapons at the door? Instead, they are scolded for not changing into their plastic (indoor) shoes.

So many surprises.

What a country! I'm glad that I was able to see all aspects of life here.

Love,

Mom

Seoul report

We arrived in Seoul on Thursday morning. Flying from Yeosu was a real treat, since we got a bird's eye view of the whole country. Korea is 70% mountains - and (it seems) 20% rice paddies and 10% tall apartment buildings - and that is so evident from the air.

Once we checked in to the luxurious Intercontinental Hotel at COEX (big shopping mall), we headed out to explore the city. The Seoul subway has approximately 172 different lines that all seem to cross each other at some point, and this subway is conveniently arranged so that similar sounding stops are at opposite ends of each other. Makes it just slightly confusing (note: sarcasm).

Thursday afternoon, we checked out Deoksugung, a smaller palace where you can also find an art museum. All of Seoul's palaces were, at one point or another, burned, attacked or razed by the numerous Japanese invasions on Korea, so they are always rebuilt. It was very different from other places I've seen in Korea- really neat.

Bright and early Friday morning, we headed off on our tour of the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone: a 4-kilometre swath that separates North and South Korea). With all the nuclear sabre-rattling on CNN, it was a bit daunting to know that we were going to be close to this, ahem, "Axis of Evil" member. We saw Freedom Bridge, the Dorasan Train Station (newly built, but as yet un-used) the 3rd Tunnel and the Dora Observatory. At it was Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving), there were many Koreans (about 10 million South Koreans can claim North Korean ancestry) getting as close to North Korea as possible in order to pay their respects to their ancestors. After the DMZ, we were dropped off in the "Foreigner Area" of Itaewon in downtown Seoul. After a delicious Moroccan lunch (YUM!), we headed to What the Book, a foreign foods shop and Starbucks. Imagine our surprise when Lesley and Kirsten from Suncheon arrived in Starbucks. As we were leaving, we ran into Jessica (her blog is linked at the right). Proves the point that all foreigners in Korea know each other. Leaving Itaewon, we stopped at the Korean War Memorial, where I practiced taking all kinds of pictures with my new camera.


On Saturday, we dragged ourselves to another palace - said to have been on par with the Forbidden City (before being destroyed by Japan) in its heyday - Gyeongbokgung was really amazing. We sat in on 5 minutes of a "Traditional Animistic Shaman Ceremony" at the museum, but escaped when it became too strident for our ears. After a quick walk through Namdaemun Market and lunch, we headed back to our hotel to rest. That evening, we went to (eventually figured out how to get to) a Korean Drum Festival. We were expecting traditional drumming, but it was anything but! Teams from Italy, Singapore, Japan and Korea entertained the whole crowd with what could only be described as "Fusion Drumming" (Japanese geishas doing Cuban salsa in Spanish?). Really awesome.

Sunday, our last day, we ran over to Insadong for the best shopping in Korea ever that I have ever seen since I arrived and why didn't we come here sooner because look at all the pretty things and I have to buy everything! This is where I got quite a few of the gifts that are now packed in my mom's suitcase to go back to Canada. We flew back to Yeosu, exhausted after a rather packed trip to Seoul.

Seoul!

Just survived four days in Seoul, dragging my mother from one end to the other.

Will post details tomorrow. In the meantime, go look at my pics on Flickr.

Suncheon City Tour

So, Mom and I did the Suncheon City Tour yesterday.

We headed out on a luxury bus full of Koreans and checked out a set for a Korean drama series (which happens to be located about 3 blocks from my house... who knew?), then to Seonamsa (temple), then to Nagan Folk Village (which shows a traditional Korean community, with some people even living in the 19th C. houses on a permanent basis! Sort of like Upper Canada Village), then to Suncheon Bay to walk in the reeds and look at the hooded cranes, herons and other birds lunching on crabs.

Then, for supper. We joined the Cha family for some of the best Korean food I've ever had in my life. Then, while we sipped green tea, Ha Eun entertained us on piano (WOW) and Ha Min smiled at me with her new front teeth.

Today, we are off to Yeosu, to take a boat cruise with Nina. Should be fun!

(It's also fun for me to test out my new camera - am finally getting the hang of it - pics are of Jakob playing with Mr Shane in his new hamster ball, Mom in front of kimchi pots, Mom in a doorway at the drama set, Mom in front of a green tea bush, and me dressed in a traditional Korean wedding dress at Nagan)

Mom's Visit So Far

Mom has certainly packed a lot into her visit so far. She's been quite the trooper too.

On Friday, I picked her up from the Yeosu airport in the morning. We got back to my place and started unpacking all the great things she had brought - including tons of Reese's, chocolate, pesto sauce (no, I am not obsessed with food), my winter coat, scarves, my teddy bear. The list goes on... I had to go to school, which left her some time to take a nap. That evening, we went out for supper to celebrate Steve's birthday, then went to TaeKwonDo. She fell asleep on an exercise mat in front of a dozen or so people who were yelling, kicking, punching etc. Our next stop was Steve's place for a cocktail party, where my mom got to meet a few of my (drunk) friends and a few sober ones too. At about 1 am, we headed out to Julianna's, then over to Elvis (the two waguk bars in Suncheon). Mom, Nicola and I got home at around 3 am. You know, a typical Suncheon Friday night.

Saturday morning, we decided to join Max, Stu and Nicola for a little trip around Suncheon. Our first destination was Gwangju, where we did a bit of shopping. Mom got a rather painful neck massage at Aveda, and then we were off again. We headed first to Naju, to drop off Max, then on to Wando. Unfortunately, Stu was functioning on 3 hours of sleep, and we ended up going to Wando by way of Mokpo (a 2 hour detour). So, Mom got to see most of Jeollanamdo that day. When we got to Wando, we were too tired for the beach, so we ate supper, then watched movies. Mom dozed off and Nicola and I weren't too far behind.

On Sunday, we headed straight for the beach, where Mom picked up every rock and shell she saw. Our bus ride back to Suncheon was uneventful, except for the bus driver playing the same Korean techno song over and over again for the whole 3.5 hour trip. In Suncheon, we ate a typical Korean meal of bibimbap and donkas (?? That pork thing ??), then read until we both fell asleep.

Today, Mom came to school with me. We started each class with our little routine...

Me: Hi Mom. What do you think of my students?
Mom: Oh, the boys are handsome.
*students giggle*
Me: Really? And the girls?
Mom: They are cute.
*students giggle*

Mom was a hit, handing out chocolate in the hallway to various students, especially the ones who told her that she was beautiful. We got to go out for lunch with Melissa, Mrs Bahk, Mr Cheng and Miss Song for shabu shabu, a sort of soup that you cook yourself, which is then turned into pumpkin porridge. It's really good, but hard to describe.

Now, we are waiting for my scooter repair-man (front tire is flat) and then we are off to TaeKwonDo again. Hopefully, Mom won't fall asleep this time.

Tomorrow, we are doing a city tour, Wednesday is a boat cruise in Yeosu, and Thursday, we fly to Seoul.

So far, everyone who has met Mom thinks she's pretty cool... and thinks I'm lucky to have a Mom who would drag 2 suitcases full of my crap to Korea for me!