Today is the first day of school

*pout*

Sunsets and Bloodletting

Okay, so first off, the sunset was really pretty tonight. And I would have/should have gone up on my roof to get a better picture. But I am lazy.


Today was the first day that I'd spent at home in over 2 weeks. I spent the morning drinking coffee and being chewed on by Jakob, who really really missed me since he had to stay with Alex for the past few weeks, and it was totally traumatizing for Alex (and Jakob too, I think).

I decided to be more productive in the afternoon. First off, I knew that I had received a package (books) from Seoul, and I started the long process of locating it, which involved first asking my building manager, then heading to three different post offices to mime out "I have received a package from Seoul, is it here?" (it comes out more like "box-uh!" *make a square* "Seoul" *flail randomly* "Me!" *point to self, then make universal 'I don't know' gesture* - it's almost like performance art for the other 50 people who happen to find themselves in the post office...). Finally, I decided to try my apartment office again.... I went in, asked them if they had found that package??? Once again, the answer was no, so I pointed at a small box, which surprisingly had a Seoul return address on it and MY NAME in English on it and was like, hey, maybe this could be it? So, yay, got some books.

I had somehow managed to talk Jen, who has been complaining about her knee, into getting acupuncture/bloodletting done. I decided to go with her, just for the fun of it. We agreed to meet up at the train station, and while I was waiting, two very dirty old guys started fighting in front of a row of chairs (containing about 30 people) and a big screen TV. They were joined by another guy, and I seemed to be the only person who was reacting. Like, did the rest of the people in the waiting room think it was a one-act play?

Anyway, Jen arrived, and we went to the bloodletting place. Since I really had nothing wrong with me, they took Jen off to be stabbed, electrocuted and bled, while I got to play with some really fun machines. First off, they sat me in a massage chair for half an hour. Once my spine had been reduced to jelly, they brought me to another room where, um... okay... picture a pair of thigh-high stockings, made of snowpant material, filled with air, and then you sort of zip it on, like sleeping bags for your legs. And... then... okay, the pockets fill with air and it "massages" your legs. I really have no idea how to describe this.... After that, they put me in what looked like an iron lung, with only my head sticking out. The inside of the iron lung was all warm, so it was like a personal sauna? I have no idea. Anyway, Jen found me in the iron lung/sauna and was like "Okay then". Then, while Jen was on the massage chair (for a paltry 15 minutes), they sat me on a chair next to a vibrating platform where I put my feet and got all shook up. Once again, weird.

The best surprise was that they did all this to me for free - when we went out to pay, they shook their heads at me and said "Serbis-uh" (service aka free). And I went home and took a nap.

I don't start back at school until Friday and I'm trying to find fun things to do for the next three days, that doesn't involve acting like an ass in a post office or any sort of Korean "health" treatment.

Blessed

I don't even know where to begin.

I had plans for a wildly long and amazing blog entry, detailing every little thing I've been doing for the past few weeks.... Now, however I am not feeling so verbose, and so will let the pictures do the talking instead.

Andy and Suze's Farewell Party in Suncheon last weekend

Andy in a kilt - he's allowed, being a Scot and all.

Me and Suze - TKD partners.

I also had to say goodbye to Jeannie!

Michelle, Jeannie and Suze getting all Charlie's Angels.

Me and Melissa - I think I'm overdoing the Korean "self-cam" thing.

Random Camp Pictures

Two of my girls

Boys - posturing on a random motorbike.
The kid with the helmet is "Coca-Cola" (his English name).

Me and Emanuel - we became great friends during the camp.

This past weekend, I was in Gwangju with just about everyone that I know and love in Jeollanamdo. At one point, I got the surprise of my life when my eyes were covered in a "guess who?" sort of way..... and I turned around to see NICOLA. Yes, after quite a few wonderful adventures hither and yon, she's returned to Korea (to MOKPO). Annnnnnnnd, everybody knew! Well, except me. And how is that possible? I mean, like, wow!

It was a bit of a noisy reunion....

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

OMIGOD!

Feeling rather blessed at the moment, like everything is just falling quite naturally and beautifully into place.

Oh, and here's another reason why I've been a bit busy lately:

Tyrone

Yay

I'm home, survived camp.... and far too busy to upload my pics from the past two weeks or to write about all that I've been up to.

See you Monday!

And sometimes magic happens....

In class this afternoon, the students were drawing posters that were so amazingly beautiful that it was hard to believe that level of creativity could exist in a bunch of school kids. One of the boys started beat-boxing, and suddenly, we were all singing "Dancing Queen". Then, they cleaned up the whole classroom and worked together to hang their poster up.

It reminded me of teaching in La Pocatiere, when I actually felt like I could have silly crazy fun with my kids AND get some sort of learning experience out of it.

Another Suncheon Weekend....

Dear Mom,

I got your e-mail today and I felt a bit guilty. I haven't written much lately - not because I don't have computer access, but because camp is keeping me very busy. Also, I don't think that it's interesting enough to talk about. And, yeah, okay... felt a wee bit guilty. It sounds like you are going to have a few wicked awesome trips coming up - the cruise sounds awesome. Oh, and yeah - my camp money is pretty much paying for Taiwan (flight, accommodation AND ridiculous amounts of shopping, I hope).

So, I am back at camp after a lovely weekend in Suncheon (photos to come). I arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately made myself comfortable in Nina's apartment (Nina is in Canada and is totally my best friend now because her bathroom products outshine even mine....). I met up with Melissa and Chris at Outback (or, as you call it, "The Outhouse Cafe") for supper. They've only just returned from Canada and Chris was a bit jetlagged. Anyway, we headed out to a soju-room after and had delicous soju cocktails until we were ready to head to Julianna's. On our way, we met up with Haydar and Cassandra (did I tell you that they are getting married?), and were soon joined by Kentucky Dave (who is really from Nebraska), Michelle, Tyrone and some other old and new friends.

On Saturday, Jessica (who had just returned from the USA), Melissa and I decided to go shopping. It was so funny - we wandered around the downtown area and I saw a bunch of my old students - they were so excited to see Melissa and I together, of course - and just so cute. Anyway, I bought a funny pair of sandals and a purse from a really creepy guy. We wanted to all get manicures, but there was a HUGE riot (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) with police in riot gear and tear gas and stuff at the New Core store, so we couldn't get manicures. In all seriousness, it wasn't that bad of a protest, but freaked us out a bit. Labour laws in Korea have recently changed to allow for health insurance and pension for part-time workers. Some of the companies responded by firing those workers - which is really unfair....I'll post a link to a site that is hosting a letter-writing campaign once I find it again). Anyway, we hid out in Nina's apartment and watched bad TV and complained about our nails until Melissa and Jessica headed home.

That evening, I went to a party at Andy and Suze's place. They are on their way back to Scotland via Trans-Siberian Railway (!!!!!). It was also a chance for me to say goodbye to Jeannie, who heads back to Canada next week. You might remember them all from TKD. I took tons of pictures, but won't be able to upload until I get to Mokpo on Friday.

Sunday was a glorious lazy day of sloth-ing (moving so slowly that moss may actually grow on you) and relaxing, until hunger drove me out at about 8 pm. I joined Tyrone at The Outhouse Cafe and watched him devour a scary looking steak that was big enough to have its own personality (I had salad which, though lacking in character was actually quite delicious because it's not kimchi). I went to bed way too late, woke up way too early and am now back at camp.

I'll be here until Friday, then go back to Mokpo and then to Gwangju on Saturday to meet the incoming teachers and give them a workshop on Sunday. I'll have to admit that I am looking forward to next Monday to Thursday (school starts again next Friday), when I plan to relax, hike and try to get to one of the beaches around Mokpo for one last time).

So, Mom, I admit, I don't have a good excuse for not writing you more e-mails. I mean, it isn't like I'm not completely addicted to computers and the internet. Have a great time on vacation and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Lots of love,

Your Daughter Who Promises to Write More E-mails to You

P.S. Expect a birthday list in the coming weeks.....

Camp Diary

I'm at a camp with 150 Korean middle schoolers, 12 very tired teachers from Portland and a dozen or so Korean teachers (including some of the most high strung women I've ever met).

Fun things have included being interviewed for Korean TV (NamDo TV) and working with Emanuel and Warren to organize game nights that result in 150 kids running around in an un-airconditioned gym (Hot!! Chaotic!!). Not-so-fun things have included teaching four ninety-minute classes back to back (which is what I will do every day that I am here). After my cushy public school teacher life (and quite a few days of lolling around watching TV in the aircon at home), this is quite the shock to the system. I'm walking around with a mask-like smile pasted on my face, timing my showers so that I can lock the door to the communal bathroom, thinking about how I will spend the extra money I am making and just trying to have as good a time as I can with the kids.

It *is* fun, just not as much fun as, say, a vacation.

Beasties of Korea

Weird Insect Thing:

The weird insect thing (aka Oriental cricket???), is approximately the size of your head, with creepy antenna things sticking out and waving around. Appearing to be the radioactive offspring of a spider, a cockroach and other gross creepy-things, it can be found in parking garages, at like 8:00 in the morning, when you are just leaving home, minding your own business and then you are all like, "Whoa, what is that???". And it walks. And it's only after you take its picture and show it around that someone tells you that it also could have jumped, and it totally would have eaten your arm off.


Spoiled Ungrateful Korean Street Cat:

The Spoiled Ungrateful Korean Street Cat is easily domesticated and will spend approximately 95% of its time sleeping under the AC. Another 4% will be spent destroying your possessions, biting you and tracking litter around. The remaining 1% is spent being so darn cute that you're willing to forgive all his transgressions.

How to Camp

Camping is a popular hobby amongst many young people these days. You may be asking yourself, "How can I be a part of this new trend?", and so, this blog is for you.


Rule #1: Bring along people who will supply you with all you need to camp and who will do all the work for you. Many thanks to Stu for supplying ropes, tarps and bedding and to JP for preparing meals.


Thanks to Stu and JP for constructing our shelter around a pagoda. Thanks to Stu for driving. Thanks to JP for repairing the tarp in the middle of the night when it started blowing away.

Rule #2: Choose appropriate weather for your weekend at the beach. Do not be afraid of weather forecasts continaing the terms "85% chance of showers", "high winds" or the always popular "typhoon". Weather forecasts are for wimps. Keep this in mind as you watch the waves get higher on the beach, the police arrive with loud speakers, the sky turn black and every single Korean camper pack up and leave. Remind yourself of this at 3 am when you haven't slept at all and the entire pagoda is shaking under the force of wind and rain.


Rule #3: Make yourself (sort of) useful. Every weekend needs a photographer. So, take pictures of the boys while they are doing stuff.


When they get tired of your picture taking, take pictures of yourself to keep from interfering in their hard work. Obnoxious? Who me?



Rule #4: Enjoy a delicious breakfast the next day. Thank you boys!

I hope that you have found these camping tips useful. Now, get out there and camp!

But seriously, it was a lot of fun, and I *did* wash the supper dishes (I even used Aveda shampoo to do it), and I made coffee the next day - uh, after Stu ran through the rain to get water, so I wasn't totally useless, you know. Just like, halfway useless. And I came in handy when it was time to hold onto a random rope that someone else was tying, or like, acting as a paperweight.

The Danger of Boredom

The danger of being bored - especially when it is 800 degrees out with eleventy million percent humidity - is that first off, you end up fulfilling what's-his-name's law of whatever it was - momentum or something. Like, a body in motion remains in motion but a body that isn't doing much in the morning except playing on Facebook and whining to her friends on msn about how bored she is, uh, doesn't remain in motion.

Or something.

And the second problem with being bored is that, besides getting nothing done, you also come up with devious ways to make the things that you do actually manage to get done last longer. This holds true even if you are shopping in a market and have to force yourself to walk slowly past all the raw fish stalls in order to reach the fruit.

Apparently, boredom also makes me do stupid things. It was boredom that led me to lock myself out on a fire escape in Montreal ten years ago (I was washing my windows, okay???), and it's led up to today, which was truly a red-letter day in the world of me being an idiot.

Having left Red Devil in Hadang (other side of Mokpo) yesterday, after having seen 1408 with JP and Kristen and having once again used JP's cooking skills to feed me (along with Kristen and Hyun-joong), I had to go and get it today.

So, I decided to walk.

Outside.

At the hottest point of the day (roughly the temperature of the surface of the sun, but humid too!).

From Old Mokpo to New Mokpo.

I'm blaming Kristen for this, in part, because she walks everywhere and I was starting to think "Hey, I used to walk everywhere too, so why don't I try to walk to Hadang?"

Except for the fact that it was a long stupid walk, there's nothing really to report. Except that it was longer than I thought. And stupid. And hot. And now I also have a stupid dark farmer's tan, and it's on my legs too.

While I was walking, I noticed that I was also limping a bit. My ankle had been a bit stiff in the mornings, so I headed down to the Bloodletting pit of hell and see if they could cure it (yeah, I may complain about that clinic, but they do cure what ails me).

It was a totally different experience because a) I knew what to expect and b) I could see what they were doing to me. Yeah, that bloodletting thing? You really don't need to see that happen to yourself. No. Really.

It was a really busy day at the clinic today, and almost all the beds were full - the dude next to me was on his cell phone (!) leading me to imagine what it would have been like to talk to me on a cell phone during say, the electrocution massage part of the treatment that made my foot spasm. It would have been like, "Oh hey, yeah. What's up? Oh, I'm just ... OOOO - THAT'S WEIRD ... you know, getting some ... OW... acupuncture ... WHAT THE? done. Hey, do you happen to know if your toes should, uh, fold backwards?.... FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, MAKE THEM STOP!..."

I was a bit disappointed that no part of me was set on fire this time, but the important thing is that my ankle feels better.

Even more importantly, friends have started returning to Mokpo, and I've got a weekend in Wando lined up, so there should be no more foolishness to report caused by my own boredom-induced stupidity.

You Can't Go Home Again???

... Oh, yes you can.

With the North Korea thing not happening, but with arrangements already made for a cat-sitter etc, I decided to head to Suncheon for my first real visit since I'd moved. Yes, I had been in Suncheon when I first got back to Korea in May, but it was a quick one-night thing that involved a lot of grabbing stuff that I'd left behind and running off with it to Mokpo.

After my week of whining about boredom in Mokpo, it was so great to be back in Suncheon, where you can't walk 5 feet without tripping over a foreigner, and where I know my way around (every time I leave my house in Mokpo, I get lost). I started my visit on Friday afternoon, with a visit to the glasses store. Yes, Meron, I walked in and said, "Can you show me a pair of glasses that Meron is guaranteed to HATE?", and they did. All hail the return of THE NERD FRAMES. And, they were ready in TWENTY minutes. I love Korea.


From there, I headed over to Cassandra and Haydar's to admire both the new kitten and her new ring, and to drink a bottle of wine before heading to Nina's (Nina is a great cook and very generous with food, and I found it handy to always show up at her place around mealtimes. This is much to the chagrin of Yongi, her cat, who fears me beyond comprehension...) to watch TV and eat pizza, and get a sparkly pedicure from Nina, who was also rocking diamonds on her toes....


Then, it was off to Carol's, where I was actually sleeping (Carol is not there, but Lola - a kitten who could give Jakob a run for his money - was). This is a picture of me being stalked. Yeah, sure, she LOOKS sweet, but she's a wild one!


Feeling parched, I headed off to Julianna's to meet up with Michelle and Cassandra and the rest of Suncheon. *cue the theme from Cheers* I loved walking in there and being greeted by friends who I hadn't seen in ages - and getting to make new friends too. It was a great night of dancing and fun and some of the details are kind of fuzzy so, you know... uh, typical Suncheon night.

The next day, I arrived at Nina's just in time for breakfast and we rallied the troops to head out to a swimming hole in Gwangyang (me, Nina, Nicole, Michelle, Arlene, Jessika and Amanda), which was wicked awesome.


There were lots of people, but more than enough space for all. We were joined at one point by a few of the boys of Suncheon, including James, who is soon heading back to England. This is Jessika and James:


Exhausted, we headed back to Suncheon and went our separate ways with promises to meet again, which we did a few hours later at (where else) Julianna's. It was like a Ladies' Night or something, with some rather hilarious conversation about Amanda's hair. Anyway....

I stayed that night at Cassandra and Haydar's, since they were away and needed a cat-feeder, and made it just in time on Sunday morning for lunch at Nina's. While I sat there and monopolized her TV, Jeannie arrived and we chatted for a bit (Jeannie is heading back to Canada soon - bye Jeannie!!!! I'll miss you!), until I headed off to Michelle's where Nicole, Michelle and I made a wicked awesome supper, washed down with generous amounts of wine and dyed my roots....

Before:



After:


Monday morning, I headed back to Mokpo, feeling like I'd managed to pack a lot of visits into just a few days, and also feeling like Suncheon is always going to be a big part of my Korean world. I also got a chance to say goodbye to James and Jeannie and make new friends like Amanda and Jessika.

Another week to go before my summer camp starts and friends start returning to Mokpo....