Thursday, December 21, 2006
They're All Named Johann!
this goes out to all the music geeks out there. i think you can relate to this dude REALLY well :)
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
this semester i taught an after school extra class. at the beginning there were 26 students and by the end it had shrunk to 13...but they were 13 awesome girls.
yesterday was the last class and i was supremely happy because, while the class was nice to teach, staying late at school was exhausting.
some gr 2 student came to me 5 minutes ago to ask if there was class today. when i said "no" their faces dropped in a look of dispair. and they said "oh no! we love vanessa class!"
well now, i don't think i've received a nicer compliment here. directly from the mouths of my students. This, my friends, makes any problems i may have here melt into the background.
also, I've received 6 christmas cards from gr 3 students who are graduating. more for my wall of love at home!
yesterday was the last class and i was supremely happy because, while the class was nice to teach, staying late at school was exhausting.
some gr 2 student came to me 5 minutes ago to ask if there was class today. when i said "no" their faces dropped in a look of dispair. and they said "oh no! we love vanessa class!"
well now, i don't think i've received a nicer compliment here. directly from the mouths of my students. This, my friends, makes any problems i may have here melt into the background.
also, I've received 6 christmas cards from gr 3 students who are graduating. more for my wall of love at home!
Thursday, December 14, 2006
two shots of whiskey
that's how my Wednesday evening started, no jokes. After a particularly mundane day at work (no classes, except for one at 3:30...staring at a computer all day) I met up with the ladies from volleyball for a "women's night out". They do it monthly, and this was the first time I was able to join them. I was picked up at my apartment and we went to a restaurant where there were a few bottles of beer on the table as well as one brand new bottle of whiskey. A big one. I've had very few encounters with that stuff. Mostly the smell reminds me of my dad because he enjoys a small glass of it every now and again, but the smell was always strong enough for me avoid drinking it. Then, during one of my more random nights at university I decided, after imbibing a fair amount of beer and/or wine, that an excellent nightcap would be whiskey, straight from the bottle. Hello fun times, hello hangover.
Moving on...all the ladies (and the one man there, the supervisor "GamDokNim") poured a glass and drank 'er down. Oh the burning. The secret to not getting hammered really quickly in Korea is to drink with tiny little sips. According to drinking culture, as soon as your glass is empty, someone will refill it for you. If you odn't want more, don't finish your glass. Unless you're with rowdy ladies and they peer pressure you into drinkin' 'er down. Which they did and subsequently, I did. But it was all good and ridiculously fun. This is the first time I've been out with a group of Adjumas (that means married woman, or old woman)...MAN, they party as much or even more than the men.
Naturally, we did what's called "Sam Cha". Sam means three and Cha means place, I think. The night starts at a restaurant where everyone eats and drinks. Then you move to a NoRaeBang where everyone sings and dances and (YEP!) drinks. Finally, the third place is a Hof (bar) where you sit and talk and...you guessed it!...drink. We did it all baby! and while it was all in Korean, it was hilarious. Those Korean Adjumas are somethin' else. I finally experienced Koreans freely belly laughing and being, well, kinda like me and my friends when we get together. I enjoyed watching.
I must say that without Yeong Min (young girl, 26), I wouldn't have been nearly as comfortable. Her English ability is pretty good and we have a lot of fun together. She understand my silly sense of humour better than many Koreans. Anyway, both of us are much younger than everyone else, so we stay under the radar a bit and just observe the festivities.
The funniest thing? One of the women took the microphone in the NoRaeBang, put it between her legs and proceeded to hump the air and other women in a very comical way. I saw a whole different side of Korea, let me tell you! Demure and subservient, my ass! These women are, no doubt, the kings of their castles.
___________________________________________________
Guess who made it onto the Boseong Volleyball Association's webpage? THIS GIRL!!
Check me out!
Don't worry if you can't read anything. Just scroll to the bottom of the page. You can't miss me, I kinda stick out like a sore thumb. The girl right before me is Yeong Min.
___________________________________________________
I forgot to tell y'all aboot the first ever Jeollanamdo Book Club Meeting. It was, in a word, ARSOME. I showed up a bit late, but there was still plenty of food and wine to be had. There were about 8 girls (no guys were brave enough...or literate enough?). We just sat around all afternoon and evening chatting about girl things. Some serious, some hilarious. Oh yeah, and we did talk about the book, for at least a half hour :P.
The book was called "The Girls" by Canadian Author Lori Lansens. All in all, I think it's a worthwhile read. It's about a pair of conjoined twins who grew up in a fictional small town in Southwestern Ontario. It was actually kinda fun to read a book where I recognized the area. There was even mention of the Museum of Archeology in London, which was actually pretty close to my apartment there. It's written as a kind of memoir by one of the twins, with the occasional chapter written by the other twin. An interesting concept.
Our next books are "running with scissors" and "prodigal summer" (which I happened to buy in Seoul in what I can only assumed to be a bout of supernatural prescience).
__________________________________________________
I've been doing quite a bit of baking recently, preparing for the Christmas festivities. I had kinda forgotten how nice it was to spend some time baking cookies...it's been a while. I think the most satisfying things about it are a) the smell of my apartment and b) watching other people eat my food. Koreans don't really ever eat homemade cookies because they generally don't have ovens. I brought some to school last week and to volleyball today. They either really like them or are good liers :P
Well, it's just about time for another awesome weekend! I hope this episode finds everyone well!
Moving on...all the ladies (and the one man there, the supervisor "GamDokNim") poured a glass and drank 'er down. Oh the burning. The secret to not getting hammered really quickly in Korea is to drink with tiny little sips. According to drinking culture, as soon as your glass is empty, someone will refill it for you. If you odn't want more, don't finish your glass. Unless you're with rowdy ladies and they peer pressure you into drinkin' 'er down. Which they did and subsequently, I did. But it was all good and ridiculously fun. This is the first time I've been out with a group of Adjumas (that means married woman, or old woman)...MAN, they party as much or even more than the men.
Naturally, we did what's called "Sam Cha". Sam means three and Cha means place, I think. The night starts at a restaurant where everyone eats and drinks. Then you move to a NoRaeBang where everyone sings and dances and (YEP!) drinks. Finally, the third place is a Hof (bar) where you sit and talk and...you guessed it!...drink. We did it all baby! and while it was all in Korean, it was hilarious. Those Korean Adjumas are somethin' else. I finally experienced Koreans freely belly laughing and being, well, kinda like me and my friends when we get together. I enjoyed watching.
I must say that without Yeong Min (young girl, 26), I wouldn't have been nearly as comfortable. Her English ability is pretty good and we have a lot of fun together. She understand my silly sense of humour better than many Koreans. Anyway, both of us are much younger than everyone else, so we stay under the radar a bit and just observe the festivities.
The funniest thing? One of the women took the microphone in the NoRaeBang, put it between her legs and proceeded to hump the air and other women in a very comical way. I saw a whole different side of Korea, let me tell you! Demure and subservient, my ass! These women are, no doubt, the kings of their castles.
___________________________________________________
Guess who made it onto the Boseong Volleyball Association's webpage? THIS GIRL!!
Check me out!
Don't worry if you can't read anything. Just scroll to the bottom of the page. You can't miss me, I kinda stick out like a sore thumb. The girl right before me is Yeong Min.
___________________________________________________
I forgot to tell y'all aboot the first ever Jeollanamdo Book Club Meeting. It was, in a word, ARSOME. I showed up a bit late, but there was still plenty of food and wine to be had. There were about 8 girls (no guys were brave enough...or literate enough?). We just sat around all afternoon and evening chatting about girl things. Some serious, some hilarious. Oh yeah, and we did talk about the book, for at least a half hour :P.
The book was called "The Girls" by Canadian Author Lori Lansens. All in all, I think it's a worthwhile read. It's about a pair of conjoined twins who grew up in a fictional small town in Southwestern Ontario. It was actually kinda fun to read a book where I recognized the area. There was even mention of the Museum of Archeology in London, which was actually pretty close to my apartment there. It's written as a kind of memoir by one of the twins, with the occasional chapter written by the other twin. An interesting concept.
Our next books are "running with scissors" and "prodigal summer" (which I happened to buy in Seoul in what I can only assumed to be a bout of supernatural prescience).
__________________________________________________
I've been doing quite a bit of baking recently, preparing for the Christmas festivities. I had kinda forgotten how nice it was to spend some time baking cookies...it's been a while. I think the most satisfying things about it are a) the smell of my apartment and b) watching other people eat my food. Koreans don't really ever eat homemade cookies because they generally don't have ovens. I brought some to school last week and to volleyball today. They either really like them or are good liers :P
Well, it's just about time for another awesome weekend! I hope this episode finds everyone well!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Playing Chicken with Umbrellas (v2.0)
It’s raining today, and to be honest, my Canadian girl senses are quite insulted. The only wisp of snow this year was 2 weeks ago, and it was fleeting at best. By this time last year we had already had 3 snows days! I made Bonhomme, a Canadian snowman in Korea. I was hoping to resurrect him this year but noooooooooo! The temperature refuses to drop below zero. *sigh* at least I won’t spend as much money on heat.
Anyway, considering the rain, I decided not to ride my motorbike to school. Let’s face it, having a soggy ass is no way to start the day. Whenever I walk to school I inevitably pass crowds of middle school boys, whose school is in front of my apartment. On days like today, however, they aren’t really crowds of boys, so much as enormous umbrella monsters. I seem to be one of the only people who holds an umbrella in such a way so as NOT to impede my vision. Convenient, no? I spend my time trying to guess which way they are going to go, or if I’m going to have to yield to them. Mind you, yielding usually mean stepping into traffic (an action which bears its own risks, no doubt). Most of the time I concede to simply raise my umbrella slightly to avoid hitting theirs. Other times I’m forced to step off the sidewalk and grumble in their general direction. I suppose being a foreigner puts me outside their rules of rank whereby they would be obliged to give me a wide berth (and possibly bow) due to my superior age and position in society. :D Hmmm, I have to admit that they usually do give me a wide berth, but certainly not out of respect. I call it fear, or at least slight discomfort. “If we don’t go near the white girl, then she won’t try to talk to us.” Don’t worry, one gets used to it!
_______________________________________________________
I love this country, mostly because of the people I have had the pleasure and honour to meet. The latest example of the endless Korean kindness is from yesterday. The teacher in my Tuesday morning workshop decided that instead of sitting in a cold, smelly room, we would go out for lunch for our last workshop. w00t! We were also joined by the two teachers from my Wednesday morning workshop, which is why I am now free to write the blog (for the 2nd time).
Anyway, we all piled into a car, 5 women and 1 man. I told him he was a lucky guy. We ate lunch at the Green Tea Plantation Restaurant and then went to a different place for some green tea. Deeeeelish! During lulls in the conversation, the teachers sometimes lapsed into Korean, which I didn’t mind. Little did I know they were discussing a Christmas present for me! Before I knew it, one of the women had bought and presented me with some very high quality green tea. She did this right in front of me and I didn’t even notice. I’m so clueless! All in all, they bought me lunch and didn’t let me pay and then bought me a present! I guess I’m the lucky one, eh?
______________________________________________________
Tales From Volleyball
Anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t get angry very often, but I do get frustrated, especially when there’s something that I can’t understand or learn in a relatively short period of time. Anyone who has witnessed “frustrated nessie” knows that she’s not fun to be around (ask my high school teachers). I believe my mom used to call her “Vanessa’s Evil Twin”, which naturally ticked me off even more. I love you mom, and guaranteed I’ll do the same thing to my children.
A few of the nasty characteristics of Frustrated Nessie are relentless biting sarcasm, impatience (both for myself and others), and a closed mind (no criticism allowed!!). All of these things are not good to have in Korea. Allow me to explain…
Volleyball is wonderful. I’m improving pretty well, but this week has been a bit tough so far. Why? Well, I’ve been pushed outside my comfort zone to do things that I didn’t think I could do (and therefore didn’t want to). Don’t get me wrong, I know that this is a good thing for me, and trust me, I like a good challenge, but it was the circumstances (namely the language barrier) which made it a little difficult. On Monday the challenge was spiking. I know I can’t do it, and I also know that the reason is because I’ve never learned how. Learning it in Korean makes it that much harder. I try, coach yells. That’s how it works. There’s a lot of yelling. Naturally, I don’t know what he’s saying, so all I hear is loud voices. Also, Koreans tend to not show facial expressions as much as I do, so it’s hard to read his emotions while he’s yelling. Enter Frustrated Nessie. I’ve got this Korean dude yelling at me to do something, but I don’t know what. My face turns bright red and I try not to yell back. That would be a biiiiiiiig no-no. Never mind the fact that, according to Korean social structure I am inferior to him in every way – young, female, a beginner player – but I am also foreign, which I think puts me right at the bottom. All I was thinking was “hold your tongue, don’t say anything, just smile and nod.” I at least managed the nod, but smiling was out of the question.
I finally realized that sometimes he yelled the same thing: “Gruhchi!” and that actually means “Good Job” or “That’s Right”. All in all, I learned a bit, but it will be a long time before I can actually spike a v-ball properly.
Anyway, considering the rain, I decided not to ride my motorbike to school. Let’s face it, having a soggy ass is no way to start the day. Whenever I walk to school I inevitably pass crowds of middle school boys, whose school is in front of my apartment. On days like today, however, they aren’t really crowds of boys, so much as enormous umbrella monsters. I seem to be one of the only people who holds an umbrella in such a way so as NOT to impede my vision. Convenient, no? I spend my time trying to guess which way they are going to go, or if I’m going to have to yield to them. Mind you, yielding usually mean stepping into traffic (an action which bears its own risks, no doubt). Most of the time I concede to simply raise my umbrella slightly to avoid hitting theirs. Other times I’m forced to step off the sidewalk and grumble in their general direction. I suppose being a foreigner puts me outside their rules of rank whereby they would be obliged to give me a wide berth (and possibly bow) due to my superior age and position in society. :D Hmmm, I have to admit that they usually do give me a wide berth, but certainly not out of respect. I call it fear, or at least slight discomfort. “If we don’t go near the white girl, then she won’t try to talk to us.” Don’t worry, one gets used to it!
_______________________________________________________
I love this country, mostly because of the people I have had the pleasure and honour to meet. The latest example of the endless Korean kindness is from yesterday. The teacher in my Tuesday morning workshop decided that instead of sitting in a cold, smelly room, we would go out for lunch for our last workshop. w00t! We were also joined by the two teachers from my Wednesday morning workshop, which is why I am now free to write the blog (for the 2nd time).
Anyway, we all piled into a car, 5 women and 1 man. I told him he was a lucky guy. We ate lunch at the Green Tea Plantation Restaurant and then went to a different place for some green tea. Deeeeelish! During lulls in the conversation, the teachers sometimes lapsed into Korean, which I didn’t mind. Little did I know they were discussing a Christmas present for me! Before I knew it, one of the women had bought and presented me with some very high quality green tea. She did this right in front of me and I didn’t even notice. I’m so clueless! All in all, they bought me lunch and didn’t let me pay and then bought me a present! I guess I’m the lucky one, eh?
______________________________________________________
Tales From Volleyball
Anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t get angry very often, but I do get frustrated, especially when there’s something that I can’t understand or learn in a relatively short period of time. Anyone who has witnessed “frustrated nessie” knows that she’s not fun to be around (ask my high school teachers). I believe my mom used to call her “Vanessa’s Evil Twin”, which naturally ticked me off even more. I love you mom, and guaranteed I’ll do the same thing to my children.
A few of the nasty characteristics of Frustrated Nessie are relentless biting sarcasm, impatience (both for myself and others), and a closed mind (no criticism allowed!!). All of these things are not good to have in Korea. Allow me to explain…
Volleyball is wonderful. I’m improving pretty well, but this week has been a bit tough so far. Why? Well, I’ve been pushed outside my comfort zone to do things that I didn’t think I could do (and therefore didn’t want to). Don’t get me wrong, I know that this is a good thing for me, and trust me, I like a good challenge, but it was the circumstances (namely the language barrier) which made it a little difficult. On Monday the challenge was spiking. I know I can’t do it, and I also know that the reason is because I’ve never learned how. Learning it in Korean makes it that much harder. I try, coach yells. That’s how it works. There’s a lot of yelling. Naturally, I don’t know what he’s saying, so all I hear is loud voices. Also, Koreans tend to not show facial expressions as much as I do, so it’s hard to read his emotions while he’s yelling. Enter Frustrated Nessie. I’ve got this Korean dude yelling at me to do something, but I don’t know what. My face turns bright red and I try not to yell back. That would be a biiiiiiiig no-no. Never mind the fact that, according to Korean social structure I am inferior to him in every way – young, female, a beginner player – but I am also foreign, which I think puts me right at the bottom. All I was thinking was “hold your tongue, don’t say anything, just smile and nod.” I at least managed the nod, but smiling was out of the question.
I finally realized that sometimes he yelled the same thing: “Gruhchi!” and that actually means “Good Job” or “That’s Right”. All in all, I learned a bit, but it will be a long time before I can actually spike a v-ball properly.
Friday, December 08, 2006
"Only in Korea"
It's not yet 9 in the morning and already, I've had an eventful day. First off, instead of being roused from sleep by the interminably annoying beep of my alarm, I was prematurely awoken by the ringing of my phone. At 6am, one of the teachers from my workshop decided it would be a good idea to call me. Even though my mind was cloudy with sleep two questions were running through my mind...a) How did he get my home phone number (not my cell) and b) WTF?!?!?!
I mean honestly. Who does that? I guess I should mention why he called... this teacher is in my Wednesday afternoon workshop. He asked me to come to his school's festival and I told him I would check my schedule and get back to him on Thursday or Friday. Well, bless his soul I guess he was just too eager to find out the answer and called me AFTER Thursday but BEFORE Friday. Can't really hold a grudge against him for that now, can I?
After my morning grooming routine I headed to school and arrived to find a enormous brown box in my desk. Straight from the motherland. My face must've lit up like a Christmas tree because the teacher across from me was giggling. I'm not ashamed to admit that I physically hugged the box and caressed it a little. Thanks Family!
So, that about catches us up on my day today, but let's now take a few moments to delve into the past, as it has been quite some time since I updated. Let's rewind almost 3 weeks to a weekend in Seoul.... *wavy dream lines*
Well, the trip started with an uncomfortable 5 hour bus ride. We had the misfortune to be stuck on a regular intercity bus for the duration of the trip (instead of an express comfy bus). These buses are actually quite nice for a short trip, but fill it up with lots of people at the end of a work day and only let us out once in 5 hours...it turns into a hotbox of gross smell and tension. Anyway, we planned to arrive early evening, but we didn't take into consideration the Friday evening traffic, so we rolled in around 9:30. Our first destination was Itaewon, which is a very "Western" area of the city, built up mostly for the American GI's. I equate it with Torguta, the port city from Pirates of the Caribbean where there's filth and bar fights and whores. I had been there before almost a year ago with Bobbi and Carol, but it was during the day. Man is it different when the lights go out. We quickly found a place to stay. Three of us in one tiny room. The bed was built for two, but there wasn't enough room for one of us to sleep on the floor, so we ended up sleeping three on the bed, sideways. Think of the three stooges. That was us (me Carol and Mel)...stooges. Anyway, after getting a room we headed out to find some food. We came across a Canadian Bar called the Rockey Mountain Tavern and decided it was fate. Oh mercy it was fantastic. Not only was the entire place decked out in Canadian paraphernalia, but they also had....wait for it.... MOOSEHEAD!! *drools*. It was expensive, but so worth it. Oh man. Awesome.
The next day we woke up and started shopping. The place had literally transformed over night. What was a dark, prostitute-littered, drunken yelling-filled cesspool was now a vibrant, lively shopping district filled with all types of faces - white, black, asian, indian. It was great. The highlight for me was the used book store, at which we would've spent more time if our stomaches weren't grumbling with hunger. *sigh* We will meet again, book store, we will meet again.
In the afternoon we went to a different area called Insadong. It was much more traditionally Korean with lots of little shops harbouring souvenir-ish things. We had indian food for dinner and while the Chai Tea was more than disappointing, the Samosa made up for it. Insadong reminded me of Niagara on the Lake (at least my memory of it. Who knows what it's like now). The streets where bricked and not paved, traffic is shut down on Saturdays, people just walk around visiting stalls and window shopping. It was very culturally alive. We stayed in a much nicer hotel this time...no hookers to contend with. Late at night I was pretty much a zombie, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to DongDaeMun...an outside market and shopping mall that was open until 5am. NUTTY! We strolled the stalls along the streets and found some interesting things. I bought a new pair of glasses (only frames) for a cool $5. Sweet! they are blue with wide arms and the arms have a blue and white checked pattern.
After the 5 hour bus fiasco, we decided to treat ourselves to a train-ride home on Sunday. It was mighty relaxing. All in all, a wonderful weekend in the big city. One more interesting tidbit from the weekend:
When we were taking a taxi, the driver offered us a piece of gum. I was already chewing gum so I said "isseoyo" which means "I have it". He looked at me funny and then asked me, in korean, where I was living. I told him Jeollanamdo. Even through my foreigner's accent he could tell that I didn't learn to speak Korean in Seoul. I'm effectively learning "hick" Korean down in the south country.
Anyway, that's about it for my Weekend in Seoul..let's fast-forward to last weekend...and the party in Mokpo...*dream squiggles*
The event: Maura's brithday
The style: 1920's murder mystery
The character: Dina Diva
that's right folks, we had a full-out murder mystery party and I got the role of the lounge singer-turned actress. Parfait, non? Before I talk about the actual party it's time for...
I mean honestly. Who does that? I guess I should mention why he called... this teacher is in my Wednesday afternoon workshop. He asked me to come to his school's festival and I told him I would check my schedule and get back to him on Thursday or Friday. Well, bless his soul I guess he was just too eager to find out the answer and called me AFTER Thursday but BEFORE Friday. Can't really hold a grudge against him for that now, can I?
After my morning grooming routine I headed to school and arrived to find a enormous brown box in my desk. Straight from the motherland. My face must've lit up like a Christmas tree because the teacher across from me was giggling. I'm not ashamed to admit that I physically hugged the box and caressed it a little. Thanks Family!
So, that about catches us up on my day today, but let's now take a few moments to delve into the past, as it has been quite some time since I updated. Let's rewind almost 3 weeks to a weekend in Seoul.... *wavy dream lines*
Well, the trip started with an uncomfortable 5 hour bus ride. We had the misfortune to be stuck on a regular intercity bus for the duration of the trip (instead of an express comfy bus). These buses are actually quite nice for a short trip, but fill it up with lots of people at the end of a work day and only let us out once in 5 hours...it turns into a hotbox of gross smell and tension. Anyway, we planned to arrive early evening, but we didn't take into consideration the Friday evening traffic, so we rolled in around 9:30. Our first destination was Itaewon, which is a very "Western" area of the city, built up mostly for the American GI's. I equate it with Torguta, the port city from Pirates of the Caribbean where there's filth and bar fights and whores. I had been there before almost a year ago with Bobbi and Carol, but it was during the day. Man is it different when the lights go out. We quickly found a place to stay. Three of us in one tiny room. The bed was built for two, but there wasn't enough room for one of us to sleep on the floor, so we ended up sleeping three on the bed, sideways. Think of the three stooges. That was us (me Carol and Mel)...stooges. Anyway, after getting a room we headed out to find some food. We came across a Canadian Bar called the Rockey Mountain Tavern and decided it was fate. Oh mercy it was fantastic. Not only was the entire place decked out in Canadian paraphernalia, but they also had....wait for it.... MOOSEHEAD!! *drools*. It was expensive, but so worth it. Oh man. Awesome.
The next day we woke up and started shopping. The place had literally transformed over night. What was a dark, prostitute-littered, drunken yelling-filled cesspool was now a vibrant, lively shopping district filled with all types of faces - white, black, asian, indian. It was great. The highlight for me was the used book store, at which we would've spent more time if our stomaches weren't grumbling with hunger. *sigh* We will meet again, book store, we will meet again.
In the afternoon we went to a different area called Insadong. It was much more traditionally Korean with lots of little shops harbouring souvenir-ish things. We had indian food for dinner and while the Chai Tea was more than disappointing, the Samosa made up for it. Insadong reminded me of Niagara on the Lake (at least my memory of it. Who knows what it's like now). The streets where bricked and not paved, traffic is shut down on Saturdays, people just walk around visiting stalls and window shopping. It was very culturally alive. We stayed in a much nicer hotel this time...no hookers to contend with. Late at night I was pretty much a zombie, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to DongDaeMun...an outside market and shopping mall that was open until 5am. NUTTY! We strolled the stalls along the streets and found some interesting things. I bought a new pair of glasses (only frames) for a cool $5. Sweet! they are blue with wide arms and the arms have a blue and white checked pattern.
After the 5 hour bus fiasco, we decided to treat ourselves to a train-ride home on Sunday. It was mighty relaxing. All in all, a wonderful weekend in the big city. One more interesting tidbit from the weekend:
When we were taking a taxi, the driver offered us a piece of gum. I was already chewing gum so I said "isseoyo" which means "I have it". He looked at me funny and then asked me, in korean, where I was living. I told him Jeollanamdo. Even through my foreigner's accent he could tell that I didn't learn to speak Korean in Seoul. I'm effectively learning "hick" Korean down in the south country.
Anyway, that's about it for my Weekend in Seoul..let's fast-forward to last weekend...and the party in Mokpo...*dream squiggles*
The event: Maura's brithday
The style: 1920's murder mystery
The character: Dina Diva
that's right folks, we had a full-out murder mystery party and I got the role of the lounge singer-turned actress. Parfait, non? Before I talk about the actual party it's time for...
Korean Hair Salon Misadventures
This is what I was going for:
Moving on. The party. Amazing. There were tons of characters there. I was the diva, there were many gangsters, a private dick, coppers, the mayor and his wife, bartenders, flappers, etc, etc. I somehow picked up a southern accent (although it was set in chicago). I think it was reminiscent of the last time i did a murder mystery. [O-Week 2003. Noah and I were a white-trash couple from the deep south. Heck Yeah!!] I even sang a little ditty at some point (after the murder). Big props to Mary and Crystal for organising the party and thanks also to Shannon and Richard for hosting. It was, dare I say it, the Cat's Meow.
This coming weekend marks an historic event: The first ever meeting of the Jeollanamdo Book Club. w00t! You'll be hearing about that!
Thank you for reading and have a happy day!
Thursday, November 23, 2006
I'm no culinary goddess, but...
gotta type fast tonight. I just hopped myself up on good ol' Nyquil (to stop the assortment of symptoms that they painfully list off in their commercials - "sniffling, sneezing, coughing, spewing etc etc") so I figure I have between a half hour and 45 minutes before I drop like pants at a poker game.
so, about my most recent culinary experience - as the title suggests, I inflicted it on myself. Let me begin by saying that lately, I've not had the best diet in the world. Why? Pure laziness. I'm too lazy to cook anything half-decent for myself so I habitually eat things that are about 1/4 decent. Thank goodness I eat lunch at my school. Anyway, with a bothersome cold (not terrible, just annoying), I've been craving the hot soup, but instant Ramien noodles (think Mr Noodles, but spicy) just doesn't cut it. I've been told on more than one occasion that soup is the easiest thing to make, you just throw whatever you want into a pot and boil it. I decided to test this theory. I will say this - if the Koreans can throw a bunch of little clams in hot water and call THAT soup, then I can't do much worse.
The verdict...not bad, not bad at all. Actually, it was a lot more pleasant than I expected. I had a couple of chicken soup stock packs, so I through those in. The other ingredients included onion, potato, carrot, garlic, egg and Korean noodles called su-je-bi (surprisingly, NOT rice-based). Anyway, the only complaint I would make is that it was a little bland. Other than that, it was delightful. Things it was notably missing: chicken (bones and meat), celery and dill (Sari I miss your soup!!!).
Maybe there's hope for me yet!
_________________________________________________________
Today/yesterday (nov 22) is/was my Mom's birthday.
She's awesome.
I just need to type that so that all my readers can understand. AWESOME! She makes 54 look good. I wanna be like her when I grow up (if that ever happens).
__________________________________________________________
The other day at volleyball I saw the awesomest ass grab ever. Now, the guys get patted on the ass (by the guys) quite often. I don't see any of that action. I could go for a nice pat-and-rub combo...it's comforting. Anyway, SamChon (uncle, maybe 35) walks on court to play and he walks up to Chong Hyeon (young guy, 25) and fully pats and rubs his butt. Then, seeing that I can see, he gives it a hefty grab-and-squeeze. At this, Chong Hyeon wheels around to see who it is and catches my eye. He knows I saw the whole thing, blushes and gives SamChon a "WTF?" look. gotta love it.
_______________________________________________________
Last weekend, three of my girls came to stay with me Friday night - Mary Katherine, Carol and Mel. Friday night was an awesome slumber party and then Saturday I introduced them to a few of Boseong's tourist attractions (there are a few!!).
One of the pearls of wisdom we discovered during our Friday night talk was the following:
Things you should not put in you mouth
1. Fire
2. Road Rocks
3. Feet
4. Pocket lint
5. Acorns
If you can think of anything else please feel free to let me know!
First thing Saturday morning we headed to the Green Tea Spa where we whiled away 3 hours, alternating between soaking in one of 4 tubs (hot green tea, hot water, lukewarm water and cold water), the sauna and getting scrubbed by a stout Korean woman. It was fantastic in so many ways. After that we headed to the Greean Tea Fields where we had a yummy lunch. The last stop of the day was the pottery place that I mentioned in my previous post. Here we spent a few hours crafting all sorts of cool things.
All in all, the weekend was awesome..mostly because of the company!
Now, here are some pictures:
This is part of the view on my way to school everyday.
Here's my schoolioolio. All schools in Korea look pretty much the same.
Carol's masterpiece. Really good for a first go at it!
My creations the second time around. two tea light candle holders, a heart-shaped box with a lid and a bowl.
Yu Kyoung hard a work!
And last, but not least...The bowl/mug! in all its glory!
Ah, I think the Nyquil's kickin' in....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
so, about my most recent culinary experience - as the title suggests, I inflicted it on myself. Let me begin by saying that lately, I've not had the best diet in the world. Why? Pure laziness. I'm too lazy to cook anything half-decent for myself so I habitually eat things that are about 1/4 decent. Thank goodness I eat lunch at my school. Anyway, with a bothersome cold (not terrible, just annoying), I've been craving the hot soup, but instant Ramien noodles (think Mr Noodles, but spicy) just doesn't cut it. I've been told on more than one occasion that soup is the easiest thing to make, you just throw whatever you want into a pot and boil it. I decided to test this theory. I will say this - if the Koreans can throw a bunch of little clams in hot water and call THAT soup, then I can't do much worse.
The verdict...not bad, not bad at all. Actually, it was a lot more pleasant than I expected. I had a couple of chicken soup stock packs, so I through those in. The other ingredients included onion, potato, carrot, garlic, egg and Korean noodles called su-je-bi (surprisingly, NOT rice-based). Anyway, the only complaint I would make is that it was a little bland. Other than that, it was delightful. Things it was notably missing: chicken (bones and meat), celery and dill (Sari I miss your soup!!!).
Maybe there's hope for me yet!
_________________________________________________________
Today/yesterday (nov 22) is/was my Mom's birthday.
She's awesome.
I just need to type that so that all my readers can understand. AWESOME! She makes 54 look good. I wanna be like her when I grow up (if that ever happens).
__________________________________________________________
The other day at volleyball I saw the awesomest ass grab ever. Now, the guys get patted on the ass (by the guys) quite often. I don't see any of that action. I could go for a nice pat-and-rub combo...it's comforting. Anyway, SamChon (uncle, maybe 35) walks on court to play and he walks up to Chong Hyeon (young guy, 25) and fully pats and rubs his butt. Then, seeing that I can see, he gives it a hefty grab-and-squeeze. At this, Chong Hyeon wheels around to see who it is and catches my eye. He knows I saw the whole thing, blushes and gives SamChon a "WTF?" look. gotta love it.
_______________________________________________________
Last weekend, three of my girls came to stay with me Friday night - Mary Katherine, Carol and Mel. Friday night was an awesome slumber party and then Saturday I introduced them to a few of Boseong's tourist attractions (there are a few!!).
One of the pearls of wisdom we discovered during our Friday night talk was the following:
Things you should not put in you mouth
1. Fire
2. Road Rocks
3. Feet
4. Pocket lint
5. Acorns
If you can think of anything else please feel free to let me know!
First thing Saturday morning we headed to the Green Tea Spa where we whiled away 3 hours, alternating between soaking in one of 4 tubs (hot green tea, hot water, lukewarm water and cold water), the sauna and getting scrubbed by a stout Korean woman. It was fantastic in so many ways. After that we headed to the Greean Tea Fields where we had a yummy lunch. The last stop of the day was the pottery place that I mentioned in my previous post. Here we spent a few hours crafting all sorts of cool things.
All in all, the weekend was awesome..mostly because of the company!
Now, here are some pictures:
This is part of the view on my way to school everyday.
Here's my schoolioolio. All schools in Korea look pretty much the same.
Carol's masterpiece. Really good for a first go at it!
My creations the second time around. two tea light candle holders, a heart-shaped box with a lid and a bowl.
Yu Kyoung hard a work!
And last, but not least...The bowl/mug! in all its glory!
Ah, I think the Nyquil's kickin' in....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
I made a bowl/mug!
Hello!
That's right! A bowl/mug! Park Seon Ae, a fabulous woman from my Tuesday afternoon teacher workshop, took me to a nearby Pottery ...uh...farm? factory? palace?... where we proceeded to mould clay earth with our bare hands. Now, it was nothing like that famous scene from Ghost; there was no Unchained Melody, no Patrick Swayze and no sweet, sweet lovemaking...but it was still quite fun!
The lady at the place asked me what I wanted to make and I said a cup or a bowl. The end product looked like a bowl and a mug had a baby and said baby was horribly deformed. It was like the mule of pottery. Actually, I equate it to Quasimodo... unique and loveable, but oddly disfigured. I'm quite proud of it. I don't have a picture of it now, as they have to keep it there to fire it (as in cook, not like The Donald), but rest assured that as soon as they deliver it, I'm going to have a photoshoot so you can all feast your eyes on its majesty.
___________________________________________________________
Useless drivel that keeps me from actually doing any work:
Here is a list of fun/weird/disturbing ringtones that are automatically programmed into my cellphone :
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Every Breath You Take
Love Me Do
Right Here Right Now
Mambo No. 5
Dream a little dream of Me
She's So High
Uptown Girl
YMCA
Happy Together
Jinglebell Rock
Step by Step (NKoTB!!)
Hangin' Tough! (NKoTB!!)
Surfin' USA
Sing Sing Sing
Singin in the Rain
I left my Heart in San Fransisco
Please Mr Postman
The Greatest Love
I Love Rock and Roll
Super Freak
We Will Rock You
Lady Marmalade
That's right! A bowl/mug! Park Seon Ae, a fabulous woman from my Tuesday afternoon teacher workshop, took me to a nearby Pottery ...uh...farm? factory? palace?... where we proceeded to mould clay earth with our bare hands. Now, it was nothing like that famous scene from Ghost; there was no Unchained Melody, no Patrick Swayze and no sweet, sweet lovemaking...but it was still quite fun!
The lady at the place asked me what I wanted to make and I said a cup or a bowl. The end product looked like a bowl and a mug had a baby and said baby was horribly deformed. It was like the mule of pottery. Actually, I equate it to Quasimodo... unique and loveable, but oddly disfigured. I'm quite proud of it. I don't have a picture of it now, as they have to keep it there to fire it (as in cook, not like The Donald), but rest assured that as soon as they deliver it, I'm going to have a photoshoot so you can all feast your eyes on its majesty.
___________________________________________________________
Useless drivel that keeps me from actually doing any work:
Here is a list of fun/weird/disturbing ringtones that are automatically programmed into my cellphone :
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Every Breath You Take
Love Me Do
Right Here Right Now
Mambo No. 5
Dream a little dream of Me
She's So High
Uptown Girl
YMCA
Happy Together
Jinglebell Rock
Step by Step (NKoTB!!)
Hangin' Tough! (NKoTB!!)
Surfin' USA
Sing Sing Sing
Singin in the Rain
I left my Heart in San Fransisco
Please Mr Postman
The Greatest Love
I Love Rock and Roll
Super Freak
We Will Rock You
Lady Marmalade
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Muryoro Anah Deurimnida!!
This translates to: FREE HUGS!!!
Where: Downtown Suncheon
The Crew: Carol (insitgator), Mel, Juliann (Mel's Korean Student), a slew of Carol's boy students, Mary Katherine, Vanessa S., Nina, Virginia, Lana, Bryce, Kristin, Nancy and myself.
Why? Watch this video:
Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)
After seeing this video on YouTube, Carol became inspired to do this in her Korean city of Suncheon. So, armed with signs and bigs smiles, we headed out to the downtown shopping area to distribute our free hugs.
Now, I should tell you, Koreans aren't really huggy people. They bow, they handshake, but for the most part, hugs are not in their interactive vocabulary. This has been one of the aspects of Canadian life that I miss the most. I love hugs...giving and receiving. In this one afternoon (about 3 hours), I more than made up for my 15 months of hug-celibacy.
To be honest, I'm sure that I got more strange looks than I did hugs, but it didn't matter. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing...it was so therapeutic. I hugged old women, young children, lots of students and some very confused looking men. Some people kept coming back for more. Some people would walk by, look scared, then they'd come back because they had changed their minds and wanted in on the free hugs.
There was a video camera going to catch the love and hopefully, once Kristin finishes the edit, I'm going to post it on here, but until then, here are a couple of pictures:
Some funny situations:
Children running away screaming.
Shop owners looking out at us with disapproval, but then us winnig them over with a nice hug.
People giving us a wide berth to avoid the hugs.
Old women patting my bum.
The "cold fish" hug. This is when the person just stands there and has no idea what to do.
Here's a description of the best hug that happened:
A Korean (let's say a young woman), is walking towards me as I'm holding my sign. At first, she looks confused, then skeptical. Suddenly, her eyes brighten, a big smile spreads across her face and she actually runs into my arms and gives me a great, big hug. Oh mercy.
I can't even describe fully how good this afternoon made me feel. I want to thank Carol and give her many, many cudos for having the gumption (yes...GUMPTION) to organise something like this in a very foreign country. I hope that our effots brought a little bit of light into some peoples lives, if only for a short while. I know it will stay with me for a long time.
__________________________________________________________
In other news, my school finally got me my new washing machine!! w00t. It's a beautiful thing. It's about twice as big as my old one and it purrs like a kitten (not really, but you get the idea). I never thought I'd actually be excited to do laundry!!
Along the "home improvements" front, all the units in my building all got new cupboards in the kitchen and a new sink. Holy Heck!! What's going on?! They do look quite a lot nicer than the old (REALLY old) ones, and there's a bit more cupboard space too. Unfortunately this surprise has a few drawbacks that keep me from fully enjoying it. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I think you all agree that the following points would kinda burst your bubbles too:
I walked into the working dudes smoking in my apt. smelly!
One of the new drawers has no handle to open it.
My new sink leaks.
They unplugged my fridge and didn't plug it back in and didn't tell me. I realised this the following morning.
*sigh* Ah well, it happens. Thanks for the new kitchen, Korea!
_________________________________________________________
Last week my workload picked up significantly, which resulted in my body screaming "WTF?!?" by the time Friday rolled around. To be perfectly honest, it's not any heavier than the work schedules of you folks in Canader (in fact, it's prolly still less), but I've become accustomed to f-ing around on the computer during my free periods at school. Well, until the end of this semester, MSN and YouTube are going to have to take a back seat to "the real world". You see, I agreed to do an after school class for some students. The pay is pretty good and I finish at 5:20, so it's not so bad. I also do a regular extra class during the school day (as do almost all the teachers I know). Anyway, these extra classes radically change my lesson planning regime. Without them, I have to plan a whopping ONE lesson per week, plus teacher workshop activities. The reason for this extremely light prep schedule is that I teach all of my student classes (all 9 of them) the same thing. Each extra class I do needs its own lesson, so, that bumps my prep time to 7 lessons per week plus teacher workshops. I'm not all that good at math, but I think that's a 700% increase in busyness. I like being busy (I get more done that way), so bring it on!! (Just let me complain a little if I'm tired, ok?)
Right now it's Sunday, it's 1:33pm and I'm still in my PJ's listening to David Bowie. Life is good!
Where: Downtown Suncheon
The Crew: Carol (insitgator), Mel, Juliann (Mel's Korean Student), a slew of Carol's boy students, Mary Katherine, Vanessa S., Nina, Virginia, Lana, Bryce, Kristin, Nancy and myself.
Why? Watch this video:
Free Hugs Campaign. Inspiring Story! (music by sick puppies)
After seeing this video on YouTube, Carol became inspired to do this in her Korean city of Suncheon. So, armed with signs and bigs smiles, we headed out to the downtown shopping area to distribute our free hugs.
Now, I should tell you, Koreans aren't really huggy people. They bow, they handshake, but for the most part, hugs are not in their interactive vocabulary. This has been one of the aspects of Canadian life that I miss the most. I love hugs...giving and receiving. In this one afternoon (about 3 hours), I more than made up for my 15 months of hug-celibacy.
To be honest, I'm sure that I got more strange looks than I did hugs, but it didn't matter. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing...it was so therapeutic. I hugged old women, young children, lots of students and some very confused looking men. Some people kept coming back for more. Some people would walk by, look scared, then they'd come back because they had changed their minds and wanted in on the free hugs.
There was a video camera going to catch the love and hopefully, once Kristin finishes the edit, I'm going to post it on here, but until then, here are a couple of pictures:
Some funny situations:
Children running away screaming.
Shop owners looking out at us with disapproval, but then us winnig them over with a nice hug.
People giving us a wide berth to avoid the hugs.
Old women patting my bum.
The "cold fish" hug. This is when the person just stands there and has no idea what to do.
Here's a description of the best hug that happened:
A Korean (let's say a young woman), is walking towards me as I'm holding my sign. At first, she looks confused, then skeptical. Suddenly, her eyes brighten, a big smile spreads across her face and she actually runs into my arms and gives me a great, big hug. Oh mercy.
I can't even describe fully how good this afternoon made me feel. I want to thank Carol and give her many, many cudos for having the gumption (yes...GUMPTION) to organise something like this in a very foreign country. I hope that our effots brought a little bit of light into some peoples lives, if only for a short while. I know it will stay with me for a long time.
__________________________________________________________
In other news, my school finally got me my new washing machine!! w00t. It's a beautiful thing. It's about twice as big as my old one and it purrs like a kitten (not really, but you get the idea). I never thought I'd actually be excited to do laundry!!
Along the "home improvements" front, all the units in my building all got new cupboards in the kitchen and a new sink. Holy Heck!! What's going on?! They do look quite a lot nicer than the old (REALLY old) ones, and there's a bit more cupboard space too. Unfortunately this surprise has a few drawbacks that keep me from fully enjoying it. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I think you all agree that the following points would kinda burst your bubbles too:
I walked into the working dudes smoking in my apt. smelly!
One of the new drawers has no handle to open it.
My new sink leaks.
They unplugged my fridge and didn't plug it back in and didn't tell me. I realised this the following morning.
*sigh* Ah well, it happens. Thanks for the new kitchen, Korea!
_________________________________________________________
Last week my workload picked up significantly, which resulted in my body screaming "WTF?!?" by the time Friday rolled around. To be perfectly honest, it's not any heavier than the work schedules of you folks in Canader (in fact, it's prolly still less), but I've become accustomed to f-ing around on the computer during my free periods at school. Well, until the end of this semester, MSN and YouTube are going to have to take a back seat to "the real world". You see, I agreed to do an after school class for some students. The pay is pretty good and I finish at 5:20, so it's not so bad. I also do a regular extra class during the school day (as do almost all the teachers I know). Anyway, these extra classes radically change my lesson planning regime. Without them, I have to plan a whopping ONE lesson per week, plus teacher workshop activities. The reason for this extremely light prep schedule is that I teach all of my student classes (all 9 of them) the same thing. Each extra class I do needs its own lesson, so, that bumps my prep time to 7 lessons per week plus teacher workshops. I'm not all that good at math, but I think that's a 700% increase in busyness. I like being busy (I get more done that way), so bring it on!! (Just let me complain a little if I'm tired, ok?)
Right now it's Sunday, it's 1:33pm and I'm still in my PJ's listening to David Bowie. Life is good!
Monday, October 30, 2006
there were ballz flying at my face!
no, I'm not describing my Saturday night at the Halloween party, you sickos - I'm talking about volleyball practice and the aforementioned BALLZ were volleyBALLZ. geez
so yeah, I had volleyball tonight and it was great. To clarify, I'm NOT great at volleyball, in fact, tonight was not one of my most shiningest performances. But, as long as I can still laugh and have fun while sucking, then I'm in! To be honest, tonight I worked the hardest I have yet, I think and I have the bruises and swollen thumbs to prove it. A couple of the men decided to challenge me and Yeong Min, the other young girl, so they just started spiking balls at us really hard. Yeong Min bowed out (understandably), while I loved it. (this is probably the most inadvertently sexual thing I've ever written on the blog. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...but it's kinda funny...) It was reminiscent of the good ol days of playing goalie have having BALLZ repeatedly kicked at my face. *sigh* They couldn't believe that I actually liked it. I guess the harder they push me the more I enjoy the practicing.
Now, about the weekend. Let's start at the beginning...
On Friday, my friend Riann took me to see the Gwangju symphony. Riann is like my big brother in Korea. He's from BC and is super helpful, energetic and kind. He got the tickets from a friend and thought of me because he knows I studied classical music in University. Anyway, he picked me up at 5:30 and we headed to Gwangju for the 7:30 concert. Now, by car, Gwangju is only 1 hour from Boseong however, we forgot to take into account the Friday afternoon traffic rush where all the teachers who work in the countryside are trying to get back to their families. We finally rolled into the music hall at 8pm and missed the first half of the concert. You know what, not a problem because after looking at the program, I realised that the second half (which is usually the "headliner" of the concert) was indeed Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. This piece happens to be one of my most favourite symphonies; I know it backwards and forwards. I was giddy with excitement. The performance was quite good and it made me realise how much I miss my life as a 24/7 musician. I miss playing clarinet next to Christine in orchestra, I miss the sound of instruments tuning. I miss walking down the hallways of the music building and hearing everything from blaring trumpet, to wicked fast piano licks, to screeching sopranos to the interminable plinking of the piano techies tuning away. As much as I've neglected my clarinet lately, the moment I heard the 2 clarinets plaing in harmony at the symphony, my heart sang and I longed for the old days. but enough of the nostalgia...moving on
Saturday, ah Saturday. I spent much of the morning constructing the contraption that would be the key ingredient to my costume. I went as a wind-up doll, so naturally, I need a wind-er to go on my back. Through improvisation and ingeniuty, I managed to not only make a cool wind-er, but it was also fully functional - one could indeed wind me up. I guess you could say I got pretty wound up on Saturday night. (ooooo, terrible). here's what it looked like:
I also brought along my good friend Yu Kyoung. It was her first Halloween ever, and she quite a good job at thinking of a costume. Isn't she the most adorable ever?! (princess Fiona, y'all!)
Anyway, the party was awesome. The costumes were awesome. And there isn't much more to say about it. We arrived in the city of Yeosu around 6pm and met the usual gang at the motel. Let's see...there was myself, Noel, Yu Kyoung, Carol, Mel, Mary Katherine, and Crystal at first. Then lots of other people came. There was pizza and spirits and a whole lotta make-up and sparkles happening.
As always, if you wanna see more pics, click on the link below:
SUPERMEGAWESOME HALLOWEEN PICTURES
so yeah, I had volleyball tonight and it was great. To clarify, I'm NOT great at volleyball, in fact, tonight was not one of my most shiningest performances. But, as long as I can still laugh and have fun while sucking, then I'm in! To be honest, tonight I worked the hardest I have yet, I think and I have the bruises and swollen thumbs to prove it. A couple of the men decided to challenge me and Yeong Min, the other young girl, so they just started spiking balls at us really hard. Yeong Min bowed out (understandably), while I loved it. (this is probably the most inadvertently sexual thing I've ever written on the blog. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...but it's kinda funny...) It was reminiscent of the good ol days of playing goalie have having BALLZ repeatedly kicked at my face. *sigh* They couldn't believe that I actually liked it. I guess the harder they push me the more I enjoy the practicing.
Now, about the weekend. Let's start at the beginning...
On Friday, my friend Riann took me to see the Gwangju symphony. Riann is like my big brother in Korea. He's from BC and is super helpful, energetic and kind. He got the tickets from a friend and thought of me because he knows I studied classical music in University. Anyway, he picked me up at 5:30 and we headed to Gwangju for the 7:30 concert. Now, by car, Gwangju is only 1 hour from Boseong however, we forgot to take into account the Friday afternoon traffic rush where all the teachers who work in the countryside are trying to get back to their families. We finally rolled into the music hall at 8pm and missed the first half of the concert. You know what, not a problem because after looking at the program, I realised that the second half (which is usually the "headliner" of the concert) was indeed Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. This piece happens to be one of my most favourite symphonies; I know it backwards and forwards. I was giddy with excitement. The performance was quite good and it made me realise how much I miss my life as a 24/7 musician. I miss playing clarinet next to Christine in orchestra, I miss the sound of instruments tuning. I miss walking down the hallways of the music building and hearing everything from blaring trumpet, to wicked fast piano licks, to screeching sopranos to the interminable plinking of the piano techies tuning away. As much as I've neglected my clarinet lately, the moment I heard the 2 clarinets plaing in harmony at the symphony, my heart sang and I longed for the old days. but enough of the nostalgia...moving on
Saturday, ah Saturday. I spent much of the morning constructing the contraption that would be the key ingredient to my costume. I went as a wind-up doll, so naturally, I need a wind-er to go on my back. Through improvisation and ingeniuty, I managed to not only make a cool wind-er, but it was also fully functional - one could indeed wind me up. I guess you could say I got pretty wound up on Saturday night. (ooooo, terrible). here's what it looked like:
I also brought along my good friend Yu Kyoung. It was her first Halloween ever, and she quite a good job at thinking of a costume. Isn't she the most adorable ever?! (princess Fiona, y'all!)
Anyway, the party was awesome. The costumes were awesome. And there isn't much more to say about it. We arrived in the city of Yeosu around 6pm and met the usual gang at the motel. Let's see...there was myself, Noel, Yu Kyoung, Carol, Mel, Mary Katherine, and Crystal at first. Then lots of other people came. There was pizza and spirits and a whole lotta make-up and sparkles happening.
As always, if you wanna see more pics, click on the link below:
SUPERMEGAWESOME HALLOWEEN PICTURES
Friday, October 27, 2006
the good kinda busy
we-he-he-hellooooo there!
my goodness a lot has been happening around here in Korealand. Let me expand upon a few of the more tasty morsels...
Volleyball
the new love of my life. About 3 weeks ago I started going to the local volleyball club. It all started when Noel told me about it and said how fun it was. I went with him one day and the rest is history. Being foreign is a good excuse for sucking at something :D. Oh those Canadians! All they can do is play hockey!! (If only they knew). I had to explain that I would often try to kick the ball because I was a soccer player in my home country. I'm tellin' ya, it's a tough habit to break.
Anyway, most of the members are middle aged men and women, but there are a few people in their twenties, particularly a guy name Chong Hyeong and a girl named Yeong Min. Yeong Min is awesome. She's the best English speaker out of the bunch and a good friend now. I've been out drinking a few times with them and it's always a hoot. Last time we went to the no rae bang after getting sufficiently schliquored up. Naturally, the finale song was "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine. Hells yes!
Mary Katherine's Birthday
Last weekend me and my partners in crime (Carol and Mel) headed to Mokpo to celebrate the birthday of one of the coolest peeps I know, Mary Katherine. She's the tall blond girl from the Beijing pics. Friday night was full of hilarity as we hung out at her appartment for a "girlz night". Oh mercy, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was here that I discovered that the other Vanessa (there's actually 3 Vanessa'a that I know of in the province) has similarly hilarious initials to my own. As most of you know, my initials are VCR. Well, hers are VHS. BAAHAHAHAHAHA! This prompted the witty comment from her : "I go in you!!" You do indeed, Vanessa, you do indeed.
Saturday afternoon heralded a wave of change among us girls. We all decided to go into town and change our looks. Carol and I both got our hair chopped off (yes, my hair is short again, but not "buzz cut" short circa 3rd year university.), Mel got her's temporarily straightened and Mary K got hers curled. We looked hot, I'm not gonna lie.
At night was the big birthday bash where a large contingency of foreigners hit the town for some eating and imbibing of spirits. Interestingly enough, we got kicked out of a Korean bar called "Plastic" for no apparent reason. Seriously, I'm not denying responsibility, we were in no way being "obnoxious foreigners". We walked in, sat down ordered drinks and got kicked out. We decided to voice or disapproval to the tune of Happy Birthday Mary, at the top of our lungs outside the restaurant. Take THAT!! The rest of the night was amusing and fun.
Teaching Demo'd!!
Before going to Mokpo last weekend all the foreign teachers in my program gathered for the annual meeting. This year the focus was on teaching demos and sharing lesson plans. Yours truly agreed to do a full 45 minute teaching demonstration in front of her peers. It was, needless to say, slightly nerve wracking, but I completely forgot about the audience after about 5 minutes and just carried on. Truth be told, it was actually fun and my friends tell me that I did a good job. w00t!
Coming soon
This weekend is the big annual Halloween party in Yeosu so prepare yourselves for some awesome pics and hopefully some funny stories!
Pot Pourri
Today I spent my spare time making jack-o-lanterns with my co-teacher. Life is good.
my goodness a lot has been happening around here in Korealand. Let me expand upon a few of the more tasty morsels...
Volleyball
the new love of my life. About 3 weeks ago I started going to the local volleyball club. It all started when Noel told me about it and said how fun it was. I went with him one day and the rest is history. Being foreign is a good excuse for sucking at something :D. Oh those Canadians! All they can do is play hockey!! (If only they knew). I had to explain that I would often try to kick the ball because I was a soccer player in my home country. I'm tellin' ya, it's a tough habit to break.
Anyway, most of the members are middle aged men and women, but there are a few people in their twenties, particularly a guy name Chong Hyeong and a girl named Yeong Min. Yeong Min is awesome. She's the best English speaker out of the bunch and a good friend now. I've been out drinking a few times with them and it's always a hoot. Last time we went to the no rae bang after getting sufficiently schliquored up. Naturally, the finale song was "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine. Hells yes!
Mary Katherine's Birthday
Last weekend me and my partners in crime (Carol and Mel) headed to Mokpo to celebrate the birthday of one of the coolest peeps I know, Mary Katherine. She's the tall blond girl from the Beijing pics. Friday night was full of hilarity as we hung out at her appartment for a "girlz night". Oh mercy, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was here that I discovered that the other Vanessa (there's actually 3 Vanessa'a that I know of in the province) has similarly hilarious initials to my own. As most of you know, my initials are VCR. Well, hers are VHS. BAAHAHAHAHAHA! This prompted the witty comment from her : "I go in you!!" You do indeed, Vanessa, you do indeed.
Saturday afternoon heralded a wave of change among us girls. We all decided to go into town and change our looks. Carol and I both got our hair chopped off (yes, my hair is short again, but not "buzz cut" short circa 3rd year university.), Mel got her's temporarily straightened and Mary K got hers curled. We looked hot, I'm not gonna lie.
At night was the big birthday bash where a large contingency of foreigners hit the town for some eating and imbibing of spirits. Interestingly enough, we got kicked out of a Korean bar called "Plastic" for no apparent reason. Seriously, I'm not denying responsibility, we were in no way being "obnoxious foreigners". We walked in, sat down ordered drinks and got kicked out. We decided to voice or disapproval to the tune of Happy Birthday Mary, at the top of our lungs outside the restaurant. Take THAT!! The rest of the night was amusing and fun.
Teaching Demo'd!!
Before going to Mokpo last weekend all the foreign teachers in my program gathered for the annual meeting. This year the focus was on teaching demos and sharing lesson plans. Yours truly agreed to do a full 45 minute teaching demonstration in front of her peers. It was, needless to say, slightly nerve wracking, but I completely forgot about the audience after about 5 minutes and just carried on. Truth be told, it was actually fun and my friends tell me that I did a good job. w00t!
Coming soon
This weekend is the big annual Halloween party in Yeosu so prepare yourselves for some awesome pics and hopefully some funny stories!
Pot Pourri
Today I spent my spare time making jack-o-lanterns with my co-teacher. Life is good.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Vanessa on the Road: Beijing
Hola!
Before you hunker down to enjoy my latest sojourn, I feel it necessary to warn you that this one is a doozy...take a pee break first (especially you, Bern).
Two weeks ago there was a major holiday in Korea called Chuseok. It falls on August 15th of the lunar calendar (a full moon). This means that it falls on a different day every year. This year, we all lucked out and got a 9 day break. w00t! Here's a the epic story of what I and my good friends did:
Carol, Mel, Mary and myself met in the city of Daegu on Monday night (Oct 2nd) to prepare for our early flight out of Korealand. To our delight, "Love Actually" was playing on the TV in our cheap motel room. It certainly got us in the holiday (christmas) spirit.
Tour Day 1 (Oct 3rd)
After a ridiculously short flight (a mere 2 hours compared with the monstrous 14 hour ordeal from Canada) we landed safely in Beijing to start our whirlwind tour. There were 33 people signed up for the bing cities of Daegu, Busan or Ulsan were the token "country bumpkins".
Meet the tour guide
This is Peter, and his precious flag. Peter is a charming Chinese chap who is, I think, half nerd, half comedian and a whole lotta awesome. After he introduced himself, he introduced us to our green flag (our tour group's beacon of safety). He said we must consider this flag the most beautiful flag in the world. There will many many other flags, but don't get distracted. Ours is the most beautiful and we must follow it no matter what....possible unto our deaths. (*ahem* lemmings *ahem*)
Anyway, Peter was a fountain of knowledge and I learned much more from him than I would have had we travelled alone. He was also sensationally, awkwardly funny. He would plow through jokes and punch lines like he had a quota to reach. The result? hilarity. Seriously, I don't think he knew how funny it really was. God love ya, Pete!
Stop 1 - The Forbidden City
Our first destination was the Forbidden City. My memory is a bit hazy on this one because my senses were on overload. There were so many people. It was very much akin to Chinese New Year in Singapore, only on a much bigger scale. It was a national holiday in China as well as Korea, so tourists flocked from all over. I was certianly thankful for the flag.
Stop 2 - Tian'anmen Square
We walked straight through the Forbidden City, much of which was under construction, then headed into Tian'anmen Square, noted to be the largest public square in the world. I don't doubt it judging from the sheer number of people that could fit in the place.
After a delicious dinner (the food was awesome at every meal), we headed to our hotels as we were all wiped out. We were put up in a newish Holiday Inn which surpassed our wildest imaginations. I think, quite possibly, it was the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. Here are some highlights:
Tour Day 2 (Oct 4th)
Stop 1 - the Jade Factory
On our way to the Big Event, we made a stop at the biggest jade carving joint in the country (possibly the world). It was interesting to learn about the significance of jade in China. Among others things it's a symbol of status, supposedly good for your health if you wear it, and good luck. Naturally, part of the sojourn was to herd us into the government-owned jade shop. Meh! I bought some, it's pretty.
Stop 2 - The Great Wall
We had to travel abour an hour out of the city to get there. Obviously. I mean honestly, who would build a bog wall in the middle of the city? That's just poor planning. Good thing the Chinese are excellent planners! So what's so great about this wall anyway? Let's see, it's as long as the border between Canada and the US, it's really freakin' high, it was built over a mountain range and many parts that I could see were wide enough across so that anywhere from 7 to 20 people could walk abreast. People just don't build stuff like this anymore.
Anyway, the part that we climbed was well maintained as it is a tourist attraction, but there is much of it that's in disrepair (damn you natural elements and passage of time!! You destroy monuments and give me unsightly wrinkles!!). Needless to say, I bought the t-shirt that says
Stop 3 - The Summer Palace
Huge like the Forbidden City, but a bit more remote and picturesque, the name of the area is self explanatory (I would hope). "Ornate" and "Extravagant" are two words I would use to describe it. Unlike a westerner's traditional idea of a palace - a huge building, lots of rooms and acres of open land - this "palace" is a walled-in area with many different buildings such as the concubine house, the sleeping house, temples, etc. Between the buildings, which are all pretty far from each other, are lovely pathways and garden. It's also on a lake, which adds to the awesomeness.
Stop 4 - The Kung Fu Show
Oh. Dear. God. After dinner we went to this kung fu extravaganza. It was a retelling of the story of a great kung fu master and how he went through a great trial/tempatation, but conquered himself in the end. There was no dialogue, just music and movement (kung fu!) as well as some narration on a screen. (side note: at one point the soundtrack sampled some LoTR from RotK - the part at the lighting of the beacons. I'm a nerd, but anyone who got the reference is also a nerd. mwahahaha!) Needless to say, it was jaw-droppingly awesome. The final task was for the main character to lie across 3 sharpened blades, whilst another dude lay ontop of him with a big stone block on his chest and stomach. Picture it: large stone on guy on another guy on sharp blades. Another chap took a huge sledge hammer and wailed on the block, shattering it. And it was all for real. nutty!
Day 3 (Oct 5th)
Stop 1 - The Temple of Heaven
The place can be divided into 2 parts. The first part was fantastic, possibly one of my favourite places on the tour. I suppose it's because it showed real Chinese, everyday culture and life as opposed to mass tourist-related areas.
Anyway, this first part was a huge park area where retirees went to get there morning exercise or to socialize. I saw people doing Tai Chi, badminton, dancing, massaging. I also saw small groups of men playing cards and dominoes, or just hangin' out. It was so...alive.
The second part of the temple was more along the lines of the other places we had been. It was a big space with roads leading to different buildings all of which were reserved for the emperor and his crew. I imagine his life was dulled by the continuous ceremony of fasting, praying, changing into the appropriately coloured robe (blue or heaven, yellow for royalty) and choosing his next concubine.
Stop 2 - The Markets
SHOPPING!!! There were a few people who signed up for this tour for the express purpose of shopping. At first it seemed silly...why go everywhere if you just want to buy shit? Silly me! It all became clear as soon as I stepped into the market. The shopping (variety of merchadise and prices) was riDONculous. You can buy so much stuff and pay so little for it - but you have to work at it.
I'm always a bit weary about haggling because I'm not really argumentative by nature. As soon as I get into it, however, it's no problem. In fact, I found out that I'm pretty good at it. I also realised that it's meant to be a fun little ritual, to be enjoyed by the buyer and seller alike. Here's a little snippet of how it works: (keep in mind that 100 Yuan = 12:50USD)
Buyer: How much is this shirt?
Seller: Today is a holiday, so I give it to you for a special price. Yesterday it was 680Y, but for you, today, it's 580Y.
B *looks insulted*: That's too much!! I can get it for cheaper from someone else!
S: Ok, ok! You give me your best price.
B: I'll pay you 80Y
S *looks appalled*: That's a joking price! You're joking! I have a family to feed. Now tell me, seriously, what's your best price. I can give it to you for 500Y.
B: That's still too expensive, how about 100Y?
S: No, no. The best I can do is 470Y. That's the absolute lowest I can go.
B: Ok, sorry, it's too expensive. I don't want it. *starts walking away*
S: Wait a minute! Ok, 400! 300!! 200! Ok, ok! Your price!
Pretty much the rule of thumb was a) don't pay more than 1/4 the price they first quote you and b) always walk away before agreeing to a price. Worked like a charm every time.
Stop 3 - The Acrobatic Show
This was more eye-popping feats of physical prowess. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that our jaws were unhinged the entire time, and I'm pretty sure I soiled myself at least once. I bought the DVD, so hopefully y'all can borrow it one day.
Tour Day 4 (Oct 6th)
This day was our free day which we spent doing more shopping. The previous day was just a taste of the madness that was to ensue. I had to buy a bag just to carry all my crap home in.
After a few hours of that, we headed to a place called the Hu Tong area, which is like traditional chinese "regular folk" housing. Thus far we had only experienced the grandeur of being the Emperor or one of his many bitches, but this time we got to see the life and social atmosphere of normal blokes.
Again, like the first part of the Temple of Heaven, it was wonderful to just hang out and walk around where all the life and party was. The area was quite busy because it was the full moon festival. So lovely. We took a rickshaw ride through the area...Mel and I felt pretty sorry for the poor guy pulling us around...we tipped him extra.
So that about sums up the experience. It was a wonderful getaway from Korea. It's especially neat because, let's face it, when else can I just hop over to China for a 5 day vacation? Of course, the trip was made even more awesome by the company I kept. No, I'm not talking about my sock puppet (although he is an excellent conversationalist), I'm talking about my girls! Thanks for a great time, Mary, Mel and Carol. Dare I say it...y'all are the poop.
_____________________________________________
Some interesting facts about China:
It's shaped like a giant rooster.
In Asia, people tend to use the British word "cock" in stead of "rooster" which makes the aforementioned fact hilarious.
Beijing is the "adam's apple" of said giant fowl.
They keep the preserved body of Chairman Mao (first socialist fellow) in a Mausoleum during the day and then put it in an Earthquake-proof cellar over night.
China's army is 2.5 million people strong.
While there are child restrictions in major urban centres in Child (1 child per family) there are so many loopholes that there may as well not be any restriciton at all.
And of course, I couldn't forget... PICTURES!!
Before you hunker down to enjoy my latest sojourn, I feel it necessary to warn you that this one is a doozy...take a pee break first (especially you, Bern).
Two weeks ago there was a major holiday in Korea called Chuseok. It falls on August 15th of the lunar calendar (a full moon). This means that it falls on a different day every year. This year, we all lucked out and got a 9 day break. w00t! Here's a the epic story of what I and my good friends did:
Carol, Mel, Mary and myself met in the city of Daegu on Monday night (Oct 2nd) to prepare for our early flight out of Korealand. To our delight, "Love Actually" was playing on the TV in our cheap motel room. It certainly got us in the holiday (christmas) spirit.
Tour Day 1 (Oct 3rd)
After a ridiculously short flight (a mere 2 hours compared with the monstrous 14 hour ordeal from Canada) we landed safely in Beijing to start our whirlwind tour. There were 33 people signed up for the bing cities of Daegu, Busan or Ulsan were the token "country bumpkins".
Meet the tour guide
This is Peter, and his precious flag. Peter is a charming Chinese chap who is, I think, half nerd, half comedian and a whole lotta awesome. After he introduced himself, he introduced us to our green flag (our tour group's beacon of safety). He said we must consider this flag the most beautiful flag in the world. There will many many other flags, but don't get distracted. Ours is the most beautiful and we must follow it no matter what....possible unto our deaths. (*ahem* lemmings *ahem*)
Anyway, Peter was a fountain of knowledge and I learned much more from him than I would have had we travelled alone. He was also sensationally, awkwardly funny. He would plow through jokes and punch lines like he had a quota to reach. The result? hilarity. Seriously, I don't think he knew how funny it really was. God love ya, Pete!
Stop 1 - The Forbidden City
Our first destination was the Forbidden City. My memory is a bit hazy on this one because my senses were on overload. There were so many people. It was very much akin to Chinese New Year in Singapore, only on a much bigger scale. It was a national holiday in China as well as Korea, so tourists flocked from all over. I was certianly thankful for the flag.
Stop 2 - Tian'anmen Square
We walked straight through the Forbidden City, much of which was under construction, then headed into Tian'anmen Square, noted to be the largest public square in the world. I don't doubt it judging from the sheer number of people that could fit in the place.
After a delicious dinner (the food was awesome at every meal), we headed to our hotels as we were all wiped out. We were put up in a newish Holiday Inn which surpassed our wildest imaginations. I think, quite possibly, it was the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in. Here are some highlights:
- two large beds
- bathrobes and slippers
- enormous bath tub
- treated mirrors so they didn't fog up
- pool with candles lit on the tables for a nice ambiance
- steam room and sauna
- all you can eat buffet breakfast with every kind of breakfast food imaginable (HEAVEN! we just wanted to eat breakfast all day)
Tour Day 2 (Oct 4th)
Stop 1 - the Jade Factory
On our way to the Big Event, we made a stop at the biggest jade carving joint in the country (possibly the world). It was interesting to learn about the significance of jade in China. Among others things it's a symbol of status, supposedly good for your health if you wear it, and good luck. Naturally, part of the sojourn was to herd us into the government-owned jade shop. Meh! I bought some, it's pretty.
Stop 2 - The Great Wall
We had to travel abour an hour out of the city to get there. Obviously. I mean honestly, who would build a bog wall in the middle of the city? That's just poor planning. Good thing the Chinese are excellent planners! So what's so great about this wall anyway? Let's see, it's as long as the border between Canada and the US, it's really freakin' high, it was built over a mountain range and many parts that I could see were wide enough across so that anywhere from 7 to 20 people could walk abreast. People just don't build stuff like this anymore.
Anyway, the part that we climbed was well maintained as it is a tourist attraction, but there is much of it that's in disrepair (damn you natural elements and passage of time!! You destroy monuments and give me unsightly wrinkles!!). Needless to say, I bought the t-shirt that says
"I climbed the Great Wall"
Stop 3 - The Summer Palace
Huge like the Forbidden City, but a bit more remote and picturesque, the name of the area is self explanatory (I would hope). "Ornate" and "Extravagant" are two words I would use to describe it. Unlike a westerner's traditional idea of a palace - a huge building, lots of rooms and acres of open land - this "palace" is a walled-in area with many different buildings such as the concubine house, the sleeping house, temples, etc. Between the buildings, which are all pretty far from each other, are lovely pathways and garden. It's also on a lake, which adds to the awesomeness.
Stop 4 - The Kung Fu Show
Oh. Dear. God. After dinner we went to this kung fu extravaganza. It was a retelling of the story of a great kung fu master and how he went through a great trial/tempatation, but conquered himself in the end. There was no dialogue, just music and movement (kung fu!) as well as some narration on a screen. (side note: at one point the soundtrack sampled some LoTR from RotK - the part at the lighting of the beacons. I'm a nerd, but anyone who got the reference is also a nerd. mwahahaha!) Needless to say, it was jaw-droppingly awesome. The final task was for the main character to lie across 3 sharpened blades, whilst another dude lay ontop of him with a big stone block on his chest and stomach. Picture it: large stone on guy on another guy on sharp blades. Another chap took a huge sledge hammer and wailed on the block, shattering it. And it was all for real. nutty!
Day 3 (Oct 5th)
Stop 1 - The Temple of Heaven
The place can be divided into 2 parts. The first part was fantastic, possibly one of my favourite places on the tour. I suppose it's because it showed real Chinese, everyday culture and life as opposed to mass tourist-related areas.
Anyway, this first part was a huge park area where retirees went to get there morning exercise or to socialize. I saw people doing Tai Chi, badminton, dancing, massaging. I also saw small groups of men playing cards and dominoes, or just hangin' out. It was so...alive.
The second part of the temple was more along the lines of the other places we had been. It was a big space with roads leading to different buildings all of which were reserved for the emperor and his crew. I imagine his life was dulled by the continuous ceremony of fasting, praying, changing into the appropriately coloured robe (blue or heaven, yellow for royalty) and choosing his next concubine.
Stop 2 - The Markets
SHOPPING!!! There were a few people who signed up for this tour for the express purpose of shopping. At first it seemed silly...why go everywhere if you just want to buy shit? Silly me! It all became clear as soon as I stepped into the market. The shopping (variety of merchadise and prices) was riDONculous. You can buy so much stuff and pay so little for it - but you have to work at it.
I'm always a bit weary about haggling because I'm not really argumentative by nature. As soon as I get into it, however, it's no problem. In fact, I found out that I'm pretty good at it. I also realised that it's meant to be a fun little ritual, to be enjoyed by the buyer and seller alike. Here's a little snippet of how it works: (keep in mind that 100 Yuan = 12:50USD)
Buyer: How much is this shirt?
Seller: Today is a holiday, so I give it to you for a special price. Yesterday it was 680Y, but for you, today, it's 580Y.
B *looks insulted*: That's too much!! I can get it for cheaper from someone else!
S: Ok, ok! You give me your best price.
B: I'll pay you 80Y
S *looks appalled*: That's a joking price! You're joking! I have a family to feed. Now tell me, seriously, what's your best price. I can give it to you for 500Y.
B: That's still too expensive, how about 100Y?
S: No, no. The best I can do is 470Y. That's the absolute lowest I can go.
B: Ok, sorry, it's too expensive. I don't want it. *starts walking away*
S: Wait a minute! Ok, 400! 300!! 200! Ok, ok! Your price!
Pretty much the rule of thumb was a) don't pay more than 1/4 the price they first quote you and b) always walk away before agreeing to a price. Worked like a charm every time.
Stop 3 - The Acrobatic Show
This was more eye-popping feats of physical prowess. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that our jaws were unhinged the entire time, and I'm pretty sure I soiled myself at least once. I bought the DVD, so hopefully y'all can borrow it one day.
Tour Day 4 (Oct 6th)
This day was our free day which we spent doing more shopping. The previous day was just a taste of the madness that was to ensue. I had to buy a bag just to carry all my crap home in.
After a few hours of that, we headed to a place called the Hu Tong area, which is like traditional chinese "regular folk" housing. Thus far we had only experienced the grandeur of being the Emperor or one of his many bitches, but this time we got to see the life and social atmosphere of normal blokes.
Again, like the first part of the Temple of Heaven, it was wonderful to just hang out and walk around where all the life and party was. The area was quite busy because it was the full moon festival. So lovely. We took a rickshaw ride through the area...Mel and I felt pretty sorry for the poor guy pulling us around...we tipped him extra.
So that about sums up the experience. It was a wonderful getaway from Korea. It's especially neat because, let's face it, when else can I just hop over to China for a 5 day vacation? Of course, the trip was made even more awesome by the company I kept. No, I'm not talking about my sock puppet (although he is an excellent conversationalist), I'm talking about my girls! Thanks for a great time, Mary, Mel and Carol. Dare I say it...y'all are the poop.
_____________________________________________
Some interesting facts about China:
It's shaped like a giant rooster.
In Asia, people tend to use the British word "cock" in stead of "rooster" which makes the aforementioned fact hilarious.
Beijing is the "adam's apple" of said giant fowl.
They keep the preserved body of Chairman Mao (first socialist fellow) in a Mausoleum during the day and then put it in an Earthquake-proof cellar over night.
China's army is 2.5 million people strong.
While there are child restrictions in major urban centres in Child (1 child per family) there are so many loopholes that there may as well not be any restriciton at all.
And of course, I couldn't forget... PICTURES!!
Monday, October 09, 2006
Kim Soon Hye, I will miss you...
Hi Folks,
As some of you may know, I spent the recent Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) vacation in Beijing. I won't, however, be talking about my trip in this post, as different news came to me upon my return to Korea.
Kim Soon Hye (김순혜), my co-teacher passed away during the vacation.
The news came as a shock to everyone, as she was just weeks shy of her 35th birthday. She had been chronically ill for years, so I guess the illness finally became too much for her.
It's strange as I sit here at school, the first day back from vacation. Her desk next to me is empty of all her little knick-knacks that she kept on it. Small jars of tea, small mugs, hand cream, stacks of student's notebooks. Instead, there is a single, large bouquet of white flowers announcing her permanent absence.
I will miss her.
I'd like to think that we had a special relationship outside of just our professional interaction. Teaching class with her was great, no doubt, but it was the times when we giggled together in the staff room about something silly, or when she would lean over and ask me a hilariously random question about English, and most of all, when we would hang out outside of school, that really stick out in my mind. We went to movies occasionally, had lunch or dinner, went shopping. She felt comfortable enough to talk to me about her life and her feelings. She wasn't just a good teaching partner, she was also a good friend and will remain in my memory as one of the best parts of my experience here in Korea.
As some of you may know, I spent the recent Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) vacation in Beijing. I won't, however, be talking about my trip in this post, as different news came to me upon my return to Korea.
Kim Soon Hye (김순혜), my co-teacher passed away during the vacation.
The news came as a shock to everyone, as she was just weeks shy of her 35th birthday. She had been chronically ill for years, so I guess the illness finally became too much for her.
It's strange as I sit here at school, the first day back from vacation. Her desk next to me is empty of all her little knick-knacks that she kept on it. Small jars of tea, small mugs, hand cream, stacks of student's notebooks. Instead, there is a single, large bouquet of white flowers announcing her permanent absence.
I will miss her.
I'd like to think that we had a special relationship outside of just our professional interaction. Teaching class with her was great, no doubt, but it was the times when we giggled together in the staff room about something silly, or when she would lean over and ask me a hilariously random question about English, and most of all, when we would hang out outside of school, that really stick out in my mind. We went to movies occasionally, had lunch or dinner, went shopping. She felt comfortable enough to talk to me about her life and her feelings. She wasn't just a good teaching partner, she was also a good friend and will remain in my memory as one of the best parts of my experience here in Korea.
Friday, September 29, 2006
An Ode to Mr Son
So, on Wednesday afternoon I lost my purse. *cringe* To the male population of my readers who may not understand my plight as well as the women readers, let me clarify:
A woman's ENTIRE LIFE is in her purse. It's now Friday and I don't really hold any hope of getting it back at this point. My best hypothesis is that I left it at the bus terminal and didn't notice that I didn't have it when I got on the bus. Anyway, here is a list, in order of importance, of the things in my purse:
Alien Registration Card (needed for just about every transaction in Korea)
Cellphone (pathetic, I know, but I've come to depend on it)
Keys to my appartment and motorbike (Mr Son has a copy of the former, and my motorbike is still sitting at the Bus Terminal)
Bank Card
about $200
TD VISA
Health Card (which I worked so hard to get, as mentioned in my previous post)
Expired Canadian Driver's License and HEalth Card
Couple of new international phone cards
Motion Sickness Travel Bands
Core Sore Meds
Costco Cards
Chap stick and lip gloss
Well, that about sums it up, but to be honest the first three items are the most important. This happened at the awesomest time as I'm leaving for China in a few days and need my Alien Card to re-enter the country (GAH!).
Anyway if you can imagine the frustrations of doing this in Canada, multipy that by a billion and that's how you would feel if it happened to you in a country where you couldn't communicate with anyone.
Enter Mr Son. He literally saved me. While I was going through various emotions of confusion, frustration, dejection, topped by a lasting feeling of embarrassment, he dragged me around and got many things accomplished that I couldn't have done on my own. Here's a list:
Went to bank to report missing card and get a new one
Went to Police Station to Report my missing EVERYTHING
Went and got a copy of my appartment key cut
Went to Post Office to give them a copy of the police report in case it showed up there
Went to Gwangju to get a new Alien Registration Card
Went to LG Telecom to suspend my cellphone
That about sums it up. I'd be completely lost without Mr Son. He's awesome and one of the reason why I love Korea so much.
A woman's ENTIRE LIFE is in her purse. It's now Friday and I don't really hold any hope of getting it back at this point. My best hypothesis is that I left it at the bus terminal and didn't notice that I didn't have it when I got on the bus. Anyway, here is a list, in order of importance, of the things in my purse:
Alien Registration Card (needed for just about every transaction in Korea)
Cellphone (pathetic, I know, but I've come to depend on it)
Keys to my appartment and motorbike (Mr Son has a copy of the former, and my motorbike is still sitting at the Bus Terminal)
Bank Card
about $200
TD VISA
Health Card (which I worked so hard to get, as mentioned in my previous post)
Expired Canadian Driver's License and HEalth Card
Couple of new international phone cards
Motion Sickness Travel Bands
Core Sore Meds
Costco Cards
Chap stick and lip gloss
Well, that about sums it up, but to be honest the first three items are the most important. This happened at the awesomest time as I'm leaving for China in a few days and need my Alien Card to re-enter the country (GAH!).
Anyway if you can imagine the frustrations of doing this in Canada, multipy that by a billion and that's how you would feel if it happened to you in a country where you couldn't communicate with anyone.
Enter Mr Son. He literally saved me. While I was going through various emotions of confusion, frustration, dejection, topped by a lasting feeling of embarrassment, he dragged me around and got many things accomplished that I couldn't have done on my own. Here's a list:
Went to bank to report missing card and get a new one
Went to Police Station to Report my missing EVERYTHING
Went and got a copy of my appartment key cut
Went to Post Office to give them a copy of the police report in case it showed up there
Went to Gwangju to get a new Alien Registration Card
Went to LG Telecom to suspend my cellphone
That about sums it up. I'd be completely lost without Mr Son. He's awesome and one of the reason why I love Korea so much.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
I got my arse kicked!
Was I in a bar fight with a stout Korean woman over a piece of man-meat?
NOPE!
Was I subject to unbearable ridicule by my students and then lynch mobbed?
HARDLY!
The one who made me limp for 2 days was a formidable adversary. She loomed above me like some great, craggy monster out of myths of old. This monolith's name is Wolchu and she's 809 meters tall.
This past Saturday 15 native speakers (and around 5 billion Koreans)decided to undertake the journey of Wolchusan, a mountain in the small county of YeongAm, which is famous for its jutting rock peaks. While it's by no means the tallest mountain around, it's rumoured to be one of the more difficult treks due to the terrain. "Difficult" is an understatement for inexperienced hikers such as myself.
Previously, my "hard-o-meter" for mountains was based on my life-altering experience hiking Mont Albert in the Gaspé region of Québec. Mont Albert is around 850m high and the course was 17km long. It took a good friend to talk me to the top of if, because I didn't think I could do it. So far, no mountain in Korea has trumped that experience for me...until now. Although the course we did was only 6.5km, it took us over 6 hours to finish and the going was infinitely tougher. Thankfully, I never had an "I can't do this" moment. I just kept going.
The interesting thing about this mountain is that there are a lot of steep sheer rock that are pretty much impossible to climb, so sometime in the recent past people have installed staircases that are so steep at times that they were really more like ladders. Stairs, ladders, railings and ropes. I wondered why anyone would want to "hike" a mountain if they couldn't do it without installing man-made devices. Then I got to the peak and I understood.
I'd like to say that after the tough climb up the trail down was a piece of cake, but alas, it was equally as grueling.
Throughout the entire hike we ran into many, many Koreans who were so friendly and welcoming. They were also WAAAAY better at hiking than we were. Honestly, there's nothing like having a 50 year old woman breeze past you as you are gasping for air to remind you that you should hit the gym every now and again :D
Anyway, as tough as it was, I still consider it an awesome day. My leg muscles were screaming at me for a few days afterwards, but all's well now.
For more pics from the mountain, click on the link, dudes!
Wolchusan
NOPE!
Was I subject to unbearable ridicule by my students and then lynch mobbed?
HARDLY!
The one who made me limp for 2 days was a formidable adversary. She loomed above me like some great, craggy monster out of myths of old. This monolith's name is Wolchu and she's 809 meters tall.
This past Saturday 15 native speakers (and around 5 billion Koreans)decided to undertake the journey of Wolchusan, a mountain in the small county of YeongAm, which is famous for its jutting rock peaks. While it's by no means the tallest mountain around, it's rumoured to be one of the more difficult treks due to the terrain. "Difficult" is an understatement for inexperienced hikers such as myself.
Previously, my "hard-o-meter" for mountains was based on my life-altering experience hiking Mont Albert in the Gaspé region of Québec. Mont Albert is around 850m high and the course was 17km long. It took a good friend to talk me to the top of if, because I didn't think I could do it. So far, no mountain in Korea has trumped that experience for me...until now. Although the course we did was only 6.5km, it took us over 6 hours to finish and the going was infinitely tougher. Thankfully, I never had an "I can't do this" moment. I just kept going.
The interesting thing about this mountain is that there are a lot of steep sheer rock that are pretty much impossible to climb, so sometime in the recent past people have installed staircases that are so steep at times that they were really more like ladders. Stairs, ladders, railings and ropes. I wondered why anyone would want to "hike" a mountain if they couldn't do it without installing man-made devices. Then I got to the peak and I understood.
I'd like to say that after the tough climb up the trail down was a piece of cake, but alas, it was equally as grueling.
Throughout the entire hike we ran into many, many Koreans who were so friendly and welcoming. They were also WAAAAY better at hiking than we were. Honestly, there's nothing like having a 50 year old woman breeze past you as you are gasping for air to remind you that you should hit the gym every now and again :D
Anyway, as tough as it was, I still consider it an awesome day. My leg muscles were screaming at me for a few days afterwards, but all's well now.
For more pics from the mountain, click on the link, dudes!
Wolchusan
Friday, September 22, 2006
and the verdict is...
after a few suggestions for piano names, one was virtually thrust in my face that I simply could not deny... (having things thrust in your face can sometimes be inconvenient and untimely, but this time is was, dare I say it, fate).
First of all, some excellent suggestions were:
Ludwig
Sebastien
Elton
Billy (as in Joel)
and I myself was considering the name Avery (which, really doesn't fit with the above list of famous pianists).
Then, this glorious morning, I happened to be chatting with Brett on MSN. He kindly informed me that Avery would be a good name if I wanted my piano to suck, so I challenged him to come up with something spectatular. And he did.
My piano shall henceforth be referred to as....
DR. ZAIUS
If this is somewhat anticlimactic for you, let me explain the name a bit...
Once upon a time in the 80s (all good stories start like this), there was a pop song hit "ROck Me Amadeus" by Falco. The popular 90s cartoon The Simpsons parodied this song, replacing "Amadeus" with "Dr Zaius." Hilarity ensued. Dr Zaius is also a character from the original "Planet of the Apes".
And there you have it. A name that is in someway related to a classical composer of some renown, but without being to obviously nerdy. Although, I should go with obviously nerdy, as that is one adverb/adjective combo that describes me perfectly...
...but I digress.
Lyrics to ROCK ME AMADEUS
by Falco
He was the first punk ever to set foot on this earth.
He was a genius from the day of his birth.
He could play the piano like a ring and a bell
And ev'rybody screamed:
Come on, rock me Amadeus.
He was a superstar, he was dynamite and whatever he did (it)
Seemed to be alright.
And he drank (and) he cursed and he fooled around
But when the women would shout:
Rock me Amadeus,
Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus,
Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus,
Oh oh oh Amadeus.
With a bottle of wine in one hand and a woman in the other
'Cause he was a ladies man
He never stopped to worry what the next day would bring
Because the girls would sing:
Rock me Amadeus,
etc...
His mind was on rock and roll and having fun
Because he lived so fast he had to die so young.
But he made his mark in history.
Still ev'rybody says:
Rock me Amadeus
Lyrics to "Dr Zaius"
spoken: Help the human's about to excape
Get Your Paws Off Me You Dirty Ape
( gasp) He Can Talk x7
I Can Sing!!!
Ooo Help Me Dr. Zaius
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Oh, Dr. Zaius
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Troy: What's wrong with me?
Dr. Zaius: I think you're crazy
Troy: I want a second opinion.
Dr. Zaius: You're also lazy.
Chorus
Troy: Can I play the piano anymore?
Dr. Zaius: Of course you can.
Troy: Well I couldn't before.
Chorus( 2x )
who's hotter? it doesn't matter! I have a piano!
First of all, some excellent suggestions were:
Ludwig
Sebastien
Elton
Billy (as in Joel)
and I myself was considering the name Avery (which, really doesn't fit with the above list of famous pianists).
Then, this glorious morning, I happened to be chatting with Brett on MSN. He kindly informed me that Avery would be a good name if I wanted my piano to suck, so I challenged him to come up with something spectatular. And he did.
My piano shall henceforth be referred to as....
DR. ZAIUS
If this is somewhat anticlimactic for you, let me explain the name a bit...
Once upon a time in the 80s (all good stories start like this), there was a pop song hit "ROck Me Amadeus" by Falco. The popular 90s cartoon The Simpsons parodied this song, replacing "Amadeus" with "Dr Zaius." Hilarity ensued. Dr Zaius is also a character from the original "Planet of the Apes".
And there you have it. A name that is in someway related to a classical composer of some renown, but without being to obviously nerdy. Although, I should go with obviously nerdy, as that is one adverb/adjective combo that describes me perfectly...
...but I digress.
Lyrics to ROCK ME AMADEUS
by Falco
He was the first punk ever to set foot on this earth.
He was a genius from the day of his birth.
He could play the piano like a ring and a bell
And ev'rybody screamed:
Come on, rock me Amadeus.
He was a superstar, he was dynamite and whatever he did (it)
Seemed to be alright.
And he drank (and) he cursed and he fooled around
But when the women would shout:
Rock me Amadeus,
Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus,
Amadeus, Amadeus, Amadeus,
Oh oh oh Amadeus.
With a bottle of wine in one hand and a woman in the other
'Cause he was a ladies man
He never stopped to worry what the next day would bring
Because the girls would sing:
Rock me Amadeus,
etc...
His mind was on rock and roll and having fun
Because he lived so fast he had to die so young.
But he made his mark in history.
Still ev'rybody says:
Rock me Amadeus
Lyrics to "Dr Zaius"
spoken: Help the human's about to excape
Get Your Paws Off Me You Dirty Ape
( gasp) He Can Talk x7
I Can Sing!!!
Ooo Help Me Dr. Zaius
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Oh, Dr. Zaius
Dr. Zaius, Dr. Zaius!
Troy: What's wrong with me?
Dr. Zaius: I think you're crazy
Troy: I want a second opinion.
Dr. Zaius: You're also lazy.
Chorus
Troy: Can I play the piano anymore?
Dr. Zaius: Of course you can.
Troy: Well I couldn't before.
Chorus( 2x )
who's hotter? it doesn't matter! I have a piano!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
nessie presents:
hey folks!
please welcome the new addition to my life!
yep! that's right! I bought myself an electric piano. I love, love, love it! Now, I can practice anytime of day, for however long I want! w00t! Beethoven, here I come! (Yeah, I'm still in the high-beginner phase of learning, Beethoven is a long way off). As I am in the business of naming inanimate objects (motorcycle = champ, clarinet = Geddy Lee), I'm open for suggestions on possible names. Any ideas? To narrow the field, I'm fairly certain that it's a boy piano.
Anyway, I acquired "him" last sunday and my co-teacher helped me pick it out and close the deal with guy. She's great. After buying it, we browsed around and she bought this:
when we parted ways, she GAVE it to me!! Can you believe it? Just out of no where, she gives me a cool present. I'm one lucky girl.
please welcome the new addition to my life!
yep! that's right! I bought myself an electric piano. I love, love, love it! Now, I can practice anytime of day, for however long I want! w00t! Beethoven, here I come! (Yeah, I'm still in the high-beginner phase of learning, Beethoven is a long way off). As I am in the business of naming inanimate objects (motorcycle = champ, clarinet = Geddy Lee), I'm open for suggestions on possible names. Any ideas? To narrow the field, I'm fairly certain that it's a boy piano.
Anyway, I acquired "him" last sunday and my co-teacher helped me pick it out and close the deal with guy. She's great. After buying it, we browsed around and she bought this:
when we parted ways, she GAVE it to me!! Can you believe it? Just out of no where, she gives me a cool present. I'm one lucky girl.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
...then again, some things happen pretty slowly
"Well, how do you mean, Vanessa? You sure got a needle in your butt right quick!"
So true, imaginary voice of assumed reader! This is one of the many paradoxes of life in Korea-land.
After a year of remembering to ask, and then forgetting to ask, I finally got my health card! w00t! It became apparent that, even though I don't get sick very often, there are the occasional bouts of "maybe" illnesses that require IMMEDIATE attention. And so, after this last occasion, I decided to press the subject of my health card.
(Back story - All Native Speakers receive a health card upon arrival at their new schools. Said card will ensure you quick and ridiculously cheap doctors visits and drugs. I, however, didn't get this card last year)
I casually mentioned to my co-teacher that I had to go to the doctor's office about my eye and that, rather illegally, I had to use Mr Son's health card. She looked at me with a confused look and went through several phases:
- " You don't need a card, you just need your Alien Registration Card"
NOPE! It was quite useless at the Doctor's.
- " You must have received one when you got here."
Nope! I never got one.
- "you must have lost it."
Nope! I never got one.
*look of utter confusion*
Anyway, it turns out that the acquisition of a health card is ridiculously simple once all parties involved understood that I, Vanessa, did not in fact have a health card. Yesterday my co-teacher and I took a fun trip to the health office, waited 5 minutes, and then walked out with a shiny new card. Oh mercy.
_________________________________________________________
Another fun project for me has been trying to get a new washing machine. The one that I have has been here for 10+ years and likes to eat my clothes. I asked for one before the summer vacation and by the end of the day (to my surprise and delight!!) I was told that I would get one. Relatively painless success!!
Fast-forward to after summer vacation. I casually asked my co-teacher about the status of my washing machine. Status - NO FUNDS!! awesome!
I believe that all the funds were spent on the new foreigner's appartment. (Yes, a new foreigner on Boseong!!) Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter about all the shiny new things that Noel (new guy) got. In reality, it's better that a brand new teacher comes to Boseong to a nice appartment and that the "Veteran" has the *ahem* rustic digs. I'm perfectly comfortable where I am, all I want is a washing machine.
I suppose part of the problem is that my machine still "works", as in, I can put clothes and soap in it and the clothes end up wet and spun around after about an hour. it's the effectiveness of the machine that is questionable. I never did get a straight answer about who exactly is responsible for my appartment - it could be my school, the county OR the province. They seem to be passing it off on each other. Anyway, after considerable confusion, I had to give in to lying and saying that my machine was completely broken. Once that was settled, my principal was instructed to send an official document to the county education office, who would then send a document to the provicial office. The P. office will then send another document down the line. I think eventually all this paper pushing will produce a washing machine. (made from recycled paper?)
___________________________________________________
My moldy wall has been rewall-papered after a few months of moldiness!! (but I won't get into that story.)
__________________________________________________
In other news, last Saturday, I spent the day on a Korean tall ship / schooner called the Koreana. Many foreigners came out (old and new alike) and hung out as we sailed to one of the islands off the coast of Yeosu. We sailed, got dropped off on a tiny island and then sailed back. The weather was nice, warm and breezy, the people were awesome and the potluck was tasty. I made tiny little egg salad sandwiches that were a big hit! yay me!
if you want to see pictures, click below!
Yeosu Boat Pics
Some pictures courtesy of Virginia and Stu
hmmm, that's all!
So true, imaginary voice of assumed reader! This is one of the many paradoxes of life in Korea-land.
After a year of remembering to ask, and then forgetting to ask, I finally got my health card! w00t! It became apparent that, even though I don't get sick very often, there are the occasional bouts of "maybe" illnesses that require IMMEDIATE attention. And so, after this last occasion, I decided to press the subject of my health card.
(Back story - All Native Speakers receive a health card upon arrival at their new schools. Said card will ensure you quick and ridiculously cheap doctors visits and drugs. I, however, didn't get this card last year)
I casually mentioned to my co-teacher that I had to go to the doctor's office about my eye and that, rather illegally, I had to use Mr Son's health card. She looked at me with a confused look and went through several phases:
- " You don't need a card, you just need your Alien Registration Card"
NOPE! It was quite useless at the Doctor's.
- " You must have received one when you got here."
Nope! I never got one.
- "you must have lost it."
Nope! I never got one.
*look of utter confusion*
Anyway, it turns out that the acquisition of a health card is ridiculously simple once all parties involved understood that I, Vanessa, did not in fact have a health card. Yesterday my co-teacher and I took a fun trip to the health office, waited 5 minutes, and then walked out with a shiny new card. Oh mercy.
_________________________________________________________
Another fun project for me has been trying to get a new washing machine. The one that I have has been here for 10+ years and likes to eat my clothes. I asked for one before the summer vacation and by the end of the day (to my surprise and delight!!) I was told that I would get one. Relatively painless success!!
Fast-forward to after summer vacation. I casually asked my co-teacher about the status of my washing machine. Status - NO FUNDS!! awesome!
I believe that all the funds were spent on the new foreigner's appartment. (Yes, a new foreigner on Boseong!!) Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not bitter about all the shiny new things that Noel (new guy) got. In reality, it's better that a brand new teacher comes to Boseong to a nice appartment and that the "Veteran" has the *ahem* rustic digs. I'm perfectly comfortable where I am, all I want is a washing machine.
I suppose part of the problem is that my machine still "works", as in, I can put clothes and soap in it and the clothes end up wet and spun around after about an hour. it's the effectiveness of the machine that is questionable. I never did get a straight answer about who exactly is responsible for my appartment - it could be my school, the county OR the province. They seem to be passing it off on each other. Anyway, after considerable confusion, I had to give in to lying and saying that my machine was completely broken. Once that was settled, my principal was instructed to send an official document to the county education office, who would then send a document to the provicial office. The P. office will then send another document down the line. I think eventually all this paper pushing will produce a washing machine. (made from recycled paper?)
___________________________________________________
My moldy wall has been rewall-papered after a few months of moldiness!! (but I won't get into that story.)
__________________________________________________
In other news, last Saturday, I spent the day on a Korean tall ship / schooner called the Koreana. Many foreigners came out (old and new alike) and hung out as we sailed to one of the islands off the coast of Yeosu. We sailed, got dropped off on a tiny island and then sailed back. The weather was nice, warm and breezy, the people were awesome and the potluck was tasty. I made tiny little egg salad sandwiches that were a big hit! yay me!
if you want to see pictures, click below!
Yeosu Boat Pics
Some pictures courtesy of Virginia and Stu
hmmm, that's all!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
things happen pretty quick in Korea...
...so quick, in fact, that I was talking to some people about where to go for dinner and before I knew it I had a nurse sticking a needle in my ass.
YEP! in. my. ass.
Here's the whole story:
I met Mr Son and the new Native Speaker, Noel, at a health clinic where Noel was getting some massage therapy or something. I go in there simply to meet them and be on my way. While in conversation with Mr Son he looks at me and says, "What's wrong with your eye." Much to my surprise my left eye was completely red and a little swollen...I didn't even feel it. Telling him it was nothing, he shoved a mirror in my face and it was certainly not nothing. I said that I'd just take out my contacts and see if it got better in the morning. Well, I guess that didn't cut it. Mr Son insisted that I see the doctor, whom I was supposed to meet anyway, but in a non- patient/doctor way. He sits me down, looks at me and then tells me to a) don't wear my contacts for a few days and b) to see the opthamologist tomorrow. Fine. No problem. I thought it was time to go for dinner. NOPE! On our way out, a cute little Korean nurse ushers me into a room with a couple of needles in her hand. Before I even had time to ask what it was she was giving me, she had my pants halfway down my ass and was lightly slapping me as she put not one but TWO needles in me. She didn't even buy me dinner first.
It turned out to be anitbiotics for an eye thing that happens to be going around Korea right now. Who knows...it could've just been allergy irritation that made my eye red. At any rate, I owe my thanks to Mr Son - had it not been for him, I guess I MAY have ended up with a worse eye infection.
The Doctor ended up joining us for a delightful dinner. He's keen on English so I'm sure I'll be hearing from him again. Thank goodness he wasn't the one who had seen my butt. That could've been awkward dinner conversation, eh?
YEP! in. my. ass.
Here's the whole story:
I met Mr Son and the new Native Speaker, Noel, at a health clinic where Noel was getting some massage therapy or something. I go in there simply to meet them and be on my way. While in conversation with Mr Son he looks at me and says, "What's wrong with your eye." Much to my surprise my left eye was completely red and a little swollen...I didn't even feel it. Telling him it was nothing, he shoved a mirror in my face and it was certainly not nothing. I said that I'd just take out my contacts and see if it got better in the morning. Well, I guess that didn't cut it. Mr Son insisted that I see the doctor, whom I was supposed to meet anyway, but in a non- patient/doctor way. He sits me down, looks at me and then tells me to a) don't wear my contacts for a few days and b) to see the opthamologist tomorrow. Fine. No problem. I thought it was time to go for dinner. NOPE! On our way out, a cute little Korean nurse ushers me into a room with a couple of needles in her hand. Before I even had time to ask what it was she was giving me, she had my pants halfway down my ass and was lightly slapping me as she put not one but TWO needles in me. She didn't even buy me dinner first.
It turned out to be anitbiotics for an eye thing that happens to be going around Korea right now. Who knows...it could've just been allergy irritation that made my eye red. At any rate, I owe my thanks to Mr Son - had it not been for him, I guess I MAY have ended up with a worse eye infection.
The Doctor ended up joining us for a delightful dinner. He's keen on English so I'm sure I'll be hearing from him again. Thank goodness he wasn't the one who had seen my butt. That could've been awkward dinner conversation, eh?
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
encore une fois
so....guess why I'm able to write my first blog back during working hours? Naturally it's because my very first Teachers Workshop of the semester was a no-show. Ah well, it's gives me time to reflect on life and really get down to the most important matter at hand - I have to pee.
On an unrelated note, it's great to be back in Korea land. To all those readers out there whom I was blessed to spend time with in Canada: Twas good to see y'all and we'll do it again soon. Here are some brief highlights of my sojourn to the great-white-north:
1. While it certainly was great, it was neither white nor north (relatively speaking, of course). Infact, it's was HOTTER than Korea when I arrived home. Talk about a kick in the pants. At least I had air conditioning, though.
2. Sparing no moment and starting immediately with the potty humour with my sister in the car on the way home from the airport.
3. The non-stop 3-week long allergy attack. While this wasn't so much a highlight, it is noteworthy. I'm allergic to my home country!!!
4. Getting ink'd with Sari!! Woot. I'm literally scarred for life :D
5. A brief getaway to Sauble where a night of heavy drinking cured my jet-lag. Oh yeah and having some kind of freak psychic connection with Noah and Jon during a rousing game of sictionary: Trojan Horse!! Anthill!!
6. Three lovely days in toronto with my seester and mom, with a cameo appearance by Christine.
7. My 4 year old neice, Mya, telling me on separate occasions that She loved me and that I was her best friend.
The list goes on and on, but at the moment, I don't remember much more. It's amazing how quickly one forgets these things. As soon as I got to Canada, Korea melted away and I felt like I had never left. A couple of days after arriving back in Korea my trip home is a distant memory.
Since being back I have started teaching again and it's going well. I decided not to take it easy on the girls for the first lesson and most of them are fairing pretty well. I also decided to take a bit more responsibility this semester so I'm going to be administering speaking examinations to my students. They're gonna HATE me!!
On Saturday I travelled to Gwangju to do a lecture at the orientation for all the new teachers coming here. It was kinda fun to go back to the place where it all started. I had such a different perspective this time.
It was a fantastic reunion with Carol and Bobbi (who is now Mrs Richard Stanley III - congrats!). Naturally we made a night out of it. All the new teachers were also going out on the town so it was basically a Waygook storm in Downtown Gwangju. (Waygook storm, coincidentally, is very close to a shit-storm). I got to meet a few of the new teachers and catch-up with some of the old ones. It was lovely. And in true Korean fashion I didn't get to bed until 5am. Once again, it cured my jet-lag.
that's it for now!
On an unrelated note, it's great to be back in Korea land. To all those readers out there whom I was blessed to spend time with in Canada: Twas good to see y'all and we'll do it again soon. Here are some brief highlights of my sojourn to the great-white-north:
1. While it certainly was great, it was neither white nor north (relatively speaking, of course). Infact, it's was HOTTER than Korea when I arrived home. Talk about a kick in the pants. At least I had air conditioning, though.
2. Sparing no moment and starting immediately with the potty humour with my sister in the car on the way home from the airport.
3. The non-stop 3-week long allergy attack. While this wasn't so much a highlight, it is noteworthy. I'm allergic to my home country!!!
4. Getting ink'd with Sari!! Woot. I'm literally scarred for life :D
5. A brief getaway to Sauble where a night of heavy drinking cured my jet-lag. Oh yeah and having some kind of freak psychic connection with Noah and Jon during a rousing game of sictionary: Trojan Horse!! Anthill!!
6. Three lovely days in toronto with my seester and mom, with a cameo appearance by Christine.
7. My 4 year old neice, Mya, telling me on separate occasions that She loved me and that I was her best friend.
The list goes on and on, but at the moment, I don't remember much more. It's amazing how quickly one forgets these things. As soon as I got to Canada, Korea melted away and I felt like I had never left. A couple of days after arriving back in Korea my trip home is a distant memory.
Since being back I have started teaching again and it's going well. I decided not to take it easy on the girls for the first lesson and most of them are fairing pretty well. I also decided to take a bit more responsibility this semester so I'm going to be administering speaking examinations to my students. They're gonna HATE me!!
On Saturday I travelled to Gwangju to do a lecture at the orientation for all the new teachers coming here. It was kinda fun to go back to the place where it all started. I had such a different perspective this time.
It was a fantastic reunion with Carol and Bobbi (who is now Mrs Richard Stanley III - congrats!). Naturally we made a night out of it. All the new teachers were also going out on the town so it was basically a Waygook storm in Downtown Gwangju. (Waygook storm, coincidentally, is very close to a shit-storm). I got to meet a few of the new teachers and catch-up with some of the old ones. It was lovely. And in true Korean fashion I didn't get to bed until 5am. Once again, it cured my jet-lag.
that's it for now!
Saturday, July 29, 2006
some pictures from camp...
camp was good. but i'm too tired to really say anything about it, so if you're curious, you can just ask me when you see me...IN TWO DAYS!!
Sunday, July 23, 2006
this just in...
i finally got with the program and changed the comment settings on my blog. now ANYONE can leave a comment, ya don't need to have a blogger account.
why oh why didn't I do this before?!?
why oh why didn't I do this before?!?
Saturday, July 22, 2006
muscle shirts and mini skirts
first things first...the link to my Mud Fest Pictures wasn't working and no one told me!!! so don't I feel like an idiot. anyway, I fixed it up good and you can all enjoy them.
Ah summertime! In Korea it means almost constant rain with insanity-inducing humidity and occasional pockets of sunshine that are so searing that you'd think you were a vampire. I'm not joking. I honestly thought Southern Ontario was a pretty humid place in the summer...even when it's not raining here there are literally tiny water droplets hanging in the air for you to walk through and still get wet. it's riDONCulous!! Anyhoo, along with the weather comes some summertime favourites of fashion, namely the muscle shirt (on guys) and the mini skirt (for the ladies...oh my, how wonderful the world would be of those two were reversed!!). Now, for those of you who may not know, the muscle shirt is basically a t-shirt with no sleeves, cut thus in order to showcase one's bulging byceps (or lackthereof). It's a sure a sure indication of a chotch. A distant cousin of the muscle shirt is, of course, the wife beater.
I don't know about the muscle shirt, but the mini skirt is definitely a new arrival in Korea, thanks to Western culture and fashion. America is improving the world!! *ahem, that was sarcasm, just in case you didn't catch it. sarcasm in print can be tricky, you know* In a country where sleeveless shirts on women are still considered slightly scandalous, there are quite a few mini and, dare I say, micro mini skirts walking around out there. I try not to judge, but I can't help it when I see a girl walking around in a cute little skirt that keeps flying up in the high winds that often accompany the rain this time of year. It's akin to the feeling I got when I saw girls trudging through the slush and snow in flimsy ugg boots at Western. What feeling, you ask? Well, a mixture of disappointment in the overall common sense of my gender and smug superiority. I'm a horrible person...
On the same topic, there is also something here that one rarely (if ever) sees in Canada..."couple style". That's right, anywhere you go you are sure to see at least one young Korean couple wearing matching shirts. I'm not talking about coordinating colours, I'm talking the exact same shirt. Quite often it's pink, too. When I first saw this phenomenon I felt certain that the male was being cajoled into to doing this by the girl, but alas I'm left to surmise that maybe, just maybe, the guy was the one who picked out the shirts...
I went to the new E-Mart in Gwangju today to do some browsing and get the heck outta my apartment and during my travels I picked up two of the greatest examples of konglish fashion. (Konglish is the interesting combo of Korean and English.) My foreign friends and I love seeing the absurd things that are written on signs and shirts. Often it's funny because it's just grammatically incorrect and makes no sense, but there are other times, GEMS if you will, where the English is correct, but the message is so hilarious and or out of place that it instantly becomes awesome. I came across two such cases today. The first shirt, the discovery of which I can't take credit for, has the following message on it:
There's no doubt! I will always be your only friend (and you'd better stand by me for this particular reason)
(What?!?! It's so awesome! who doesn't want a shirt that says this)
The second shirt says, and I quote:
GETTIN' LUCKY in my box
no jokes! (if you don't understand why it's funny, click HERE)that's what it says. and there was a whole stack of these shirts available for poor unsuspecting Korean girls to pick up and wear. Naturally I bought both shirts and plan to wear them with pride during my trip to Canada.
I can't leave out the rare case where someone will be wearing the most kick-ass English shirt in the most unlikely of places. I was on the bus (aren't I always) driving through a tiny town (isn't it always tiny?) and I saw a Korean wearing a bright yellow shirt with a red maple leaf. Naturally the maple leaf caught my eye and upon closer look, I noticed that his shirt said "Fucking Freezing" on it. Too bad the bus was moving, otherwise I would've gotten off to shake the guys hand and/or steal his shirt.
------------------------------------------
While I was shopping I decided to try on a pair of shorts, just for shits and giggles. The sales lady comes and asks my waist size (ahahahaha! I almost typed "waste size"! wouldn't that be hilariously gross?!?). While I don't know dimensions, I do know that in Korea I am consistently "largee" size. She pulls off a pair with an 88 on it and states "very largee size". I look at it and chuckle because I just tried that pair on and it didn't fit me. "Very largee" indeed.
------------------------------------------
Speaking of fat, I went out for dinner with my school teachers again and it was really good. Until the prinicpal called me over for our obligatory awkward silence/conversation and he decided to call me fat again. This was all in Korean, but I do believe he was comparing his paunch to mine. awesome. i feel pretty. (mom, don't email shane about it...it's not that big a deal :D)
-----------------------------------------
I don't know if these have infiltrated the toddler market in Canada yet, but some genius decided it was a good idea to create a toddler shoe with a squeaky toy in it. I guess it's kinda like the bell on your cat. If the annoying squeaking stops, you should be worried as your toddler probably just fell down the stairs. wow, i really AM a horrible person! I shouldn't write these at night before bed...
---------------------------------------
and my last commentary for the evening will be about the new words i learned during my mudfest weekend.
1. "egg". Someone who is white but acts asian (white in the outside, yellow on the inside)
2. "Banana" Someone who is asian but acts white (yellow on the outside, white on the inside)
and just for the record, it was an asian girl who told me this!
-------------------------------------------
I'm off to do an elementary school camp this week, but more importantly AFTER this camp I'm coming to Canada...woohooo. This girl needs some quality time with the following:
her parents
her sister
her Sari
her puppy
grass (the kind on my front lawn)
the car
a shopping mall (i can't believe i just said that, but it's true)
see you soon!
Ah summertime! In Korea it means almost constant rain with insanity-inducing humidity and occasional pockets of sunshine that are so searing that you'd think you were a vampire. I'm not joking. I honestly thought Southern Ontario was a pretty humid place in the summer...even when it's not raining here there are literally tiny water droplets hanging in the air for you to walk through and still get wet. it's riDONCulous!! Anyhoo, along with the weather comes some summertime favourites of fashion, namely the muscle shirt (on guys) and the mini skirt (for the ladies...oh my, how wonderful the world would be of those two were reversed!!). Now, for those of you who may not know, the muscle shirt is basically a t-shirt with no sleeves, cut thus in order to showcase one's bulging byceps (or lackthereof). It's a sure a sure indication of a chotch. A distant cousin of the muscle shirt is, of course, the wife beater.
I don't know about the muscle shirt, but the mini skirt is definitely a new arrival in Korea, thanks to Western culture and fashion. America is improving the world!! *ahem, that was sarcasm, just in case you didn't catch it. sarcasm in print can be tricky, you know* In a country where sleeveless shirts on women are still considered slightly scandalous, there are quite a few mini and, dare I say, micro mini skirts walking around out there. I try not to judge, but I can't help it when I see a girl walking around in a cute little skirt that keeps flying up in the high winds that often accompany the rain this time of year. It's akin to the feeling I got when I saw girls trudging through the slush and snow in flimsy ugg boots at Western. What feeling, you ask? Well, a mixture of disappointment in the overall common sense of my gender and smug superiority. I'm a horrible person...
On the same topic, there is also something here that one rarely (if ever) sees in Canada..."couple style". That's right, anywhere you go you are sure to see at least one young Korean couple wearing matching shirts. I'm not talking about coordinating colours, I'm talking the exact same shirt. Quite often it's pink, too. When I first saw this phenomenon I felt certain that the male was being cajoled into to doing this by the girl, but alas I'm left to surmise that maybe, just maybe, the guy was the one who picked out the shirts...
I went to the new E-Mart in Gwangju today to do some browsing and get the heck outta my apartment and during my travels I picked up two of the greatest examples of konglish fashion. (Konglish is the interesting combo of Korean and English.) My foreign friends and I love seeing the absurd things that are written on signs and shirts. Often it's funny because it's just grammatically incorrect and makes no sense, but there are other times, GEMS if you will, where the English is correct, but the message is so hilarious and or out of place that it instantly becomes awesome. I came across two such cases today. The first shirt, the discovery of which I can't take credit for, has the following message on it:
There's no doubt! I will always be your only friend (and you'd better stand by me for this particular reason)
(What?!?! It's so awesome! who doesn't want a shirt that says this)
The second shirt says, and I quote:
GETTIN' LUCKY in my box
no jokes! (if you don't understand why it's funny, click HERE)that's what it says. and there was a whole stack of these shirts available for poor unsuspecting Korean girls to pick up and wear. Naturally I bought both shirts and plan to wear them with pride during my trip to Canada.
I can't leave out the rare case where someone will be wearing the most kick-ass English shirt in the most unlikely of places. I was on the bus (aren't I always) driving through a tiny town (isn't it always tiny?) and I saw a Korean wearing a bright yellow shirt with a red maple leaf. Naturally the maple leaf caught my eye and upon closer look, I noticed that his shirt said "Fucking Freezing" on it. Too bad the bus was moving, otherwise I would've gotten off to shake the guys hand and/or steal his shirt.
------------------------------------------
While I was shopping I decided to try on a pair of shorts, just for shits and giggles. The sales lady comes and asks my waist size (ahahahaha! I almost typed "waste size"! wouldn't that be hilariously gross?!?). While I don't know dimensions, I do know that in Korea I am consistently "largee" size. She pulls off a pair with an 88 on it and states "very largee size". I look at it and chuckle because I just tried that pair on and it didn't fit me. "Very largee" indeed.
------------------------------------------
Speaking of fat, I went out for dinner with my school teachers again and it was really good. Until the prinicpal called me over for our obligatory awkward silence/conversation and he decided to call me fat again. This was all in Korean, but I do believe he was comparing his paunch to mine. awesome. i feel pretty. (mom, don't email shane about it...it's not that big a deal :D)
-----------------------------------------
I don't know if these have infiltrated the toddler market in Canada yet, but some genius decided it was a good idea to create a toddler shoe with a squeaky toy in it. I guess it's kinda like the bell on your cat. If the annoying squeaking stops, you should be worried as your toddler probably just fell down the stairs. wow, i really AM a horrible person! I shouldn't write these at night before bed...
---------------------------------------
and my last commentary for the evening will be about the new words i learned during my mudfest weekend.
1. "egg". Someone who is white but acts asian (white in the outside, yellow on the inside)
2. "Banana" Someone who is asian but acts white (yellow on the outside, white on the inside)
and just for the record, it was an asian girl who told me this!
-------------------------------------------
I'm off to do an elementary school camp this week, but more importantly AFTER this camp I'm coming to Canada...woohooo. This girl needs some quality time with the following:
her parents
her sister
her Sari
her puppy
grass (the kind on my front lawn)
the car
a shopping mall (i can't believe i just said that, but it's true)
see you soon!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
it was muddy and it was festival-y
ahoy maties! (or métis)
i saw Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest last Friday and OH MERCY was is good. I'm telling ya, everything Jerry Bruckheimer touches turns to gold...except for Horatio Cain. He was a bad idea all around. Anyway, as surprising as this may sound, Orlando Bloom was not actually annoying in this movie!! wooohooo with the excpetion of LOTR, where his elvishness was lovely, all other subsequent roles have left me to wonder whether or not he had castrated himself to play an elf more effectively. I'm happy to say that in this movie he has grown an pair. massel tov, Orlando.
among other things, the sound track was lively, entertaining, exciting and ever so Hans Zimmer. I enjoyed it so much that it inspired me to go on my very first iTunes online shopping spree. Not only did I acquire the soundtrack to the movie, but I also found myself buying some Sigur Ros, Muse, and the sound track to Fight Club. Apple people are geniuses because it's RIDICULOUSLY easy for me to buy music and not realise the monetary damage EVER. With shopping online and banking online, it's like I'm spending money that i never really saw anyway. It awesome and awful...AWFULSOME!!!
--------------------------------------------------
The MAIN EVENT - Mud Fest 2006
Last weekend was the Mud Festival in Boryeong, which is a place that's about 3 hours north of here by car. I went with my friends EJ and Stu. EJ is a Korean who teaches English and is one cool cat. Stu is an Aussie who came here in April and who is simply delightful. We were quite the eclectic car-full.
Anyway, we arrived late afternoon on Saturday, got settled and immediately jumped in a pool of mud and muddy people...is was, in a word, mud-tacular.
The mud was greyish and a bit runny. When it dries on you it turns grey and is kinda difficult to get off. For some reason the mud in Boryeong is different from elsewhere and they use it for all manner of beauty products like masks, scrubs, cleansers, soaps, etc, etc.
The Festival began in 1998 I think and is probably the most popular Korean festival among foreigners. In fact, I havent' seen that many foreigners in the same place since being in Canada. To be perfectly honest, I don't care to see that many in the same place in Korea ever again. For some reason, people thinks is OK to act like complete idiots and represent themselves and their countries poorly. For those of you who went to UWO, or know something about it, picture the idiocy that happens once a year on St Patty's Day when everyone drinks their faces off starting at 8am. Now transplant them to Korea and cover them with mud and that's kinda what it was like. I had a Korean girl say to me "I don't understand...I thought Canadians were supposed to be polite?" my response: "When you take people in their early to mid- twenties and add alcohol, Canadians turn into Americans." Yeah, I fully admitted to being "one of those guys" when I have a few in me...but mostly in the company of good friends. Anyway, that's my little rant on foreigners in Korea. If nothing else, they were super entertaining to watch and mock.
Sunday and Monday South Korea was pummelled by heavy rains, so that kinda put a damper (pardon the pun) on the festivities. Thankfully, in the rain mud just gets muddier. EJ, Stu and I spent the day alternately eating, chilling inside, sitting on the beach, getting muddy, playing cards, drinking, eating and hanging out with some other people from Seoul etc etc. It was quite a relaxed, low-key affair, which I'm not at all disappointed about.
you wanna see some pictures?!?!
Here you go! (all photos courtesy of Stu. the one with just the head and the sky...that's Stu)
MudFest Pics
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news:
I GOT MY AIRTICKET HOME YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!
let me see...only 11 more sleeps. w00t.
i saw Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest last Friday and OH MERCY was is good. I'm telling ya, everything Jerry Bruckheimer touches turns to gold...except for Horatio Cain. He was a bad idea all around. Anyway, as surprising as this may sound, Orlando Bloom was not actually annoying in this movie!! wooohooo with the excpetion of LOTR, where his elvishness was lovely, all other subsequent roles have left me to wonder whether or not he had castrated himself to play an elf more effectively. I'm happy to say that in this movie he has grown an pair. massel tov, Orlando.
among other things, the sound track was lively, entertaining, exciting and ever so Hans Zimmer. I enjoyed it so much that it inspired me to go on my very first iTunes online shopping spree. Not only did I acquire the soundtrack to the movie, but I also found myself buying some Sigur Ros, Muse, and the sound track to Fight Club. Apple people are geniuses because it's RIDICULOUSLY easy for me to buy music and not realise the monetary damage EVER. With shopping online and banking online, it's like I'm spending money that i never really saw anyway. It awesome and awful...AWFULSOME!!!
--------------------------------------------------
The MAIN EVENT - Mud Fest 2006
Last weekend was the Mud Festival in Boryeong, which is a place that's about 3 hours north of here by car. I went with my friends EJ and Stu. EJ is a Korean who teaches English and is one cool cat. Stu is an Aussie who came here in April and who is simply delightful. We were quite the eclectic car-full.
Anyway, we arrived late afternoon on Saturday, got settled and immediately jumped in a pool of mud and muddy people...is was, in a word, mud-tacular.
The mud was greyish and a bit runny. When it dries on you it turns grey and is kinda difficult to get off. For some reason the mud in Boryeong is different from elsewhere and they use it for all manner of beauty products like masks, scrubs, cleansers, soaps, etc, etc.
The Festival began in 1998 I think and is probably the most popular Korean festival among foreigners. In fact, I havent' seen that many foreigners in the same place since being in Canada. To be perfectly honest, I don't care to see that many in the same place in Korea ever again. For some reason, people thinks is OK to act like complete idiots and represent themselves and their countries poorly. For those of you who went to UWO, or know something about it, picture the idiocy that happens once a year on St Patty's Day when everyone drinks their faces off starting at 8am. Now transplant them to Korea and cover them with mud and that's kinda what it was like. I had a Korean girl say to me "I don't understand...I thought Canadians were supposed to be polite?" my response: "When you take people in their early to mid- twenties and add alcohol, Canadians turn into Americans." Yeah, I fully admitted to being "one of those guys" when I have a few in me...but mostly in the company of good friends. Anyway, that's my little rant on foreigners in Korea. If nothing else, they were super entertaining to watch and mock.
Sunday and Monday South Korea was pummelled by heavy rains, so that kinda put a damper (pardon the pun) on the festivities. Thankfully, in the rain mud just gets muddier. EJ, Stu and I spent the day alternately eating, chilling inside, sitting on the beach, getting muddy, playing cards, drinking, eating and hanging out with some other people from Seoul etc etc. It was quite a relaxed, low-key affair, which I'm not at all disappointed about.
you wanna see some pictures?!?!
Here you go! (all photos courtesy of Stu. the one with just the head and the sky...that's Stu)
MudFest Pics
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In other news:
I GOT MY AIRTICKET HOME YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!
let me see...only 11 more sleeps. w00t.
Monday, July 10, 2006
happy coincidences and lots of rain
the god of rain has put me in my place. all night, and continuing this morning there has been a typhoon/monsoon. It's my first real one here and let me tell ya, i'm impressed. seriously. the sheer volume of rain is ridiculous as is the wind. i don't like shutting my windows in the summertime, but when i risk flooding my entire apartment, it's kinda necessary.
anyway, i woke up this morning after a fitful sleep (due to the noise of the wind and rain) and began my morning ritual. i looked outside and saw, literally, sheets of rain being blowing diagonally. i thought to myself, "self, walking to school is going to be fun. an umbrella will be useless, so you will just have to trust your purple rain coat."
oh mercy. for the record, my purple raincoat did a fantastic job - it was the rest of me that got pummeled with water. within twenty seconds of me being outside my pants were sopping. i turned around and went back into my apartment. thankfully mrs che came to my resue and drove me to school on her way to work. i arrived in the middle of the staff meeting looking like a drowned rat because, even though i got door to door driving service, the few seconds i was outside were enough for the rain god to be revengeanceful towards my arrogance. lesson learned.
------------------------------------------------
in other news, i have the strange luck to always randomly run into English speaking Koreans in the most unlikely places. Mr Son and I went for a motorbike ride yesterday and after getting pleasantly lost in country back roads we stopped in a tiny town to give our butts a rest and to have a drink. It turns out that in b-f nowhere Korea, the owner of the little corner store where we purchased our beverages has a daughter who just spent 5 months in the states and wants to be an English teacher. I met her (her name is Yu-kyoung) and we spent the afternoon together. It was really great. She was not shy, like most Koreans are went they first meet me, her English is great and she is my age! That's a very rare combo around these parts.
I don't really subscribe to fate or things that are "meant to be" but the random transpiring of events that has led me to meet cool and interesting people (on several different occaisons) is starting to feel less and less like coincidence.
anyway, i woke up this morning after a fitful sleep (due to the noise of the wind and rain) and began my morning ritual. i looked outside and saw, literally, sheets of rain being blowing diagonally. i thought to myself, "self, walking to school is going to be fun. an umbrella will be useless, so you will just have to trust your purple rain coat."
oh mercy. for the record, my purple raincoat did a fantastic job - it was the rest of me that got pummeled with water. within twenty seconds of me being outside my pants were sopping. i turned around and went back into my apartment. thankfully mrs che came to my resue and drove me to school on her way to work. i arrived in the middle of the staff meeting looking like a drowned rat because, even though i got door to door driving service, the few seconds i was outside were enough for the rain god to be revengeanceful towards my arrogance. lesson learned.
------------------------------------------------
in other news, i have the strange luck to always randomly run into English speaking Koreans in the most unlikely places. Mr Son and I went for a motorbike ride yesterday and after getting pleasantly lost in country back roads we stopped in a tiny town to give our butts a rest and to have a drink. It turns out that in b-f nowhere Korea, the owner of the little corner store where we purchased our beverages has a daughter who just spent 5 months in the states and wants to be an English teacher. I met her (her name is Yu-kyoung) and we spent the afternoon together. It was really great. She was not shy, like most Koreans are went they first meet me, her English is great and she is my age! That's a very rare combo around these parts.
I don't really subscribe to fate or things that are "meant to be" but the random transpiring of events that has led me to meet cool and interesting people (on several different occaisons) is starting to feel less and less like coincidence.
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