Roadtrip: BUSAN!!

What makes this sojourn out of Jeollanamdo different so as to label it a "roadtrip"? Well, for once, I was able to travel in the luxury of a car. Oh mercy!

the man and I took off around 4pm on Friday afternoon and 5 hours later we found ourselves in the lovely city of Busan. Busan (which many people first confuse with Boseong...trust me, they are worlds apart) is the second largest city in South Korea - Seoul is the largest - and has what Seoul does not...beaches. Beautiful beaches.

We got a motel room in HaeUnDae area and grabbed a few beers to take to the beach. Yes, we went to the beach at 10pm. [sidenote: thanks to the insight of my dear friend Carol, who forwarded me an email, I was able to purchase CANADIAN beer at a grocery store in Suncheon. Not only was it Canadian, but it was also my fave...MOOSEHEAD. so delicious. Thanks for the heads up Carol. You are, indeed, a good friend.]

Anyway, we sat on the Beach, which was lit well considering it was night time, drank beer and talked for a few hours. Not exciting for you readers, but definitely a good time for us.

On Saturday we started the day with a lovely seashore drive to the next beach, which was Song Jeong. We stopped a few times along the way where there were strategically placed viewing points.

Nice, no? That's a view of HaeUnDae. The beach is on the other side of the buildings.

When we arrived in SongJeong area, we quickly got a hotel for the night and then went to the beach. The weather was perfect - hot and sunny with a cool breeze by the water. We walked along the beach with our toes in the sand and water, taking pictures and people watching. When the mood struck us (that's what's so great about traveling with a car) we found a restaurant and went out for lunch. The lunch was so great and we were so sun drenched that immediately after we went to the hotel for the world's greatest nap.

Post nap we jumped in the car to check out the Museum of Modern Art. There was some pretty awesome stuff in there. The two things that jumped out to me most were enormous black and white photos of trees and an oil painting of water, reeds and rocks that looked so real that I thought it coulsn't possibly be an oil painting. Of course describing these to you is kinda pointless, but you know art galleries...no pictures allowed :P

The time was going on sunset, so we headed to the Busan Yacht Harbour. There we grumbled about the richness of some people and how much boats cost. The richest boat in the place was easy to find. it was sleek. It was black. It was shiny. We were in awe.

In the distance, I spyied a giant ferris wheel. It was obvious where our next destination would be. I have never been on a Ferris Wheel before and this fact confounds me when I think about it. I don't like roller coasters, but I'm certainly not afraid of heights and there's nothing G-Force about a Ferris Wheel. Anyway, "Go big or go home" as they say. This Ferris wheel was GIANT.

With a full day under our belts, we ate some din-dins and then went back to the hotel for some good sleepin'.

A trip to Busan would not be complete without a trip to the Busan Aquarium! Despite the "koreanness" of this tourist attraction, it was still fun to see! [by Koreanness, I mean the tendency for people to push and shove to get where they want to go, completely disregarding everything in their path...it's a cultural thing, it's not that they actually hate me or don't care about me]

Of course, we had to walk through the gift shop to get out of the aquarium, so we had a few silly moments before we left.

Our final stop was DongBaek Park, another lovely scenic area of Busan, home to the 2005 APEC building. APEC was a gathering of world leaders in economy to talk about...well...economics? Anyway, this beautiful big building is now a tourist attraction.

After lunch we hit the raod and arrived back in Boseong around 8pm. What a great weekend! But wait, I'm not finished! I would be remiss if I didn't mention our culinary experiences! According to Geography and my tastebuds, we visited 4 different countries - America, Vietnam, Thailand and Indian.

Koreans are notorious for not being very diverse in their diets (where's the Kimchi?!), so I was delighted when HangBin said "Let's eat Indian food." I think that part of the reason was because he didn't want to eat Korean food that was from that particular province. Any self-respecting Jeollanamdo-ian will declare that food from Gyeongsangnamdo (Busan's province) is cardboard compared to their own food.

At any rate, the food was deeeeelish!

For a full look at the trip, check out my brand new link! I made a Flickr account so I don't have to mess around with yahoo photo albums. Enjoy!

Sports Day!

Today was sports day at my school. No classes, instead, as the clever name suggests, the kids play sports all day. Now, to be honest, the girls don't really have much time for sports outside of PE class because of the time they spend studying, playing on the computer, talking on the phone, going to hagwons and looking at themselves in the mirror. This made watching them play sports pretty funny. But, I will say this, they are tops when it comes to team spirit. I've never seen so much enthusiam for teams at school!! Bangin' on drums, cymbals, chanting, cheering, screaming...these girls were all in.

Anyway, I realise that I have never actually shown any pictures of my students, so I'm happy that I finaly remembered to bring my carmera to school!

It's go time!!

Warm up dance time. The music: YMCA

The finish line for a 100m dash
She's ahead by a mile!
Korean dodge ball. A little different rules, same basic idea - ping someone with a ball.
Mr Na, one of the English Teachers
They are smiling underneath their hands, I swear!
They are smiling underneath the masks, I swear!
Some of my lovely Grade 3s.Cheering on a basketball game. Yes, it was a loud as it looks.
The "basket" for basketball. I'm not kidding.Some of my fave Grade 2 students: Chae Yun and Na Rae

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In other news:
I got another pair of glasses..this time orange!
I got a new motorbike...Champ is now a motorbike organ donor *sigh* He was a good ride.
I sold my piano. I was neglecting him too much, so now I found him a better piano. Goodbye Dr Zaius!
The price of the bike equals the selling price of my piano...w00t!
Carol, Mel and I finally went to one of those fun photo booth stores. Here is a scan of our prints:

for the teachers!

ahoy! yesterday (May 15th) was the wonderful holiday called "Teacher's Day". Lot's of public school get the day off, mostly to avoid parents trying to bride teachers with expensive gifts in hopes that they will raise their childrens' grades.

I, myself, got one gift, but not from any of my girls at school. I happen to give free english lesson to my friends Eric (Yun-seok) and Young-Min, so Eric was very thoughtful and bought me a really nice clock for my wall. I feel well-loved! ^^

Anyway, below is a brief ode to all the teachers that influenced me in a positive way!

Elementary School
Mrs Sipple: kindergarten. I don't remember much about her besides the fact that I adored her.
Mrs Hunter: Gr 2. This was the woman who was partially responsible for sending me into Gr 3 a year early. Thanks! I appreciate it!
Mrs Soulberger: Gr 4. Mentioned for no other reason than her powerful name. Also, I remember she introduced me to one of my favourite books - A Wrinkle in Time. I was the only kid in class who giggled when she said "tentacle". My mom was obviously ahead of the game on sex ed.
Mrs Head: Gr 5. This woman was a tell-it-like-it-is kinda gal and I dug that about her. I was warned she was a witch so on the first day of class I was terrified, but it worked out in the end!
Mrs Tacoma: Gr 8. Another piss-and-vinegar lady with whom I got along grandly! She didn't take any bullshit when it came to pubescent 8th grader antics. Right on, sista!

High School (in no particular order)
Mr Restivo: Gr 9 English/Religion. A sweetheart of a man who looked like super mario and was not ashamed to dress up like him for halloween. He dealt out tough love where needed, but always respected those who respected him.
Mrs Furbacher: (Gr 9, 11 Math, Calc, Algebra). This woman is a goddess among insects when it comes to teaching math. consistent, efficient, helpful and a no-nonsense exterior with a mischevous twinkle in her eye.
Mr Buffalino: (Gr 9 history). Funny guy, sometimes swore in class which obviously gained the respect of his still-pubescent students.
Mr Cino: (Gr 10 math, Data processing, Gr 12 law) A man who knew when he was out of his element. He was the teacher who had the unfortunate job of teaching anything put on his plate. He was patient enough to deal with the attitude I dished out when I was bored in class. how did he deal? "Sure Vanessa, you can leave class. See you next week."
Mr DiFranco: (Gr 10 Science, Gr 11 Chem, OAC Chem) This is the man who began his class by annoucing that he was a really big jerk. Right, you got my attention now. He always played up the difficulty of his class which would motivate several students to drop it after the first day. wusses. his catch phrase was "Gob Bless" and he would ever so often exchange academic learning for some talk about life and life lessons. One particular day when I was freaking out about failed titrations, he came to me as I was on the verge of tears and said wisely, "Relax, Vanessa. It doesn't matter. High school doesn't matter." I scoffed inwardly at the time, but oh how true it is.
Mr Weber: (Physics) I have no inclination towards physics, but Mr Weber's attitude and comforting voice enticed me to do my best. Also, he leant me a book on Forensics which I really enjoyed. He was the first teacher to tell me that even though he had been teaching for 5 years, he still wasn't sure that it was what he wanted to do as a career. That opened my eyes to the possibility of change and the fact that it's ok to be unsure, as long as you don't do nothing while you make a decision!
Mr DiFlavio: (Western Civ) This man challenged me more than any other teacher both in my methods of research and writing and in my thoughts about history and philosophy in general. I attribute his pushing to my essay writing success in university. Very few teachers pushed me and challenged me like he did.
Ms Maccaroni: (Gr 11-OAC Music) Possibly my most influential teacher in high school, she encouraged my musical ability and helped me to realise that it was ok to change my major from science to music. Before I met her, my mind was very focussed on science, but her enthusiasm, fresh mind and passion opened my eyes to a very different world. Partly because of her, I had the greatest university experience possible. That's sayin' somethin', eh?

I'll leave it at that. Tackling university professors would be too daunting, methinks!
Thanks to all the teachers out there who still believe in the potential of students!

Happy Parents' Day!!

In Korea, there is no Mother's Day or Father's Day, simply...Parents' Day. Since I'm in Korea, I thought I'd follow along with this lovely holiday. This blog is dedicated to my wonderful parents.

Dave and Diane Reid... I don't think they know it, bu tI brag about them a lot. They both cook, their relationship is equal, I get most of my good traits (and some bad ones^^) from them. I am who I am because of my parents, and I'm always very thankful to them.

I think I've been a relatively good kid over the years. One of the things I remember being scolded for the most as a child was my tendency towards speaking without thinking. Sure, this has gotten me in trouble on occasion in my adult life, but mostly I've been able to successfully hold back my thoughts in time to censor them and deem them socially appropriate. Thanks for the constant scolding, parents!

Another thing I would apparently do as a child was snoop through anyone's drawers and cupboards whenever we visited company. Embarrassing for my parents, "cute" for me...heh heh heh.

Naturally, I had to throw my parents for a loop now and again, just to keep them on their toes, but no matter what I said I wanted, they supported me and helped me on my way. They put me through...

swimming lessons (at which I was a dismal failure compared to my half-fish sister)
Dance Classes
Soccer
Guitar lessons
clarinet lessons

Thanks to them and their willingness to accept my current interests, I had a very full childhood of extracurriculars.

I think at the end of high school came the biggest shock. After studying science heavily for 4 years and doing very well, after expressing on many occasions my intention to study biology or medicine, I up and did a 180, deciding to study, of all things, music. Here's how I think the conversation went...

Me: "Hi parents, I have some news for you."
Parents: "Sure honey, what is it?"
Me: "Well, I've given it some thought, and I think I want to try and get into university to study music and the clarinet."
Parents projected internal dialogue: WTF?!? Music? you can't feed a family with a degree in MUSIC!! We were gonna have a DOCTOR! oh man, she's throwing it all away! what a waste. I bet it's that music teacher of hers!! what should we say? what can we say! oh mercy! hgurkesuhrglfwiuerhgt GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
Parents: Well, honey, that's interesting. We're sure you'll do well. As long as you're sure this is what you want, we'll support your decision.

They took it pretty well. Then I did it again at the end of university when I told them I didn't want to go to teacher's college, instead I wanted to live halfway around the world and teach english.

I guess my point is that I'm a super lucky girl to have that kind of love (sometimes tough love, eh?) and support throughout my whole life.

Mom, Dad...I LOVE YOU!!!

an international game of broken telephone

man, I thought my situation was complicated...

being in a second language based relationship has its good points and bad points. Obviously, on the downside, there is lots of room for miscommunication. On the bright side, however, there is not much bullshitting or beating around the bush that happens because you can't, it complicates things even more. For me, I get to talk in my own language, so it's much harder for my man. But we do it, and it's working splendidly.

This is what I saw the other day that makes my situation seem like a breeze...

I was strolling through the Boseong Green Tea plantation with my Wednesday morning workshop teachers (field trip!!^^), when one of the teachers took notice of the group slightly in front of us. There was a foreign guy and his korean girlfriend, as well as both of their mothers and fathers. Here's the cool part:

The dude and his parents were French, and the gal and her parents, obviously, were Korean. The couple communicated to eachother not through French or Korean, but through Japanese!
So, the dude's parents would say something to him in French, he says it in Japanese to his girlfriend who then translates it into Korean for her parents. GAH! I wonder how much gets lost in translation, eh?

I Carried a Watermelon

...a famous quote from what movie? That's right, 1980s hit, Dirty Dancing. It's what Baby says as an opening line to her future lover, Patrick Swayze. Accordingly, she felt like an idiot after saying such a lame-o line. It was all that was running through my head yesterday as I was literally carrying a watermelon into my botfriend's parent's apartment for his father's b-day shindig. I was so proud that the line was applicable to my life, but alas! there was no one around to share it with. thank goodness for blogs and a good memory.

so yeah, yesterday was Hang Bin's papa's 61st b-day! Chukhahamnida! (congrats in korean) I was invited to the festivites, which was really really nice. Now, I've already met his parents (twice) and his siblings, but at this dinner I met an innumerable amount of extended family. Aunts, uncles, cousins. Besides the fact that I couldn't understand any of the conversation, the feeling of the family gathering was very much that of my own family. They are all very close and enjoy each others' company immensely.

We started off with dinner at a restaurant (Korean BBQ), then went back to his parents' apt for watermelon and chillin', then at about 9:30 we headed, all 15ish of us, to the No Rae Bang. That's right, I went singin' with Hang Bin's entire family. I wallflowered it, mostly. Of course, in my own comfortzone of foreigners, I'm likely to be in the middle of the room dancin' and singin' and hootin' n' hollerin', but in this situation I stayed on the outside for several reasons a) I am an outsider, b) I'm relatively new to most of these people, who have known each other for their entire lives and c) given my tendency towards tactlessness, I prefer not to do anything that may draw attention to myself in a Korean situation for fear that my actions may be rude in their culture. I'm pretty secure in my knowledge of dos and don'ts in Korean society, but when it comes to the boyfriend's family, I ain't takin' no risks.

Despite my wallflower status I did come out once to sing a song (the easy standby "Dancing Queen") and dance a bit, and I truly did enjoy myself watching them all have such a great time. I was flattered and really happy to be invited.
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As you may know, my stint at camp is now finished. Once I got home last Friday I pretty much melted into a puddle and for the next 3 or 4 days slept anywhere from 10-15 hours in a night. Yeah, camps take a lot out of a girl, even though I sleep well while I'm there.

The camp itself was great as usual. It was my fifth camp and for the first time I taught a subject other than "English Through Music". During the winter vacation I was asked to write a new unit it for the textbook: Presentation Skills. The point of the unit is to teach public speaking skills as well as confidence. This was a great opportunity for me because my personal philosphy after a year and a half of teaching EFL is that language ability is not the most important aspect of language learning, confidence is. You could have all the ability in the world, but without confidence, no one would ever know your ability.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that the first-ever teaching of this unit was really successful. All the trainees were happy with the information, the activities, and (perhaps most importantly :P) ME! yay!

Here's a picture of my homeroom class, the Golden Bells. The other foreigner is Jon, fun guy from Atlanta and our token Yankee at the camp. We were co-teachers for the Golden bells and got along very well. We both share a passion for word puzzles, especially crosswords, which we could be seen doing during most of our free time. I think in the two weeks there we completed about 30 puzzles and 1 game of scrabble (I won, Mom...watch out!).

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My next story is not a happy one, it's a rageful one. I've hurt my shoulder, but I don't know exactly what the problem is. It's a combo, I'm sure, of volleyball, badminton, and poor sleeping positions. Anyway, I've had back pain for most of my life from teens up, so I know what muscular back pain feels like. The pain in my shoulder is a little different which leaves me to suspect a pinched nerve or something. Anyway, at the camp my physical activity was reduced, but the pain got worse. Finally, on Monday, I decided it was enough for me to go and get it checked out by the doctor. Here is an account of my experience:

Hang Bin is a sweetheart and came with me, but also suggested that we get Mr Son to come along because Mr Son's English is a little better. After talking about it in Korean, we headed to the Boseong General hospital. This was not Hang Bin's first choice, but considering he's is korean and 50 years younger than Mr Son, Mr Son's suggestion was the one we followed.

We went to the clinic where I described my symptoms to the doctor. We were directed to a different doctor (not a GP, I guess). I got x-rayed. No problem, so far so good.

When the x-rays came in, I sat down with this other doctor whose name I didn't even get. Thankfully, the x-rays showed no joint damage, phew! I didn't have the opportunity to describe to him exactly where the pain was before he was pressing "massage therapist" hard the top of my shoulder (trapezius muscle). Let me clarify something...that's NOT where my pain is, it's actually under my shoulder blade in my upper back. Anyway, after his *ahem* firm touch, I then had TWO pains in my shoulder.

Before I knew it, Mr Son's telling me he wants to inject something into my shoulder to "untangle the sinews". Right, my muscles are tight, I get that, it's pretty much a permanent state for me, but what the HELL does he want to put directly into me via needle? It's three days later and I still don't know what it was but it certainly didn't help. The only thing it accomplished was making me irate enough to start crying (that and it's uncomfortable getting muscular injections). I think the only reason I didn't loose it completely was because Hang Bin was there and I didn't want to scare him with rageful-crying-nessie.

After that I was told to go to the second floor for physical therapy. UH-huh. Just one question...what's wrong with my shoulder in the first place?!?!? A question still unanswered. *sigh*

But wait! My tale is not finished!! Before I went to the physical therapy room I, naturally, had to get something injected into my ass. Of course!! When I realised this I snapped at Mr Son, which I regret because he was only trying to help. Poor guy. Anyway, I just wanted to know what they were giving me, but I just got shh'ed and told to trust the doc. The poor ass-needle nurse looked terrified of me with my red face and rageful eyes. She probably though she was trying to sedate a crazy, stampeding rhinocerous or something.

At least I'm not afraid of needles, eh?

I went to the physical therapy room where I laid on a heated board for about 40 minutes, then had "Digital interferential current therapy" for about 15 minutes, then something with an ultrasound machine. I'm not gonna lie, there was about 30 minutes where I was alone because Hang Bin left to pay my bills for me (again, a sweetheart), and in that time I cried silently and pitifully. I should've stayed home, no?

Finally after that I was free to go. One more thing to take care of, however - my prescription. After that experience I absolutely refused to put anymore chemicals into my body without knowing what they were so Hang Bin kindly asked the pharmacist to write the English names of the meds for me so I could look them up on the internet. It's really difficult to explain how important it is for Westerners to know what's going on. I was taught to question things and to be aware of what I put in my body. After several needles without knowing what was in them, I was weary and quite upset. I think Hang Bin understood, but he was embarrassed to ask the pharmacist. I don't doubt the competency of the doctors here, don't get me wrong. The lack of trust only comes from the inability to communicate. In Canada, the doctor can straight up tell me what's happening.

Anyway, yesterday I was quite uncomfortable because of the stretching that the doc did to me before and after the needles. Today, that pain is gone and I'm left with the exact same pain in my right upper back that the meds are doing nothing to assuage. My next attempt, perhaps, will be acupuncture I think. Or an English speaking doctor in Gwangju. Anyway, onto happier things...
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CAROL'S BIRTHDAY!!!

My dear friend Carol turned 32. Naturally, such a joyous event was reserved for the finale of this blog entry! We've been having a slew of themed parties and Carol's was no exception. Held in the port city of Mokpo, the party was 80s themed. Oh mercy.

The day started with a picnic in the park by the seashore. There was beer, frisbee, LOTS of food and good friends! There was also a children's playground which I discovered I am not too old for! Swings! Teeter-totters! and perhaps the best part...Toy back-hoes! That's right, I got to dig in the dirt!

Anyway, fast forward to the pre-bar party at Crystal's apt. We got all decked out in various outfits reminiscent of the 1980s. Carol was in seventh heaven exclaming "This is how I always wanted to dress in the 80s but my Mom would never let me!!!" Here's her outfit:

I dressed kind of like the Ally Sheady character from Breakfast club. As Mel put, we would not have been friends in high school because I would'v ebeen the misunderstood social outcast who "supposedly" gave her brother an STD. har har here's me:

Other character included: a tennis player, dude from DIVO, Andre agassi, George michael, a girl from Robert Palmer's music video, Jane Fonda, and lots of other grotesquely awesome getups!

For more pictures, go here:
Carol's 80s Party!!