Ms Parker in Korea!

New Blog...

2009-01-30T17:14:00.001+09:00

New adventures, new country, new blog:

http://thepfaorwklers.blogspot.com/

Finally....

2009-01-04T18:40:00.003+09:00

Goodbye Korea. Goodbye ajummas and ajosshis. Goodbye girls who wear shorts in winter. Goodbye kimbap, kimchi, ramyan, chapjae, veggie mandu. Goodbye weird brand names that I won't see elsewhere (Ask Enquired?). Goodbye random children saying hello. Goodbye scooters that pass you on the sidewalk. Goodbye tiled rooftops. Goodbye wall of ass. Goodbye bent over halmonis with silver teeth. Goodbye taxi drivers that smell like ginseng. Goodbye hangeul. Goodbye Yudal. Goodbye Kimbap Nara. Goodbye Dak galbi. Goodbye soju. Goodbye chunners and man won. Goodbye the feeling of understanding or being understood. Goodbye Samsung and Hyundae everything. Goodbye small white or black cars (and rarely blue or yellow ones). Goodbye Konglish. Goodbye circular logic. Goodbye temples. Goodbye big bronze bells. Goodbye colourfully painted pagodas. Goodbye neon lights. Goodbye norae bangs. Goodbye boybands. Goodbye random gifts and service-eu. Goodbye newbies and lifers. Goodbye giving directions to people using a million different landmarks. Goodbye miming in the post office to buy stamps. Goodbye my awesome cellphone. Goodbye PC bangs. Goodbye skinny cigarettes. Goodbye spitting on sidewalks and being pushed out of the way. Goodbye recycling everywhere, even in McDonald's. Goodbye Mokpo and Suncheon and Gwangju. Goodbye Yeosu and Wando and Seoul. Goodbye Gyeongju and Jinju and Busan. Goodbye mountains like Jirisan and Wolchulsan. Goodbye quiet beaches (outside of beach season). Goodbye self-camming in public. Goodbye cherry blossom season. Goodbye yellow dust. Goodbye barking dogs, and mini-puppies carried as fashion accessories. Goodbye Hello Kitty everywhere. Goodbye cheap and weird socks. Goodbye young guys dressed to the nines. Goodbye technology that is ahead of its time. Goodbye squat toilets. Goodbye heated bidets with blowdryers. Goodbye flower arrangements that are out of this world. Goodbye almost being hit by a car every day. Goodbye cheap buses, in and out of the city. Goodbye the uniformity of appearance. Goodbye stripey scarves and sparkly t-shirts. Goodbye cafeteria food, including tentacle surprise. Goodbye Spam in everything. Goodbye hot goguma on the street. Goodbye fish shaped cookies. Goodbye ddeok. Goodbye metal chopsticks. Goodbye gochujang. Goodbye funny winter hats that look like animal heads. Goodbye Jeju. Goodbye "I don't know, lives in sea". Goodbye "It's Korean tradition". Goodbye annyeong haseyo and kamsahamnida. Goodbye Mr Kim and Mr Lee and Mrs Park and Mrs Oh. Goodbye Hite. Goodbye Homeplus and Emart. Goodbye fishing boats at 5 am and the Jeju ferry boat at 9:30 pm. Goodbye taeguki. Goodbye taekwondo. Goodbye flat-screen satellite TVs everywhere. Goodbye to the noise. Goodbye jimjilbang. Goodbye face masks. Goodbye ridiculous high heels (that I secretly covet). Goodbye mascots on street corners. Goodbye hanuiwan and acupuncture. Goodbye "good for health" and "good for stamina". Goodbye green tea in temple tea shops. Goodbye cranes hunting frogs in rice paddies. Goodbye bongo trucks. Goodbye ddong-chim. Goodbye being told how beautiful you are by strangers. Goodbye cheap eyeglasses. Goodbye to being waygook. Goodbye dabangs and double barber poles. Goodbye to weird Korean comedy programs on TV that involve hitting each other with inflated squeaky hammers. Goodbye "I'mfinethankyouandyou". Goodbye "Whel all you prom?". Goodbye to the crazy old men outside of the train station. Goodbye walking to the head of the line in a bank or post office because you have no idea where else to go. Goodbye lotus ponds. Goodbye amazing fireworks. Goodbye surprises every day. Goodbye quiz nights. Goodbye squeally musical instruments and wavering voices. Goodbye canned keyboard accompaniment. Goodbye French nights. Goodbye world travel. Goodbye Nami, Minsu, Thomas and the rest of the weird kids on the government approved CD-Roms for ESL. Goodbye "Maybe". Goodbye yes as no and no as yes. Goodbye friends from around the world ~ you have become our family.

Goodbye Taie-lun.

Goodbye Baginia.

It's almost the end....

2009-01-03T11:38:00.003+09:00

As a few of you may know, it can sometimes take me a few days or weeks to think through what I am going to write on my blog. Yes, there are plenty of entries that are just fired off in a few minutes, and there are ones that are simple recountings of the past weekend or whatever, or an excuse to post photos.... but then there are blog entries that I have reflected and ruminated on.

This is a combination of writing off the cuff as well as being something that's been on my mind for a few weeks.

I had planned to compare the experience of Korea to shopping at Tesco's/Homeplus... how you arrive to bowing and greetings, how everything seems just slightly different, how the food just isn't the same, with entire aisles in the grocery store containing nothing but rice, or pepper sauce, or live octopus in the meat section. I would have described the ladies dressed like cheerleaders who stand there with boxes of maxipads or shampoo and try to get you to buy insanely huge giftpacks. I would have written about men in white coats, yelling into badly tuned, crackly microphones about a sale on watermelon. I would have talked about special holidays, and the boxes of spam presented by women in traditional dress. There would have been something about the frustration of not being able to read a label, or of having a kid point at you and scream "Meeguk!" while his mother rammed her shopping cart into the back of your legs. I could have told you about the ridiculous music (gangsta rap in the grocery store, anyone?) or the fun "exercise time" when all the employees get together and do a mini-workout to annoying music. I could have talked about the great new foods I've discovered here: green tea noodles, green tea yogurt, flavourful apples, bags of baby bok choi, unidentifiable greens that became a staple of a lot of my cooking, as well as what I was missing: real cheese, real bread, cheap coffee. And then, when you get to the checkout, after all this wonderful service, including free things stuck to your purchases (a table cloth when you buy cereal, a set of bowls when you get instant coffee), you end up being pushed down the checkout aisle by a family buying nothing but ramen noodles, staring at what you're buying, while the cashier rapidly checks you through and there isn't even a bag boy.

All of this, in a nutshell, is Korea for me. Where you find a wonderful welcome, followed by noise and confusion, amazing discoveries, some embarrassment, but that, once you've paid, nobody is even going to help you carry your bags.

I would have written all that, and probably written it better, but I decided not to.

Instead, last night, after a lovely dak galbi meal with friends, followed by Ty and I posing for photos with a few of our favourite downtown business owners (the old lady who sells flowers, the bartender from Texas Moon, the dak galbi lady...), then a bit of soju, I jotted down a list of, well, I guess, advice for people coming to Korea -

This is to be taken with a grain of salt, or a shot of soju....

Wherever you end up in Korea, be it Busan or Seoul or the far-flung republic of Jeollanamdo, spend at least one weekend away from your town. Get on a cheap bus and wander around the country. No matter where you go, you will find cheap accomodation, cheap food, and something wonderfully hidden. The places that have the best memories for me are the places I've found that were off the beaten path... or that took a bit of effort to reach. Taking a weekend or two a month to explore will also keep you from spending every Friday and Saturday night drinking with the same people.
Allow yourself to feel culture shock without feeling guilty or evil about it. You don't have to apologize for not liking something that is unfamiliar... just don't spend all your time complaining about everything or you will alienate yourself from other possible experiences.
TRAVEL. You are next door to Japan and China. You are a short hop from Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. A few more hours, and you're in Australia, India, Nepal... Get out there. Yes, you are probably here to pay off debts, but what kind of memories will that zero balance give you? The world is a big place, and it's the right time to discover it.
Adopt an animal. Yes, it will be hard to balance your new dog or cat with your weekends away and your travel plans, but it's the one, true, concrete way that you can make a difference here. If you can't adopt, then donate your time or money to KAPS and their animal shelters. Also, answering the door with a big orange cat will keep the annoying daily visits from people who want to talk to you in broken English about Jesus to a minimum (Korean women seem to be very afraid of kitty cats).
Leave the country, your apartment, your school better than when you came.
Cultivate friendships with people you may not have had an affinity for back home, but don't make excuses for not being friends with people who may have different value systems. Just because you are a foreigner and living in a small town doesn't mean that you have to be friends with the person next door if you honestly don't want to.
You're a teacher. That's why you are here. Whether you approach your experience as a simple "gap year" to make some extra money, or the start of a career, don't disrespect what a lot of us take seriously - our students, our classrooms, our lesson plans....
Be kind to those who treat you right. Without the many people here who have helped me out, I would have been 100% lost. It *is* hard to get to a familiar level with certain Koreans but this past week, saying goodbye to people I've dealt with on a daily or weekly basis, has shown me that I will really be missed by a lot of the people in my neighbourhood... even if they don't know my name.
Keep an eye on your contract, your money, your rights. Don't back down because you think it's the "nice thing to do". If you don't stand up for yourself when you are being cheated or treated poorly, nobody else will, and things will just get worse.
Korea is uppy-downy world, as my friend Helen always said. There will be days when everything is wonderful and days when you would give anything to be able to leave. It's easy to say, "Just roll with it"... but it's not that easy. Remember the good (in a journal, or blog), acknowledge the bad (rant with friends), and keep in mind that you are entitled to both your negative and your positive feelings.
Don't do anything (like eating a dog that has been raised in appalling conditions, only to be beaten to death in the name of male sexual power) that you wouldn't do back home.
Love it, hate it.... just experience it!

End of lecture....

And yes, I will be following my own advice in a few days, when I arrive in Abu Dhabi....

Moving, Phase 1

2008-12-31T21:49:00.002+09:00

Well, yesterday we emptied and cleaned the entire apartment. Fallon, Wim and Nina were on hand to help us, with Zach stopping by as well to help Ty at the post office. I truly felt blessed to have these people around us, helping us with the heavy lifting and the emotional stress of the move.

We're having to ship more and more of our things because we can only carry 20kg each on the plane. Is this not the most ridiculous thing ever? Twenty kilos is NOTHING.

It's going well so far, we're living in Fallon's un-used apartment. The cats are either hiding under the bed (Sonagi) or lurking at the top of the wall unit like a Mountain Lion (Jakob). On Monday, we will pack them (and ourselves) up and head up to Seoul and then to the UAE.

Tomorrow we've got to sort more things out - what to ship, what to pack. Then Friday is the last day for things like closing bank accounts and such.

My school, in true inefficient Korean fashion, is paying me the money they owe me for my severance pay TWO WEEKS after I leave Korea. This money should have been in my account on Dec 24th, but since they are apparently unfamiliar with Korean labour laws, and/or can't read hangeul, they appeared to have messed up the final steps here. This is not money that only comes to ESL teachers, by the way, but every single employee in Korea is entitled to it.... just saying that it's not like a special process that only the waygook gets. As it's almost a holiday, you can imagine that nobody is answering their phones - add to this that the supervisor is currently on vacation, so she isn't necessarily checking her e-mails every day...

I guess it's the final confusing, miscommunicated, non-sensical Korean mess-up that I will have to deal with for a while (bring on the Emirati miscommunications from now on... woohoo!), and it will hopefully all work out in the end.

Tonight, yes, it is New Year's Eve. Nina and I are too tired to party with everyone else, so we're heading back to the apartment to relax and hang out together.

Best wishes for the new year, and may 2009 be one of happiness, health, prosperity and joy for you.

Three years...

2008-12-29T09:00:00.002+09:00

Last night, Ty and I sat at our respective computers and read through a few of the archives of my blog.

I've had this thing for about 3 years now (since Jan 2006) and it's neat to see the evolution. I re-read posts where I talked about friends, weekend trips to temples, trips to different countries, funny "Only in Korea" moments, visitors from Canada, my pets, the teaching situation, and all the good and bad things that have happened since I first arrived.

As I read, it occured to me that I was very lucky to have come here when I did. I got to do everything that I set out to do: Travelling, paying down debts, escaping the "normal" life back home, and all within a lifestyle that allowed me to have a lot of fun while I added to my pedagogical portfolio.

We're only one week away from our fly-out date to the UAE (we leave Jan 5), and that date will mark the end of this blog. Once we get to Abu Dhabi, we'll have a few days there before we head to Madinat Zayed (it's better known as Beda Zayed or Bida Zayed - a google search on those terms will give you more information and pictures than searching for Madinat Zayed), where we will live in a hotel until our apartment is ready at the beginning of February.

I will certainly start up a new blog, but I doubt that it will be updated as frequently as this one has been. Still, it's a great way to remember the big and little events of my life over the past 3 years. Even if no one ever reads it, at least I have it for myself.

The apartment is a disaster - today we are taking suitcases and boxes to the post office to ship them off. Anything that is left here now is either being tossed, being left behind, or being packed.... and there is still a lot of stuff, or so it seems. Next Monday, we will leave Mokpo, each with a suitcase, a backpack and a cat.

So, for those who have been faithful readers, I guess I have to say "Thank you" for being a part of the journey, and I hope you enjoyed reading about all my different adventures out here. The UAE is going to be completely different from what I've had here, and I really just can't wait to get on with it!

One more week....

Seoul, Christmas, Moving and Packing....

2008-12-28T08:58:00.003+09:00

Well, I decided to leave the wedding post on top for a bit, just because well, it's kinda important, but now I have to update the past week...

As romantic, barefoot, hippie weddings on a hilltop aren't recognized as legal marriages in Korea (actually, no marriages except those done in a district office are recognized - not even church weddings or the hideous "wedding hall event" type things), we were legally married in Seoul the following Monday (December 22). This process was, well, less romantic, as we had to first go to the South African embassy and get Ty's letter of no impediment (proving he isn't already married - it's the document we've been waiting for since October), then to the Canadian embassy where we had to fill out 2 different forms in triplicate and have them stamped. Then, we had to get to the Jongno gu office and fill out another form, while a few of our forms were stamped and signed - our actual wedding certificates. And then *ta-da*, it was all legal.

We celebrated by having Indian food for lunch, getting Ty's visit visa for the UAE (yay!), taking a nap, and then having Mexican food for supper (mojitos! Yay!). Seoul was really really just bitter cold, which quashed our plans to have a bit of a touristy afternoon. The thing with embassies is that they only seem to be open 2 hours a day for their own people, so we had to do as much as possible in the morning, then wait until the next day to continue the process.

The next day, we had to take our wedding certificate back to the Canadian embassy and have it stamped again (so that it's all legally recognized in Canada - there is a different process for South Africa that we'll take care of later), then off to the UAE embassy so that it could be notarized by them so that we can legally live together there and so that I can sponsor Ty for a residence visa.

We got to the UAE embassy and were told that we had to get it legalized by Korean Foreign Affairs. We were given a phone number (so that our cab driver could call to find out where the building was) and sent on our way with the warning that the embassy closed at noon. It was 10:20.

The great thing with taxis in Seoul is that most of them have very advanced GPS machines on their dashboards... full colour 3D screens. All you do is type in the phone number and, like a video game, you get a virtual showing of your route. Most taxis also have big "Free Interpretation" stickers on their windows, meaning that if you need service in a language other than Korean, you can request it.

Right.

Taxi drivers in Seoul are, presumably, not from Seoul, have never driven in Seoul, and don't know where *anything* is. Small aside: We also had a cab driver who sang "Silent Night" to us as he drove and another one who couldn't find one building we were looking for on Monday, so he stopped a police car and asked them for directions.... which was awesome! Some of them will admit this, but only after about 10 minutes of tooth sucking and playing with the GPS. Then, you have to get out of the cab and find another one, so that you can repeat the whole process, which we did three times outside the UAE embassy before finding a guy who would actually drive us where we needed to go. It was now 10:55.

Once we got to the office (it's now after 11:10), we were greeeted with the inevitable giggling by the educated adult woman behind the counter, presumably because we weren't Asian. Therefore, it was hilarious. Maybe I should mention that we were both coming down with some kind of weird flu and looked like pale narcoleptic zombies with dark circles under our eyes. Maybe she was laughing at that. Anyway, being faced with a Canadian and a South African with a Korean wedding certificate that needed stamping for the Emirates almost caused a rift in the spacetime continuum, which meant we had to get yet another stamp (from a different office, happily located only one floor up), before we could get the rest of it done.

We finally got back to the UAE embassy at... 11:55! Woooohooo! I really think that Ty and I would win the Amazing Race if we ever did it....

Feverish and shivering, we headed back to Mokpo, instead of spending another day in Seoul.... besides, we had to get back for Christmas.

We celebrated Christmas eve with a small group of close friends (pretty much the same people as had been at our wedding), watched the Grinch - the cartoon - and listened to Wim read "The Littlest Angel", in between a rather hilarious version of Jenga. Not the most traditional way to celebrate, but then, nothing here is the same as home.

The rest of the week was dominated by our actual packing up of things for the move. We are going to ship three suitcases and one box of stuff - books, a sound system, some clothes, and all our souvenirs from travelling here, there and everywhere. It might take up to 2 months, and we're crossing our fingers that everything makes it there. We've had to downsize (again) on some of our treasures, as there are things that might not make it through UAE customs.

With just over a week left before we fly out, and only two days left in this apartment (we'll be staying in a friend's empty apartment until Jan 5), it's suddenly becoming a lot more real. We're leaving. We're going to a new place. We're in this together.

The Wedding

2008-12-24T11:25:00.006+09:00

Alright... here's the blog you've been waiting for: Our Wedding!

Saturday morning dawned grey, cold, windy and cloudy...not the best weather for an outdoor wedding, and somewhat of a let-down after a week of sunny weather. We spent a very chilled-out morning, drinking coffee and praying for sun until the Suncheon crew (Nina, Patty, Melissa and Chris) arrived. Nina gave us pretty silver necklaces (V&T and T&V), and I had a surprise phone call from my Mom!!!

Nina stayed behind to do my hair and makeup and help me get dressed, while the others headed off to do the final preparations at Wim's house. We headed off, a bit late, to get a cake and then to the florists. Hey... it's *my* day, I'm allowed to be late, right?

We arrived at Wim's house and were met by Alex who escorted us up a forest path to a clearing. My first view of everyone was a group of people, all armed with cameras - it did turn into the paparazzi wedding, as each guest took about a million photos - and Ty, standing in a suit, barefoot, under a group of trees that had all been festooned with bunches of flowers.

I'm crying...

Suddenly, it occured to me what exactly was going on, and I just started crying. We stood together, clutching each other's hands, facing the flowers in the trees.... Wim arrived, Stu stood beside Ty, Nina stood beside me, and it all began...

Breaking the wishbone

It was a short ceremony: Wim read a part of a Navajo poem, we broke one of our precious wishbones, we exchanged vows and rings, and then... it was done!

You may now kiss...

Our friends took turns posing with us...

Melissa and ChrisFallon and WimDave and CamilleNina and Stu (our witnesses)

... and we all headed back down to Wim's house (that had been beautifully decorated by Fallon), for speeches, champagne, wine and cheese (and birthday cake - for Chris and Nina). Ty and I danced to a piano version of "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica (it was a whole CD of heavier music done on piano... very unique!), and Alex gave us a picture he'd done of us.

The rest of the afternoon was wonderfully relaxed. People came and went, and eventually, we ended up with a very fun going-away party/reception, with quite a few of our closest and dearest friends from our time in Korea.

It was exactly what we wanted: small, simple, romantic, meaningful, and rather hippie-ish. I'd not have wanted it any other way (mmm, except maybe a bit sunnier), and I was really touched by how our close friends came together to help us organize the day (whether it was photos, flowers, bringing wine, or general helping out, they ended up being participants in the festivities as well).

Alex, Fallon, Chris, Melissa, Patty, Nina, me, Ty, Stu, Zach, Luke, Camille and Dave...
Wim is taking the photo.

Of course, we were both missing our families and friends from back home... don't worry! There's a wedding video (shot by Dave), and about a million pics of everyone. The photos here are favourites from Stu and Zach, but there are others that still have to be sorted, uploaded, or that can already be found on Facebook.

Somebody's Getting Married....

2008-12-20T09:10:00.000+09:00

I'm going to let the magic of the Muppets explain this...

Baginia, bye-bye, Seosan! ㅜ.ㅜ

2008-12-19T08:54:00.003+09:00

These days, time is both flying and dragging. It's hard to believe that it's only been about a month since I did the interview for the UAE job and, somehow, today is my last day at Seosan Elementary School.

The kids have been wonderful ~ giving me little gifts, or cards, or telling me how much they are going to cry when I leave (ㅜ.ㅜ <-- that's a Korean crying face). Surprisingly, things have run very smoothly with my school administration. It still takes a bit of, well, nagging on my part to get stuff done, but all in all, it's not as bad as I'd expected.

In preparation for our departure, we had an apartment sale last Sunday. We invited people to drop $10 in a box, then leave with whatever they could carry: books, clothes, household items... We donated the money to a girl named Nerine, a South African ESL teacher who was burned up pretty badly in an apartment fire. The outlook had been pretty grim, and she died after about 2 weeks in a coma. The good news for the family, however, is that private donations have helped cover most of the medical and transportation bills. You can read more about it here.

I sorta kinda pretty much have a departure date: January 5. We may end up living in a hotel until our apartment is ready (!!), and I've been in touch with another teacher who works in the same city (same school?) as I will be. It's making me nervous, but in a good way.

And... in the spirit of saving the best for last:

Tomorrow is our wedding day. We're going to celebrate with a few close friends before our big going away party. This is going to be followed, on Monday, by a 3-day trip to Seoul to, basically, run around to various embassies and get the forms all stamped so that it's a real-live official marriage. We are also collecting donations (in lieu of gifts or cards ~ we are downsizing for our move, right?) for KAPS, the Korean Animal Protection Society. If you are reading this, and not in Korea, and would like to , please donate to your local Humane Society or SPCA.

And really really saving the best for last:

Last night, Ty wrote "Will you marry me?" on our window in dry-erase marker, got down on one knee and really proposed (re-proposed?) with an engagement ring. It's a rather non-traditional choice ~ a hammered silver band with a hammered gold band around it, symbolizing the path of life with all its ups and downs ~ and I love it.

Photos to come...

I signed up for a life less ordinary, I should start living it that way...

2008-12-13T08:01:00.003+09:00

The title is a quote from a girl I knew back in Suncheon. Her name escapes me, but it came up during a conversation where we were talking about how our life paths didn't exactly match what our friends were doing, what other people saw as "normal". It's about not just being at peace with, but embracing the somewhat strange life choices one has made.

And so...

In about three weeks, we're going to be heading to the UAE. While it's certainly an exciting time, it's also one that is full of stress for both of us. It's also a pretty exciting time...

We're getting married.

Like, for real.

Like. OH MY GOD.

Next Saturday, we'll have a small ceremony with some of our closest friends from our time in Korea (followed by our Going Away party/Reception).

The following Monday/Tuesday, we'll run around to various embassies in Seoul, trying to get appropriate stamps that will make it all legal. We only really have those two days to get everything done, as the South African embassy is closed from Dec 24 to Jan 2!!!

There are, of course, other things happening. Tomorrow, we're hoping to sell off/give away most of the things we have in our apartment. This is, naturally, making me think of the last time I did this - in Montreal 3 years ago. The downsizing is liberating, and we will be able to ship things to the UAE, but I'm still absolutely floored by how much one acquires just through the normal processes of life.

Speaking of shipping things, the cats are, literally, requiring more paperwork than the two of us put together. We know that we can't leave them behind here (not in a feline-unfriendly country where the ex-pat population is so in flux). Ty has been in communication with an animal transport company in Incheon, and a vet clinic in Abu Dhabi, and our own vet in Mokpo... I'm really lucky that I'm not going through all this alone.

And then there are other things too. When you leave Korea, you have a certain process to go through, including getting your pension back (that's on my list of things-to-do next week) and making sure that your school has paid up all the money they owe you before you close your bank account. I've watched friends go through this "simple" process, which inevitably turns into a most complicated and stressful time for them.

As the final day of term, and the first day of vacation for my school, is Dec 24, and in the interest of making it simpler for them, I proposed this idea: Make Dec 24 my last day of work, but let me keep my apartment until Dec 31. This way, I thought, everybody wins - they wouldn't have to pay me for the final week of December, and I would a) know that the paperwork was completed, with time to spare if/when they forget some key element and b) we wouldn't have to worry about where we would be living until we left, sometime in the first week of January. As no good deed goes unpunished, the reply from my school was that if my last day of work was on the 24th, I'd also have to leave the apartment on that day... Yup. Getting evicted at Christmas? No thank you!

I've taken back my offer and told them that my last official day of work will be the 31st but, as absolutely nobody speaks English at my school, and as everyone is on vacation from the 24th, I still don't know how it will all work out. Needless to say, this is not the time that I want to hear the ever-popular Korean "Maybe" from anyone!

Getting married, moving, changing jobs, going to another country - these are all complicated enough when you are in your own country and can make sense of what everyone is saying to you....

Of course, there's also the fact of saying goodbye to people who have been my friends, and the country that has been my home, for over two and a half years. I've always been on the other side of it, and while I am super-excited about experiencing a new place (and returning to the Middle East!), it's going to be very difficult to say goodbye to my friends.

Finally, there's the general freak-out in my brain about the new job. What if, after all this, I get there and I can't do it? Gaaaaah... can't even go there right now.

Wow... this has been a really long blog. And a cathartic one too. Thanks for reading and letting me blow off steam.

In short, here's what the next few weeks look like:

Marrying the man I love (yay!)
Legally marrying the man I love (yay!)
Getting rid of stuff (boo? yay?)
Convincing the cats that they'd better be good, or they'll be back on the mean streets of Asia...
Saying goodbye to my friends (boo!)
Saying goodbye to my students - it's impossible not to get attached after over a year! (boo! Except for the bad kids - yay!)
Packing and shipping stuff (boo!)
Packing and carrying stuff to Seoul (boo!)
Arguing with my school over outgoing paperwork (boo!)
Moving to a new country (yay!)
Arriving in a new country, getting to the new apartment, unpacking, figuring out why our suitcases are in Madagascar and not Abu Dhabi, sneaking the cats in, getting settled and exploring a new place (boo! yay!)
Starting a new job where I will put my experience, education and training to better use...(gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!)
Heh... enjoying UAE school holidays that start about a week after we arrive (yay!)

I don't think I can put into words just how amazing it is to know that Ty and I are doing this together. It's the first step of our journey together, and a future that will probably be a bit less ordinary....

Baggage

2008-12-07T16:32:00.003+09:00

When you are sorting through the accumulations of bits and pieces of whatever has sedimented itself around you in your living space, you find shopping lists and books, old photos of friends (who don't e-mail as much as they should!) and ticket stubs from movies, boarding passes and admission stubs from the Singapore Zoo and the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Birthday cards and wedding invites and a piece of fur taped to a bit of card (Max's fur, sent by my Mom over 2 years ago). Eight months ago, you wrote an address or phone number on the back of something else, and now you have no idea if it's important or not.

Some of the things will be kept, to be sorted through again at a later date when it may be time to move again, but much of it will have to be thrown out.

It's amazing how much we can amass in such a short time. We arrive here with a suitcase, and somehow find ourselves surrounded by so much.

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-05T15:07:00.004+09:00

Although winters in Korea are generally drier than Canadian winters, there has been a lot more snow this year than last year. A few weeks ago, we had a few wee snowstorms, but the snow never really stays.

Today, we woke up to a blizzard that hasn't yet stopped. The forecast is calling for more snow, up until Saturday. And, if it stays cold, we might actually get to make a snowman or snow angels or something.

Nattily dressed in pyjamas (me) and a tuque (Ty), we headed up to our roof to see what our neighbourhood looked like under the snow.

Ty and Sonagi strike a pose...

This cat's body language is clearly communicating, "I love being here, outside, in the cold, with snow pelting me, instead of curled up on the heated floor of the apartment."

Sonagi came with us (as you can see, she was overjoyed), because there's nothing better to do with your cat than put them in a snowdrift or, at the very least, under a few snowflakes. Cats love snow! And they show it by hunching down and mewling pitifully.

Our neighbourhood... very traditionalTy says that when we finally get to South Africa, I will have the same reaction to giraffes as he does to snow...

Then... a bit later, when it had stopped snowing as hard, we decided it was Jakob's turn to be tormented by the strange frozen white stuff. He tried to walk on the snow without actually having it touch his paws.

Why???? Why are you doing this to me????

Note: a snowfall is the only time ever ever ever that feline abuse is tolerated. Every other day of the year, the feline overlords must be treated with the utmost kindness and respect and not disturbed from their required 23 hours of sleep per day.

The Matjang Phenomenon

2008-12-04T06:33:00.004+09:00

About 2 months ago, friends of mine told me that they were going to be on the pilot episode of a new TV reality/game show that would have foreigners living in Korea competing against each other to ultimately cook a traditional Korean meal. The show, Matjang, means "Good taste" (I won't make a comment about irony here, I won't!) and it seemed like a really neat concept. I remember watching the first episode with a group of friends and thinking "Yeah, I want to do this!"... and not just for the "I'm gonna be on TV" aspect... but for the idea that it was Jeollanamdo instead of Seoul or Busan, and that, really, it looked like FUN.

Our near brush with fame came shortly after Randi and Jens had done their show. Randi gave a list of names to the producers. I was contacted by phone and e-mail and we set a date for our appearance. Which changed. Then changed again. Then, two days before Halloween, another desperate phone call: Can you do the show this weekend? Well, no, actually, we are going to be out of town. The tearful voice on the other end of the phone said, "I don't understand why I can't find anyone for this weekend!" until I explained that it was Halloween, which is a pretty big deal around here. Everyone was either hosting a party in their hometown or heading off to parties elsewhere.

After a month of calls back and forth like this, we were set to film our show on a Sunday in November (November 15th, I think). Our friend Jessika's visit from Suncheon was shuffled from Saturday to Friday so that we could be free on Sunday. On the Thursday before, however, not having heard anything from them in over 2 weeks, I got a text on my cellphone: "Be at MBC studios at 8am on Saturday. Don't be late."

Wait. Hadn't we planned and confirmed over the past month that Sunday was the date?

So... more calls back and forth, and finally, I canceled (the words "unprofessional", "disrespectful" and "completely disorganized" may have been used as well).

I've managed to watch most of the episodes... I mean, hey, it's my friends on TV! ... and talked to just about everyone who has done it. I don't regret not doing it at all.

Generally, a person who has been on Matjang reacts like this: Oh yeah. I mean, it was a really fun thing, you know. Kind of frustrating. Like, we never really knew what was going on. We were supposed to do a different challenge than the one we did, but that didn't work out for some reason... Oh, and the games were rigged so that one team always beat the other one. Like, we had to (sell cookies/shuck clams/pick potatoes/shovel cow manure) and we were pretty even with the other team until *insert interference by production team*, so they won. Oh, and they changed the rules from when *prior competitors' names* were on it last week. And, when it came time to cook, our recipes were pretty unclear and we didn't have enough/the right proportions of/exact ingredients. We never had a clue what we were doing, but you know, it was fun. I don't think I'd want to do it again though, and you really have to walk in with your eyes open, but the producer says that my show is going to be on either this week, or next month, or maybe in 2 weeks. I'm not sure....

The idea behind it, I think, is a good one: showcase the often misunderstood province of Jeollanamdo, celebrate Korean culture (in each show, the contestants do something purely Korean - go to a temple, learn a poem, or a game, or somehow interact with older generations of Koreans), and show something about foreigners, all with an angle of humour. The problem, for me, is watching my friends stand there, puzzled because nobody has told them what is happening, so that they can be laughed at for not having a clue what to do. Minor mispronunciations when they speak Korean are emphasized in bright flashy letters along the bottom of the screen (Can you imagine if I did that to my students, to my taxi driver, to my boss??? Ohhhhhh! You said that WRONG! Hahahahahahaha. Can you imagine if we did a show like this in Canada, laughing at immigrants with accents???) Manipulating the rules, while the games are being played, so that a certain team always comes out ahead - doubly unfair as they are playing for money - or setting it up so that the foreigner inevitably becomes the buffoon... all this just bothers me.

I know that it is all for TV, but I think that Matjang has missed the mark. What could have shown off the best about Jeollanamdo and Korea (the history, culture, humour, insane situations that just spring up when you've got a lot of happy people and a camera) has ended up showcasing the worst (complete disorganization, unfairness in competitions, the cult of the "couple", and making foreigners into "dancing monkeys").

Come fly with me...

2008-11-30T08:08:00.008+09:00

So, a week ago, Ty and I went up to Daejeon for flying lessons. We'd found an ad on Facebook for "Expat Flyers in Korea" and decided to give it a whirl.

Now, when you say "flying lessons" to me, I picture an airport, maybe a few Cessnas or something, and, naturally, Tom Cruise in a leather jacket. It wasn't like that at all, but it was one of the funnest things I've had a chance to do in Korea.

We first had to get ourselves to Daejeon, and from there, to some small town. Arriving in Daejeon on Friday night, we decided to try to find the bus that we'd have to take the next day, just to be prepared. We ended up spending over an hour trying to find the elusive 104 bus, running around in the cold (neither of us was really appropriately dressed for a cold snap), trying to call the guy, Matthew, who was running the flying lessons, and e-mailing. We started feeling like we were on The Amazing Race as we asked someone where the 104 was, then ran in one direction, then had to run back the other way.

In case you're wondering, the 104 is pretty easy to find. Come out of the front doors of the Daejeon station, then cross the street in front of you and continue walking away from the train station, past the corner where the 7-11 is.

Having located the bus stop, we decided to try to find a love motel for the evening. Generally, most train and bus stations in Korea are absolutely surrounded by a variety of neon-lit love motels where you can have a pretty nice room for about $40. We found ourselves wandering around a street market that was closed for the evening. Old ladies, bundled up against the cold, huddling together around small fires made in oil drums... skinny cats darting between wooden shack-like fruit kiosks... shady characters lurking in corners... it was a bit dodgy, but only because we'd never seen anything like it here before. I think we would have been really scared in any other country but Korea (since here, the old bundled up people were more than happy to walk up the street with us, and guide us to a multi-storey hotel).

Once at the hotel, hunger set in but, without anything to eat and with neither of us willing to brave the cold dark streets again, we concentrated on not watching the other person through the glass bathroom door (like, why?)....

Matthew called us to tell us that he'd meet us in the morning at a different subway stop, meaning that the whole cold, confusing search for the 104 bus hadn't been necessary after all.

The next morning, we picked our way between dozens of farmers who were setting up shop in the market (which didn't seem half as spooky as it had been the night before), and headed off to meet Matthew, quite excited with the prospect of learning to fly. The weather was perfect, and it finally hit me that I was actually going to fly a real plane!!!!!!!

We found the subway, and were pleasantly surprised by a photo exhibit of the Masai Marathon (the barefoot marathon that I'd done a few months ago, just outside of Daejeon). Sure enough, Lindsey, Melisa and Nicola's photos were to be found amongst the rows of pics.

Nicola (2nd from left, top row), Melisa (middle row, far right, blue hat), Lindsey (lower left corner) in the Daejeon subway

At 8:15, standing at a subway stop an hour from Daejeon station, we got in touch with Matthew who was surprised that we hadn't received his text message in the middle of the night. His plane had been badly damaged by theives, and he'd been up all night trying to fix it, and he'd canceled his weekend customers.

He called us back and said, "You guys came all the way from Mokpo. I'm coming to meet you now." He was getting a friend of his to let us use his plane. We wouldn't be doing the full flying course, but we would at least get a chance to fly.

Armed with coffee, we set off in Matthew's SUV for the "airport", which turned out to be a few open fields in the middle of nowhere, with a couple of small tent-like hangars. It's a small, private flying club. Flying is an expensive hobby, and Korea is no exception. Flying small planes has become a popular hobby among older professionals, and as there aren't many people doing it, the skies are generally free from traffic, except the odd military helicopter.

Matthew showed us a few of the planes. My first reaction upon seeing the "Angelfish" was to giggle. It was the cutest plane I'd ever seen. Made of aluminum tubes and plastic?canvas? with a Bombardier snowmobile engine strapped to the nose, it didn't look like it should fly. Matthew's plane, which was larger and more sturdier (and with bits of it laying about the hangar) was still out of commission so.... we'd be flying the Angelfish????

Matthew and Ty inspect Matthew's plane ....

.... while I take glamour shots next to the pretty pink plane.

The Angelfish

Ty and the Angelfish

Inside the cockpit

Our Korean Tom Cruise, Mr Lee, arrived. He'd been a fighter pilot in the Korean Air Force (and there were photos of him in uniform and his camouflage Top Gun-type helmet in the office) and the little bright pink Angelfish was his. He was more than happy to help Matthew up and take Ty and I for a spin.

I was first, and the first challenge was, really, getting into the plane. Of course, you have to be careful where you put your feet and hands and such, and you're climbing into a wee door designed for elves. Once inside, you've got a stick between your knees and foot pedals and such. I'd already decided that I was not going to touch anything, trusting the guy who used to fly MiGs instead of me to handle the controls, but rather take photos of the whole experience.

Here is my video of takeoff:

Flying! I let Mr Lee do most of the work....

Our "airport" - you can see Ty standing near the car

Coming in for a landing. The prop is going slow enough to see.

It was a short flight, maybe about 20 minutes, where we circled over fields and hills, small villages and construction sites for larger complexes. We could see cranes taking off from the Keum river, and graves and temples tucked under the trees of the mountains surrounding the airfield. Surprisingly, it wasn't really that scary!

Ty squishes himself into the plane

After I was safely on the ground, it was Ty's turn. He did actually take the controls a bit more than I did, and managed to get a few good pics of himself in the cockpit as well.

My handsome boy flying a plane...

Needing parts for his plane, Matthew took us back to Daejeon where we, ravenously, made a beeline for Papa John's Pizza, where I fell in love with the garlic dipping sauce (which I dubbed "Garlic Pudding") ...
...then headed to the same hotel that I'd stayed at for the Masai Marathon.

The next day, Matthew met us and brought us back to the airfield. We were pretty impressed with him for going the extra mile for us. Flying, like scuba diving, never carries a 100% guarantee, since you are dealing with environmental forces like the weather, winds etc. Being safe sometimes means not going at all. Planning a weekend flight school means that, if you aren't prepared to wait for good conditions, or if you expect everything to run according to a tight schedule, you'll be disappointed. If you're willing to chill out and, as we did, sit in the sun and watch 5 Korean men try to fix a plane, you'll have a better day.

Flight School

In between fixing his own plane, Matthew gave us some flight theory lessons. It was all about drag and lift and wings and ailurons and rudders and controls. Basically, there are forces that work on the plane to keep it up in the air. By manipulating how those forces (of lift and drag) hit the bits of the plane, you either go up, go down or turn.

We were a bit sad that we couldn't give Matthew's plane a try. I'd been humming "Snoopy and the Red Baron" for 2 days now. Once again, Mr Lee took us up in his Angelfish. This time, however, I would have to actually use the stick and the pedals to turn the plane. I could no longer be the princess in the pink cockpit, just along for the ride and enjoying the view.

Well, I'd like to say that I steered the plane and all, but it would be more accurate of me to say that my hand touched the stick thing and my feet rested on the pedal things and Mr Lee did all the actual work.... which is fine by me. Ty said that Mr Lee actually took his hand off the steering stick thing and let Ty fly the plane all by himself. I'd say that Mr Lee is a very good judge of character and a very smart man.

With a long trip back home ahead of us, Ty and I got Matthew to drop us off at a town near Daejeon, then took a taxi ($25!) back to the KTX train station and a train back to Mokpo.

For a weekend thing, it's lots of fun. If you're coming from anywhere further than Daegu or Seoul, you do need to give yourself ample time to get there and back. Matthew has a lot of experience with planes and flying, and is a really interesting guy to talk to. Don't expect a very tight schedule, and take it as a nice relaxing weekend, and you'll have a pretty good time. For more information, take a look at Matthew's site, or shoot me an e-mail if you want to know more about it.

The week thus far...

2008-11-28T07:29:00.002+09:00

Alrighty, it's been a really big week, and I've just got to update a bit.

Because I want to really do justice to the insane weekend that was our flying lessons, I'm going to write about them on Saturday, when I've promised myself a day of NOTHING (except writing about the flying lessons, of course).

As time is of the essence for the UAE job (possible starting time in January 2009), I had to get cracking on the paperwork that they requested. Because Korea has an awesome health system, I was able to get a complete physical (including blood tests, hearing tests, chest x-rays, and having the doctor fill out a 7-page form) just by walking into a hospital. The whole process only took about an hour and a half! Pretty good!

Oh, and I'm really really healthy, which is also good to know.

On Monday, I headed up to Seoul on the KTX with the idea of going to get stamps at the UAE Embassy in Seoul. Monday night, I stayed at the Dragon Hills spa, a jimjilbang just outside of the Yongsan station in Seoul. It's part bathhouse, part sauna, with restaurants, a pool, a patio... just about everything you might need... and the whole thing costs just $12. You have to pay extra for anything else you get, but it's all really reasonably priced. I decided that I deserved a massage, so for about $70, I got the best massage of my life. It lasted over an hour, and gave new meaning to the word "pummeling".

On Tuesday, I ran to the Canadian Embassy and the UAE Embassy on what was a mostly fruitless journey. My documents, it seems, have to be stamped in Canada because they come from Canada. Fortunately, after a good cry, I realized that my niece lives in Ottawa and, with a few frantic e-mails back and forth, she agreed to get the necessary stamps on the necessary documents for me. Big sigh of relief, and a big shout-out to Meaghan.

On Wednesday, I sent off almost all the documents and paperwork I needed to send off to either the UAE or Canada. You probably heard my audible sigh of relief once everything was stamped and sent through. You may also have heard my audible groans as, being in a Korean post office meant that while my things were being dealt with (poor guy had 4 different things to send off to 4 different destinations for me), I was also being pushed out of the way by random people who also had things to send.... or who just wanted to stand next to me and admire my beauty. Fingers are crossed that people in Abu Dhabi don't push as much as Korean women.

On Thursday, Ty took the cats to the vet to have them micro-chipped and vaccinated for the move. Yes, we are taking them with us and yes, it's probably a more complicated process than it needs to be. At the vet's, Jakob suddenly went nuts and shredded Ty's hand, was tranquilized (twice) by the vet, and then stood and glared at them - fully awake - until the whole thing was over. Sonagi was, naturally, calm and cool and didn't even wince when she got the micro-chip put in. Anyone who has ever been with *me* in a hospital will appreciate the similarities between me and Jakob when being faced with a doctor (Ty has been with me in a hospital, when my toenail came off in Seoul in August, and is just thankful that I don't come with razor sharp teeth and claws).

Amongst all this, there was also my real life of school etc happening. Today, I am one of the judges for a huge city-wide English competition, and tonight, my glorious Quiz team is hosting the Mokpo Pub-quiz Night, armed with MENSA level questions....

And so... things are generally moving along, but there is still so much more to do. I just hope that every week won't be as insane as this one.

Flying Lessons!

2008-11-24T09:05:00.002+09:00

We had an insane weekend of flying ultralight aircraft - lots of fun, details and photos (including a video of takeoff shot from inside the cockpit) to come...

I've got a hectic week ahead of me - going to Seoul tonight to run around to various Embassies tomorrow (Canada and UAE) to get stamps on things. It feels like there is way too much to still be done.

Good News!

2008-11-19T19:11:00.002+09:00

I have received a job offer for, and accepted, a position as a Partnership Teacher in English in Madinat Zayed, UAE.

A few frequently asked questions...

1) What will you do?
I will be working with a team within an Emirati school, helping the teachers with their pedagogy and classroom management as a part of a PPP (Public Private Partnership).

2) What will Ty do?
Ty will accompany me (of course!) and he will initially be a house-husband, until he gets his residency - I have to get mine first, then he gets his - at which time he can study, or maybe get a job, or spend his time sky-diving and scuba-diving.

3) Will you get married?
Yes! We will be legally married in Korea before we go.

4) When does the job start?
They've given me a start date of "To be confirmed"/January. This all depends on my paperwork coming through... oh, and there *is* a ton of paperwork to do.
However, the company is great. They've given me tons of information and will be guiding us (and paying for the whole process) every step of the way.

5) How about the cats?
Jakob and Sonagi will accompany us to the UAE. They aren't allowed to live in the house provided by the company so, um, of course, they will live outside. *wink wink*

6) What about your stuff?
We're giving awat/selling anything that we can't take with us. If there's something of ours that you want, start asking for it...

7) Where is Madinat Zayed?
MZ is in the Western part of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi... think, um, middle of the desert. However, there are quite a few ex-pats there already, so it's not like we're going to be out there alone.

8) What about the planned South Africa trip?
That's going to have to happen another time.

Umm.... any other questions????

Only FOUR distinct seasons?

2008-11-19T12:39:00.003+09:00

I can't believe that I've been living here for 2 and a half years, and have yet to mention Korea's "four distinct seasons". It's kind of a running joke, up there with being asked 400 times if you like kimchi (no, I don't), or the feigned surprise that you can use chopsticks (thanks, used chopsticks more in Canada than I do in Korea, actually), that you will be told that Korea is special because it has four distinct seasons.

I first read about it before I even arrived, and I was a bit curious as to why they were mentioning it. Surely they don't think that they are the only place in the world with 4 seasons... or do they? Another blogger printed a part of a student essay in which the student asserts that other countries are "jealous" because of Korea's four distinct seasons.

Now... I have been giving this some thought. Maybe this is because yesterday, we had snow, sun, rain, high winds, a thunder storm, lightning, hail, freezing rain/ice pellets and then a nice sunset. Maybe the "distinct seasons" of Korea mean "every single kind of weather in the world in one 24-hour period"....

...but I digress.

Korea is not boasting about how many seasons it has, it's being boastful about how *different* (or distinct) each season is from the other. I'd like to go back and erase the word "four" from all the guidebooks and student essays, and replace it with "many", so it could be more like "Korea has many distinct seasons".

There's the pretty-flower-and-blue-sky season, the typhoon season (2 of them), the so-dry-my-lips-will-fall-off-unless-I-book-a-flight-to-Malaysia-right-now season, the please-turn-on-the-aircon-NOW season, the amazing-sunsets season, the I'm-at-the-beach-in-October! season, and so on....

Right now, it happens to be the fluffy-snowflakes season, with a dash of it's-winter-so-turn-on-the-ondol (and close the windows, no really, CLOSE THE DAMN WINDOWS!).

Safety and children and a general rant

2008-11-17T09:31:00.003+09:00

Yesterday evening, I was looking out my kitchen window. What I can see is... a parking lot that leads to a busy street that runs parallel to the water. There are a few small fish markets on the other side of the road.

I leaned out my window and watched a family leaving the church next to my apartment building. Picture a mom, 2 kids, and a toddler wandering on ahead... The Mom and other kids are still about 10 metres behind the little guy, who has continued walking until he is standing about 1/3 of the way onto the near lane of the street.

In my mind, I am willing the woman (who *is* looking at her child) to call the kid back... to say, "Wait for us"... or to at least react as car after car slows, honks, and edges past the little boy. Suddenly, he breaks into a run.

He obviously didn't see the car coming the other direction. I've used to wonder what the term "sickening thud" might sound like in real life. From my vantage point, I watch the child run directly into the car, then crumple on the ground. I scream, "Oh my GOD!" and Ty runs to the window to see what's going on.

The car's driver slows and stops (causing, of course, the other cars behind him to honk... haven't they seen what just happened?).

The little boy stands up, and continues his run across the street.

He is joined by the Mom, his siblings or friends. They crowd around him. After what feels like 10 minutes (probably only 2), the family gets into the car that hit the little boy and drive off. On one hand, I am relieved... the man who drove into the boy (NOT his fault) is being a Good Samaritan and bringing them to get help. On the other hand, I also know that head and brain injuries do not immediately manifest themselves, and I am hoping against hope that the little boy is okay.

On this blog, I have generally been careful not to be over-critical of Korean culture. I may complain about the food, or state the facts of a school system that is so hard on the students... but these are, for the most part, observations.

But now, I am honestly wondering: Do Koreans hate children? I've seen enough kids standing up on the back seats of cars, or with their heads poking out of sunroofs. I've heard about the difficulties of other ex-pats who have had children here, and how they can't get safety certified car seats here, as most infants here are still carried on their mother's laps or backs in cars. I've watched kindergarteners carrying Exacto knives, and watched children with special needs be handed adult sized scissors, when they could barely handle a pencil. I've seen child after child at my school come in with a myriad of injuries (yes, including being hit by a car) caused by a general neglectful view of personal safety. It's quite normal for an entire class of students to be left unattended while the teacher attends "meetings" ~ a few months ago, I was the first person to intervene when a 4th grader put his foot through a window, leaving a jagged shard of glass poking out or his ankle. My school found me odd when I refused to have a ridiculous gas-powered, open-flamed heater brought into my classroom. Last week, when my classroom door lock was replaced, the custodian laughed when I asked him to do it again, as there were long rusty nails poking through the door at eye-height for a child.

Say what you will about North Americans being "too safe" or "paranoid" and then tell me if you would let your child run across a busy street without you... without holding your hand, or without at least knowing to look both ways. You know, accidents do happen... we all have battle scars from our childhoods (I even had a memorable run-in with a BBQ flame) but it doesn't mean that you need to stop doing everything in your power, as a parent, as a teacher, as a responsible adult, to prevent these accidents from becoming daily occurances.

Updates, School Festival, Cute Kitties, and the weekend...

2008-11-16T09:07:00.009+09:00

Well... this is going to be a long one.

1. First off, a few updates. I have a real live telephone interview for a post in the UAE on Tuesday. I'm pretty nervous and excited about it, and just ask that you keep your fingers crossed for me. Both of our computers are functioning at the moment. My laptop has been limping along for the past few months, but our awesome external drive means that I didn't actually lose any data (like 3+ years' worth of photos), and I can actually use it again. Awesome.

2. Last Thursday was my school festival. For the past 2 months, I've been lucky enough (sarcasm) to get to listen to small children banging on drums in the hallway, or play the same 4 recorder notes over and over again. I've also got specific Korean pop songs that are indelibly etched into my brain matter from hearing them over and over again.

Alex joined me at my school for the morning performance which featured everything from traditional Korean dance to hoochie chair dances, to a homoerotic inter-species kiss, to some very racy outfits on very young children, to a dramatic performance that made no sense, and so on.

For all of you who have watched talent shows or recitals in North America, you need to understand that the way it's done in Korea is quite different. There is no intermission, or even a pause between performances. For two solid hours, you have show after show coming on, with each class doing up to 3 dances, songs, performances... whatever. I'm going to let my photos do the talking...

It started with the three Korean national anthems, a few speeches and a cake-cutting ceremony. Yes, it looks like a wedding cake with candles on top. We applaud when it is cut, but nobody gets to eat it.

Traditional hanbok. This is almost the cutest thing you've ever seen....

There is nothing in the world cuter than a 3-year old Korean boy who is overjoyed to find himself on stage in a sparkly costume. Don't even try.

The first and second grade girls did a few dance numbers. Alex and I were both a bit disturbed by what the girls were wearing and how they were dancing. It was over-the-top suggestive. After the performance, we were walking around downtown and saw women dancing like this downtown:

These are not the actual women that we saw, but this is a common sight here: scantily clad women dancing around in front of a store next to an inflatable plastic tube thing, generally used to advertise a big sale or grand opening at a store. Needless to say, Alex and I thought that my 2nd graders have bright futures ahead of them as street dancers. Disturbing, eh?

The world's least hygienic instrument. Try not to imagine a tube full of saliva connected to a keyboard. You're welcome.

If you go to a school recital, and your son/daughter is playing the triangle, this means that he/she is bad. Note that he has not been given a saliva-keyboard, xylophone, recorder or anything else. He's been given an instrument that requires him to stand motionless for 5 minutes, until he gets to hit it. Once.

The 6th grade orchestra features no less than 6 triangle players.

Seosan Elementary School proudly presents its future triangle section of the 6th grade orchestra, and future lead triangle player.

Super-wicked-awesome fan dancing. Photos do not do justice to the grace and beauty of this form of dancing.

It was a great way to spend the day, though, and the kids all performed well. For a small school that doesn't have a lot of money, they did go full-out on making it a good day. The audience (no photos, unfortunately) was mostly made up of old grandmothers with mouths full of gold teeth. It was probably the social event of their year, and just made me feel good about working at a small school like this one.

3. In other news, the cats have been excessively cute lately and I finally have had a chance to upload some photos (now that the laptop is working again). Keeping in mind that it will cost us quite a bit to export/import our kitties to another country, I wonder if they are just doing this on purpose so that we don't leave them behind...

4. Annnnnd, we've just survived an awesome socially-fulltothebrim weekend. Friday night, we shared real cheese fondue with our friends Wim and Fallon, then welcomed Jessika from Suncheon on her whirlwind visit to Mokpo. Saturday was a recuperation day, as Jessika, Zach and Fallon joined us for brunch and a lazy afternoon at our place before heading out for bowling and Vietnamese food with Stu.

Too much to blog....

2008-11-14T14:57:00.001+09:00

I've got just so much to blog.... I know it's going to take me at least 2 hours to do, so I'm leaving it all for Sunday afternoon.

In the meantime, try not to explode from cute as you look at this.

Does this sound familiar?

2008-11-12T10:04:00.004+09:00

Anyone who has read a few "expat teacher in Korea" blogs has read about the conditions in which Korean students learn and study in school. Their entire daily lives are taken up with studying, studying and more studying.... of theory, dictated by teachers (*if* the teacher is there) straight out of textbooks, so that they can later regurgitate this information in a multiple choice exam.

When ex-pat ESL teachers arrive here, they are often frustrated by the lack of participation, overt copying and low motivation of students in class. The students, especially teenagers, have been conditioned and trained to study for the tests, to value what is on exams as "important", while creativity, critical thinking and personal discovery is dropped. Imagine a science course with no experiments.... and you get the idea.

When I was at the high school in Suncheon, I was often surprised to learn that one kid might have 100% in English (without being able to say 2 words to me), while a talkative kid who could have a conversation with me had only 45%.

The ultimate goal is, of course, the SATs for University. But, the pressure starts much earlier. Study hard in 6th grade so that you can get into a better middle school, where you can study harder to get into a good high school, then find yourself constantly studying for exams, practice exams, and a few different national standardized tests.

This article asks us to..

Consider a school that constantly emphasizes the importance of performance! results! achievement! success! A student who has absorbed that message may find it difficult to get swept away with the process of creating a poem or trying to build a working telescope. He may be so concerned about the results that he’s not all that engaged in the activity that produces those results.

Hmm... I think I know exactly what you are talking about. Fortunately, my elementary students haven't succumbed to this yet... they are still happy and curious, in my classes anyway.

Open Mic Night

2008-11-11T08:41:00.002+09:00

One of the great things about being in an ex-pat community is, well, the community! On Saturday night, Ty and I went up to Gwangju to attend the Open Mic Night. There's something so nice about walking into a room and having "Hello"s and waves greet you.

This Open Mic was one of the best I've been to, with the non-musical spectators vastly outnumbering the performers. They were originally started up by a guy called Matt, who would organize the whole thing himself. Since he left Korea, other people have taken his place with the arrangements, including my friend Jens, and it's become a sort of perpetual institution of music lovers. Since Gwangju is central to Jeollanamdo, you can end up with people (it used to be mostly Foreigners, but now there are a lot of Koreans who are getting into the act, which is great) from all over the province. I saw people that I hadn't seen in ages, and a lot of people that I only see at Open Mic nights.

And it's not just a cross-cultural thing, but one of different ages, abilities and music styles. Instruments (now and in the past) have ranged from guitars, drums and piano to accordion, mandolin and clarinet.

Other than that, our weekend was pretty quiet.... We're still waiting on news from the UAE, which we've been told is normal. Still, it's stressful.

In other news, today is Pepero Day. I've only been at school for 15 minutes or so, and I already have 8 boxes, 6 big sticks and a few other random candies. Makes you feel special...

On the Canadian side of things, today is Remembrance Day, and I hope that you are wearing a poppy. I haven't been able to wear one in 3 years, so someone has to do it for me!

Halloween, Suncheon Bay, Seonamsa...

2008-11-03T17:21:00.010+09:00

This is probably going to be a long post...

On Friday, I went to my island school and had a great time with my 5 island students. I had brought 2 small pumpkins and they had a big orange one, so we spent most of our time talking about Halloween and making Jack-o'lanterns. I also had some masks with me, so the kids took turns trying them on and running around. It was one of those memorable classes that stay with you once all the readin', writin' and 'rithmatic is done...

At one point, we realized that we didn't have any candles, so my 6th grade boy ~ in a stroke of genius ~ rigged together a battery, some wires and lightbulbs so that we could experience our works of art in full glow-y happiness.

From the island, I ran home and grabbed our costumes, then went to the bus terminal to meet up with Terry (who has returned to Canada, finding more reasons to be there than here ~ it was good to have a last blast with her though), Zach, Luke, Wim and Fallon. We had to get from Mokpo to Yeosu for the big Jeollanamdo Halloween party. It can take up to 4 hours to get there from here, but somehow Fortune smiled upon us, and we got to Yeosu (even grabbing supper along the way, and changing buses) in less than 3 hours!

Just as we were getting to our motel to meet up with Stu (yes! He's back in Korea!), my phone rang. It was the recruiters from the UK, calling about one of the UAE jobs that I've applied for. There's still nothing set in stone, but all that finger-crossing seems to have paid off...

Anyway, once at the hotel, we had to get cracking on costumes. The thing about Korea is that Halloween isn't really done here, so you can't always find masks and makeup. Costumes end up being exercises in creativity. I decided to be Shrodinger's Cat (as Jessica says, my costumes often have layers of meaning to them...) while Ty was getting dolled-up as Hedwig.

Schrodinger's Cat, The Joker, Black Cat, Jack Jombie, Thalia (Greek Muse of Comedy), OB-Man, Hedwig...

The scene in Yeosu...

Bodhidarma Stu, and me (picking my nose apparently) beside a Rubik's cube

We got to the party and there was about a million people... including a few old friends from Suncheon, which was awesome. The costumes were amazing, and it was great to be in such a vibrant and fun atmosphere. I've posted a few pics (stolen from Zach), but people with Facebook can find tons of photos of that evening on there.

In a surprising twist, Ty ended up winning the costume contest (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), beating out a Sumo wrestler and an un-flushed toilet. Ummm, yeah...

The next day, we were suitably tired from so much, um, trick-or-treating until all hours of the morning. After a relaxing morning in Yeosu, we headed up to Suncheon Bay, where there was a reed-festival happening. Essentially, it was eleventy million people milling about, looking at the reeds.

Reeds

Although it is a really gorgeous place (and one of my favourite places in Korea), we were kind of "over" the crowds, and decided to head back to town.

The crowds

Zach and I are excited about all the crabs in the mud. The others... maybe not so much.

Ty and I had arranged to stay in Suncheon for the weekend, so we said goodbye to our Mokpo friends and went back to my old home of Shidae apartments. After supper with Melissa and Chris, we once again got costumes on, stopping at Nina's on our way to another Halloween party. We didn't stay long at this one, though, as we were a) too tired and b) hoping to get away early the next day.

Before I moved to Korea, there was a photo like this in my Korean guidebook. I remember being so excited about being able to see things like this here. This is one of my favourite things... the "Dragon Bridge" at Seonamsa.

Seonamsa, Seonamsa, Seonamsa... I don't even know where begin. When I was in Suncheon, I went to Seonamsa so often that I think I finally got sick of it. Not having returned there since my move to Mokpo, I was really excited about going back. I was also super excited about showing this gorgeous temple to Ty.

Making a wish on our way to the temple

Big old tree

We walked over the whole grounds, finding new places that hadn't been there when I'd lived there before. We went through all the structures, then up to the Turtle graves, and around to where we could sit and drink some local green tea.

Turtle graves

Playing in the trees

Ty took a bunch of great photos of the natural beauty around there, and the fall colours...

Sap on bark

He's a good photographer, eh?

One of the new bits that we found was a sort of Tea museum and pavillion, which I think has just opened. We didn't have time to try everything out, since we needed to get back to Mokpo.

It was a really full weekend... one of the best this year, I think. We connected with old friends, hung out with new ones, got to dress up and have fun, then got to experience the cultural side of Korea in a new way.

Obligatory self-cam couple shot.
We're just in front of the Dragon Bridge.

Halloween

2008-10-30T10:28:00.002+09:00

You know... I think I like Halloween better than Christmas. In fact, I know I do!

Because Halloween should last for more than just one day, my kids have been doing nothing purely Halloweeny activities for the past 2 weeks. I've got paper jack-o-lanterns stuck everywhere, 2 sets of colour flashcards, an entire bulletin board of very creative masks... we've watched Halloween videos every day (from Donald Duck to Nightmare before Christmas).... and tomorrow, I'm bringing two small pumpkins to my island school to make real jack-o-lanterns with them!

Tomorrow, we head to Yeosu for the big Hallowen bash, followed by a weekend in Suncheon.

Things are a-brewing for UAE... but I'm not going to give any details... yet.

Wonderful Weekend...

2008-10-27T08:55:00.002+09:00

Monday morning seems to have come too quickly after such an awesome weekend.

We kicked off the weekend with a group of friends for drinks at the "Drunk Chicken", so named because the sign is a picture of 2 chickens drinking soju. Yeah. Nevermind.

Saturday, Ty and I headed to Gwangju with Alex, Luke, Zach, Terry, Cody and Desiree for a day of wandering around and shopping. Alex, Luke and Zach headed off to the Gwangju Pop Festival, but the rest of us enjoyed a stroll up Art Street, a stop in the "Ethnic Cafe" (a cave-like place lit by candles, where you sit on cushions behind drapes and scarves - really neat), before stuffing ourselves silly at Outback.

Sunday was a mostly lazy day until mid-afternoon, when we met up with Alex, Hugh and Kathryn for a hike up Yudal (which was good for counter-acting the effects of our Saturday pig-out in Gwangju).

The weather has changed and it's getting way cool at night.

Still playing the waiting game on another job in the UAE. And the next month looks something like this: Halloween, Open Mic Night, possible TV appearance (!!), Flying Lessons (!!!).... Will keep you posted!

Sweet Jane and Max

2008-10-24T12:43:00.002+09:00

It's not been a good week for me and my cats.

Earlier this week, I got an e-mail from my friends Carl and Julie that Sweet Jane (who I left with them when I moved to Korea) had been missing for over a month. I guess they've sort of given up hope. Since Jane used to be a stray cat, it's possible that she's gone off to live off the land again, but I doubt it. She'd be about 13 years old now.... I got her from the SPCA when I was in Montreal, and she moved with me to La Pocatiere, and back to Montreal, then back to La Poc again. She started as a hissing, quivering thing behind the toilet, then under the bed. She spent the first year with me attacking and biting me, and once took on a German shepherd (Susie). She ended up with the sweetest disposition, a soft meow, and 40 tons of fur that she enjoyed filling your nostrils with (she used to help me do push-ups by standing right under me). She brought me gifts of grasshoppers (that she would set loose in the apartment) and, once, a dead bird. She carried her toys around and always put them in the last place that she'd seen me -- and so there was a pile of catnip mice on the windowsill, a rubber ball on the pillow. She is the only cat in the world who could have her fur clipped just by being held - no gas to calm her.

When I was 15 years old, my Mom let me choose a kitten from my friend's cat's litter. I picked the tiniest little calico. There is a photo somewhere of me, with full-on rocker hair, black eyeliner and a jean jacket holding Max in the palm of my hand... she was 3 days old.

I wasn't that surprised to get the e-mail from my Mom today telling me that she'd had to have Max put down today. She was 19 years old.

Max would tap me when she wanted to be pet. She would sit up like a prairie dog when people came in. She slept on my pillow, stealing it completely. She put up with a constant stream of strays and SPCA rejects. She sometimes snored. She had the loveliest smelling skin and the softest rabbit fur. She had a line of aqua around the pupils of her eyes, and a heart-shaped patch of fur on her back. She knew her name from about the age of 4 months and I could call her from anywhere in the house, even when she was sleeping. At the house we lived in when I was 16, I could sneak Max into my room by looking through the upstairs banister and catching her eye where she was sitting on the living room couch. It would take less than 2 minutes for her to join me. In La Pocatiere, she would follow me outside and walk around behind me. She carried ponytail eleastics around and "talked" to them. She had 14 different meows, at least - from a "monkey call" to a tiny brrrrrroop. She's moved a lot in her life and, except for the time she squeezed herself into a space the size of a shoebox under the stove, she took it all in stride. She hunted the cockroaches in my Montreal apartment and cried at the door when I wasn't home. She fell off the 2-storey balcony of the apartment in St. Catharines and once purred so hard at the vet's that the vet couldn't check her heartbeat. She had a tumour removed from her back when she was 15 and hd the worst hairballs of any cat on the planet. When we lived at the Bed and Breakfast, we would get letters from Europe and Japan with photos of Max in people's suitcases. I honestly think that she thought people were visiting her when they entered the house. She didn't jump on counters, or knock things off shelves. She spent a lot of time "making biscuits", on you, on blankets, on her sheepskin. When I first moved to Montreal, she was literally my only friend. She wasn't finnicky when it came to food and would do anything for a Pounce treat. A cat-breeder once told me that her colouring, 5-colour calico, made her more valuable. She once tried to climb into a toothpaste box, but only got as far as one paw. She was known as Maxwell House and Blobbocat, Jabba the cat and Maxcatbabygirl.

It was so hard for me to leave her behind when I moved.

Nineteen years. Nineteen years. A whole lifetime is contained in that time. A whole friendship.

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-10-23T00:23:00.001+09:00

The book that Jen first showed me 2 years ago in Suncheon, and that Ty bought for his brother is now a movie...

PLEASE click this link.

School picnic

2008-10-21T08:44:00.004+09:00

I recall reading a few years ago - long before I planned to move overseas - that there are certain things that happen, attitudewise, when you are in a foreign country, specifically with annual occurrences.

The first time something happens, you are excited, happy and enthralled with the new experience. The second time it comes around, you may take a step back, and compare it to the first time, testing out the different way that you feel this year as opposed to the year before. By the time you hit the 3rd, 4th, 5th time, you may barely even notice it happening, or only for long enough to roll your eyes in a "here we go again" way.

Yesterday was my school's picnic on Yudal mountain. Last year, this was worth about 40 photos on my camera and a full-on gushing blog (check archives of Oct 2007). This year, I texted Alex a million times to complain about how it was boring compared to last year (which it was). On the upside, my students are still as lovable as ever, if not more so. They climbed all over me, fed me cookies, candy, oranges and anything they could lay their grimy paws on (my immune system is stronger than anyone else's on the planet... I work with children in a land of no soap). I chatted with several teachers, and spent a good 15 minutes bonding with the VP, and quite enjoyed the whole crystal blue sky and perfect weather watching the leaves begin to turn and slowly drift to the ground on a soft breeze... but... somehow... it just wasn't the same.

In other news, UAE plans are still continuing... will keep you posted!

Yet Another Birthday Post...

2008-10-19T17:43:00.002+09:00

Are you sick of hearing about our birthdays yet?

Last night, Wim hosted a huge party at his (formerly Alex's) house. I knew that it was going to be pretty special since we were celebrating three birthdays (me, Ty, Fallon), and since I knew that Wim was putting a lot of time (and money) into this event.

Our taxi dropped us off at the gates of Wim's school, which were festooned with balloons and messages from his students like, "Congratulations your birthday" and "Happy Birth Day. I love you."

We were pretty impressed and quite enjoyed reading all these wonderful messages on our hike up to Wim's house. Wim had really gone all out, enlisting Alex's help to make dozens of paper lanterns that were lit with tealights (one string of lanterns did burst into flame, but it was quickly extinguished). We had pizza, make-your-own yogurt and fruit soju cocktails, a lot of beer and an incredible amount of new friends to meet. I felt like I was 20 again... it was just a great house party.

The highlight of the evening was our scavenger hunt, when teams of us gallopped around the school grounds, until we were ultimately led (by a trail of tealights in the forest) to the top of the hill behind Wim's house to admire the view of Mokpo all lit up at night. I'll have to admit that the walk *down* the trail in slippery flip-flops was probably not the highlight of my evening.

I can only hope that Meron (Oct 19th) and Kelly (Oct 20th) have just as awesome a celebration as I did.

P.S. Meron... did you forget to call me all this week? Maybe you're just getting OLD.

This is why I didn't study Economics...

2008-10-17T14:30:00.002+09:00

Right, so the won came back, then fell again, or rose again (?), and is now sliding again. Or maybe the Canadian dollar rose or fell or something...

I'm trying to figure out whether I should send money to my account in Canada or wait until next week, and it's pretty confusing!

A bunch of Grand Poobahs from the Office of Education or something came through the school. Everyone was wearing suits and pretty clothes, except for me (I was resplendent in a hippie shirt and jeans, with pink kittens all over my socks). Maybe next time they will tell me when something important is happening in the school..... (cue peals of laughter)

A group of my 3rd graders came into my classroom during lunch hour and "played school". One girl had the role of Baginia Teacher, while the others were her students. I was pretty impressed. They went through their days of the week, months of the year, animals, colours... And they were just doing it for fun! Then, they spent another five minutes writing "I love 버지니아" (that's my name in Hangeul) on the board.

Still waiting back for news from the UAE, but I've gotten the ball rolling with a few other recruiting companies as well. Things are pretty up in the air... but I'll keep you posted as things develop.

Happy Surprises...

2008-10-15T08:32:00.002+09:00

One nice thing about being overseas for your birthday is that you get to celebrate it over several days, as the timezones and International Date Line and such make it nearly impossible to figure out what day it really is in, say, Canada or South Africa.

Yesterday, my friend Alex came to my school (where he was treated like a rock star by the students) for a class I was doing on table manners ~ a valiant attempt to get the kids to eat properly with forks and knives while avoiding the inevitable Korean SLUUUUURP. About 5 minutes into class, my head teacher decided that she really needed to speak to me.... And took me out into the parking lot of the school to admire the sky. Then, we went back to class, where Alex had prepared the kids with exploding streamers and a birthday cake. What a great surprise! He'd arrived earlier at my school to plan it all out with the head teacher. It was just awesome so ~ thanks Alex!

The kids displayed marvelous table manners, by the way.

That evening, a bunch of us got together to celebrate Ty's birthday at a great Vietnamese restaurant. This weekend, our friend Wim is hosting a big bash for me, Ty and Fallon (Wim's girlfriend) as we are all celebrating this week.... we're all really looking forward to it!

Updates

2008-10-13T08:37:00.005+09:00

Yup yup... been busy. The past weekend was one of going out with friends (soju cocktails and norae-banging), then hitting a sort of "International Community Day" in Gwangju. We like to call it the "Foreign Food Festival", since it's mostly comprised of food kiosks from around the world. We got to eat Nepali, Indonesian, North African and Mexican food... and then we went out for supper at Outback (where the wait staff sang "Happy Birthday" to Ty and I in Korean, to the tune of "Feliz Navidad") with Zach, Terry and James.

School is going well, with the students functioning like some sort of well-oiled machine. I finally got my reimbursement for my summer vacation (which isn't worth as much as it was, since the won is still pretty low and unstable), and everything seems perfect...

But then...

This is a secret, but... I'm waiting on an answer back from a job application in Abu Dhabi. Yes, Abu Dhabi. If you're older than 25, you'll recognize that as the place that Garfield always tried to send Nermal (the world's cutest kitten). If you're in the least bit aware of the planet, you'll recognize it as a random city in the Middle East, and one of the emirates that make up the UAE. If you're like me, you'll have to look it up on a map, then stand there for about 10 minutes until you're like "Ohhhhhh, there it is" ~ south east corner of the Arabian peninsula.
I'm 34 today. THIRTY-FOUR. Daaaaamn. Ty will be 28 tomorrow.

And so it goes...

Silly photos from Jinju

2008-10-07T09:18:00.003+09:00

Don't tell Zach, but I stole some Jinju photos from him....

Ty, Terry, Wim, Fallon and me (in PINK!)

Ty looking regal. I was trying to look dainty and demure.

Jinju Lantern Festival

2008-10-06T19:09:00.006+09:00

If there's one thing Korea knows how to do, it's put on some incredible festivals. Just about every town has a festival of some sort, generally related to a cultural, historical or regional happening. There are literally hundreds of festivals that are put on throughout the year. Some of them are rather small affairs (the Mokpo Seaside Festival, for example), but some are of such a magnitude that they leave you breathless and wondering why more people haven't heard of them.

The Jinju Lantern Festival was quite possibly one of the greatest ornamental displays I have ever seen.

Imagine a river full of huge floating wire and paper structures. Pretty impressive, eh?

Alright... now light them all up as it gets dark.

Okay then... Make them breathe fire!

Hmmm.... still not impressed? How about if there are about a hundred of these things all along a river between two bridges with a 13th C palace on one side and an illuminated pagoda on the other?

With a 3-day weekend, and friends aplenty, we (Wim, Fallon, Zach, Terry, Ty and I) managed to enjoy ourselves immensely in a very familiar sort of carnival atmosphere. There were fried things on sticks to eat, and shopping in kiosks and in a huge flea market. There were fireworks and a huge musical fountain (like in Yeosu, Mom). There was a very small midway, and a lot of interactive fun things to do as well (and lots of opportunities for silly photos) like dressing up in traditional feudal clothes, floating a paper "wish lantern" down the river, hand painting a fan...

We kissed our way through the festival. I think the guy standing behind us was impressed.

Fallon and Terry tame a tiger...

We were joined by a few folks from Suncheon (Nina, Chris, Melissa and Patty) on Friday night, and even though our friends all left us on Saturday evening, Ty and I stayed on until Sunday morning, and made the most of all that this festival had to offer. We were a bit disappointed that both of our cameras died on Saturday afternoon, but I'll grab a few of the better photos from my friends and post them tomorrow.

It's great to continue to discover new events and things to do here. A weekend like the one we just had is almost enough to make a person sign on for another year (except that the Korean won is worth almost NOTHING these days... grrrrrr).

In other news, I've added Gohado photos to the previous post, so scroll down.

Something new...

2008-09-29T18:05:00.005+09:00

On Friday, my school changed the whole schedule around so that we could go on a hike in the afternoon. The typhoons that have been hitting Taiwan lately were decidedly uncooperative, and our plans were literally blown away. Instead, I got to see a new island, recently joined to the mainland by a big huge bridge (which has been on most Mokpo tourist maps for the past 2 years). This bridge system also means that all the Shinan Islands are now connected together.

The island that I saw... one two-lane road rolling along fields and open spaces, past tiny buildings... just made me want to go back and check it out at a later date. All we got to do on Friday afternoon was drive there and back. Kind of a waste of time. I think I would have preferred the hike.

There are dozens of islands off the coast of Mokpo, quite a few of which are visible from my apartment window. I'm assuming, by their shapes and the fact that they remind me a lot of my view in La Pocatiere (facing the mountainous Charlevoix region of Quebec) that they are probably the tips of an underwater mountain chain. This is just an assumption though.

The island that dominates the view from my apartment is, of course, Gohado. I teach there once a month, and I guess I've spoken enough about it that it warranted a weekend visit. I'd gone to Gohado as a "tourist" with Jens, Randi and Jen last year, and we'd been mostly bored. Now, however, that I knew more about the island, I was sure that we'd have a better day.

It's supposed to resemble a sleeping dragon, with "Yong mori" (the dragon's head) extending along the waterfront of Old Mokpo, past Shinan beach and almost to the Maritime University. I live across from the "dragon's hip"... "hip" is how Koreans translate "bum".

Here is a good pic of the end of Gohado and Yong mori.

Bright and early Saturday, after a late evening of soju cocktails and noraebang, Ty, Zach and I boarded the ferry to Gohado (Terry decided to sleep instead). This ferry takes about 3 minutes to reach the island.... unless you get on the ferry that we got on, in which case it take 115 minutes, only hitting Gohado after it makes its rounds to every other island in that area. Still, it's fun to ride on a boat, right?

Anyway... We got to Gohado, and I decided to show the boys around the, ahem, less touristy parts: the road to my school, the farmers, the dog-farm made out of doors, the frog pond.... before heading up to the touristy bit of General Lee's monument thing.

Sitting on a rock, under a tree, listening to birds while we ate our lunch... it was just a wonderful place to be. You feel so far away from Mokpo, even though you are only a few kilometres of water away.

Now, it was time for us to conquer the dragon. After a few false starts (which led us to an abandoned church, another dog farm, a very quaint house, and made us bump into the same Jehovah's Witnesses three times), we finally found ourselves on a very nice, well-groomed forest path along the top of the dragon.

My school is the long pink building to the left of the twig in the centre of the photo.
My apartment building is the white cube on the far right... I'm on the top floor.

Posing with Yong Mori (Dragon's head) behind us... we didn't make it all the way.

Yudal mountain

With only 2 hours to make the trip there and back (so as not to miss the ferry home), we had to rush along a bit. The trail was great though... no garbage littering the way, lovely views of rice paddies below us on one side and Yudalsan and my neighbourhood across the water on the other side. Unfortunately, we also had to turn back before we got to the dragon's head (let's say that we made it to the dragon's shoulder or something, okay?).

Dying of thirst, we went to the ramshackle house/restaurant/store and bought some water. The ladies inside recognized me as the English teacher, and gave us a discount on our water! Nice! Then, while we sat on the pier waiting for the boat to come, one of the old old old ladies came over to us. She complimented me on my mad Korean skillz (in Korean), then offered us a bowl full of fresh figs. Just a super nice way to end the day.

But, the day was not yet over.

On Friday, before my outing with the school, and clad in my official "school activity sportswear" (bright pink jacket, black exercise pants, sneakers), I had received a memo from the Mokpo Education Office saying that they had tickets to a Korean musical to hand out. So, I ran off to the Office, dressed like Rizzo from Grease, and grabbed 2 tickets. It occured to me that I hadn't been to the theatre in AGES and this would certainly be entertaining (and free) and a different way to spend Saturday evening.

So, back from our hike, Ty and I got ourselves all tarted up (I wore heels instead of flip-flops, he wore a tie!) for a night at the opera. I kept my fingers crossed that the music would not be traditional discordant wailing, and I was in luck! It was a full-on opera. It was like any other musical production (big voices, dance numbers where everyone is on stage running around, tons of set changes, insane costumes) and I loved it! Fortunately, Mr Kim, the director of the Mokpo Language Program was 2 seats away from us, and was able to explain the story to us at the intermission and after the performance. In case you were wondering, it's the story of a prince in Suwon, near Seoul, who becomes a great ruler for his people, even though his grandfather killed his father, or something... and there was a love story bit too.

Even though we mostly didn't have a clue what was happening on stage, it was just great to be out on the town, listening to amazing voices, looking at super costumes... Talking about it afterwards, I realized that I'd been going to see performances of all kinds since I was a little girl. In Saudi Arabia, we used to see plays and musicals all the time, as a teenager I saw Cats, Phantom, some Shaw productions and a few smaller theatre productions in Niagara Falls. In University, I remember seeing Miss Saigon, the Nutcracker, Othello, Richard III and some university productions too. La Pocatiere feels like a never-ending series of student productions, dance recitals, and community theatre productions, punctuated by Notre-Dame de Paris (twice) and other shows. I didn't realize just how much I'd been missing live theatre!

Sunday was a suitably lazy day... and now we're in another 4-day week. We've got a day off on Friday (to celebrate my brother's birthday, I think), and we'll be heading to Jinju to check out this lantern festival.

Stomps feet, gnashes teeth, shakes fist, bangs head on wall...

2008-09-25T12:50:00.003+09:00

Heyyyy.... remember, like, that time, when I, like, had to get a smudged stamp put on a piece of paper that said I hadn't committed any criminal acts in Canada even though I'd been living in Korea for 2 years AND had a less-than-2-year old criminal record check that had already been done before I could get my original visa processed here? Right... remember how I had to do all that to keep the same job at the same school instead of just getting a simple renewal stamp? Remember how all that cost me about $300 and wasted my time, my mom's time and even my school's time? Remember how the people at the Mokpo Immigration Office looked at it with puzzlement and handed the paper back to me because they couldn't understand why I was giving it to them?

Yeah.... good times.

It seems that South Korea feels that it is a "violation of basic human rights" for their citizens to have to provide a criminal background check to the US government in order to join the US's Visa Waiver Program.

You can find a well-researched comment written by an ex-pat, as well as a link to the original article here.

A weekend awaaaayyyy from Mokpo

2008-09-22T15:14:00.002+09:00

This past weekend, Ty and I did our PADI Advanced Open Water certification, and returned home to find ourselves feeling like we'd spent a week away.

When I first arrived in Korea, I promised myself to only spend every other weekend in the town where I was living, and the other weekends off exploring. For the most part, it worked. It is easy, however, to get yourself into a rut and to forget that there is still a lot of Korea left to see. It was a weekend of meeting new people (Jackie! What's your blog address??), living new experiences, seeing new things, and generally enjoying ourselves in a new way.

On Friday, we took the KTX up to Seoul. Since we were meeting the dive people at 5am on Saturday morning (ugh), we decided against getting a hotel room and opted for a night in a jimjilbang instead.

The place we chose, the Dragon Spa, was just next to Yongsan Station, and decorated with everything from faux Chinese dragons and bridges to penguins (!) and King Tut masks (!!!). All tackiness aside, it was a pretty neat experience. We wandered around the (clothed) co-ed area in our shorts and t-shirts (provided), sipped a few beers, and tried to figure out how we could possibly even describe this to a person who had never seen one (we decided it was impossible). Anyway, since we were sleeping on the floor of a small heated room (the Green Air Spa) with 30 other people and a TV blaring a comedy show, we only got about 2 hours sleep.

We met up with our group at 5am (yay), and loaded up to head to a place near the north east coast of Korea. This is the part of the country where you're apt to still find barbed wire on the beaches and such, because of its proximity to North Korea.

As we were doing our Advanced O/W (Ty did his Open Water in South Africa 2 years ago, I did mine in Indonesia this year), we had been cramming all our reading in on the train and in the jimjilbang. We had 3 dives scheduled for Saturday, and 2 for Sunday, and we were pretty excited.

We started suiting up in preparation for the 1st dive, and I felt like my mask just wasn't right. As my University roommates can attest, I have a long, narrow head. And, although I was assured that my mask would be okay, I still just felt like it wasn't fitting right. As we descended for the first dive, I could feel the water trickling in, and decided to head up to fix it (since I was so near the surface). Once it seemed okay, I headed down again (with one of the Dive Masters). As we headed down on the rope, another diver was being rushed up to the surface. My DM told me to surface and then headed over to help out the other diver. This guy had not started his day in the best condition, then had been seasick on the boat ride over to the dive site, and then the seal on his mask had cracked underwater, flooding his mask. Poor guy. And so ended my first dive, not with a bang but a whimper... oh, and helping a guy in a wetsuit puke over the side of a boat.

And I got a new mask, which made me happy.

The 2nd and 3rd dives went well ~ we dove over 2 different wrecks. They were recent wrecks (I was kind of hoping for a nuclear sub or a tanker wrecked by Godzilla (we were in the Sea of Japan/East Sea afterall... within spitting distance of both Japan and North Korea), but it was still fun to dive around them. I really liked the 2nd one, which was all covered in algae and stuff. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of sealife. I think I saw about 3 fish the whole trip.

We also got to do some good by participating in a PADI Aware beach clean-up. We spent about an hour picking up garbage, tires and other bits (a table!) from the beach where we'd been diving. I'd like to organize a beach clean-up or two here in Mokpo, since I don't think our work would ever be done.

The next day, we went to Sokcho, to a specialized diver training centre. It was a hellish morning, for although I got all the above-water theory okay (would anyone like me to use a compass to walk them in a triangle? Because you know what? I can!), and knew all my stuff, it was nearly impossible to do anything once we were in the water, in surge, with 300 other divers landing on our heads (or just sort of hanging out in the water - grrrr), a retired military guy yelling at us (that would be our instructor), and equipment that was less than cooperative....

At any rate, we both have our Advanced O/W now, and will continue to dive as much as we can afford to over the next few years. Ty is looking towards going up to Dive Master, but I'm probably going to stick with the basics for now. I just want to go down, float around, look at some fish, tickle a few sharks, come back up, get a tan on the boat, write in my log book and then get ready for the next dive down.

Anyway, Sunday evening, we headed out with Ben (the seasick guy who was, thankfully, no longer seasick) to an awesome Thai restaurant, stuffed ourselves with green curry chicken and sweet and sour pork, then headed back home on the KTX again. We didn't actually make it back to our apartment before 1am (much to the chagrin of Sonagi and Jakob), but somehow, neither of us had the typical Monday morning slothful blues today, but more of a happy post-vacation energy...

In other news, both of our computers are messing up, which means no photos for a while. I can still use my school computer to access e-mail, but you know, I *do* have to work from time to time. The diveshop people were taking tons of photos above and underwater, so I'll post a link to their site once their photos are up.

The story about that guy who paid off all his debts in a year overseas...

2008-09-19T08:48:00.003+09:00

While yes, it is possible to come here, scrimp and save every penny (or won) and then go home debt-free (and I have seen plenty of people do it), the reality is that the story that we all heard about making tons of money ESL teaching is reaching its end. You know, it was generally a friend of a friend who went to [insert country name here], and lived in a great house, and made, like, $100,000 and, like, came back to, you know, Canada having paid off all his student loans and then bought a house and a car, all paid for in cash.

Right.

I have paid off a credit card and a student loan. I have paid down my other student loan, other (active) credit card ~ meaning I still use it to buy things, and no, it's not in the freezer yet ~ and my line of credit. I've been to China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Canada, Taiwan, Indonesia, Cambodia, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and France, and I'm on my way to South Africa. I've bought a scooter and a motorcycle (uhh, for a month!), and lived very well (going out to eat, not always having to check prices in the grocery store before putting something in my cart ~ thankfully, I don't fit into the majority of clothes and shoes here, or I'd look like Carrie from S&TC). And yes, I can recognize that I have made certain lifestyle choices (like not working illegal extra classes for extra money, or choosing to take a taxi instead of a bus, or not eating ramyeon every day)...

But...

When I first arrived, I was making 2.1 million won a month (It's no big secret how much we are paid here: We all make pretty much the same wage and it is advertised everywhere on the internet and such). After deductions, I brought home about 1.9 million won. According to XE.com, I was bringing home roughly $2,300 CDN a month in 2006. Two years later, and with a contractual raise (after deductions, I am now bringing home just over 2.1 million won), as of today's really crappy exchange rates, my monthly salary is now worth a paltry $1,800 CDN.

Ouch. That's a $500 difference over 2 years.

Of course, the reasoning behind it all was that the cost-of-living and the taxation were a lot less than in Canada (and it is!!!!). But even that is no longer holding true, with even kimbap (the ever-popular rice and seaweed roll) showing a price increase of 20%!! Yes, Alex, I know that's a difference of $1 to $1.20, but it looks more shocking when it's a percentage....

I'm still fairly comfortable by average Korean standards (especially in my neighbourhood). And I'm still living well within my means here. It's just something of a shock to watch your salary dive because of banks in the US or the price of oil or whatever CNN says.

I guess this is just something to keep in mind if you're thinking that, you know, like, teaching English overseas is, you know, like a totally way-cool easy way to pay off your debts...

Chuseok and beyond...

2008-09-18T08:53:00.003+09:00

This past weekend was Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. It gave us a few extra days off, which was nice, but the timing wasn't really ideal (last year, I went to Taiwan for a few days ~ just having come back from Europe made that an impossibility).

Simon, the orphan kitten, is thriving with his new family. No news on what his real name is. It was great to watch him grow and develop over the few days we had him: he went from baby-bird-skinny to actually playing and running just over the weekend.

Nina and her friend Patty came up from Suncheon for Saturday and Sunday. We met them in Gwangju, with the idea of "guiding them back to Mokpo", which we didn't really do, since we had no clue which highway led where. It says something, though, that it was such a novelty to ride in a car that wasn't a taxi!

That evening, a group of people (mostly from Gwangju and mostly people I didn't know) got together on the wee Shinan beach down from my apartment. We had a bonfire (I even got marshmallows!!) and lit off firecrackers (thanks to Nina, who arrived with a ton of firepower). All in all, a very nice evening.

Yes, we *did* go to my Principal's house for Chuseok. I'll admit that I was expecting the traditional feast, complete with hanbok (traditional clothes) and song-pyeon (special rice cakes) and such. Instead, we had a really awesome casual Korean meal. I think they were impressed with how much Ty and I both ate: There's something to be said about home-made vs. school cafeteria food. The Principal's daughter, So-yeong, is a doctor in Seoul and fluent in English, so we did all of our communicating through her, but I learned a lot about my Principal too: For example, they have been a host family for 3 Fulbright exchange participants a few years ago. This is great news, meaning that he's dealt with foreigners before me, and is probably a bit more open to our strange behaviour (you know, like not eating meat). We still got a few typical Korean comments ("Oh, you can use chopsticks!"), but I was happy to discover that I have "lucky hands" and, according to the Principal's wife, that will make me *ahem* a good wife and mother.

On Tuesday, I met up with Zach and a new arrival named Terry on a leisurely stroll up Yudal mountain. Ha! We were soooo freaking hot and hungry that we ended our death march early and took a cab back to my apartment. It's fun having new blood in town, and it's nice to be able to help new people out. We took Terry on a "field-trip" to Homeplus. We'd all been in that situation of getting to a grocery store and not understanding a thing, so it was pretty cool to help her with that.

Now, Ty and I are looking forward to next weekend ~ like, in 2 days ~ when we'll be heading to the east side of Korea to do some Scuba diving and get our Advanced Open Water certification. We'll also be participating (as a part of the course) 2 beach cleanups and 2 underwater cleanups through PADI Aware. We're both, understandably, pretty psyched about this, but are also facing the reality that if we ever want to leave this place with our finances intact, we're going to have to start living on a "b-word" (that would be bbbbbbbbbbudget).

Simon

2008-09-13T18:56:00.004+09:00

As always, there are cats in need of homes, or just a bit of kindness. New friends of ours, Cody and Desiree, have just adopted a wee wee wee kitten, but are out of town for the weekend. Ty and I were quite happy to give this little guy some much needed care and feeding. He's only just been found, so is in absolutely shocking condition. At this point, we're feeding him kitten formula, and hoping that he lasts the weekend.

I'm calling him Simon for the next few days.

Jakob and Sonagi are not impressed with this little guy, and have reacted with arched backs and howls of terror. We think that they might just be scared of little Simon.

(turn your sound on)

He goes back to his real parents on Monday...

Weird start to the day...

2008-09-12T08:56:00.002+09:00

To celebrate Chuseok and to make my school love me even more, I brought some cookies to school this morning. Plans to bake a banana bread were waylaid by sheer laziness, but I think they enjoyed the store-bought delights.

Actually, if you've ever seen a group of older women around a box of cookies, you can pretty much imagine how quickly they all disappeared.

While we were stuffing ourselves with Danish butter cookies, the principal came in with a plastic thing that looked a bit like an octopus. It was one of those hand-held massage things... Anyway, he proceeded to talk on and on about it (like 10 minutes!), while we all stared in rapt attention.... then tried it out on each other. Another massager thing came out - and this one vibrates (!!) when you press on the handle, which is, um, surprising.

It was a great way to start the morning... and a good indication that I'm not entirely jaded by Korea yet.

No news is good news?

2008-09-10T13:42:00.003+09:00

Ahh - sorry that it's been so long since I updated! I guess I was looking for something interesting to post, and I finally got something!

This is a link to another blog. This guy calls Mokpo "An outdoor museum of colonial Korea". He's posted quite a few pics of historical buildings and such, complete with explanations. The neat thing is that this is all my neighbourhood, or within 5 minutes of my front door. Definitely worth a look. Yes, I've been to most of those places, and am making it my mission to locate that garden at some point!

Mixed Feelings...

2008-09-01T20:57:00.002+09:00

So, today I was chatting with a friend who mentioned that it might be time for me to leave Korea. Of course, this had been on my mind for a while... the idea that it was time to leave Mokpo for a bigger city (i.e. Busan) or just start looking elsewhere in the world for opportunities.

I don't think I'm excessively negative about the society and culture here. I wouldn't say that I *hate* it here, just that, sometimes, it's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole...

The thing is that the things that I don't like now are the same things that I didn't like when I first arrived - being pushed, the food, a general overabundance of men being the kings of their castles and young women who look like some kind of painted dolls. But... and here's the but... it's definitely a case of mixed feelings.

Today was the first day of school, and I was surprised to discover that we have a new Principal and Vice Principal. There was, of course, no classes for me today (I've got all grades planned up to the end of next week, and a few grades planned up to October - yay!), and there was a teacher supper after school today.

Thus far, my reaction to school suppers has gone along these lines:
- 1st supper - attend and enjoy;
- 2nd supper - attend and leave early;
- 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc suppers - do not come along due to any excuse I can muster.

Tonight, I really did enjoy myself... and it was a really fun night - except for one thing (we'll get to that later).

We arrived at the hwei restaurant, and I was overwhelmed with the smell of raw fish. Hwei is an abundance of raw fish served with spicy sauces, raw garlic, hot peppers, and a million side dishes, wrapped in a lettuce leaf. If you like raw fish, I suppose this must be your idea of paradise. If you are me, the girl who once picked the fish off her sashimi in a rather upscale sushi restaurant in Montreal, this is *not* your idea of paradise. But I digress... there was enough tofu, hard-boiled quail eggs, broccoli, and (ohmygod) lightly battered fried sweet potato to keep me fed. One funny thing: it smelled so much like fish there that my cats haven't left me alone since I got home - my jeans must smell delicious.

So, everyone sits down and digs in. The beer and soju flows liberally. I make the rounds - serving the Principal, the VP, and the two oldest male teachers I work with. One of them, Mr Pak, is my favourite ajosshi ever. The other one, Mr Yoon, is simply because I think I should suck up to him a bit more. Focusing on our little sextet of women, I - as the youngest, unmarried one - and also to curry favour with the cook who hates me because I don't eat in the cafeteria and the lady whose job it is to deposit my paycheque - spend my evening getting their soju and beer to them before their cups are empty.

I actually don't mind this; especially as I notice that there is extra broccoli and sweet potato arriving in front of me from the other end of the table... they're all making sure that I won't leave hungry.

At one point, Mr Pak gets Mrs Kim (3rd grade teacher) to stand up and sing a song. Suddenly, it's my turn. I garble my way through "Yesterday", because it's a song that everybody knows (although my version goes something like "Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play and I la-la-la-la-la-la-la. Oh, I believe in yesterday"). And I'm still having fun...

We head off to a norae-bang, and I vow to remain for the entire hour. It's actually quite fun to watch the teachers cutting loose and having fun. It's the sort of sing-along bad dancing that one normally reserves for weddings, where it's just a pure, fun, excited time. The best part is, in Korea, tomorrow, nobody will be whining about their headache or glancing sideways at anyone who drank too much, which is a refreshing take on the morning after the night before.

After about 15 minutes, the Principal, who has been up and dancing at various times, calls Ms Kim (6th grade teacher) over. He is older than her, larger than her. He is the classic ajosshi in his open collar and flowered blue tie. He sits with his legs apart. He has a constant stream of people coming to pour him drinks -- there are already five in front of him. She is a younger, and very cute, teacher. She's got a sense of style that would blow your mind (and budget?) and, even in jeans, never looks sloppy. She can also handle a 6th grade classroom very well.

But that doesn't matter right now. While 15 people dance and sing about 2 metres away from them, he manages to make her into some sort of Geisha-like servant: First, she sits next to him, his hand grazes her knee. She stands up and gets the snack plate, pulls the head off a tiny dried fish and feeds it to him. Then sits back down and pours him another drink. The head teacher, Mrs Cheong, joins them, sitting on the other side of Mrs Kim who has, by this time, folded completely into herself. Her face is blank, her eyes are lowered. She would much rather be up with her colleagues, I am sure, singing and dancing and having fun... and it's really hard to watch. I know that there is nothing that I can do to save this woman, with whom I've taught 3 hours a week for the past 6 months, from what is happening.

That was hard to write. But much harder to watch. This is not a case of sexual harassment in the North American sense (but it is!), but a cultural event in which the youngest female is sitting next to her older male boss and feeding him fish. And she can't just stand up and say, "Ya, okay... I'm gonna go dance and sing now". It's almost the same as me scurrying around getting beer for the cook, except that I was doing that voluntarily.

Mrs Cheong suddenly appears next to me and points to the Principal. With her as our interpreter, we exchange pleasantries (and Ms Kim escapes to go dance and sing....) and I invite him to observe my class if he has time. He invites me to visit his family during Chuseok.

WHOA!

And here come the mixed feelings... Do you have any idea how big a deal this is? Chuseok is *the* Korean holiday. A Thanksgiving celebration when all the stores are full of special gifts, everyone dresses up in traditional clothes and you *must* return home to pay homage to your family and ancestors. Given that my first principal in Suncheon didn't really interact with any of the huge staff of teachers, and that my original principal in Mokpo didn't have that much time for me, this is a huge honour. I feel flattered... and, as if he were Don Corleone, this is an offer that I can't refuse.

I bow. I thank him. I wonder if this could really be happening.

At any rate, I'll just wait and see... but it's a pretty exciting prospect that Ty and I will get to celebrate a "real" Korean Chuseok.

I sing "Proud Mary" (aka lolling on a liver) with Mr Pak, then get ready to say goodbye and head home a bit earlier than my designated driver Mrs Kim (who I've been serving beer to since 6pm), but not before one last song that I can at least sing along to at the "Hahahahaha" part... hope you enjoy this, it's pretty much my favourite Korean song these days (believe it or not):

(p.s. Yes, this is what every Korean male under the age of 25 looks like)

End of Summer holidays....

2008-08-31T19:09:00.003+09:00

It's my last evening of freedom before I start school again tomorrow morning. As it's the first week of classes, and as we *are* in Korea, I am pretty much counting on not teaching very much tomorrow. At any rate, I'm going to be doing the good teacher stand-by of "What did you do during summer vacation?" (I predict that all of my students will say, "I played video games" - the 6th graders anyway).

The past week has been, in a word, relaxing. I've managed to keep a low profile, but still meet up with quite a few of the new teachers who have just arrived in Mokpo. Seeing as I've basically just *lost* my social circle, and especially since Ty is still in South Africa for another week, it's good to know that there are new and interesting people coming in (wow, that sounded kinda selfish, like they're coming here just for me... heh).

After 2 weeks in Europe, a scant 48 hours in Seoul, and a week apart (and another week to go - UGH!), Ty and I are both thankful for the wonders of technology. He can actually text message me from his cell in South Africa (and I can text him back with Skype). This is much better than depending on the internet connections of South Africa, which seem to be sparse and s l o w. The first time he went home back last year, we sometimes went for a full week with barely any communication. Not an ideal situation, that.

Speaking of South Africa: No sooner had I unpacked from Europe that I started flipping through my SA guidebook. Plans also include diving in Mozambique and a possible pony trek (staying in 100% bug and snake-free huts, I am sure...) in Lesotho. Yeah, here's a map of Southern Africa, and don't worry - my African geography sucks too.

I find I have to go/plan to go to a place before I can find it on a map anymore (a few months ago, I admit that I *did* need to check a map of Europe to find Copenhagen, and 3 years ago, I would have hemmed and hawed quite a bit before finding Korea... so there).

And on that note, I'm wishing you a good week and hoping that my students missed me enough over the summer not to be too demonic.

The Whole Trip: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Paris, Amsterdam, Seoul...

2008-08-25T14:49:00.015+09:00

Yes, this is going to be a long one.... Go get yourself a cup (or a pot) of tea, and enjoy.

I was able to blog sporadically as I traveled, but I've decided to try to write everything that I did over the past (almost) 3 weeks. It was a long trip -- and one that felt like 3 or 4 separate vacations. I did a week with my Mom, a few days with Karin in Sweden, a few days on my own, and then had a rather adventurous weekend in Seoul before coming back to Mokpo.

Amsterdam and The Hague

The main reason I went to Europe in the first place was to see my Mom. We were able to meet up in Amsterdam, and we really hit the ground running on the first day. For all its history and status (and reputation) Amsterdam is actually quite a small city - well, the touristy part anyway - and I think we managed to see just about everything possible in only a few days.

Our first stop was the OudeKerk, the oldest building in Amsterdam. It's a 13th C. church whose floor is made up entirely of gravestones, meaning that you are pretty much walking over an indoor cemetary.

The Oudekerk happens to be located in the heart of the Red Light district, so we found ourselves wandering past lots of cafés and working girls as well. It was a pretty awesome first day, but jetlag got the better of me and I was fast asleep before 7pm.

It was probably a good thing for me to get that rest. The next day, we hit the museums - The Rijksmuseum (home of Rembrandt's famous Night Watch) and the Van Gogh museum (home of just about everything he ever painted). The best part of seeing any art museum is that my Mom is a natural artist. I can look at a painting or whatever and say, "Oh, that's pretty" while she points out the proportions and perspectives, where the light hits and what brush technique was used. It just adds something to it.

We spent the afternoon on a canal cruise, and probably couldn't have chosen a better time to do it - the sun was out and we ended up with a lovely, relaxing afternoon. The canals in Amsterdam are something else - they are still used for business and personal use, as well as a living space for people who live in houseboats. There is even a floating cat shelter!

Amsterdam-ites ride bikes more than any place in the world, I swear. Just to cross the street, you had to check for bikes, and cross, then check for tramcars, and cross, then check for cars, and cross, then bikes again... It is wonderful to see, though... people dressed up for office work, or wearing chic clothes, and all riding their bikes in a super relaxed way. And when you see a parking lot for bikes, it just hits you as to how many cars are not on the road. Could be a lesson here for us, don't you think?

Our decision to go to The Hague was mostly so that we could get to the seaside of Scheveningen.... my Mom had been there about 20 years earlier. We managed to pick a very very windy day, but it was still a perfect time to be there. While on the pier, we met up with a very old lady who told us about Canadian soldiers liberating her village during WWII.... yes, Canadians have still retained their reputation as good people throughout Europe, which is great.

The Hague is an awesome city for people watching too... nobody is slouching along in pyjama pants or a sweatshirt, but they aren't fashion victims either. For me, the best part of the day was going to Mauritshuis, which we thought was just an old nobleman's house. It turned out to be a smaller art museum than the Rijksmuseum, but somehow I liked it better. There were hundreds of works done by very well-known artists (like Rembrandt), but the highlight for me was "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Ver Meer. Having read the book (and yes, seen the movie), I was absolutely blown away by the depth and strength of this image. It's absolutely haunting.

Our last day in Amsterdam was a rainy shopping day... and then we boarded our train for Copenhagen.

I'd booked our tickets online, so had really no idea what we were getting as a "couchette". Just watch the video to see where we ended up sleeping! And yes, my Mom, ever the trooper, was able to get all the way up the scary ladder and into her bunk.

Copenhagen

Not surprisingly, we didn't sleep super well on that train, which left us a bit tired for our first day in Copenhagen. With rainy weather looming over us, we decided to try to find Kronberg, site of the castle that Shakespeare used as the setting for Hamlet, which is probably my favourite of all his works. This meant taking another train for an hour, but it was well worth it.

The castle wasn't overly enormous, but it was just full of stuff to see. We started out by getting lost in the tunnels underneath the castle (which were very dark and very damp), then went through the royal apartments.

The whole place was hosting art exhibits, which meant that 16th C tapestries were cheek by jowl with a few odd modern art installations. Some of them were jarringly different, while others fit well with the other items that surrounded them.

After the castle we walked, in the rain, through the village.

Our next day in Copenhagen was a full-on tourist day. We started off by locating the Little Mermaid statue, which was swamped with tourists. Actually, most of Copenhagen was full of tourists, which is fine since we are also tourists, so we can't complain right? The city is full of old buildings, fountains, statues, parks... and it's a very nice place to just walk through. I went up the Round Tower - a spirally tower attached to an old church - and we continued on through the shopping area.

As pretty as it is, Copenhagen is quite expensive. Add to this that we were trying to calculate how to convert Danish Kroners to Euros and back to either Canadian or Korean, and it was the sort of mental gymnastics that makes you put down the souvenir you were holding and just walk away.

Our last morning together, my Mom walked me to the train station and stood on the platform while my train took me away to Sweden (yes, I cried when we had to say goodbye). We had a very good week together, lots of good food and experiences as well as a few giggly fits in unlikely places...

Gothenburg

I never thought that I would ever get to a place like Sweden.... it's a far more exotic destination in my mind than, say, Thailand or something. I was up there to visit with a girl named Karin who I had met by chance in an airport in Indonesia. I really didn't know much about this country... but I was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience (oh, and yes, they have IKEA there...).

She met me at the train station, and we started to explore the city. Gothenburg is the rival to Stockholm when it comes to history and economy in Sweden. The city is modern and old, and very lively (especially since there was a big festival happening at the time that I was there).

As Gothenburg is on the coast, we grabbed a ferry the next morning and went to a small island with gorgeous houses and gardens that reminded me a lot of Kamouraska in Quebec. Actually, all of Sweden - the nature, the houses, the lifestyle - reminded me of Canada... just the Swedish are waaaay better looking than the average Canadian. We returned to Gothenburg in time to go to Karin's uncle's birthday party. Her family made me feel so welcome with their hospitality and generosity.... just unbelievable.

The next day, we did a cycling tour of the whole city, stopping at a maritime museum made of all sorts of ships (including a submarine) linked together with gangplanks, and then on to the World Culture Museum (probably one of my favourite stops on the whole vacation).

Then, we rode around Gothenburg some more, searching for, of all things, MOOSE. And we found them!!

We were exhausted by the time we got back to her mother's place, but there was no rest for the wicked, as her mom was hosting a special traditional Swedish party that night.... and I had a bus to catch back to Copenhagen at 3am.

The premise is this: wear funny hats, eat a lot, and sing every 5 minutes AND finish each song with a shot of straight booze. I brought some soju from Korea, and showed them all how to drink it with proper Korean etiquette.

Feeling a bit tipsy (ha!), Karin and I headed to one of her friend's apartments where they were having a party. And from there, we walked through the downtown area where they put me on my bus, and I was able to sleep until the bus driver woke me up in Copenhagen.

I had planned to visit Copenhagen a bit that morning, but realized that a lack of sleep (and a few too many shots the night before??) would have made it a bit too difficult. Instead, I found myself stranded at the airport as my flight to Paris changed gates 3 times before being delayed 2 hours.... but I eventually made it there.

Paris!!!

There is absolutely no way that I can write my day in Paris that will do justice to the whole experience.

This is the city that I have dreamt of visiting since I first started learning French. In high school and University, as I studied French, I learned about the city, French history and culture as I read just about every poet and author that France has produced in the past 1000 years (and that's a lot!). And now, to see it all there in front of me??? Just. Wow.

Starting super early in the morning, and with no idea just how close or how far anything was from anything else, I got on the Metro - and got lost - but eventually found myself at Le Louvre. It was too early to go inside, but it was a perfect starting point. I walked from there, through the Tuileries (gardens), and straight along the Place de la Concorde to the Champs-Elysées. I ended my morning walk at the Arc de Triomphe, which was much bigger and more spectacular than I expected. As I walked along, I was actually laughing to myself - I was so thrilled to be there.

I grabbed the Metro to the Eiffel Tower and, instead of waiting in the horrible line for the elevator, started climbing the stairs. I made it to the 2nd main level, but didn't feel that I had enough time (or energy) to climb all the way to the top. Still, it was spectacular to see, touch and be there. I'll have to climb all the way to the top the next time I go.

One thing I'd really been looking forward to in Paris was the Catacombs. It was going to take me a bit out of my way, but I figured it would be worth it. Ha! Just my luck, after missioning around for about 45 minutes, I found them... and they were CLOSED ON MONDAYS.

Next stop was the Luxemburg gardens, where I met a very charming older man and his grandson. He was just really awesome and insisted that I must go to the Panthéon and that he, and his grandson, would walk me there. A small aside here: People in Paris are extremely friendly - they do not deserve their reputation for being haughty and snobby at all!!!

The Panthéon is pretty much a monument to the authors, poets and philosophers of France.... and a perfect place for someone like me (French Literature degree, anyone?). I hadn't planned to go, so I am certainly happy that Yahya and Adele brought me there.

Stopping for lunch at a streetside cafe, I considered my next plan of action and decided to check out the Notre Dame cathedral -- which just happened to be directly across the street from me! I couldn't figure out how to get up on top, but quite enjoyed my quick walk-through.

Since everyone had told me that I should take a cruise on the Seine, that was my next stop. It was, unfortunately, a bit disappointing. Overcrowded, hot and uncomfortable.... but it got me back to Le Louvre.

So, Le Louvre is about 50 million times bigger than you think it is. That's the only way I can possibly describe this place -- it's huge... and then some. Every inch of wall space is covered with art, every corridor contains a dozen sculptures and, in some cases, even the ceiling and floor are decorated too. Yes, I saw the Mona Lisa and yes, I saw the Venus de Milo - with 400 other people crowded around me. But then... you can wander off to a different room and find yourself almost completely alone - like in the Egyptian Treasures. I obviously didn't have enough time to see all that Le Louvre had to offer, but I am so glad that I treated myself to a quick visit.

By this time, I had been running around Paris for about 10 hours, and my feet were throbbing. I had enough time for another streetside restaurant meal (ahhhh, LOVE that about Paris. The chairs are all on one side of the table so you have no choice but to people watch!), then early to bed to be up in time for my morning train back to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam (again)

With another afternoon in Amsterdam, and coming to the end of my Euros, I wasn't quite sure what to do.... so, I got a tattoo!

My latest tattoo is on my wrist, made up of pink and green stars and includes an unbroken wishbone (because if it's not broken, you obviously have everything you need, and need not wish for anything else....).

With my wrist a bit tender and wrapped in plastic (umm, yeah), I explored the Red Light district a bit more (it's really not all that, but it is interesting to see families and such walking through there too), as well as the area around Dam Square and the train station.

And, the next day, I started my full day of flying and airport stopovers back to Korea, which brings me to ...

Seoul

As I was returning home, and Ty was flying out to South Africa, the only place we could really see each other for a few days was Seoul.

On Friday, I met up with one of my former students from Suncheon. Yebin has dropped out of high school and is attending a private academy in the hopes of continuing into the military. She's a really bright girl who just didn't fit into the Korean system. She's got to face the stigma of dropping out too - which is a pretty big deal in Korea. However, she'll still be able to do her SATs and get into a good University too.

From there, I met up with Nicola for our last afternoon together. She's now back in New Zealand -- meaning I've lost one of the most important people of my time here in Korea. We've known each other now for over 2 years, and we've both grown and changed so much over that time. I'm sure that our paths will cross again some day... I hope so, anyway.

We went to a really nice sauna near the Yongsan station, where we were able to do just about everything from massage chairs and salt saunas to an outdoor spa tub. And, of course, we talked the whole way through, until I had to go back to the train station to meet Ty who was coming into Seoul with our friend Zach.... I'll spare you the details of our first meeting after over 2 weeks apart.

Feeling jet-laggy and sad to lose Nicola, and with a cold that comes from 20+ hours of flying in a plane... well, you can just imagine how hard it was to know that I was only seeing Ty for 2 days before saying goodbye again for 2 weeks.

On Saturday night, we met up with friends and went out in the Hongdae area of Seoul. At one point, I was dancing and suddenly felt something weird on my foot. I looked at my left foot and realized that the whole toenail of my left big toe was bent completely back and hanging on by a thread.... and bleeding.

Oh.
My.
God.
The pain.

Ty, Dave and Camille got me to a nearby hospital, where I continued to cry like a little girl while they held my hand through x-rays and about a million needles. I hate hospitals, and I am not the world's best patient....

This definitely made the next day, Sunday, a bit of a wash - we didn't leave the hospital until 6am - yup, all night in emergency - and then it seemed that we were back at the train station, getting ready to say goodbye again.

However, we ended on a very good note: There was a Euro-Festival going on at the mall near the train station, and they had a sort of dress-up photo kiosk. And so, one final picture... me and my Knight in Shining Armour (literally):

Thanks for reading this far... it's been a long, strange trip with a lot of experiences and memories that are going to stay with me for a long time. I was lucky enough to see my Mom, visit 4 different countries, view an uncountable number of incredibly timeless works of art, and come back to find myself with the bittersweet experience of saying goodbye to friends, but returning to the familiarity of "home".

Home again, Home again....

2008-08-21T18:14:00.001+09:00

Hmmm, I didn't get a chance to update in Sweden or Paris.... I'll just say, for now, that they were absolutely incredible places to see.

I've had no sleep for about 2 days, and just took my first shower since Monday.

Updates will come, and so will photos.... but just not yet!

From Copenhagen to Gothenburg....

2008-08-17T14:59:00.002+09:00

So, the train ride to Copenhagen went smoothly enough. My mom and I had a good laugh when we got on the train and realized that we were in the top bunks - like at the VERY top, right by the ceiling. My Mom, ever the trooper, managed to get up there though... which is pretty impressive for a 67-year-old lady, I think.

With a full, and rather rainy, afternoon ahead of us upon our arrival, we decided to... hey... get back on a train for an hour and head to Kronburg, which was the castle that inspired Shakespeare for the setting of Hamlet.

The next day, with better weather, we wandered around the city, seeing things like the famous Little Mermaid statue, and eating lunch at Nyhavn.

The next day (Umm.... Thursday??), we parted ways. Our week together was great - we covered so much ground, but never got overly exhausted by our touring around.

And so, I boarded a train from Copenhagen to Gothenburg, Sweden to visit a girl that I'd met in an airport in Indonesia in January. I ended up having 3 fabulous days of walking, island visits, cycling... I will have to write more about it when I get back to Korea. Her family was so amazingly generous with me, making me feel welcome and letting me be a part of celebrations like her uncle's birthday and a neat party where you wear funny hats, sing... and do shots of Russian vodka (which put me in less than tip-top shape for my bus back to Copenhagen).

And so, now I'm in a train station in Copenhagen, waiting to head out to the airport for my flight to Paris... I've managed to put soooo much into the past 10 days, but I only have a few more days to go before I'll be heading home. On one hand, I would have loved to have spent more time in each place - on the other hand, I've seen and done so many awesome things that I feel that the time limit has kept me from stagnating - this is really the first morning that I have nowhere to be and nothing much to do (except find myself some coffee....)

Alrighty... so, see you in Paris!

Amsterdam...

2008-08-12T00:41:00.002+09:00

Gotta do this quick because I'm paying by the minute....

I left Korea on Thursday and.... TWENTY-NINE HOURS LATER... arrived in Holland. My Mom met me at our guesthouse - our room was conveniently located at the top of three flights of the narrowist, twistiest flights of stairs ever. Don't worry, I only fell down them once.

Friday afternoon, we managed to find the oldest building in Amsterdam (an old church built in the 13th century), which also happened to be surrounded by cafes and sex workers in windows. I'm not a big fan of the smell of pot (actually, I hate it), but it was neat to see all sorts of people just hanging out at these streetside cafes, relaxing and chatting. My culture shock showed through a bit as everyone here looks and dresses completely differently from in Korea. It's great! So refreshing to see tall blond people with their own sense of style! Also, the ladies in the windows were rather, um, unpretty... Anyway....

Friday night, I fell asleep at 6pm with all my clothes on (Mom woke me up - or tried to - at one point to put on pyjamas, but I was already comatose)... so, yeah.... big partier me.

Saturday, we went to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum to check out the artwork. It's quite amazing to see the REAL paintings just in front of your face. From there, we took a canal cruise all around the city - the houses are all amazing, and I'm already dreaming of living on a houseboat.

On Sunday, we headed to the Hague where we were blown away at the seaside (literally... it was quite windy), then we got lost and found ourselves at another art museum which had waaaay awesome paintings, including The Girl with a Pearl Earring... which I freaked out over. Once again, there's just something about seeing it right there in front of you.

Today, Monday, we went shopping at a long market, then wandered around (under very cloudy skies) until we headed for the train station - Tonight we leave for Copenhagen.

The next few days will include a day of wandering in Copenhagen and... fingers crossed... a visit to Hamlet's castle. How could I have forgotten that he was Prince of Denmark?

At any rate, the food is amazing, the people are nice, the weather has been kind enough to us (not as much rain as we expected, but a bit chilly).... photos will be uploaded in 2 weeks... more blogs to come as I find other internet cafes to putz around in.

Europe bound!

2008-08-06T19:01:00.002+09:00

OMG - I'm going to be in Amsterdam in just a few (like, 40) hours!!!!!

And then, I'll be in Copenhagen... and then I'll be in Gotenburg... and then I'll be in PARIS.... and then I'll be in Amsterdam again.

This is also going to be the first time I'm seeing my Mom in almost 15 months!

Goodbye Cheshika!

2008-08-06T09:10:00.006+09:00

And so it goes... And once again we have to say goodbye.

Jessica and I met two years ago, and something clicked. We were both "real" teachers back home (i.e. not in Korea because, you know, like, teaching English is really, like, easy), both sarcastic and boy crazy, both older than 25. Last year, she was in Gwangyang and I was in Suncheon - not far from each other. This year, we were in neighbourhoods close to each other in Mokpo.

Jessica and I laughed at each other's American/Canadian-isms, as she said "aboot" and I tried to use "y'all" correctly. We spoke on msn every single day, talking about everything from teacherly stuff like classroom management, to nutrition, to learning disabilities (her specialty) to whatever the latest gossip was.

And the thing is, our interests were pretty divergent - she was running marathons and rock-climbing (I was not), but Jessica was always the first person that I ran to with my problems or concerns, my annoyances and frustrations. She was the person who could force me to step back from things and approach whatever obstacle with a level-head and a plan of action. We could get mad at each other, and then, a few days later, the msn window would pop up again - and all would be back to normal.

And so, Jessica is gone. Flying out today to get back to her Indiana roots. Hopefully, she'll find herself in a classroom soon, doing what she does best - helping the kids who don't always perform well in a system that isn't necessarily designed with their best interests in mind.

I'll sign off with a few photos...

Halloween 2006

Daewonsa with Melisa, April 2007

Playing with my new camers, January 2008

Posing stupidly at the dak galbi restaurant, August 2008

Quite the trio - Jessica, Alex and I, August 2008

A year....

2008-08-02T13:35:00.014+09:00

Over the past few days, I've been trying to figure out what to write today ... it's been a year for Ty and I... and it was hard to write something that didn't just sound over-the-top or too personal for a blog that is read by people I've never met.
I've decided just to let our numerous self-cams and couple shots do the talking for me.
And so, in no particular order.... the past year:

Out for shabu-shabu with friends, Feb 2008

On the ferry to Weydaldo, Oct 2007

I seduced him with a steak, Aug 2007

Covered in mud in Boryeong, July 2008

A random self-cam, Apr 2008

In the Seoul subway, saying goodbye before Ty leaves for South Africa, Nov 2007

Dressed up like palace guards in Seoul, July 2008

On the ferry from Jeju, Oct 2007

Kissing in Gwangju on St. Patrick's Day, Mar 2008

The famous steak seduction, Aug 2007

Home from Indonesia, Jan 2008

Ty and the kids, May 2008

Going to Jeju, Oct 2007

My birthday, Oct 2007

Ty's birthday, Oct 2007

At Anapji pond, June 2008

In and around Gyeongju, June 2008

Hallowe'en pirates, Oct 2007

Random night out, Dec 2007

Out in Gwangju, May 2008

Our first couple shot - oh, how we've both changed, Aug 2007

We go together like a wink and a smile, Sept 2007

Goofy photo, May 2008

Going to Busan, May 2008

In a tuk-tuk in Siem Reap, Cambodia, Feb 2008

Six months together, celebrated in a balloon over Angkor Wat, Feb 2008

The Bayon, Angkor Wat, Feb 2008

Being our photogenic selves, Sept 2007

On our way to Alex's party, Sept 2007

I wreck a good photo, Sept 2007

Being America's Next Top Models, April 2008

Our current favourite photo, June 2008

Weydaldo...

2008-08-02T13:09:00.004+09:00

Yesterday was the perfect day to go to the beach... and we weren't the only ones who thought that!

Alex, Jessica and I had made plans to head to Weydaldo for a day before Jessica moves back to the US. What we didn't realize at the time was that Weydaldo, which is normally an empty stretch of sand is now a very popular place to visit. There is a new waterpark that has just opened there, and with it being summer (and school vacation), it shouldn't have surprised us that, for once, we wouldn't have the place to ourselves.

We had a great time anyway -- but all three of us are severely sunburned today. Something about sitting on a beach in the sun all day will do that to you.

Here are some pics of the day:

This beach is normally EMPTY... and there was a jetski and a lifeguard and swimming ropes and everything...

Alex and Jessica in the water

This lady is not only fully clothed (most Koreans swim with their clothes on... like, not a change of clothes, but just jump in the water with jeans and everything), but also wearing a visor-hat and a face mask! Of course, she's probably not sunburnt today, as I am.

Alex

Jessica

Alex with two couples wearing "couple shirts", that also match eachother... so, I guess they are really "quartet shirts"

Alex and I, being Adam and Eve on the boat

That evening, we headed to the newer part of Mokpo for a Maritime Festival. I'd gone last year, and been absolutely amazed by the fireworks, so I'd been really looking forward to seeing it again this year. This year's fireworks were so-so (except if you went closer to the main stage, where Ty was and got to see cool acrobats and dancers and drummers on fire or something) from where we (Alex, Jessica, Zach, Camille) were standing - we had placed ourselves further away from the main part, since we were in no mood to be jostled endlessly in a huge crowd.

Zach and I had a bit of fun with a marine animals display... taking turns clubbing the seal with our sandals (Ohhhhh.... I know.... we were being ironic Canadians, okay??). Pics courtesy of Zach:

Being Normal

2008-07-31T13:33:00.002+09:00

Our conversations revolve around it here. Our blogs report on it. We complain about it. We love it. It's the reality that every single ex-pat faces when leaving the house, when arriving at work. You have lost your anonymity, which gives you privilege when you want it, and too much attention and focus when you don't want it.... You live in a hub-bub of noise and sounds that, sometimes (rarely), turn into meaningful words.... A trip to the bank or post office takes twice as long...

But sometimes, you can communicate just enough, or understand a new word, or just pretend for a morning that you aren't all that different from everyone else. And it feels damn good.

I find that I tend to frequent the same businesses repeatedly. In my mind, they have become classified as "Foreigner friendly" (or at least "Virginia friendly") businesses: Places where a group of noisy foreigners with minimal Korean skills are tolerated, or encouraged to return. Places where I've been served with a smile instead of a stare, or just wonderful discoveries that are (generally) delicious. Most of the time, there isn't anything special (like an English speaker) at these places, it's just that they understand that we are simply paying customers like everyone else. They understand that we might take an extra 5 minutes to do something, but that their patience is greatly appreciated. There are kimbap and dak galbi places on every corner here, but if I tell a friend to meet me at "the dak galbi place", he or she will know exactly which one I mean.... but I digress.

I wonder sometimes if businesses like the kimbap place or the dak galbi place (or the shabby family-run corner store up from my apartment or Waltz or Texas Moon or P-Club or Cafe Manon or the gynecologist in Hadang or the vet who all the foreigners use or my acupuncturist or... or...), I wonder if they realize just how much of their business comes from word-of-mouth in the ex-pat community. We trade business cards with each other, and draw elaborate maps to show each other the way to these places... not a week goes by without one person or another sending out an e-mail asking where to find a good optometrist, or passport photographer, or hair dresser (I'm still waiting on a good tailor or seamstress, by the way....).

Well... anyway... that wasn't the point when I sat down to write this.

I really just wanted to talk about my morning, and how cool I felt just being a normal citizen here, recognized as a customer, but not as a freak... So... okay, here goes.

With errands to run, I headed downtown. One of my students passed me and we had a nice little conversation (How are you? I'm good. It's hot today. Yes). I stopped at a plant store to buy a nice plant for Ty's desk at work - I've been there before, the 100-year old bent-double halmoni (grandmother) recognized me. The entire transaction was in Korean... including the instructions on how not to kill the little plant with my decidedly brown thumb. Waiting to cross the street, an older man approached the woman next to me, asking her how to find the ferry terminal. I understood him and was able to tell him how to find it, whereas she couldn't. He nodded and replied with a nice "Sang you"... there was no look of shock on his face that I understood the phrase "yeogak teminar", and no giggling from the 4 younger women with him when I used the most basic phrases to get them where they wanted to go.

My next stop was a dochang (Korean name stamp) place where Madeleine had bought stamps for herself and a few friends when she was here. Transaction (buying dochang as gifts) done through Korean and interpretive dance/miming. Next stop, the bank, where "my lady" helped me out - and gave me juice (nothing special about that, everyone gets juice at Nonghyeop) - and the bank manager stopped by to proclaim his love for me (Hello. I love you. Thank you. I love you too.). Okay, maybe that bit was special.... I think I might be the only foreigner who goes in there regularly, and they are used to me by now.

Finally, I headed to "the kimbap place" to meet Ty for lunch, where the new plant was inspected happily by all the waitresses, but where (once again) we were just another part of the lunchtime crowd.

I didn't get pointed at by any children today... Nobody that I wasn't dealing with shouted "Hello!" at me, then ran away to laugh with their faces covered... I didn't get leered at by any old men thinking that I was a Russian prostitute... I interacted like a regular, average person, communicated what I needed (in Korean, English, and charades) and was understood. I got everything done that I needed to do, without wasting a ton of time and without having to return to the same place with a Korean speaker.

And that shouldn't be that big of a deal... but it is!

Flickr updates

2008-07-30T09:31:00.003+09:00

My Flickr page is updated, and finally includes things like Cambodia and Madeleine's visit.

And Ty has finally started uploading things to Flickr too (he has different privacy settings on his photos, though, so I'm not sure which of his photo albums are public).

One more week until Amsterdam!

Vacation Time...

2008-07-25T10:18:00.002+09:00

It's been a good week so far. I had to go to school on Monday (my classes featured a, um, guest speaker on that day, in the form of the Disney Tarzan movie), then on Tuesday morning for one hour. Other than that, it's been a week of hanging with friends, taking Sonagi to the vet to be spayed, reading, TV and general chilling out as I countdown to Europe.

So, yeah... not much to report.

Summer Itinerary / Obvious sign of insanity...

2008-07-19T10:31:00.003+09:00

With vacation time fast approaching, I finally decided (at 7:00 this morning) to sit down and figure out where I'm going and how to get there.

See, I'll be meeting my mom in Amsterdam, where we'll spend a few days. From there, we head to Copenhagen, and then she goes on a cruise back to Canada, while I head up to Gothenburg, Sweden for a few days (staying with a girl I met by chance in an airport in Indonesia).

But then... where will I go? What will I do for the next few days until my flight back from Amsterdam to Korea?

With 3 free days and a credit card (and an inability to live within my means), I have just booked a flight from Copenhagen to.....

PARIS

... where I will spend a full 48 hours (an evening + one full day + a morning) before grabbing a train to Amsterdam.

Am I insane?
Is this the heat of Korea melting my credit card numbers into the computer?
Is this a lack of sleep?
Am I too fueled by caffeine?

Yes to all of the above... But WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW.

Gwangju, Mud Fest and Madeleine's Last Days in Mokpo

2008-07-18T17:43:00.010+09:00

Alrighty... I have my computer back, my photos uploaded, and now, I can finally sit down and write all about last weekend.

On Friday, we (Madeleine, Ty, Camille and I) headed off to Gwangju for the evening. Madeleine and Camille were in high spirits - which became the theme of our whole weekend -

Madeleine and Camille having fun...

...Ty isn't

Our first stop, after booking the huge VIP at the Windmill, of course, was the Outback for supper. We then headed to a neat cafe that Camille knows of that is really cute, with an entire wall lined with books (mostly in Korean).

Madeleine examines Camille's book

Striking a pose on the streets of Gwangju

She was bringing them a pulpy mystery novel thing. Afterwards, we went to the Speakeasy, but were much too tired to make a late evening of it.

Madeleine and Camille having fun...

The next day, bright and early, we boarded the bus for Boryeong and the famous Mud Festival. Now, before I go any further, I'll have to admit that a) a girl I used to teach with in Montreal told me that it was the festival to see in Korea, so I was initially really excited about it before I moved here and b) I've been kind of avoiding it for the past two years.

See, most of the stories I've ever heard about the Mud Fest just made it sound like some sort of nasty Spring Break where foreigners made asses of themselves. I'd also heard the opposite, and that it was a big enough festival that you can really make the most of different things, without succumbing to drunken mud wrestling in your bikini, which of course, sounds like soooooo much fun.

Fortunately, the Mud Fest is super well organized... it's like the whole town (village) is a part of the festivities, with volunteers everywhere. It's also really really big. There was a stage way down at one end of the beach (we could hear the music), but we found ourselves at the opposite end, surrounded by more Koreans than foreigners (which was much better, methinks... as it was, we attracted a lot of attention from photographers anyway).

Our first job was to try to find a reasonable hotel room, which we sort of managed to do. Our hotel was pretty comfy, with a kitchenette and a... balcony! Yay.

The Mud Fest is also wicked awesome because you can walk around in your bikini all day, without being the only person on the beach who is doing so (Koreans tend to spend their beach time - and swimming time - fully dressed). And, since you're covered in mud, you sort of feel like you're "dressed" anyway.

(I've promised a minimum of bikini shots because, really, who wants themselves on the internet covered in mud and half-dressed.... but anyway....)

Buckets of mud to paint your friends with...

Madeleine and Camille having fun...

... Ty isn't

Being painted with mud...

Fun for the whole family!

Muddy Me

Muddy Ty (still pouting)

In the afternoon, we were attracted by drumming noises, and stopped to listen to (and dance to) some traditional drummers. We then followed them into a parade (right, what was I saying about foreigners making asses of themselves?) which led us further up the beach where we found a few Suncheonites.

Dancing in the parade (they gave me an umbrella!)

Balinesian dancers in the parade (we ran up the parade until we joined them)

That evening, Ty, Madeleine and I sat on a table on the beach and watched the fireworks over the water before being rained off the beach and back to the hotel.

Madeleine and Camille... still having fun (the day after!)

Sunday morning breakfast was provided by Madeleine (yay, the kitchenette), and we spent the rest of the afternoon suntanning... I mean... burning ourselves on the beach. Since the long long long beach is made of sand, we are still trying to figure out where this amazing curative mud is supposed to come from...

Shabu Shabu (no, I didn't eat the meat)

On Monday, we took Madeleine out for some shabu shabu, then to the famous "Audrey Hepburn cafe", which is the pinkest place in the world. The shiny pink vinyl couches are all surrounded by dangly pink beaded curtains. The best part though, apart from how it's decorated in Meron's favourite colour, is that you can get really awesome milkshakes there. Yum.

Pink enough?
Note our tans from Mud Fest coming through...

Ty is finally smiling!!!

Tuesday night was Madeleine's last evening in Mokpo, so she hosted a wee get-together for all the people she'd met and befriended during her stay with us. On Wednesday morning, she went back to Seoul, before flying out to Tokyo for a few days en route to Quebec.

She did so much while she was here - it's like she put a whole year's worth of food, day-trips, hikes and adventure into only a few weeks. I can't get over how nice it was to visit with someone who knows me "from before", and not just as an acquaintance over 2 years or less.

Hope you enjoy all the photos.... It's been a fun few weeks.

Alex...

2008-07-15T13:08:00.003+09:00

Before I write all about the glorious-ness that was the Mud Festival, let me announce to everyone that my friend Alex is finally on a more accessible blog.

Find him here and leave him a nice comment about his godawful fluorescent shirts.

Okay, no really, Alex is the only person in the world who can wear godawful fluorescent shirts and look better than okay.

MUDFEST!

2008-07-13T19:32:00.002+09:00

... check back later for full details...

Island school....

2008-07-11T15:42:00.004+09:00

Madeleine returned from three days on Jeju and accompanied me to my island school today. The kids treated her to an impromptu recorder concert... here is Hayoung, Songmin and Seongmyeon performing for her...

(Keep scrolling to the other posts - I've uploaded some more fun photos of Madeleine's visit...)

The Weekend and Blog Updates

2008-07-08T09:17:00.003+09:00

On Friday, we went out for samgyeupsal (a kind of Korean pork barbecue thing) and drinks, followed by a few hours of noraebanging (Korean karaoke). As everyone knows, a night in a noraebang means the next day is generally a wash, so Saturday became a relaxing day of wandering around Old Mokpo and showing Madeleine the sights of Hadang.

We're singing the Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK (and it shows)

With a green tea latte at the Happiness House

Unfortunately, we ended up missing out on Mokpo's first Open Mic Night - the trade-off being that we were in much better shape on Sunday to visit Daewonsa.

I'd tried (unsuccessfully) to book us all for a temple stay there. Instead, we had to make do with a day trip.

We arrived in Boseong with over an hour to spare before the 11:45 bus to Daewonsa. Following Madeleine, who had been there a few days earlier, we went to see a tea plantation.

Awwww....

How is it that I've spent so much time here and never made it to the green tea fields?

"surfing" on the bus to Daewonsa

From there, we went to Daewonsa (my 5th visit there in 2 years... but a first for Ty and Madeleine) and poked around the Tibetan museum and the temple.

Posing with His Holiness...

Madeleine at Daewonsa

Lunch was bibimbap made with edible flowers (yay!).

Now, Madeleine is spending a few days on the island of Jeju... and we're stuck in school.

This weekend, we'll hit up Gwangju and the famous Boryeong Mud Festival (we're hoping for a much less Spring Breaky/Full Moon/drunken frat boy/mud wrestling experience than what is shown on the site, with plans to check out the beach more than the random idiots - yeah, don't expect me to be crowdsurfing in my bikini anytime soon).... then Madeleine only has a few more days here before she heads back to Quebec via Tokyo.

I've updated my blog links a bit.... A few links that have been added have more information than the personal blogs. Personal blogs are great (naturally, having maintained this one for 2 and a half years, I'm a bit biased), but if you want more information on things in the Korean news, or a meatier commentary on such things as gender issues in Korea, you should check here and here. For people who want to find out more about Mokpo, look here before you send me an e-mail saying, "Can you tell me about Korea". Not that I mind getting random e-mails, in fact I think it's great, but I don't have all the answers....

Samgyeupsal and Noraebang

2008-07-05T08:56:00.002+09:00

Madeleine now knows what those two things are.... and loves them both.

Madeleine's Continuing Adventures in Korealand

2008-07-04T11:44:00.004+09:00

The past week has been pretty cool. Madeleine has been able to get used to traveling around Korea, and has experienced first-hand the pitfalls of not being able to read menus etc.

On Tuesday, we met up with Alex and Nicola for some kimbap, then wandered along until we found a neat ice cream parlour with flowery swingy chairs by the window. The decor was hilarious and the food was quite good -- well... okay. It wasn't ice cream, but ice flakes with syrup and fruit. Still, it was good. Madeleine went ahead and ordered a "Wild Thing" and was quite surprised to be served cereal and milk with fruit! Still, she ate it all.

On Wednesday, Madeleine ventured out to Gangjin to find out about traditional Korean celadon pottery. She was absolutely dumped on by the rain as she wandered around the (tiny) town of Gangjin, searching for pottery. Still, at the end of the day, she had a pretty good time, and was able to get herself a nice celadon teapot.

For the past two days, she's been in Boseong and Yulpo, enjoying the tea fields and the seaside spa. Tonight, she'll be back in Mokpo, then over the weekend, we're looking at wandering out to Daewonsa. Next week, it looks like Jeju, with the Mud Festival next weekend... Should be fun!

p.s. All my students are still speaking French!

Madeleine's Teaching Day

2008-07-01T10:30:00.003+09:00

Even though she's only just finished up her own school year (and is supposed to be on vacation), Madeleine came to school with me all day yesterday and taught my kids French. As Hangeul (written Korean) is a phonetic language, we were able to say the French words to them, that they wrote down in Hangeul, and were able to say back to us nearly perfectly. They really loved learning French, and were super excited to have an exotic Canadian visitor.

After school, we hopped on my scooter for a ride around the top of Yudal mountain. We were stopped by the police (who started off by saying, "Hello, my name is ________"), but he let us go rather than deal with 2 waygookin.

For supper, we met up with Zach, Alex and Ty (and Jessica who stopped by) for dak galbi - spicy chicken that you cook at your table and eat wrapped in a lettuce leaf. We wandered around the downtown area a bit, stopping to have silly photos taken in the photobooth that lets you add words and designs to your photo.

Finally, we ended the evening at the Magic Sparkle bar, where Madeleine got to drink a flaming cocktail through a straw (while it was still on fire).

All in all, a classic example of a normal day here in Mokpo.

Seoul Weekend With Madeleine

2008-06-29T20:10:00.006+09:00

We (Ty, Zach, Alex and I) headed up to Seoul to meet up with Madeleine who was visiting me from La Pocatiere (well, now she lives in Quebec), and to see our friend Kristen who had returned to Korea after 8 months in Canada.

Friday night was an evening to explore the Hongdae area of Seoul - university nightlife and restaurants and such.

Alex, Zach, Madeleine, Kristen, Hyun-joong

Figuring that Madeleine had three weeks to enjoy Korean cuisine, we ate at a Mexican restaurant before heading out to a few places for drinks. We ended up in what felt like a higher end bar than what we're used to, and it was great to catch up on news from home with Madeleine (it also occurred to me just how homesick I must have been lately for friends from home....)

Alex, Zach, Madeleine, Me, Ty outside the "Ho Bar"

We didn't stay out too late though, because we had a full day planned on Saturday. First, we headed to Gyeongbokgung (an old royal palace).

Madeleine with a royal guard

We were quite happily posing with the palace guards when we noticed that there were costumes to dress up in and have our pictures taken (for FREE!)...

Aren't we hot?

...at which point we went a bit insane with the "Choson's Next Top Model" poses.

Me and Jongwon at Gyeongbokgung

Madeleine's excellent photo of the lake pagoda

From there, we hit the rest of the palace, including the "pagoda in the lake" and statues of our Chinese zodiac animals (Mom, you should recognize these from your visit).

The Rabbit and The Tiger

The Monkey

The Puppydog!

We spent at least an hour in the Folk Museum, which was probably the best Korean museum I have seen so far.

Madeleine with riot police.... she saw a lot of things that day!

We started off to Insadong, and were surprised to see busloads of riot police getting ready. We figured that they were probably getting ready for yet another misguided anti-American beef protest - the protests have now been generalized to anti-Lee Myeong-bak (Korea's president) protests - and we were right.

The protesters filled the street, and stretched back for blocks.... maybe a few thousand people

After walking down the street, we were faced with an entire street-full of protesters marching along. The boys ended up going out to see what all the hype was about and checking out the media circus of Korean protests.

Wait... I've forgotten Insadong... anyway.... Before we saw the protesters, we went to Insadong to show Madeleine some of the more traditional gifts to be found in Korea. After a really excellent traditional Korean meal, we shopped our way along the street until we found the Old Tea Shop - a great tea place with live birds flying around.

Madeleine in the tea shop

Our teas

Birds behind Alex

After we left, this bird came along to eat our leftovers

I've been there before with Nicola and with Ty, and it's such a unique place to visit.

Protesting China's policy on North Korean refugees
(they send them back to North Korea where they are persecuted, instead of sending them to South Korea where they will be repatriated as citizens)

Later that evening, we met up with Kristen again for supper in Itaewon at the Moroccan restaurant (Yes Mom, the same place, but they've expanded and it's great), then out for a beer before fatigue from a full day of walking and sight-seeing got the better of us.

On Sunday, we went back to Itaewon to eat breakfast and shop before grabbing the KTX back to Mokpo.

Yes, Madeleine is sending postcards to her friends...

It was a very full weekend, full of a variety of experiences, and a great introduction to Korea for Madeleine. Tomorrow, she will come to my school and we will teach my students a few words of French. Yup... I'll take tons of pictures of that too.

Obligatory couple shot

Off to Seoul.... and a bit of food for the Soul.

2008-06-27T13:57:00.005+09:00

We're off to Seoul to get Madeleine this afternoon! We'll come back on Sunday, and I'll be uploading tons of photos...

I rarely post links on my blog that don't have anything to do with my life in Korea, but I really feel the need to get this out there. I hope you take the time to follow this link and look at the whole presentation. The use of women in advertising has always been something interesting for me, ever since a school project in Grade 11 (I went on to do a school project on the "No means no" law, then took a few women's lit and women's studies courses in university, and was quite happy to integrate ad images and women's rights into classes when I was at an all-girls' high school), and even as I have been just as guilty as everyone else of buying into the hype (I don't want to be thinner, I just think I'd like to be a foot or so taller, okay?).

One great thing about being in Korea is being (almost) immune to the advertising. My physical self is so different from that of a Korean woman, and the fashions are so ridiculous (puffy shorts with stilettos in the middle of winter, anybody?) that I am quite enjoying living outside of the realm of advertisers who are trying to get these women to hate their skin colour (LOTS of skin bleaching happening here) or the natural shape of their eyes (a ridiculous percentage of women here have had eyelid surgery to get folding Western-style eyelids).

Not understanding the language also lessens the impact.... so what happens when a kind soul subtitles the newest Korean pop sensation? As you watch this, and before you start perving over "hot young Asian girls", keep in mind that two of these girls are 15 (the others are 17/18 - or 19 by Korean age).

Click here to go to youtube.com for the video.

In their first video, the Wonder Girls did a take off on Wonder Woman (I had a Wonder Woman towel when I was 4, maybe that's when the feminism started....), fighting their way through a video where they took on bad drivers, perverted old men and jerk-store high school boys. Here's that video.

Hmm, hope all that is enough to keep you amused for the weekend!

See you Monday.

And so it goes, and so it goes, and so will you soon I suppose

2008-06-24T14:46:00.003+09:00

Although there is a constant stream of people arriving and leaving Korea, there are certain times when it just feels like everyone is up and leaving... You're constantly saying goodbye to this or that person, while you rifle through their stuff and decide whether or not to claim their spices, or hair conditioner, or book, or whatever.

In some cases, it might be someone you barely know. A Facebook acquaintance who you randomly bumped into on the odd night out.

Sometimes, however, it is someone that you have gotten to know as a person. Someone who has been a part of your reality for 2 years. Someone who you have traveled with (with whom you have traveled, Meron) - either around the block or to a different country.

Sometimes, they are tricksy little Hobbitses, and come back for another year, meaning that you get to say goodbye to them all over again (Jen).

I had my first big gaggle of goodbyes in April 2007. It was hard to be left and to leave, but just over a year later, it's nice to know that so many of those people are still in touch with me (either through my blog, Facebook or the odd e-mail). It's also great to know that they've all gone on to fulfill their personal dreams of completing another degree, falling in love, buying a house etc. Yes, there is a life after Korea.

My next flurry of farewells has already started, with Jen, Carol and JP all having left recently, followed by Monique tomorrow, then Jessica and Nicola in August (but we'll be on vacation, so I will have to say my goodbyes in July)....

Of the original people who I befriended way back in Suncheon in 2006, precious few folks are left (some of them - like Steve and Stu - have left Korea, but with plans to return). Does this constant turnover make it harder and harder to befriend people? You bet! I mean, really, most people who come here do it for one or two years... which is, unfortunately, enough time to get to know and like someone, and to build up a true friendship, and then watch it dissolve through distance. Is it hard to say goodbye to people every month? Hell, yeah.

Another odd thing about this whole experience is how much stuff we end up with (probably from frequent "vulturings" of our friends' possessions on the night before they fly out and they are desperate to get rid of everything), especially since our apartments tend to be on the small side.

Airlines are getting a lot more restrictive on baggage weight and limits, meaning that when I eventually leave, I may need to pare it all down to *gasp* one suitcase..... which will represent everything I own. Consider that for a moment. And before you shrug and say, "But it's just stuff...", look around your room, your 3-bedroom house, even just your living room. Think of what you have in your basement, the accumulations of years. And now pare it down to what you could fit in one suitcase. And consider that I already pretty much gave away everything I owned 2 years ago before I moved and now, in my one-bedroom apartment filled with school-provided furniture, I already don't have very much (and yet, somehow, I still have too much), and soon, I will end up with even less. Hmmm, re-read that sentence. It might make more sense.

I'm trying to work on the way that I think about what I have... articles like this one are helping a bit.

Two years ago, I proclaimed loudly to anyone who would listen that I would not be rich with money, but rich with friends and experiences.

So far, it seems, so good.

Countdown....

2008-06-20T08:43:00.002+09:00

Madeleine arrives in ONE WEEK.

Summer vacation starts in ONE MONTH.

I'll be in Europe in about SIX WEEKS.

... and it's really humid and rainy all the time.

Suncheon Weekend BBQ

2008-06-16T08:57:00.002+09:00

Right, so I brought my camera, but didn't take it out... so no photos! :(

On Saturday morning, I went up to Suncheon for a BBQ and to visit Nina. The bus ride started off annoyingly, with a woman who stared at me, read over my shoulder, and tried to engage me in broken English conversation ("Where is go?"), then fell asleep on my shoulder! Agggggh!

Nina picked me up from the bus station and we headed to Homeplus, where I saw one of my old students from 2 years ago working there. It was nice to be recognized by a kid who last saw me over a year ago -- he's not the first former student I've seen. A few months ago, some girls recognized me in the Gwangju bus terminal and we all posed for pictures - fun.

In preparation for the BBQ, hosted by Chris and Melissa (I used to work with Melissa), Nina and I raided her fridge and cupboards and made pies (lemon meringue* and chocolate cream), bruschetta and salmon in foil.

Chris had also made tons of food, and had invited his TaeKwonDo boys over too - a bunch of little grade school boys, running around and squealing -- apparently, they had shown up at his place at 9am, but he told them to come back at 5pm. They were cool, though. Nina taught them how to make bruschetta, and we introduced them to the concept of a hotdog in a bun with condiments.

Anyway, the BBQ was awesome - lots of food and great conversation. I especially enjoyed myself because just about every person who was there had been in Korea for ages - it was "Old Skool Suncheon", with a few new faces, but mostly a nice reconnection with old friends.

*Yes, this is the proper spelling, even though it looks weird. Also, Nina and I learned to read and follow the directions before attempting to make meringue, since it's really hard to do...

An interesting discussion

2008-06-12T12:04:00.003+09:00

Last night, a group of us gathered together in a cafe for our traditional Wednesday night French Night. We generally start out in French, and peter off until we're all just speaking English anyway.

Last night, there were about 10 of us, from many different countries, with different Korean teaching experiences (high school, middle school, university, hogwan). Some people had been here for 2 years, some for only a few months or weeks - but somehow we were all unified -- by our disbelief that the supposed non-issue of Mad Cow in American beef (of which there was one case 5 years ago, and no reported cases at all in Korea, so why are they even protesting?) had led to violent clashes involving police, people setting themselves on fire (!!), and may end up costing a few government officials their jobs. Some of us are feeling the xenophobia more than others, some even using this as a reason to leave sooner rather than later. As for me, this is an example of Korean groupthink at its worst, where a non-factual newspaper article snowballed into a nationalistic uprising.... Have you heard the latest.... that the US government is selling poisoned beef in Korean school cafeterias? The worst part is that there are people here who seriously believe it - or seem to anyway, since they can't argue against it without appearing un-patriotic and un-Korean.

When do you cease to tolerate the differences around you? How do you aim your moral compass?

In Canada, and in many other countries, we strive (we may not always succeed, but we try anyway) to make an inclusive society. We accept others' differences and do our best not
to offend - to the point of changing certain aspects of our own culture (Like using "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Dude, I celebrate Christmas, and if I can wish my Jewish friends a Happy Chanukah, I'm sure they are not morally outraged when I dare wish my family a Merry Christmas on December 25). We are also quite outspoken about cases of racism or culture clash.... generally arguing *for* the other culture's rights to simply BE a part of Canada.

Where am I going with this?

One of my best friends here, let's call him X, arrived in Korea two years ago. Over the years, I've watched him become an exceptional and caring teacher. He knows his students' names, his lesson plans are dynamic and interesting. He has worked really hard to learn Korean, sometimes chastising for my lack of Korean vocabulary. He is dating a Korean. He dresses in wicked cool Korean style (except for that neon pink and yellow "Best Friend Good!" shirt he wore last night). He's not (as a few of us are wont to do) cheated his school on vacation time, or made un-necessary demands on them.

Last week, X found out that even though his school thinks he is an excellent and diligent teacher, they do not want him to return next year. Why? Because he is "not open to Korean culture". And what is this all about? X has protested - for the wellbeing of his students, mind you - against excessive use of corporal punishment in his school. He finds it hypocritical that students are punished for arriving late or sleeping in class by teachers who are even less punctual than the kids. He finds it confusing that teachers may smoke *inside* the school while punishing students for smoking *outside* the school. He wonders if classtime might not be better spent on lesson plans and actual learning than 13 full minutes of beatings with a metal golf club handle.

When he raises these points, he is told that he "doesn't understand Korean culture".

And this makes me angry. Every time we find something repugnant, the excuse given by Koreans for why we (foreigners) don't like (or will never understand) explicit racism, beating dogs, excessive corporal punishment, eating live octopus, or mass sexism is always "It's Korean culture". Why don't they ever tell us that some of the awesome things here are "Korean culture"??

(To clarify, I am NOT dissing Korean culture at all... I am pointing out that saying "It's Korean culture" is used to excuse certain behaviours that are, excuse me, rather awful no matter what country you live in, or where you are from. )

I think what I have on my mind these days is definitely when I will leave here. I do love my school, my students, my teachers. I love where I live, and the people in my neighbourhood. There's an old man who says Hi to us every time we pass him. There are old ladies who wave at me because they know I teach their grandchildren. The two closest convenience store owners know exactly what we want as soon as we go in. And yet, it seems that these days, I just can't wait to leave.

Another year... just another year, and then I'll leave here and (probably) never ever come back.

Gyeongju

2008-06-09T20:44:00.009+09:00

This is a long one, go get yourself a cup of tea before you sit down to read.

As much as I have been complaining about Korea lately (and trust me, I have been), there are some really nice 3-day weekends here. Coupled with the ease of transportation (hop on a bus for $20 and cross the entire country in 5 hours or so), it's nice to be able to wander about the country and always find new things.

This past weekend, Ty and I went to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Shilla Dynasty in Korea - this would have been back in the day when Korea was made up of 3 different regions, and I think the Shilla one kind of conquered everyone else... hmmm, not sure - going back something like 1200 years. In some cases, we were looking at things that pre-dated a lot of buildings that can be found in Europe, and even older than Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

Gyeongju has been a popular tourist destination for Koreans for decades. It's also a pretty popular place to visit for Chinese, Japanese and other foreign tourists. This means that, for example, you can go to the tourist information booth and ask for information, and actually get information, and it's all correct and everything. If you think that isn't a big deal, you haven't tried to find your way around Gwangju or something... but I digress.

The Lonely Planet calls Gyeongju an "open-air museum", and it is. Walking down the street, you may end up strolling past an ancient tomb, or maybe even an 8th century structure.... quite incredible.

We started off on Friday afternoon, found a hotel (this one had a glass wall between the sleeping area and the bathroom... apparently so you can watch your love do their business or something... we kept the blinds on that window closed the whole time) and headed to the main tomb park of Daereungwon.

Daereungwon

There were hundreds of people wandering about, and a very long line-up for the one tomb (Cheonmachong) that you can actually walk through to see a cross-section of the burial mound. We decided to simply walk along the path between the enormous mounds of grass, constructed in a way that made it nearly impossible for them to be looted or excavated without caving in around the would-be graverobber. Pretty cool.

Just past Daereungwon (after a detour through a pretty garden with horse statues), we found ourselves in a field of kite fliers.

Our personalized kite

Flying kites, with tombs in the background

For about $4, we were able to buy a paper kite, that was personalized with Chinese characters and our names in Korean and a roll of kite string AND a guy even got it off the ground for us. Really neat and lots of fun to be flying a kite next to a collection of tombs.

A collection of tomb mounds.
The round stones in the foreground mark where pillars for temples would have been.

Anapji Pond

We continued on, looking for the Anapji pond, which was the King's entertainment place back in the day. Along the way, we passed a field with (I counted them) 57 old ladies (ajummas) crouched down scratching at the soil with short-handled hoes. We took the opportunity to have a bit of fun:

Our plans to continue on to an atypically designed 7th century temple were thwarted by fatigue and hunger (and a damn long walk), so we grabbed some supper and backtracked our way through to Daereungwon again. This time, it was nighttime, with few lights and even fewer people. Kind of eerie. We found the Cheonma tomb again and, this time, with no line up, were able to go in and check out the ancient royal burial methods with the whole place to ourselves. Very nice.

On Saturday, we ended up at Bomun Lake (#10 bus, across from the Express Bus Terminal, W1,500. Return to Gyeongju on the #11 bus), which is a grand sort of tourist resort dominated by luxury hotels. It's quite family oriented, and the thing to do seemed to be renting bikes and following the paths around the (artificial) lake.

Our bikes at Bomun Lake

It was a great way to see the area and, ahem, get lost and end up breaking into the World Expo Centre (the security guards were very nice to us, however). Plans to do some of the fun things like Millenium Land or Gyeongju World (both amusement park type things, the first one is more about Korean history, the 2nd about roller coasters) were thwarted by sky-high prices.

Our cheesy swan paddleboat

Instead, we wandered around a small garden, then went all cheesy and rented a swan-shaped paddle boat. Finally, we found ourselves at the Contemporary Art Museum, where we spent a full half hour enjoying an abstract art installation.

We returned to Gyeongju, slightly exhausted from all the exercise, but headed out again. We wanted to have a quiet moonlit picnic by Anapji pond...

A rock concert??? Wow.

but were pleasantly surprised to find that Anapji was the site of a rock concert and a fireworks show. Once the music ended and everyone got up and left, we walked around and tried to get a few night shots of the lit-up pagodas reflected in the still water of the pond.

Pagodas and trees at Anapji Pond

Our weekend wasn't over yet... and I'm even leaving out things like what we ate (always quite good), randoms, a million lotus ponds, antique stores, and getting lost repeatedly (in lotus ponds).

Really wanting to see the east coast, on Sunday morning we grabbed a bus (#150, from across from the Express Bus Terminal, W1,500) to King Munmu's Underwater Tomb.

King Munmu's Underwater Tomb

Legend has it that this King Munmu was buried under a rock formation in the ocean so that he could come back as a dragon. Apparently it worked, and he managed to destroy a Japanese ship that was trying to steal a giant bronze bell from Gyeongju.

Tyrone "I can skip bricks" Fowler in action on the pebble beach

Sitting on rocks.
(just pretend my eyes are fully open in that one picture, okay?)

At any rate, this beach is filthy and sacred. There is litter everywhere, and groups of people either fishing, running around (like normal kids on a beach), or performing Shamanistic/Buddhist ceremonies.

These ladies are beating drums and chanting, then throwing coins into the ocean...

There were groups of women everywhere, drumming and chanting and, as we sat on some rocks and gazed at the water, several came to the water's edge to bow and throw coins or rice cake into the sea (the bottom of the sea is a great place for rice cake, methinks....).

Where to throw your "delicious" rice cakes
(instead of smacking your lips together as you chew with your mouth open in the staff room)

As we were leaving, we watched a monk lead a group of a dozen people along for some kind of... baptism? Who knows....

Not sure what is happening, but they are all facing King Munmu's grave

This whole trip, besides being a long-weekend of exploration (even though we only saw a sliver of what Gyeongju has to offer) was also a celebration of 10 months together. It doesn't seem like that long, and yet we have done so much since we first met last August.

Woooo... 10 months!

I suppose I should thank you for reading this far, dear Reader, and I hope that your tea hasn't gone cold.

A Day at the Beach

2008-06-04T06:44:00.003+09:00

One good thing about living in Mokpo is being able to hop on a ferry and head to a beach. On Sunday, my friend Candace (and her friend Christine, who was visiting from the US) came from Gwangju for the day.

It ended up being a nice day of sun, beach, beer, guitar, reading trashy magazines, correcting students' papers (for Candace and Christine), and general chilling out.

Camille, Christine, Candace and I

Teachers of the year, using bricks to keep the tests from flying away

Cheesy romantic self-cam

Model shot

Camille chills out under the pagoda

What's the beef?

2008-06-03T09:20:00.003+09:00

I'm not sure how the Western media might be treating this, but there have been protests across Korea over the importing of US beef. A month ago, I noticed a lot of images of "fallen cows" and such on the Korean news. Not understanding what was being said or written on the screen, I spoke to a few of my friends here. Even I believed that there was something going on with US beef. But no, the images that were being shown were from 5 years ago. Over the past few weeks, there have been protests (we saw one in Gwangju) and a candlelight vigil of some sort in Seoul (we saw people with similar candles in Mokpo too).

A bit of background info from Ty, who has been doing more research into this than I have:

Here's a bit of added info. Korea started importing beef from the US in the 70's. It was first banned after it was discovered in 2003 that a single cow in the States was carrying the disease. This was a precautionary measure, which is a sensible move. What was not widely circulated in the Korean press was that a )only this single case was discovered, and it never spread from there, and b) the cow was Canadian born.

Finally shipments of US beef started again in April 2007. The beef was regulated so that only the meat could be imported (no offal, nerves or bones) The reasoning behind this is sound. Parts other than the meat are way more likely to be carriers of BSE, and other bovine diseases. So again as a country trying to minimise risks this is sensible.

The problem is that amongst the general populace, very little was known except that the government had banned "bad" US beef. Very few were in a position to understand why imports were ever resumed. So when earlier this year imports were once again suspended due to vertebrae being found in a shipment, the public was in a very receptive mindset. In fact in a perfect mindset for MBC to run a madcow spin on the story. For the public to eat it up.

MBC is a media group which supports the liberal government and has been criticized in the past for running heavily skewed politically biased stories. They (MBC) were immediately called down by other media groups for running the madcow story and have since published a retraction of the story. But as with all sensationalist media, the page 10 retractions and quiet non-headline corrections are largely ignored by the masses.

Now, while the media is bringing all this to our attention, and spurring the masses into a frenzy over beef, there isn't much mention being made about Avian Flu. There are cases that have been reported throughout Korea, with at least one death in Naju (which is about 30 minutes from Mokpo), and a mass cull in Busan.... this website mentions that there has been no human infection as of yet, which contradicts other reports. The same website mentions that the government is allocating more funding towards, you guessed it, research into the dangers of mad cow instead of the very real threat of bird flu.

Construction, Earthquakes, Fire, Floods and General Ramblings....

2008-05-30T08:54:00.003+09:00

My school is old. Old old old. I have no idea when it may have been built, but I do know that there were pictures of it in the black and white photographs on display at the Mokpo History Museum, complete with dirt roads, ox carts and ladies in kimonos (photos were mostly from the Japanese occupation). It's obviously been renovated, re-wired, plumbing added... whatever.

The latest renovation has been demolishing the ground floor (it's a 3-storey building). The floorboards and dirt foundation were dug-up, new dirt was put in and packed down, and now a concrete floor has been poured (I've heard a rumour that a certain English teacher from Canada may or may not have accidentally stepped on the fresh concrete, then clumsily tried to cover it up in the hopes that it would look like a child did it... but I digress). The children have been generally playing around either old floorboards full of rusty nails, piles of dirt and mud puddles, digging machines, a crane (!!!!) and so on. So, right... it's been fun. Yesterday, the only way to get into the VP's office was to go outside and then climb a ladder to enter through the window, hop on the couch and from there to the floor (and then you have to bow, right? To appear dignified and all that....).

Last week, in response to the earthquakes in China, all the school children in Korea had to learn about emergency procedures. I wasn't witness to the video they watched, but I know that there were a lot of kids sitting under their desks at one point. This afternoon, they are (from what I can understand) burning something and putting it out. Or burning down the school?

Finally, one of Korea's most distinct seasons is back upon us - that being the really humid and rainy one (we had 100mm the other day, which turned all the stairways in my neighbourhood into waterfalls). No Meron, I don't know if these are the fabled "long rains" or "short rains" of which you speak...

Sonagi met a bunch of my teachers the other day. I was being a bit cheeky by introducing a kitten to a pile of people who generally hate cats, and I was quite happy and surprised by their reaction, which was mostly positive (except for the inevitable "dog soup" comments -- yes, fine, you beat dogs to death to make a cure for your impotence.... that's surely something to be proud of!). And, unless my school is really in denial, they will certainly have figured out by now that a) I have 2 cats in the apartment that last year's VP told me didn't allow pets (not true, there are dogs in the building) and b) Ty lives there too.

I'm feeling better and better about the coming year (my 3rd in Korea!!!) and, aside from a serious bout of culture shock - I've been through all the stages a million times since coming here - I'm actually looking forward to it.

A Wonderful Weekend of Nothing Much...

2008-05-26T07:26:00.002+09:00

Given the fact that my past few weeks have been supremely hectic, I did NOTHING this weekend. It was quite nice to just relax.

I'm really looking forward to two things right now:

1) My friend Madeleine (who I taught with at the College in La Pocatiere) is coming for 3 weeks in July. Plans include a temple stay, a mud festival, Seoul and (I'm sure) lots and lots of laughing.

2) My travel plans for August are coming together. Amsterdam, Copenhagen and then a few days in Gothenburg, Sweden. WOW.

Can't wait...

New Visa!

2008-05-23T08:41:00.005+09:00

Well, it's official - I'm staying for another year (at least). I went with my head teacher to the Immigration Office where, I swear, a 12-year-old in a t-shirt took a break from texting on his cell phone to shuffle through all my documents and then try to stamp my old (canceled) passport. Fortunately, a guy who knew what to do came along and took over from him....

Because of a change of laws in Korea, I had to re-do the entire visa process - that's three times in three years - but what had me the most stressed (and pissed) was the criminal check. Consider these facts:

Getting fingerprints done: taxi + bus = $7, the first (fruitless) visit involved visiting 2 different police stations, then spending about an hour talking to someone who couldn't understand why I wanted fingerprints done. The second one took about an hour and half, and involved me translating the fingerprints form from Korean to English. Mailing fingerprints to Canada, with insurance = $15
RCMP Criminal check: $25
My mother had to courier the prints to the RCMP and then mail them back to me in Korea: $20
Going to Busan for the Apostille stamp: bus = $45, taxi + subway in Busan = $9, hotel + supper + breakfast = $40, embassy stamp = $50 (NB: wonder what an "Apostille" stamp is? It's a smudged, blurry, crooked stamp that says "Government of Canada on it"). This process involved a 10-hour round-trip bus ride to Busan, about 26-hours of my personal and work time from start to finish.
Finally, my head teacher and I spent about 45 minutes going to the central post office to pick up the stamped form.

Total (in Canadian): $201
Total personal/work time: about 30 hours
Emails between my coordinator and I figuring out what the whole process was, and what was involved and was it even necessary, since my last criminal check had been done in January 2006: too many to count

I do not have a problem with complying with government regulations. I mean, even Canada still has problems with illegal immigration and a few people who scam their way into social assistance and the like. As a person who has chosen to live and work in a foreign country, I must abide by the laws of that country and go through the necessary processes in order to keep my visa status. It works this way in every country - and that is fine.

My problem is that, after all this effort and inconvenience, they didn't even look at my criminal record form. When I handed it to the guy who was processing all my papers, he glanced at it and handed it back to me. Of course, I am keeping it - on one hand, in case they ask to see it (if they ever realize that it's missing) and as future proof that, unlike the CEO of Samsung, the current President of Korea and former the Korean President's son, to name a few, I have never been (allegedly) involved in any criminal activity.