Jennifer in Korea!

My Other Blog

2011-03-18T16:02:00.000-07:00

I had a request from a good friend in Korea still to re-start my blog.

This one is about me in Korea, and I'm not anymore. I'm back in Canada.

So please see my other blog (not that there's a whole lot there recently! I promise to do better), Career and Job Searching Help.

Christmas in Canada

2009-12-19T13:39:00.000-08:00

It's been 4 months back in Canada, and Korea seems like it was so long ago, between juggling work and school and re-connecting with friends and family. Weird.

Last Christmas is still clear in our minds, though, watching "A Christmas Carol" with Alistair Sim on one of our computers and enjoying a dinner of something Korean, probably gimbap:

http://jenniferdavies.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-eve-in-south-korea.html

We left on Boxing Day for a 5-day trip in China, which was incredible. Was it a whole year ago? Wow. It was Chris' and my first Christmas without one or other of our extended families, so it was a little weird, but we learned - as hokey as it may sound - that having each other makes up for a lot.

Here's to many more Christmases together!

Waiting on a friend

2009-08-29T02:50:00.001-07:00

We're waiting for a friend to go out for dinner one last time. Everything is packed. We visited one of the new teachers in the hospital - poor guy had a collapsed lung in Canada, and didn't know it until he got the X-ray for his visa health check here in Korea! He thought he had heartburn... wild! So his Korean health check saved his life. He's very chipper, all things considered.

I taught his classes yesterday, since clearly he wasn't available to teach. Poor guy. His classes were a little surprised, but they handled the news well when I explained what had happened to him. It was really nice to see the kids again (I stuck my head into my old classes). I feel bad for the teacher who is replacing me at 8pm on Mon-Wed-Fri - my class ASKED for me with about 30 minutes left (not to teach, just to see me), so Chris - who was just hanging around by then - subbed in for the grammar lesson and I sat with my class. I'm going to miss those kids so much: they're so bright, and full of potential. I hope some of them e-mail me once in a while.

A fascinating and interesting (and tiring) year has passed. We're so glad we came to Korea.

See you soon!

This is it...

2009-08-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

...the last day of work in South Korea.

Weird.

Where did the time go?

I've met lots of great people here who I'm really going to miss.

I'm really going to miss a lot of my students. I was very fortunate that the vast majority of my students were well-behaved, good-natured kids, so I did develop relationships with them. I'm going to miss them a lot, especially Sarah (Grade 4) and Frank (Grade 7). Both of them were in my classes for a straight year, and it wasn't always easy, but they always tried their best, and I've really watched them grow this year, in height as well as English ability and maturity.

I'm going to miss them because I want to know how they turn out! They all have such big dreams - do they achieve some of them? Will they get the support they need to achieve them? I really hope so.

Here's hoping I don't let any tears fly in class. I held it together yesterday when I said goodbye to my Mon-Wed-Fri crew.

I'm starting to look forward to going home to make myself feel better! We're almost all packed. I'm really not looking forward to the 5-block walk dragging our 200 pounds of luggage. I did manage to make everything fit in our 4 bags because we're throwing out most of our clothes. On a limited wardrobe, everything wears out a lot faster!

I probably won't blog again except to post a few last photos of our last few days here in South Korea. Not sure when the internet in our apartment is going to be shut off. It'll mean that Chris and I go off the radar by Saturday because that's when our phones get shut off too, but remember that no news is good news.

The last week in South Korea

2009-08-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here is our last batch of photos. We'll add to it as we go this week:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=300730&id=591715424&l=0dd1f4926c

Yesterday, we did a last few errands in Seoul, and had dinner with my long-time penpal Sky.

Today we gave the two new teachers who arrived last night a tour of the neighborhood, and went to our last Suwon Bluewings game. They lost! Wah! But we had a great time anyway.

More "see you arounds" since I don't believe in goodbyes, but they sting anyway. I'm really going to miss the great people we met here. I hope we can keep in touch.

last walk through Insadong

2009-08-15T00:35:00.001-07:00

We went into the most touristy area of Seoul, Insadong, yesterday morning to go souvenir hunting. We got some great stuff. From the bus, I saw the best traffic control method ever... Sorry it's upside down - new toy and I don't know its ins and outs.

I had thought I was seeing things at first!

It was nice to walk through the city. Not sure when if we'll get to go again - maybe I'll run in tomorrow to look for movies to take home (cheap here).

Counting down only 9 working days left - weird! The next 5 are going to be really long... but that's alright.

Realizing that we may be facing some reverse culture shock when we go back. We're used to things like: a convenience store on every second corner; cheap (and fairly healthy) restaurant food; going to work in a t-shirt and jeans; and Korean faces everywhere. We suspect that the first few days of mostly white people are going to feel strange.

Spent Saturday night playing board games with Dave, who used to teach at our school. It was really great to see him - I hope he doesn't settle in Korea forever, because I'd love a reason to go visit Calgary! But I'll understand if he doesn't go back to Canada. Like Chris and I, he's very interested in what's going on around him, and he appreciates Korea for what it is. When we get together with him, we don't gripe about the things we don't like - we just laugh! Canadians do some pretty weird things too.

There's only one more full Sunday left for us in Korea - the Sunday after next, we fly. Weird.

R&R

2009-08-08T22:31:00.000-07:00

Had a nice relaxing weekend this weekend. Yesterday, did some housework (that never ends...) and went out for dinner with a friend on the other side of Suwon. Today, I hung around the apartment. It was 32C plus humidity, so I think it was a great day to be at home. Chris went mountain climbing with a former colleague of ours - didn't sound exhausted when he texted me from the top of the mountain, but that was before the 2-hour climb back down! He'll sleep well tonight.

I packed little things and did some sorting (ex, tossing expired medication from our medicine kit). Felt nice. I haven't had time to do that at all for a long time.

Counting down 21 sleeps until we fly!

18 Working Days

2009-08-03T05:49:00.000-07:00

It's very little time to be counting down, but Chris and I are down to 18 working days (or less than a month of "sleeps"). It's weird. At the beginning of this adventure, a year seemed like forever, but now I don't know where the time went.

[Playing: Nora Jones, "Come Away With Me" - random on iTunes, but fitting since I'm not the sentimental type to pick it intentionally]

I'm really grateful for quite a few things. I met some great people here. I met some great kids. I'm now pretty sure I want to take a shot at raising a child or two. I saw a part of the world I never could have afforded to see if I weren't working. I had a generally good working environment, and I can't say I ever really dreaded going to work.

I didn't kill Chris. In fact, I think we do better when we have lots of time together. It's when we don't have lots of time that we run into communication problems.

I learned to like all kinds of kimchi, not just the spicy cabbage kind, but that kind included. I didn't have to cook - I will REALLY miss this feature. The cost of food was the same buying it and preparing it at home as it was eating out, as long as you ate Korean food. So we ate Korean food. It has been good.

I had my teeth cleaned at a dentist's office, with no appointment, and only waited 5-10 minutes after showing up. Amazing.

I could not buy clothing here, and it was OK. I learned to live with what I had. (Though the not cooking part may have put on about 10 pounds, to add to the many I need to remove when I get back to Canada. Sigh.)

If I spent 300 minutes talking on the telephone over the last 11 months, I would be surprised. I hate chatting aimlessly on the telephone, and being here meant I didn't have to! Koreans love their cell phones. I love text messages. They're cheaper anyway.

North Korea chickened out. I'm grateful for that too.

There are lots of things I'm really pleased to have experienced here in South Korea. I'm glad we came.

Living Bladerunner

2009-08-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows the film Bladerunner knows what I'm talking about - the strange language, geishas advertising Coca-Cola, and neon lights everywhere on top of towering, strange-shaped buildings. The streets were clean, but that was the only major difference between Tokyo and the future!

Please see Facebook for the still photos AND commentary (it's easier to just tag it on the photos):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=289014&id=591715424&l=783ec29409

A few items we don't have photos of, but were memorable:

- being assaulted by a swarm of mosquitos when we sat in the shade at a park that was about to close (so we couldn't go in) - my ankles were covered!
- spotting Little Bo Beep (and I mean a girl in costume, down to the petticoats, I suspect) no less than twice, on two different days - and two different girls - in the subway
- seeing men with fancier-done hair than most girls I know, who clearly haven't seen the sun in weeks judging by the pallor of their faces

Workin' on the weekend...

2009-07-24T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'll be at work tomorrow, which is Saturday. Sigh... I don't mind, because it means my report cards will be finished for this month. (Only one round of those left!)

It also means that I will have finished preparations for my two summer classes - I will be teaching an extra 12 hours/week in the morning, since Korean students are on holiday right now, and they're all in day schools of various kinds. I'll be teaching Basic Grammar and TOSEL (an English test) preparation. Both should be fun - the grammar class is small, so it'll be a lot of pairs work and on-on-one, and TOSEL will be fun because it's all highly motivated kids who want to go to international (ie, English language) schools

I will also be finishing the prep work for my Twilight Book Study class. Yes, in one month, my middle school class is going to read the novel Twilight, all 500 pages of it. I means they have to read 120 pages/week, but most of them are planning to buy the book this weekend and get into it. They've been reading nothing but science in one form or another since March, and I think they're all eager to read something different. I'll be pitching some high school level concepts at them, but I've talked about some of the ideas already and they had a grasp of them from their Korean literature classes. They should be fine. The class sort of my going-away gift to my favorite class of students - they're just fantastic, smart, hardworking kids. It's a gift because I have to make EVERYTHING from scratch, from a vocabulary list, to articles on the concepts I'm teaching, to theory-type questions to be answered as a group or for homework. I hope my school will share it with other campuses - I could easily be broken down into a 3-month book study if someone makes comprehension questions to go with it.

Enough shop talk!

On Wednesday, Chris and I are leaving for Japan for a 4-day visit in Tokyo. I'm very excited. We really enjoyed our Japan visit in January. Photos will come promptly after!

Adventures in Dentistry Part 2

2009-07-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

Being in Korea a year means 2 visits to the dentist, so we did part 2 again today. Just scaling. They use the high-power water scrapers at the dentist we visited, so it hurt - that water gets up under your gums farther than I thought possible! I still can't believe how cheap it was (160,000won or about $160 for BOTH of us to get a good solid cleaning).

Now I don't want to eat for a while, so I can enjoy the clean feeling! I do love a good dental cleaning.

Researchy weekend

2009-07-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

Nothing to talk about this weekend since I spent most of it doing research interviews! I got 3 in this weekend. That brings me to 8, and nothing new coming out of them, so I'm calling a halt to the interview process. Now to finish analyzing the results.

Spent some time with our new buddy Derek, and otherwise wandered Seoul a little today between interviews. It was relaxing. Went movie-hunting in Yongsan. Wandered around Hyewha (theatre district) a little. Generally enjoyed myself.

Hoping this last week before Intensives begin is uneventful. The next 28 working days (all that we have left!) are going to be BUSY, so uneventful Mon-Fri would be good.

Plane tickets

2009-07-12T05:23:00.000-07:00

Assuming our campus manager and the school's head office approve the ticket our just-department supervisor found for us on Friday, we will be flying home on August 30 instead of September 1. Yay! We didn't mind hanging around, but there's really no reason for us to hang around, so we'll be glad to get going. I'm not a fan of long drawn-out goodbyes. There are so many people I'm going to miss... I'd like to be happy with them to the end!

We're very excited about heading off to Japan for 4 days at the end of July. It'll be our last international trip besides the one going home. Besides seeing some of the historical castles in Tokyo (our destination), we're completely open as to what we see. We'll count on finding some tourist info at the airport when we land. Apparently our hotel is in a trendy night-life neighborhood, so if we want to knock back a few in a nightclub, we can without worrying about transportation very much. I just hope the hotel room has a bathtub - I have knots in my shoulders and Chris can't dig out without making me shriek. A tub would be the perfect thing at the end of a long day of walking around in Tokyo.

Starting to look for an apartment in Toronto. It's tough not being there to look at places. Fortunately, we're not picky, as long as they take cats and there's a bathtub!

Anniversary at Everland

2009-07-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

Chris and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday, so we decided to spend it with some friends at Everland. Why not? And in the end, it was a whole lot of fun to celebrate a special day with friends rather than alone. We may make it a habit, at least for increments of 5 years.

Today my insides are saying that going on the T Express 5 times in one day was probably not a good idea in terms of G forces and adrenaline use, but this was probably our last time at what may always be my favorite theme part. I was understandably tired when we sat down for a romantic dinner of... fish and chips. Hey, it was great - I haven't had fish and chips since Canada (August of 2008!).

Check out our photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=276533&id=591715424&l=914b13fd26

The photos tell the tale, but here are some great videos:

This ride is called Let's Swing. I love Swing, but not like this... the guys were on their own.

Global Village is a ride akin to It's a Small World at Disneyland. But it's... different. The stereotypes are rampant.

Finally, the show at the end of the night was gorgeous. Real coloured fire was shooting up - and it was hot!

The grand finale of the show!

The fireworks were amazing. I was a little bummed out on July 1 that we didn't get to see any fireworks, but these July 4 ones made up for it! It's in 2 parts, because it was almost 4 minutes' worth of fireworks! And I even missed a bit at the very end.

It has begun...

2009-06-30T07:55:00.000-07:00

On top of losing a respected and loved staff member soon, and the humidity/rain that is already beginning to plague the weather patterns here, July is going to be a miserable month that I will spend in as many air conditioned environments as possible. And those who know me know how much I love (sarcasm) air conditioning. I can't win this month. Rain rain go away!

Where did the time go?

2009-06-28T04:44:00.001-07:00

This was another relaxing weekend for us. I had an interview for my ongoing research project, and today we met up with a new friend with whom we game (RPG), but other than that, it was pretty quiet. Not many of these weekends left - I'm counting 8 (well, 9, but the last one is will be travel preparations and teaching will be finished). Where did the time go?

job hunting

2009-06-21T19:02:00.000-07:00

I have been offered (and accepted) a part-time job at a university in Waterloo in their Career Services department when I go back to Canada! I'm very excited about it. It's a great school - Chris went there - and I should be able to devote 3 days/week to my doctorate, so that's perfect. I'm not a huge fan of commuting, but we will look for an apartment in the west end of Toronto, maybe even Mississauga, so it'll be no problem. It's going the opposite direction from the rest of the world too, so traffic shouldn't be an issue.

Chris is starting to get into job hunting mode too, so if anyone is aware of ESL teaching jobs in the Toronto, please pass them along!

We'll see you all soon!

Back from Busan

2009-06-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

Check out our photos from our Busan trip!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=268662&id=591715424&l=0e82f9c199

Here's a video from Jagalchi fish market:

Chris was fascinated.

Overall it was a great trip, and I highly recommend a visit! Nice city. People wore much more North American style clothing. For all that Seoulites think they're so metropolitan, Busan looked much more like a North American city than Seoul does.

a nothing weekend

2009-06-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

This was a nothing weekend. Did a lot of sitting around and relaxing. Got into some obsessive creative writing.

Next weekend is Busan, so more then!

Everland and popcorn

2009-05-31T05:04:00.000-07:00

We had a few old friends who now teach at different places come over for gaming last night. Tons of fun. Thanks guys!

I just had to share this bag of popcorn. It's one of our favorite snacks, in great part because of the great name. Read it carefully. The red part. Yes, His Holiness apparently places his seal of approval on this stuff.

We made our third trek to Everland today for their Flower Carnival (Spring) festival!

It was a great time. We will really miss Everland. It's done so much better than Disney does it, because they didn't raze nature to the ground and pour concrete before they started to build. It's built into the valley it sits in. Just amazing. The atmosphere is just right.

Please check out the photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=261411&id=591715424&l=d3bc9848f1

A sense for the atmosphere when you arrive at the park:

Another thing that makes Everland amazing is it has the T-Express. It's really called the Alpine Express, but T Mobile, a cell phone provider, sponsors it.

Just love it. The whole park is great. It is one thing I will miss about Korea. We were talking about that over dinner in Holland (or as Samsung, who owns the park, imagines Holland to be like) and we realized we will miss Korea when we go back to Canada. We'll miss the food, the people and their tendency to share so well, and fun places like Everland (which costs $30CAD entry/person for access to everything, by the way!). We're really glad we came.

Korean Folk Village

2009-05-24T05:58:00.000-07:00

Also, we visited the Korean Folk Village today. Tons of fun! Highly recommended to anyone who is in the Seoul/Suwon/Yongin vicinity. It is a collection of Korean hisory and recreations of life about 200 years ago. Very well done.

Here are the photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=247136&id=591715424&l=d7c6425e09

And the videos. First up, this is called Farmers' Dance. My understanding is we don't know if this is really what farmers did - it's based on what they MAY have done. Really cool either way. This was one long video and I had to cut it up to make Blogspot's system accept it, so please watch them back-to-back:

Next up was a performance on a see-saw. What can you do on a see-saw? we wondered. Then we saw these tricks, and were amazed:

This gentleman, who must have been in his late 50s or early 60s, wowed us with his performance. He was very engaging and funny too, even though he spoke only Korean!

The horse riders (below) were quite spectacular. I missed the archery with the camera, but you can see how skilled they are. Nobody missed the target. They were demontrating martial skills that "hwarang" horse warriors used for several centuries in Korea.

The prices on the souvenirs were really reasonable as well. We were really surprised! We may have to go back just to do a souvenirs run before we come back to Canada.

Thailand videos

2009-05-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

I took a few videos in Thailand. Finally uploaded them:

Driving around (look in the 3rd one at the sun - it was hammering us for the whole week, in a really exhausting but fantastic way):

The persistent ice cream salesman. I should have kept recording - he was actually a very good singer:

Our guesthouse, courtesy of Daniel's aunt Linda and roommate Louise:

Won

2009-05-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

Not "wun" but "wohn" - the Korean currency - is getting a new addition in June! It's about time too.

We're getting this new 50 000 won bill:

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/05/123_45187.html

It's about time to have a woman on their currency too. I speak as a Canadian who is accustomed to Queen Elizabeth II's image on every coin.

Right now, Korean bills include only 1000 (similar in value to $1 CAD), 5000 (similar to $5 CAD) and 10 000 (similar to $10 CAD). Chris and I use cash for everything, so you can imagine the size of our wallets if we carry $200 (200,000 - it's 20 bills!). The 50 000 bill (similar to $50 CAD) will help a lot with making our wallets more manageable.

t's also very pretty. Makes me feel like I'm at home in Canada to have so many different colors in my purse.

Head on the beach

2009-05-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

My head has been on the beach all week. I slept in every day this week too. I don't know how I can be tired from a holiday of sitting on a beach, but apparently I am. It's alright - I feel very relaxed. Maybe that's why I don't feel an urgent need to get out of bed too early.

Not much happened this week - same old 40 hours of work. But this weekend should be fun. Sunday is the 2nd Annual Suwon Multicultural Festival, aimed at foreigners. We'll go check it out. Tomorrow we are meeting up with a fellow RPG player who found Chris' Facebook group. Yay! Maybe we can run a game before we go home. I'll post on both of those later this weekend.

Home... it is looming! May is practically over, so we're counting down 3 months. Wow, time flies! We are grateful for our time here, and have definitely now felt the need to go and visit the places we have not yet seen (mostly Jeju Island and Busan). Watch for those to be posted as we count down our last 14 weeks in Korea!

SUNDAY MAY 17, 2009

Well, nobody wanted to come with to the Multicultural Festival, so Chris and I decided to just stay at home and watch movies all day. Why? Festivals are more fun in a group. Too bad.

RPGing with our new fellow geek was great! Derek is a fantastic story-teller, and it's amazing was he was able to invent off-the-cuff. Playing - and I do mean playing - reminded me of being in Grade 7/8 and even early high school, sitting around with Tasha and other friends and making up stories in the universes of our favorite fictions (X-Men, Star Trek, etc). I still write fiction just for fun myself, but had forgotten how much fun it was to make up a story with your friends.

It wasn't "formal" RPGing that we were doing, and having been reminded of the fun I used to have just making up a story in an interactive way, I'm not sure I want to play the kind of RPG games that Chris plays, where the ending of the story is a given and if I am not cooperating, my character may be railroaded back onto the path. I may try it if I am invited, but I won't take kindly to being made to conform to the coordinator's plan!

well-deserved holiday

2009-05-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a much-needed and well-deserved holiday in Thailand. We stayed with my colleague Daniel's aunt, who is a fantastic retired nurse. Thanks to her and her friends, we had a great week!

Haven't had a chance to comment on the photos yet, but will this weekend. You can check them out here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=251995&id=591715424&l=19a7cd48ef

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=252001&id=591715424&l=61bd5767b9

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=252006&id=591715424&l=98d792071a

Check out this video of the lizards calls Tukgays - they hide in the roof and make a chirp like a bird. Really cute.

The highlights of the trip? Riding an elephant, swimming in an ocean for the first time beside white sandy beaches, and eating more fresh fruit in one week than we eat in a month in Korea!

Creative teaching

2009-04-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

I had a lot of fun this week when I got to make up half the lesson for a Tuesday-Thursday Middle School class. We looked at a fun book I have called Otter Nonsense. It's all puns with pictures of animals acting out the puns. Very cute. See this link to get sense of the kinds of puns in the book: http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/4917953/used/Otter%20Nonsense

I really enjoy it when I get to bring some of my favorite things into a class.

Today I brought in a slideshow of photos I took 2 years ago when Chris and I visited Antietam, Maryland (?). It is the site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, and it is a haunting place. I am currently teaching US History, so I got to show some of the photos to bring the place to life. Most of my students thought it was cool that I had really been to a place in their book.

Tonight we treated our Korean colleagues to dinner and a noraebang (karaoke in a private room). They work so hard, and they don't get a lot of appreciation for it from the powers that be, so we wanted to help out. It was a great time! Great idea, Ashley! It turns out we have some very talented coworkers. Photos to come as they are posted on Facebook!

PS: Just a few new photos up: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=247136&id=591715424&l=d7c6425e09

travel update

2009-04-23T08:50:00.001-07:00

The warning on Bangkok has been lifted by DFAIT:
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=290000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8015633.stm

So as planned, we will just be careful.

The timing couldn't be better - we just got off the waiting list for a better flight, so we will have an extra day in Thailand. I can't wait!

Countdown to holiday: visiting Thailand

2009-04-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

A small update on us: Chris has not been accepted to U of T (they told him he was their 2nd round draft pick - too bad, but he is far from devastated), so we don't have to rush back to Canada. All the same, we'll be back in September. We're ready.

Also, here are a few new photos from April around the town, including our Easter soccer-and-potluck day:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=228010&id=591715424&l=7fd3b139de

Against my parents' better judgment (sorry Mom and Dad), we are going to Thailand for 5 days on our holiday, April 29-May 4.

Here's the DFAIT report on Thailand:
http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=290000
It says to exercise caution in the country, and avoid Bangkok.

Well, we're flying into Bangkok, but never leaving the airport, because we land then get on another plane and fly way south to Koh Samui:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Ko+Samui,+Thailand&sll=15.870032,100.992541&sspn=27.356239,33.837891&gl=ca&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FVEkkQAdGRb2BQ&split=0&z=12&iwloc=A
Zoom out (roll your middle mouse thing back) to see how far it is from Bangkok. There has been no trouble in that part of the country.

For comparison, India, China and Vietnam have the same caution ("Exercise Caution") from DFAIT. Apparently they think most of Asia is unstable:
India: http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=128000
China: http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=55000
Vietnam: http://www.voyage.gc.ca/countries_pays/report_rapport-eng.asp?id=316000

So we're just plain going to avoid the trouble spots as indicated by DFAIT, and exercise caution.

We have a local guide in Koh Samui because we will be staying in my fellow teacher Daniel's aunt's guest house, so she'll tell us where to do / not to go, how to be safest on the island, etc.

There have been no kidnappings of foreigners that I can find out about. This is an internal struggle, and a couple of Canadians and Americans won't mean anything since neither country has much influence on the situation. That seems to be a rather unlikely possibility.

We'll let our respective consulates know where we're going to be, and be careful.

Easter Potluck Feels Good

2009-04-12T07:31:00.000-07:00

Easter started with a Suwon Bluewings soccer game, and they won this one! Yay! See the video.

Chris and I hosted an Easter potluck dinner tonight. We had a few former colleagues, and a few current colleagues, over at our place. We made vegetarian chili and bought a mountain of ice cream and strawberries for dessert. Friends brought a pasta salad, chicken, and Roger (who used to teach at our school, but is now at a different once) brought a homemade apple pie. Heavenly.

Easter was always a funny holiday in my mind. My family weren't church-goers, so there wasn't a lot of Jesus at Easter. But it was always a time when we got together to play, eat together, and just celebrate family. I really missed Easter when I went away to university, and I got used to celebrating it with friends, but it isn't quite the same as sitting down with my family and celebrating being a family. I'm a little envious of a fellow teacher (who is now at another campus) whose parents are visiting him for a couple of weeks. I wish my parents - or Chris' family - or some of our Canadian friends could visit us here.

Don't get me wrong, I was really happy to have my friends here to celebrate! Neither Friday nor Monday is a holiday for us, so it's back to work tomorrow. But it was really great to just hang around and talk. I felt like it lowered my stress level, anyway. We're all counting down to holiday time at the end of this month.

The cherry blossoms in Korea right now are stunning! It looks like every tree and bush is going to have flowers.

North Korea and nonsense

2009-04-04T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well, North Korea fired their missile, and fortunately, it looks like it did have a satellite on board and not a warhead:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7982874.stm

I have to admit, nobody in South Korea was losing a lot of sleep over it (except for Lee Myung-Bak, the President, of course) since there was nothing to be done about it.

I, for one, am grateful that Japan - who had sworn to shoot it down if it looked in the least threatening - elected to leave it alone, since shooting it down would have represented an "act of war" to the North Koreans.

For a small country, North Korea is very good at causing a large amount of trouble!

Ready for a holiday!

2009-04-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

I feel very much like Chris and I have been working non-stop since January's "intensive" period when we were teaching 9 hours/day (at work for 12 hours). We had our break in Japan for a few days, but that was a whirlwind trip too, and we never really stopped. Chris teaching kindergarten on the weekends at the school has meant we couldn't get away to anywhere, and I also go in with him and work. I don't mean to make us sounds like heros, and I'm really not wanting to complain - I'm just illustrating how we are dog-tired. Not a long-weekend or break since the end of the Christmas holiday (January 2).

There is a light shining: we are really excited about going away to Thailand for almost a week. A fellow teacher has family there, and we have been offered to share a small beach house. The prospect of sitting on a beach for a few days is all that's keeping me rolling! The plan is to spend 2-3 days on a beach, and then 2 days in Bangkok. We're hoping we might be able to hook tickets for a little longer stay - we have 7 days off, but so far a ticket that only allows us 5 days in Thailand - but 5 days in Thailand is better than no days in Thailand! I can't wait to get away.

I guess I better hit the gym a little more in the next few weeks to get swimsuit ready!

Work is going well. I'm really excited for Chris: still waiting on most of his PhD results (which means he's on the waiting list to be a 2nd-round draft pick), but whatever the result, he has started an online TESL certification course. If he doesn't get into a PhD in Toronto, he is going to pursue work teaching English in Canada! As long as I have known Chris, he always said he didn't know what kind of job he wanted to do, and would do 'whatever'. But this is something he actually wants to do! I'm so pleased for him. It's a big step.

As for me, I'm enjoying the kids still. They're each a unique personality, and most of them are a lot of fun. I was terrified of teaching and being around children all day, but now I really don't mind it at all. They're not so hard to handle. A few kids have been asking me about when Chris and I are going to "have babies" - in my head, I feel like my mother and father are speaking through them! It's just strange in Korea for a couple to be married for 4 (almost 5!) years and not to have children yet. Korean families are usually small - they seem to have the typical 2.2 kids like we have in Canada - but getting married generally leads to kids here.

The morale around our campus is not as good as it has been in the past, but it seems to be hanging in. March was a little rough. Between a new teacher having a rough start (it's always a rough start!), losing two fellow teachers at the end of February, and clearly having lost a lot of students means the school feels a little empty. The recession is hurting even wealthy families (who send their kids to us) too. April seems to have most of us with chins up again, and looking forward to a well-deserved break!

Doctorate at U of T starting in January

2009-03-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

I have been granted a deferral to start my Doctor of Education at the University of Toronto in January. It'll give me the time I need to get settled in Toronto, find a job, and complete a MA thesis make-up project.

My supervisor will be Dr. Charles Chen, the Canada Research Chair in Life Career Development.

I'm so excited - pinch me!

See Dave's Blog!

2009-03-26T07:12:00.001-07:00

Please see my former colleague's blog for something featuring Chris and me!

http://baileybrosbuildingandloanabroad.blogspot.com/2009/03/back-to-before.html

Nerves, and Barack Obama

2009-03-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

People have been asking us if folks here in South Korea are nervous about war with North Korea, and wondering whether people here feel it's likely. Nobody's panicking here. They're used to nonsense from NK. So we're not really nervous either.

I love Barack Obama! If you haven't seen his 30 minutes on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, watch it! These 2 links cover most of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNvR_8Rk0jI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE0X52Lg7i0

Some detractors (mostly Republicans) are complaining that he 'lowered' himself by appearing on a show like that and made some jokes, but it was about 3 minutes of jokes and 30 minutes of serious talk, in a format that's very accessible to more Americans than would otherwise watch the news. It was a brilliant move, and it shows that he doesn't need a bunch of handlers who need to feed him his every phrase via an earpiece. Loved it.

Perception of Korea by "waegukin" (foreigners)

2009-03-15T07:02:00.001-07:00

I've seen some really funny videos and life in Korea, and thought I'd share a few to lift my mood!

First, check out this video by Rain, a K-Pop sensation who will soon (sadly) have to do his military service. He's already in good shape - great dancer. Singing voice isn't bad either. And yes, most K-Pop singers are dramatic like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l8ao-N1u1c
Actually, the sale of this album ("Rain-ism") has been restricted to kids 18+ because of the lyrics of this song. Too sexy. Something about a magic stick and bodies shaking! (Eek!)

And how see Stephen Colbert's imitation - priceless!
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=86679

Now, some of these jokes won't be funny to anyone who hasn't lived in Korea, but these guys - some American guys who were teaching English in a suburb of Seoul - crack me up because every joke is true! There are the Guemchon Boys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBfy_HVoSM
The big visors they are wearing are usually only worn my middle-aged and older ladies (Ajumas). Annyeonghaseyo and Kamsahamnida are part of every interaction. It really is funny! The Dunkin' Donuts part is so true - and the Kimchi interlude. Koreans add "uh" to the end of many words, like Hite and Cass (beer brands). I don't appreciate some of their disrespectful behaviour, but... I can't disagree with any of their observations!

Finally, I have sadly heard of a few people like this. I don't think there are any at my campus, but it's easy enough to imagine this kind of behaviour. This is "Super Ex-Patriate Man":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNd-I-wfyeE
I'm a little alarmed that he is also the Head Teacher at his school!

There. I've had a good laugh. Hope you enjoy!

So Many Goodbyes...

2009-03-14T20:48:00.001-07:00

It seems like we have been saying nothing but "goodbye" for the last few weeks. First, two of our colleagues finished their contracts and went home, which was sad. It was really sad for the Korean staff at our school, who knew them well since these teachers had both been at our school's campus for 2+ years! A third fellow teacher transferred to Seoul because he wanted to be closer to the big city - fair enough. And this week we said goodbye to a Korean staff member who was finding the work just too stressful, and has taken a job at a bookstore to reduce her stress. In a few weeks we will also say goodbye to another Korean staff member whose spouse is going to be starting graduate study in England.

We have two "hellos" to sort of make up for the goodbyes: a new teacher, and a new Korean staff member, both of whom are wonderful people. But there is a disproportionate number of "goodbyes" over "hellos".

And Chris and I are still blown away that we have passed the 6-month mark here, so we are going home in less time than we have spent here. Wow! Where did it go?

March has been stressful, work-wise. Every class started new books, and several of the classes are using tests and quizzes that have never been used before. They were clearly not proofread for content (the grammar and spelling are fine), because they are full of distractors and all kinds of words that kids don't know. Seriously, what Grade 3 reader knows the word "insist"? And who the hell is Sebastian Gingersnap, that he is the topic of at least 2 questions on every test? My students don't know him. It's frustrating for the kids to be faced with ridiculous questions, when they really do know the vocabulary words they're supposed to fill in the blanks with. We're working on fixing them, but these issues won't be resolved until the next print run of the test/quiz books. Sigh! Poor foresight. Seems normal here, unfortunately.

2009-03-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

We've done a little local sightseeing. Check out our new photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=228010&id=591715424&l=7fd3b

We are both very well. If you look at our photos from the Suwon Bluewings soccer game on Saturday, Chris has a beard and my hair is getting long and unruly. And yesterday we got rid of all our hair!

Nothing to complain about. Nothing really interesting happening since Chris is still teaching Kindergarten on Saturday mornings.

Can't believe we're over the halfway point. We'll be on our way back to Canada in 5-and-a-half months! Wow!

I guess we have to start visiting stuff more intently.

missing driving

2009-02-28T21:17:00.000-08:00

Not a lot going on again. We're rather enjoying a little monotony.

I find myself missing driving lately. I won't dare try it in Korea - you have to be really brave to drive here, because the rules are a little too loose and traffic is unpredictable. But I do miss it. I like the challenge of driving standard, and the opportunity to just pick up and go somewhere.

I start as Head Teacher next week. I don't think it'll change much except that I'll be helping the Korean staff with organizational and adminsitrative stuff. Should be interesting.

Decisions, decisions!

2009-02-21T20:25:00.000-08:00

Not much going on in Korea this week. Teaching as usual. My kids are so cute - it's starting to make me think I might want to have them sooner rather than later. But no counting chickens, dear parents!

I become the Head Teacher at my campus when two experienced teachers leave us at the end of this week. It makes me very sad that they're going! They're great ladies to work with. I hope I can do justice to what they started.

I've been facing a difficult decision this week. One of the schools where I applied to do a doctorate got back to me and said they want to offer me a spot, but it doesn't come with guaranteed funding. There MAY be funding, but they can't promise at this point. Oh, so hard! And of course this is the first response either Chris or I has had from any place we applied. I wonder if they'll let the offer wait for a week or two? Or should we jump at it? It's in the city we want to be in (Toronto), and the top researcher in my field would be supervising me. The only hitch is the lack of funding. Am I stupid for hesitating? Why do I have doubts? Maybe it's because I have to admit, I never really imagined I would get in! There's so much competition... they get 50 applicants most years, and take 5.

Now that I see that in writing, I think maybe I am stupid for hesitating. But I have to think about Chris too. He has applications in the fire...

seeing the local sights

2009-02-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

We visited Changdeokgung (Changdeok Palace) yesterday. It's beautiful. Our tour guide had a great sense of humour. Apparently the UN Cultural Heritage list messed up the name of the palace - 'gung' is 'palace', so on the list the facility is called Changdeok Palace Palace! Oops.

Here are our photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=217960&id=591715424&l=c1957

The last dynasty of rulers - Joseon - lived here, although the previous dynasty had built the palace in the first place as a secondary palace. It became the primary palace for the last 300 years of the kings of Korea.

Other than that, just hanging around Suwon. Chris is teaching Kindergarten on Saturday mornings at work, so we can't travel anywhere. Tonight we're having colleagues over to play a game of some kind, probably Settlers of Catan.

Spring is Settling on Suwon

2009-02-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, spring is here!

Koreans actually celebrated the official "spring welcome" on Feb. 4 (or so). The forecast says it shouldn't get below zero again. Pretty weird! I guess I didn't need to bring winter boots - I only used them 3 times. Oh, well.

I picked a good winter to get out of Canada!

Don't have much to say this weekend. It's just nice not to be doing anything. We cleaned. We made pancakes for the first time (thanks for the maple syrup, Chris' buddies!). I did some laundry. No hurry.

Went into Seoul yesterday to get jogging pants because we joined the gym this week, and I didn't bring proper pants. Why did I have to go into Seoul (Itaewon, the American area)? Because Korean women are tiny and I can't get my size anywhere else! I have to go to a shop that offers "Big Sizes" (like, 14!). We're probably going to ABC Mart (shoe store, very cool) today to scope out dress shoes for Chris - his are getting worn out from wearing them so often to work. He's hard on shoes.

The pace here is slow, which is a really nice change from January.

Having nothing major to do on a weekend is very nice.

Adventures in Dentistry

2009-02-05T06:05:00.000-08:00

I'm a big believer in getting my teeth cleaned professionally (ie, at a dentist's office, by a dental hygienist) every 6 months or so. My parents put me in the habit as a kid, and I like the feeling of clean teeth. I guess I'm lucky that I never had one of those scarring experiences that turn people off going to the dentist's office.

So it was July or so the last time I had mine done. I was due! Chris was done last in June, so he was due too. I don't know how to identify a dentist in Korean, so I asked our friendly Korean colleagues if they could arrange for a dental cleaning. I figured we'd have to wait a week or two. But it was, "Sure, let's go tomorrow." Really, I asked? "Sure, you don't make an appointment. You just go."

No appointment to see a dentist/hygienist? Back in Timmins, I have to book MONTHS in advance to see my dental hygienist. But today, with no appointment, we just wandered over to the nearest dentist's office (just two building over from our school), and asked if we could have a cleaning. Apparently getting your bi-annual cleaning is not popular with Koreans, just like it isn't with Koreans. I also don't know what kind of training the kind woman who cleaning my teeth had, but she was a little rough! The result was nice, though. Here's how it went.

We walked in, and were told we'd have to wait a few minutes. (A few minutes? Sure! Usually I have to wait weeks!) Then I was led by a smiling woman in a many-pastel-coloured striped uniform that all the office ladies were wearing into a pretty standard hygiene room. The chair was the same (although smaller, like everything here), but cooler than the chairs in Canada: it has a sink built on, so I don't have to spit back into the stupid little dixie cup, I can spit into a sink for a bigger target! That was really nice.

So I lay back, took off my glasses, and she put a donut over my face. A big green one, made of cloth. Very nice - it served to keep the flying tartar and water off my face. It also meant I couldn't see, which was a little nerve wracking because I was only 99% sure that the message had been received that all I wanted was cleaning, no drilling, but it meant we didn't have to try to have an awkward conversation. All in all, it was a plus. She used one of those fancy new water-powered cleaning tools to blast the tartar off my teeth. It hurt a little bit, but not enough to make me raise my hand in the air (the signal for "ouch!", she showed me). A little polishing, and ta-da! My teeth are clean.

Now, in Canada, the last time I saw a dentist, I paid $275. That included 4 X-rays, but still, that was a lot of money. I had no insurance at the time. For a good 20-25 minutes of treatment, Chris and I each paid 80,000 won (about $90 CAD). Not bad at all! I think to have the dentist look in our mouths was an extra 10,000 (about $11), but at our last check ups in Canada our teeth were a-OK, so we didn't bother. We'd rather not have significant work done here anyway, so ignorance is bliss!

Chris said he was spitting a lot of blood. I told him he needs to floss more - I do it nightly now.

Korean dental care is alright! You have to be very specific about what you ask for, but if you ask for exactly what you want, you can get it. For the price, a big thumbs up!

A long weekend in Japan

2009-01-29T05:25:00.001-08:00

Here are the photos from our Japan trip, over the Chinese New Year long weekend! I was dead tired when we left Korea from working 60-65 hours / week, but it was well worth going. At first I regretted travelling, but visiting places and walking around is a different kind of tired from standing and teaching 9 hours/day, so in the end I was very clas we went.

Osaka:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210518&l=15381&id=591715424
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210519&l=45e8f&id=591715424
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210524&l=5da6a&id=591715424

We started our trip with a snowstorm on the Saturday morning! It delayed our flight by an hour, but the pilot made up a lot of the time because we had wind in our favour. We landed in Osaka and headed straight for our hotel. The subway wasn't hard to decode since they write the station names in English on all the maps, and finding the hotel wasn't really hard either. It was a fun surprise - we had elected for "shared bathrooms", but at this place, that meant "bath-house". I had never showered nude with other women before! First time for everything, I guess... and it was very business-like.

Osaka is a beautiful city. We saw Osaka castle that afternoon, and spent the evening walking around the shopping arcades. The most popular game for grown-ups in Japan seems to be Pachinko - it's like slots! (Yes, gambling.) We couldn't believe how many places there were.

Sunday morning, we got up early and I wrote the GRE test. It was alright - I think working 60 hours/week took a chunk out of my score! Whatever. It was still average or slightly above average. Chris wandered around the city until I was finished, then we were off to Kyoto!

Kyoto:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210514&l=3c688&id=591715424
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210526&l=b6135&id=591715424
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210527&l=3b314&id=591715424
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210529&l=56cf5&id=591715424
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210532&l=5da93&id=591715424 http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=210533&l=47937&id=591715424

The history in Kyoto is everywhere! And it seems like everywhere you turn is a shrine or a temple. We started our visit by finding our hotel, which was like a large private home with individual locking bedrooms. All our beds were actually tatami mats with thin futons on the floor. Very comfortable, surprisingly!

We visited many temples, shrines, and castles. Nijo castle, which was the primary residence of the emperor for a VERY long time, was my favorite place to visit. It had a real functioning Nightingale floor (one that squeaks on purpose as a security measure) that still works, all the way around the inside! Here's a video. Listen to the squeaks! It sounds like birds (nightingales)...

We also thought the Kyoto Imperial Palace was amazing. Check out the gardens - and this was only one! Most places had many gardens. I really liked how the Japanese incorporated natural elements in all their construction.

Notice all the orange? Technically it's vermillion. Around the year 700 or so, the Japanese were importing a lot of culture from China. In China, they painted everything red to ward off evil spirits. The Japanese didn't want to copy exactly, so they used flaming orange instead! It's beautiful. I love orange.

One last very nice thing about Japan is the toilet seats - when you can find one, that is. A lot of the time, we had to use the squatting-type toilets, which are a challenge at best. If you don't know what I mean, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squat_toilet for a guide! But in Japan, when you find a toilet with a seat, it probably has a HEATED seat. And it probably also has water jets for additional cleaning. Yes, there. And there. It's a fun toy for us foreigners, let me tell you! The heated seat is the best part.

We have to go back to Japan - we didn't see Tokyo, and even this visit was really rushed. We felt like we needed more time to really appreciate stuff. Oh well - efficiency also worked to keep us moving and interested! If only it weren't so expensive in Japan. Everything costs so much more than Korea, and even more than Canada. Stay tuned for our next adventures, which will be more exploring in Korea!

11-hour days = tired!

2009-01-16T19:32:00.000-08:00

Still worked REALLY long days this week. Next week I don't work Friday morning. That's a saving grace since we leave for a few days in Japan next Saturday!

To tide you over, here are the photos from my birthday-slash-welcome-back party:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=205567&l=975b4&id=591715424

It was a great time, and as usual, we have more fun sober than we see many people doing drunk! We saw a lot of intoxicated locals that night, and actually had to avoid a fight with a guy who tried to kiss Sionna, one of our new colleagues (dark curly hair in the photos). He was so intoxicated he was barely standing up, though, so we were able to just walk away. Weird. Never saw the before.

It feels good to be back. We're lucky, we're a staff team that enjoys each other's company. Many of us have our own social circles outside of the staff, but we're happy to spend time together too.

Birthday Karaoke and long work days

2009-01-10T01:17:00.000-08:00

Had my birthday this week. It's hard to save so much fun anywere else for $20/each! We all went out for fried chicken and beer, then went to a karaoke club for an hour, and hung out at a relaxed bar afterward. So nice! It's good to spend a birthday with friends.

We really earned this Friday's celebration. Korean public schools are closed in January, so children are sent to daycamps and academies, like my school, to pass their time. So I am teaching a morning class every day in addition to our regular evening classes. Fortunately, our evening classes are bumped up to a little earlier, so we finish at 8pm, but teaching from 9am to 8pm is pretty wearing! I'm tired - not a fan of 60 hours workweeks. Looking forward to a break when we go to Japan for the Lunar New Year at the end of this month. At least the overtime pay will be nice.

Haven't done anything interested since China, so no photos to share today. And I have a ton of stuff to mark, so I must get back to it!

China holiday and Happy 2009!

2008-12-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

Our holiday season picked up with our 5-day whirlwind tour of China (Beijing and Xi'an)! I will spend my New Year's Eve telling you about the trip. Happy 2009!

It is best told in pictures. Suffice it to say that it's an incredible country, still very much developing (but they seem to know that), and we need to go back again to see more.

Photos are best viewed in this order:

Arrival, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197396&l=a0f81&id=591715424

Forbidden City 2, Cloisonne, Ming Tombs
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197397&l=1dc7e&id=591715424

Jade Factory, Great Wall
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197381&l=c2c4e&id=591715424

Hutongs, Temple of Heaven
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197363&l=af494&id=591715424

City of Beijing, Summer Palace, Leaving Beijing
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197390&l=ad27e&id=591715424

Xi'an - Emperor's Qin's Tomb, Hot Springs and the Xi'an Incident
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197400&l=98fae&id=591715424

Xi'an - Terracotta Army
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197402&l=f0abf&id=591715424

Xi'an - Tang Dynasty Style Show
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197418&l=38393&id=591715424

Xi'an - Hotel, City Wall and Departure
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197419&l=97366&id=591715424

We've been back in Korea for more than 12 hours and so far still no ill effects from the food we ate. Lots of great memories and a few souvenirs. It was a great trip!

December 26 - we got up at 4am (oy!), showered and shaved, and headed off to catch the 5am bus to Incheon airport. Our flight didn't leave until 9:30am, but between getting checked in, getting through security, and all that jazz, we wanted to leave ourselves lots of time. There were no troubles.

As our plane approached Beijing, I swore someone had lit up a cigarette in the airplane. The pollution is so bad! Goodness! I understand now why many athletes had trouble at the Olympics. We were met by our guide, and we were off to check into our modest hotel (so modest we didn't bother to take any photos of it - it was plain and cleanish), have a quick lunch of dumplings (delicious), and then to sightsee.

It turned out that we were getting a private tour of the city! We had figured we'd end up with two seats on a coach bus as part of a gigantic tour. But nope! I guess with the official organization for Chinese tourists, CITS, who you book with is who you travel with! At first I was disappointed, but it turned out great. Our driver, Mr. Bian, was great fun. A maniac on the road, but we always felt pretty safe. Our guide, Bai Jing, was fabulous, so we really enjoyed all our sightseeing.

We saw Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Ming Tombs today. They are all fascinating for their long history and preservation. The closest analogy I have is the pyramids in Egypt, and those were raided hundreds and hundreds of years ago, but the Chinese tombs and palaces were mantained because the emperors remained until very recently. We also enjoyed Peking duck for dinner tonight - delicious!

December 27 - We were up bright and early! It wasn't hard, because we were crashing every night from exhaustion. China is also one hour behind Korea, so 7:30 in China was 8:30 to our bodies. No problem!

Today we saw a cloisonne factory, a jade factory, the Great Wall, and the Temple of Heaven. We also went on a tour of the Hutongs, the old housing for officials and workers at the royal palaces. The Great Wall is truly impressive - is extends as far as the eye can see. Because it does! To think of how many people died to build it... it's a little sad too. The Temple of Heaven is beautiful for its beautiful long ceremonial walkway and interesting use - it was only used 3-4 times a year! The hutong alleys are a rat's maze. They are all gray, and a little oppressive, but it's kind of nice because you know all your neighbors, unlike in today's apartment-building lifestyle.

We really enjoyed the company of our guide. He is very proud to be Chinese, and he shared with us his views on the rest of the world, as China looks out and how the rest of the world looks to the Chinese. If his views are typical, the views of Chinese people aren't impossibly skewed away from reality by Chinese media. Biased, of course, but isn't CNN also rather biased?

December 28 - Our day started early again with a visit to a silk factory (I think it was today, anyway), and then the Summer Palace. It was icy cold, not like summer at all! Just amazing that an emperor had all this space to himself. This was built by the Qing (Manchu) dynasty, not the Ming. (Everything was was Ming, pretty much.) We spent late afternoon/evening walking around a shopping area and market not far from our hotel. Touristy but fun.

December 29 - our guide and driver picked us up bright and early, and we were off to the airport to see Xi'an! We arrived in Xi'an around 1pm, and we had eaten lunch on the plane, so we went straight away to do some sightseeing.

Today we saw the hot springs where the Xi'an Incident occurred. We also saw Emperor Qin's tomb. He was the first emperor to unite China (and the area he commanded was even larger than today's China, I believe). He also standardized the language and measurement. Very smart. The Han dynasty took over from his son, so it was a short dynasty (only about 40 years). Then we saw the Terracotta Army - wow! I've wanted to see it for so long... and there it was! All that work just to bury it in the ground. It blows my mind.

Then it was off to dinner (dumplings filled with just about anything you can imagine) and an amazing music and dance show.

December 30 - our last day in China! Our guide, Lisa, took us to the Xi'an city wall, which is still complete (the only complete one still standing in China), and 13km long! Chris biked all the way around while she and I walked. It's amazing that something 700 years old is still standing. Not just standing, but standing tall. She and I chatted about life in China, and what it is like to live in a city in a very rural province. She told me something I didn't know, that Chinese people have to pay 5000 yuan for each year of their child's schooling. That's only $1000 CAD, but in a country where a bottle of water costs 2 yuan, you can see that the value of money is different, and that's a lot of money for each year of school. Very poor people, mostly farmers, can get 9 years of school free for their kids, but if you do the math, that means by age 14 or 15, that's all the kids are going to get. Too bad.

There was an accident on the highway on the way to the airport - it didn't look like the cars were too crunched up, but there is disdain for seatbelts in China. At least one car had hit the blue guardrail, and the rail now acted as a fence across all 3 lanes in our direction. Fortunately, our driver stopped in time and got us on a sideroad. When we got back on the highway was when we saw the accident, etc.

Our flight back to Korea took us back through Beijing. It was a lot trip back, but it gave us time to ponder what we saw. We're very glad we went, and we would love to go back to China again to see more of it. It's a really fascinating place.

Christmas Eve in South Korea

2008-12-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, last year at this time, I definitely didn't think I'd be in South Korea! I had left one college, was starting a contract at a new college in January, and was hoping I would be able to earn a permanent job at the new place. Chris had been working at his job since the previous September, and was anticipating staying there until starting his PhD in September 2008. Boy, were we wrong! The couple of schools Chris applied to weren't smart enough to accept him, and Chris was also laid off at the end of July and I took myself out of the running for a permanent job in order to give us the chance to teach English here in Korea. Quite the change of plans!

We spent the early part of Christmas Eve watching "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with a fellow teacher, Daniel, who is also not going home. He'll be spending the holidays moving and snowboarding here in Korea! It was a good movie - thumbs up.

Then we came home, heated up some Campbell's soup and cut up some baguette, and enjoyed hot soup while we watched "A Christmas Carol" (Alastair Sim version in black and white). We brought it from Canada, because we knew we wouldn't go home for Christmas, and we would need a little taste of home. "A Christmas Carol" is an annual tradition at my dad's house.

Did you know how NORAD started tracking Santa? It was a beautiful accident! Check it out! http://www.noradsanta.org/en/whytrack.html

So now, feeling a little lonely, I use NORAD and Google Earth to find my Grandma's house, and my mom's house, and my dad's house. I wave. I miss you guys right now! I haven't felt homesick until now. Christmas isn't the same without family. I look forward to calling you tomorrow (Christmas Day for me).

Here are some photos from our staff Christmas party on Christmas Eve Eve!

You can find more online at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188804&l=06d69&id=591715424

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

2008-12-21T03:10:00.001-08:00

Here's our Christmas Tree (right).

Looks like a pointsettia, you say?

You would be right.

Note how the pile of presents is taller than our tree! Nice surprise, isn't it?

At least we have a plum pudding (in the form of a picture on the card in the back, from my cousin Lorna in Wales).

If it sounds like we are a little lacking in Christmas spirit, you would be right. We are tired, a little sick, and for the first time feeling a little homesick, because we won't be seeing our families for Christmas. Sigh!

Korean Snack Food Part 2: Dduk Bok-I Stomach Ache

2008-12-20T08:25:00.000-08:00

I bought enough dduk bok-i for both Chris and I tonight, but it turned out he didn't want any. I meant to eat only half, but I munched mindless while reading today's CBC news and accidentally ate the whole big bowl. Oh, my aching stomach - it was too much!

Dduk is rice pasta. It's longish round lumps of dough (cooked, of course). All starch. Very tasty. Koreans usually serve it in red pepper paste with some token green onions and carrots. My favourite place puts a dollop of honey in it to cut the brutal heat of the red pepper paste. It'll curl your hair, and stain your favourite white shirt permanently. It's fabulous!

This is another of my favourite snack foods in Korea!

When I bought mine today, a man sitting at the truck (yes, the best I've had so far is off the side of a mobile restaurant truck, and no, don't ask me about the health standards on the back of a truck - everything is boiling, so I'm sure it's fine and please-don't-make-me-think-aout-it) asked me where I was from, since I'm clearly not from around Suwon. I told him, and added that dduk bok-i was my favourite Korean food. He said, "But it's so spicy!" I said I liked it spicy. He concluded, "I don't believe it!" and laughed at me.

I didn't eat hot food as a kid - dad's stomach couldn't do it, so we didn't eat hot stuff. I met hot food in university, starting with Thai food, and I haven't looked back! Yum!

Best Korean Snack Food

2008-12-15T06:46:00.000-08:00

Since not much happened this week, I thought I would share how to eat my favorite Korean snack food. I really don't know what they're called. I call them rice triangles (and my students tell me that's about right for a name for them, so rice triangles it is).

They're very cost-effective since they're almost a meal by themselves - 2 fill you up for sure. The standard rate for is between 700 won (under $1 CAD). Prices in Korea seem to be fixed very consistenly - convenience store prices vary very little from the prices at grocery stores, on most items. That makes convenience stores extra convenient, since they're not gouging you, and you can get a lot of stuff there!

Back to the rice triangles. Usually you see 5 or 6 different flavours at a corner store or the grocery store. Flavours, you ask - like white rice, or white rice? No, they put meat or hot paste (or both) in them! So far the only kind I can recognize quickly is "cham chi" - tuna - which comes in regular, with mayo, and in spicy sauce, but I can't read the rest fast enough. Rather than get in anyone's way, and since I seem to like them all (and heck, I'll eat just about anything) I usually just grab one and get on my way.

How does one get into this funny little package, you wonder? Ah, the genius of it! The first one I opened was a challenge, but fortunately for us dummies, there are numbers to tell you where to start. Start with the 1 at the top, in the middle. This pulls down the "cigarette wrapper" red tab thingy, which runs under the triangle and up the other side. Thus have I cut the outer layer of plastic in half. Outer layer, I say? Yes, the outer layer. There is an inner layer of plastic that keeps the seaweed (the green on the outside) from touching the rice. It is not a single sheet, of course, or you'd never be able to get it off, but it almost meets in the middle, I think.

Step 2 - gently pull the right-side plastic off the triangle, and out comes the right half of the inner plastic layer.

Step 3 - repeat on the left side. The seaweed sticks immediately to the rice, so I have an instant, easy to hold, fresh snack full of rice and some other flavour of goodness!

This one was tuna with a little spicy sauce and maybe some very finely chopped kimchi. Yummy!

I'm going to miss these back in Canada. A lot. A whole lot. I'd take one of these over a doughnut any day.

December 9 - 14C and sunny!

2008-12-09T03:00:00.000-08:00

What a great day I had today! No teaching, because the Tues-Thurs class would get too far ahead of the Mon-Fri class. So a few of us went to Everland to see what was happening at their Christmas Fantasy event! Was it ever fun!

A Tuesday is a great day to go, it turns out. If there were 1500 people in the park at the busiest time, I would be surprised.

We have updated and created some new photo albums:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171808&l=617ac&id=591715424

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188804&l=06d69&id=591715424

When we arrived at Everland, a fog covered everything. You could barely see the T-Express wooden rollercoaster. Didn't stop us from being the FIRST IN LINE and the first on the train!

All told, we rode it 3 times today. Woo-hoo! Who would ever have thought that I would be a rollercoaster person?

There were no line-ups for anything today. The only time we waited in line was because the person at the entrance didn't radio the staff inside the haunted house to tell them that there were visitors!

We did the quick tour of Safari World too. They boast that they are the only wildlife park in the world where lions and tigers live side by side peacefully. And I guess the result is these beautiful "ligers"! They look like female lions but have tiger markings. Don't know if these were boys or girls - I wasn't going to get close enough to check. But beautiful!

Everland is definitely one of my favourite places in Korea so far! Disney has nothing on Everland.

Back to work tomorrow (Wednesday), and we have to work on Saturday to catch up our Mon-Wed-Fri classes, but the trip to Everland makes it OK in my book!

Tastes of Home

2008-11-30T17:14:00.001-08:00

Our winter coats finally arrived last week. Hooray! It wasn't cold, but it was getting to around 0C at night, so we were getting chilly! My mom very kindly threw in some Tim Horton's coffee, which we are going to ration carefully over the next few months! We have good coffee here - Koreans love it - but the taste of Timmy H's is a taste of home.

Speaking of coffee, here's a fun photo - this is apparently the only Starbucks in the whole world that doesn't have "Starbucks" in English over the door. They had this sign done without permission of head office, of course, and there was hell to pay when head office found out about it. But they got to keep it. So here it is!

Mom also threw in a box of candy apple flavouring into our winter coat care package, at my request! Yummy!

They're a little too sticky - I think I used too much sugar. But they taste good.

When we crave a meal from home, we go up into Itaewon (foreigner central) in Seoul and go to the Rocky Mountain Tavern. It's a Canadian-themed joint that serves Moosehead and pub food. The burger is probably *too* tasty for a Canadian bar, but the hockey game in the background lets me believe for a while that I'm back home. Their poutine isn't bad at all either.

One thing that all the teachers at our school have noticed is that we can't eat as much as we used to. Korean portion sizes are actually appropriate to the human body - not like the gigantic plates we get served back home. So when Chris and I go to the Rocky Mountain Tavern, where they serve the ridiculous portions, we have a hard time eating it all!

Nightlife is Korea is a lot like in Canada, just with a lot more neon involved!

We tend not to go out very much - Chris has Taekwondo every night after work, and on the weekends, we much prefer to do something chill, like Swing dancing! We finally went this week, and it was a great time. The floor was smooth and clean, and the Koreans are great swing dancers. So we're really happy. We'll do it more now that we have broken the ice.

Christmas has arrived in Korea. It warms my heart to see the decorated trees and buildings everywhere. Feels like home!

Beautiful Fall in Korea

2008-11-17T05:35:00.000-08:00

Today was one of those perfect Fall days - the sun was still bright, and had warmth, but brown and yellow leaves were being blown about in a strong, cool wind. The kind of day I just want to sit outside all afternoon. But I had to teach! Still, I enjoyed the opportunity to run home and get Chris a fresh shirt after he accidentally got a bit of our soup lunch on his shirt. The weather is reminding me of autumn in southwestern Ontario. It's really nice.

Too bad I still can't read the street signs. (Well, I can pronounce it all now, but I don't know what it means.)

No new photos - this weekend, I just went into Seoul to buy a sweater since our winter coats have not arrived. Canada Post took their sweet time getting our box onto a boat on the Canada end! I'm hoping this week, because tonight it will go below zero C for the first time.

Overall, still enjoying our time in Korea. It's flying by, actually! Before we know it, it'll be Christmas. We're glad we're not counting down anything - it's a sign we're not terribly homesick. We're sure we will be for Christmas. Overall, it seems like coming as a couple is better re homesickness and all.

Today after work, a well-dressed woman approached me and asked if I would be interested in teaching Kindergarten in the mornings. I had to work hard to decline the offer! I guess I look like a teacher... From the brief conversation, I guess a teacher bailed on her at the last minute or quit on her. I hate it when I hear about "expats" (expatriates - what foreign English teachers are called, even though we plan to go back to our home countries) who do that. It's so rude.

I declined for a number of reasons: Kindergarten? not my cup of tea! Second, it's likely illegal, or a lot of paperwork, since my status in Korea is dependant on my employer. Either way, just to work myself to death, I'm not interested. Too bad - the helpful part of me would have liked to help her out. Chris and I are here to save some money, yes, but not to grind ourselves into the ground. In fact we're trying to treat our sojourn in Korea as a bit of a holiday! Neither of us finds our current schedule very stressful, even though we're at work easily 50 hours/week. Isn't that funny?

Korean food

2008-11-08T21:09:00.000-08:00

I decided this week to take a photo of my favourite meal.

It's called Tong Bi Ji - it's some kind of bean, pureed, in a spicy broth. Notice the kimchi (spicy) and hot pepper with pepper paste dip on the side. (The little covered stee bowl is plain white rice.) Mmmm! I love a cuisine that offers hot sauce to put on hot food.

Overall, Chris and I really enjoy Korean food, which is lucky, because it's cheaper than buying North American food. And I'm lazy, so if we eat mostly Korean food, we can afford to eat out most of the time, and I don't have to cook! Ha!

Something we already know we are going to miss about Korean food is the way that, when you order something, you get several side dishes included in the price. It's called "service". So I order my Tong Bi Ji, and we also get the kimchi and the hot peppers for free!

Usually the side dishes are various kinds of kimchi - cabbage (traditional), radishes, seaweed... I even had broccoli once, done in a not-so-hot sauce. "Kimchi" really just refers to the pickling/fermenting process, and it doesn't have to be spicy. But Chris and I really love the traditional cabbage/hot one, and the yellow radish (not like our little red ones - they grow huge like long turnips) in hot sauce. I have actually started to crave kimchi, and if I don't have it for a day or two, I want it!

And on a not food note... we bought a fish! He is a beta (commonly known as a Japanese Fighter Fish). We have named him King Crimson for obvious reasons! We miss having a pet so badly, but we don't want to bring one home to Canada. So he's kind of disposable if he's still alive when we leave for Canada.

Our New Apartment

2008-11-03T18:48:00.000-08:00

Phew! What a hectic last 10 days we have had! Between moving into a hotel temporarily, celebrating Halloween, and moving into our new apartment, we are pooped.

Our new apartment is 2.5 blocks from our old place. Here are some photos:

Our bedroom! Queen size bed. Nice not to have our feet hanging off the end, let me tell you! Laundry area is behind the glass doors on the left.

Our kitchen. It's big enough that we can move in it! No oven, though there is a toaster oven.

Our bathroom/shower got downsized! But at least there's a window in it now to let out the moisture.

This is our second room! It's a closet/dining room now! Sounds odd, but it's just off the kitchen, and we didn't want to risk moving the closet (which is just bars braced against the floor and ceiling) since it's currently stable.

So, in between Halloween and moving into our place, we attended the last Suwon Bluewings soccer home game of the season. They kicked butt - it ended 3-0! We sat in the section where the rabid fans sit. It was a great time.

Please note that I have gone back to my postings on Everland and the DMZ and added video (now that I know I can!). Check 'em out!

Everland!

2008-10-27T07:28:00.000-07:00

I think the photos tell the tale, but I'll write more when I'm not in limbo (in a hotel between apartments right now). Check out:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=171773&l=19f2f&id=591715424

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

Really, your best best is to see the photos! But here's a great video of us on the Eagle's Fortress ride.

And here's a great one of the show that ends the night. Beat that, Disney!

Fun photos

2008-10-22T19:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun photos from our first 2 months in Korea!

This is a gas station - or as Hyundai likes to call it, an Oil Bank! (Look at the words.)

Korean toothpaste tastes terrible. It reminded me of my mother's favorite foot cream. Why do I know what that tastes like? Accident. But I didn't brush my teeth with it! Yuck...

This seems to be typical landuse for Korea these days - 6-8 floors of businesses, restaurants... you never know what you'll find in one of these buildings! There's one in Suwon where you step out of the elevator into an Irish style pub... very weird.

DMZ Visit

2008-10-19T06:04:00.000-07:00

Check out the photos from our visit to the DMZ today!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=169232&l=91833&id=591715424

We didn't go into the DMZ, of course - it's full of mines. But we stood on the edge!

Our day started early in Seoul (we left Suwon at 7am!). We drive for 40 minutes north, and stopped for an hour in Paju, the last large-ish city before the border. The Gyeonggi Peace Center and the Freedom Bridge are there.

Then we headed into Unification Village, inside the heavily secured zone before the DMZ, where we stopped for lunch.

From there we went to Tunnel 3, which the North Koreans dug in the 1970s to potentially invade the South with, but it was found. Climbing down and up again was a marathon - I just about died!

And finally we sent to Dorasan Train Station, which is ready to carry people across the border, when it finally allowed.

The most interesting thing about the whole day was the quiet. As soon as we got out of Seoul, I could feel the population density dropping. By the time we reached the Observation Post, and Dorasan Station, I realized that if not for the tourists, there was no sound except for the animals that live inside the DMZ. It was really weird, since we are now accustomed to so much background noise from the cities around us.

The overwhelming theme of the day was the hope that the South Koreans have that the nation will be reunited. You can tell from this photo from Dorasan Train Station, the northernmost station in South Korea. The next station, in North Korea, is only 10km away!

Our traditional Korean lunch inside Unification Village (which exists inside the secure area preceding the DMZ) was delicious! 2 soups and 10 side dishes. Mmmm..

And the photo you are dying to see, of North Korea:

It was foggy. Has been for several days, said the soldiers on duty. The DMZ itself is just trees. It doesn't look like anything special. The weird thing is the eerie quiet.

The photo album (link above) talks about the trip in more depth!

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

Now that I know I can add video to this, here is a little video on the DMZ!

Thanksgiving in Korea

2008-10-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Koreans celebreated Chuseok, a holiday that sits somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas, back in September. It was a joyous time, families got together and celebrated, and there was a buzz in the air.

Today is Mon. Oct. 13, Canadian Thanksgiving, and there is no buzz here. I can't find turkey in the grocery store - not that I could cook a whole one, since I only have a toaster oven! This is my first real strike of homesickness. I really hope it doesn't last!

It doesn't help that I have been fighting a nasty cold for 2 weeks. It dampened our fun in Gyeongju last weekend, and this week was rough at work. I spent this weekend doing a whole lot of sitting around and completing grad school applications - I think it worked, because I hardly coughed at all last night, and my nose isn't running so badly. Fingers crossed.

It's weird, sitting at home and not going out of the apartment all weekend. I started to feel a little bit like I was not in Korea anymore, like I was in a word in-between Canada and... somewhere. I was surrounded by English for 48 hours. It's a very strange feeling. I have to remind myself that I am halfway around the world.

As weird as it is to stay home and feel like I'm not in Korea, it's kind of fun. Still, I don't want to call in sick. It's hard to call in sick at my school - it isn't like we have a list of supply teachers we can call in if someone is away. An administrative staff member would have to fill in if I were unable to teach. So I really don't want to do that to my colleagues, who would have to juggle their work and fill in for me. Still, I was tempted this week. I hope this week is healthier!

New Photos

2008-10-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

We visited Gyeongju, the capital of the ancient Shilla empire. See our photos at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167246&l=136b9&id=827625715
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167243&l=afd78&id=827625715
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167237&l=e32c6&id=827625715
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=167232&l=e9d8b&id=827625715

Chris posted a great blog entry on his site - christaylormusings.blogspot.com

tuna ham cranberry sandwiches with mustard-mayo

2008-10-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's what we had for dinner tonight. Tuna ham cranberry sandwiches with mustard-mayo. They were on sale at Home Plus, so we said, why not? If it had said that on the label, I probably wouldn't have bought it. I thought it was turkey salad or chicken salad. But they were surprisingly good!

Yet again I am relieved that I did not marry a picky eater.

This Friday is Foundation Day, celebrating the founding of Korea as a nation, so we have the day off. Chris and I are going to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla (pro. "shilla") empire. The city is described as a walking museum - apparently you can't help but see amazing old things. So we are very excited. We will stay two nights at a hostel, and take a bus there and back. We'll bring books. I promise lots of photos.

Work is going well. The little kids are so cute! We're finding our rhythm. The toughest class to manage is my Grade 3 class of 14 (the max in a class). It's just hard to keep track of late assignments, etc, given our current resources. Today a parent called with a question about her son's homework. He said I had said he didn't need it... which was definitely not true, the item in question is part of a project we are assembling on Monday! So I don't know what I said, or what happened, but there was confusion. I will start taking notes on a blank sheet of paper in the attendance. The other classes are alright because they're smaller.

On a personal front, I'm really frustrated right now. My GRE General Test scores, for getting into my PhD, expired in August! I wrote the test in August 2003, and apparently my intellectual capacity has completely deteriorated in the last few weeks since the expiration, since ETS (the company that administers the test) will not let me use them. Sigh. I understand psychometric principles well enough to know that 5 years is a very approximate number, and 6 weeks does not represent a significant drop in ability, but ETS won't listen. As I said, I'm frustrated.

One Month in South Korea

2008-09-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

I realized today that Chris and I have been here for a month already! We departed Canada on August 24, and it's September 26.

We have completed 4 full weeks of teaching. So far, we have enjoyed it. I won't speak for Chris, but I can't imagine making a lifetime career of teaching children. They're sweet little sponges, but it takes so much out of me! I don't think I'm cut out for more than a year or two of the little guys. So we're going to enjoy this year very much, and leave on a high note, I think. We are both applying for our PhDs in Canada.

Here are a few miscellaneous things we have seen so far:

This is one of the infamous old-fashioned toilets that you can find in Korea and Japan. This one was in a subway station. I was on my way somewhere last week and I needed to use the bathroom... but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to do it without removing my bottoms completely. And even then I wasn't sure I wouldn't pee in my shoe. So I just waited.

Home Plus (we mentioned it before) is the giant store near the school that we eat and shop at. I had to take a photo of our favourite gimbap (sushi roll) because of the price tag on it. It says 2800 won. That's (before the American dollar tanked) about $3. In Canada you could easily pay up to $7 or $8 for this same thing. We eat it a lot!

This is our current home. We live on the top floor (4th), in the rop right corner (facing the alley, not the street). It's a fairly quiet block and a very quiet building except for the Youngdo teachers!

So, so far (knock on wood) we have had no major injuries or illness, very little in the way of negative excitement, and overall we are happy! We are glad we came to South Korea. Homesickness has been a small issue the last few days while we rearranged our cat Amy's living situation in Canada (she was being a bother with someone), but overall we are OK! Let's hope we can say the same at the end of each of the next 11 months!

You can see more of our photos at the links throughout the blog, including:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154133&l=d1fc1&id=591715424

My Professional Blog

2008-09-20T23:19:00.000-07:00

I have decided to split my blog into "professional stuff" and "experience in Korea".

For the "professional" stuff, please go to http://careerandjobsearchinghelp.blogspot.com

Nightlife in Korea

2008-09-20T21:02:00.000-07:00

We went dancing late last night and had a great time except for the smoking allowed in clubs and cars in Korea. (Sigh! Those laws in North America are so nice.)

The music was great because it was all retro, songs from a year ago and longer.

Our timing as the club we went to - NB, which stands for "Noise Basement" and is a chain of clubs around the Seoul and Suwon area - was good, because a very famous rap group was performing. They only did 5 or 6 songs, but they seemed very talented. Here's a video of Dynamic Duo in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yjy_WNUxGVU

It was interesting to watch as Korean club-goers started dancing around the group of teachers that went - like it was cool to dance near the foreigners! One woman (who I think had a bit too much to drink) just joined our group and started dancing with me! We talked a bit, though it was hard because of the volume of the music. Koreans are very comfortable touching people of the same sex - but not the opposite sex. You don't see any bumping and grinding.

Overall, it was a more relaxing dance experience than in a Canadian place. Nobody grabbing at you, and generally good natured fun.

long weekend coming

2008-09-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today, Chris and I treated ourselves to an omelette! Can't get it in a restaurant here. Fresh veggies are really expensive too, so we enjoyed it!

Monday is a holiday here in South Korea. The nation is celebrating Chuseok - much like American Thanksgiving, or something like Christmas (minus the Christ, of course). People travel for hours to go and visit family who they rarely see, bringing gifts (usually food, I think) and celebrating the fall harvest.

A long weekend is nice! Drawback is everything closes early.

Chris and I have started hosting Games Night at our apartment. We brought a version of Risk and also Settlers of Catan (a board game). First one was last Sunday, and everybody enjoyed it, so we're doing it again this Sunday!

Otherwise, this week was spent teaching teaching teaching. The kids are getting familiar with me now, and they're learning their limits, so most of them are better-behaved than they were at first. I'm also getting better and creating some more interesting activities than just reading the textbook together. We're starting to get a feel for the rhythm of the classes now.

So, not sure how we're going to spend our long weekend, but we'll post an update on what we got up to on Monday or so!

The "Soul of Asia"

2008-09-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

One of the "older" teachers at the school, Dave from Calgary, took us into Seoul today so we could get oriented (and learn the best way in - turns out it's a bus, because our neighborhood in Suwon - Yeongtong - does not yet have a subway station).

The heat and humidity were spectacular - I feel like a wrung-out dishrag. It doesn't help that my feet are killing me at the end of every day from teaching for 6 hours standing up on tile floors!

Seoul is an exceptionally clean city for a population of 10 million. Much of it looks very new as well - Dave was saying it isn't uncommon for the government to pick a neighborhood, raze it to the ground and rebuild tall buildings there. I guess there isn't much choice when so many people want to live there.

The most interesting thing I saw today was a blend of the old and the new - the changing of the guard at the palace, with the Dunkin Donuts on the corner, for instance. For Chris, it felt like any other big cit but looking through a mirror - it was different, on a slant.

See http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=151336&l=cf9b8&id=591715424 and http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154133&l=d1fc1&id=591715424 for the photos from Summer/Fall 2008 so far!

We got chatting about holiday plans with Dave. We don't think we're going to come home - very expensive. He and his partner, and two other teachers, just had a great time in Thailand/Bali, so we may do that for the week after Christmas. We'll see how we feel come October or early November when it comes time to book it!

Teaching Day Two

2008-09-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was another Grade 3 class (same content as I will be teaching my MWF Grade 3 class, but spread over 8 Tues/Thurs classes instead of 12 MWF classes), and my Grade 8s. Apparently these Grade 8s are the most advanced in the school, reading at a 7/8 level. Very quiet bunch. I can only blame hormones, because they seem to understand everything I say.

All really enjoyable kids! Overall I'd say there's only 1 kid in all 5 classes (so probably a total of 40 kids I'll be teaching) who's going to be a struggle. I think that's pretty good!

Amazing how much energy it takes to teach little kids. We are zonked. Good night, Seattle!

Teaching Day One

2008-09-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

Overall, my first day of teaching was pretty good! Met the "old" teachers at 2pm then went to my room to prep.

I started with a Grade 3 class at 4pm. Did I have that much energy in Grade 3? I'm not sure I did! At least they all stayed in their seats. There was no trouble getting someone to read out loud - in fact they were fighting over it! Forgot to go over classroom rules for the two new students in the class, but I think they were catching on. I'll go over them quickly on Wednesday (I see the same students Mon/Wed/Fri, and two other classes Tues/Thurs).

At 6pm my Grade 4 class came in. Big developmental difference between Grade 3 and Grade 4! The only trouble was one boy (who I had been warned about) who sat with the other boys and acted like a 4-year-old all class. I told the boys to sit in the front row on Wednesday - we'll see if that sorts him out.

At 8pm my Grade 6 class arrived, and they were a lot of fun too! They're the most challenging group because their level of functioning in English is at an American Grade 6 level, or pretty close. I was so tired by the end of the class that I forgot to give them the last part of their homework - oh well, more for Wednesday!

I think the hardest part is going to be keeping everything coordinated, so I'm going in early today to sort out a monthly calendar for each class, to manage essays (4/month), grammar tests (3/month), and quizzes. Keeping organized, and standing for 6 hours straight - those are the tough parts.

Grades 3, 4 and 6 = hoarse

2008-09-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

Taught for the first time today.

Chris had Grades 3, 5 and 6, and I had Grades 3, 4 and 6.

His were silent. Mine were riotous. I am now hoarse from shouting over them, and I am exhausted. More tomorrow.

Korean barbeque

2008-08-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Koreans love to eat, so there are 4 restaurants on every block. (Seems like nobody cooks. They are too busy.) Our favourite store, Home Plus, has great prepared food to take home, as well as a cafeteria where we can order by picture and number (very helpful). The prepared food that we like to grab includes gimbap (or sashimi for you Japanese speakers) - sushi rolls. We can get two long rools, easily 25 pieces, for only 2500 won (that's about $2.50). The same tray in Canada would be $12! So we love it.

4 of us new teachers at YES Youngo (Yeongtong Suwon Campus) and our academic counsellors (who work with our students and their parents in Korean) went out for dinner, and we went to a traditional Korean barbeque restaurant!

From left to right, you have Daniel from Connecticut (new teacher), Chris, Naomi (counsellor and financial officer), Hee-a (counsellor), and Jin (counsellor and academic supervisor). Jin is my counsellor too - no pressure! Liz (counsellor) was also there, but she didn't make it into the photo.

Beverages included water, soju (vodka) and beer. Dinner was beef and pork (like bacon) that we grilled over a brazier right at the table. We were sitting on the floor, so the legs under the table got hot! There were lots of side dishes - kimchi (hot pickled cabbage), salads (mostly shredded cabbage-like stuff), egg souffle, and a traditional soup that you poured onto your rice.

Korean meals involve a lot of sharing, so it was great fun!

Here is Oliver from Wyoming and New York (new teacher) showing off his grilling style. He really caught on!

Notice that he has scissors in his right hand. Koreans aren't into knives. They use scissors to cut meat. Very practical!

This is Naomi and Daniel preparing "dessert" - cold noodles in a slightly sweet, slightly sour sauce (with half an egg and apple slices in the bottom). Naomi is adding a little vinegar and mustard to the noodles!

Bet you never put mustard on your dessert before! It was good.

More culinary reporting as it happens!

You can see and read more at christaylormusings.blogspot.com!

range of classes

2008-08-27T20:50:00.000-07:00

We were assigned our classes yesterday! Chris and I both will be teaching two Grade 3 groups, a Grade 5, a Grade 6 and a 7/8. Each of us has a classroom that we remain in all the time, and we can decorate it as we please. Hoping to do that on Friday (Thursday night for folks in EST.)

Today we managed to sleep in to 6:30am local! It was an achievement. I stayed in bed until 8 because I was desperately allergic to something at school (probably book dust) and didn't sleep well at all because of nose running and coughing. Reactine has made it much better, but I'm going to have to get the name of a Korean antihistimine because I only have about 2 weeks' worth with me.

Chris is out taking photos before we head to work. I didn't feel like going out (still tired), so I'll make sure he posts the photos later today.

The washing machine sings...

2008-08-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

...when it starts up and when it is time to add fabric softener and when it's finished! The a/c unit does too, when it starts up and shuts down. GPS systems are ultra-polite. South Korean technology is very friendly, and has lots of personality!

We are on Day Number Three of our Korean adventure. We're still not quite attuned to the time zone here (we're in bed well before 10pm local time, and up at 4:30 no matter what we do! The sun comes up early...), but it's getting better.

We spent yesterday at a training session. Our goal this morning, before afternoon/evening training, is to explore Suwon a little more. So far, we have only looked at the vicinity of our school and apartment. There's a great store called Home Plus (operated by Tesco, the UK grocery store giant, which is convenient because there's enough English to get by on the signs and many labels) nearby, which makes life easier.

Here are some photos of our apartment. We are in a "one person" apartment for Sept/Oct until a "two person" apartment comes available. (We get a bit of a cash bonus for the inconvenience.) It's a good size - not the shoebox I was expecting at all!

Here is the view when you step into the apartment. You are expected to take your shoes off just inside the door (you step up into the apartment anyway - the step up is also to make room for the water pipes that run under the floor to heat the whole apartment).

On the left (not really in the picture) is the kitchen, then bathroom, centre the fridge and table, then our "gazebo" of sorts where the washing machine and our dressers are, then the bed and (behind to the right, not in the photo) is our TV and "closet".

Here's Chris looking out the window! We get a pretty good view. Bed (hard) is left and low, the "closet", a free-standing Ikea type space saving thing, is pretty useless, so it leans funny. The computer desk is in the bottom right corner, and behind to the right is the door.

Standing where Chris was standing in the photo above is the kitchen (left), bathroom (centre) and "dining area". Gazebo is to the right.

Sliding doors are the norm, except for the bathroom. Very pretty. Not good for hanging things from, though, as I was hoping to do!

Here is our little kitchen. Our employer has provided us with everything from chopsticks to pots (as you can see), which is very helpful. The stove is gas. If we want to bake, we have to use the toaster oven on top of the fridge (other photo). No roast chickens for us this winter!

The water is drinkable - we boil it first to be on the safe side. Tastes like Toronto water.

They do a lot of recycling here, so we have to separate the unusable garbage from the food waste (in addition to recycling bottles, cans, etc). We pay for each bag too - I like it! Forces people to think about their garbage.

This is the bathroom. Note that there is no tub or shower stall - you just close the door! It's actually very efficient, because you wash the room every time you shower. You mop the floor when you're done, into a drain in front of the sink.

So here is our home until November. We'll post new photos when we move again. Good news is that unpacking was really quick when you have only 4 suitcases to your names!

Anticipation

2008-08-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

My spouse and I are embarking on an exciting journey tomorrow: we are on our way to teach English in South Korea for a year! We have been visiting friends and family, and packing. Strangely enough, we have been sleeping well!