I am trying to write more about the little things Ian and I do in Korea. There are so many amusing, different and cultural things we see everyday but don't mrntion because we are used to them!
So, Ian and I went to the Vietnamese Embassy yesterday to apply for out Multiple Entry Visas for Vietnam. Let me tell you, it was an interesting experience. Maybe because the only Embassy's I have been to are the Canadian, American and Korean, but still.
So we took the subway to Insadong, which is the pretty, older area in Seoul. We took a cab to a large building where a man saluted to us and told us we were actually about a block away from the Vietnamese Embassy. Fine. So we walked along a hill and entered some 'welcoming' gates that had a little plaque on them that read "Vietnam" (The only English word). So we walked in and turned left, to see what looked like a run-down, wartime house. We walked up the steps and through the doorway into a waiting room of Korean and Vietnamese mothers with their crying babies, men and families. The carpet was brown and torn, there was a cash register against the wall with no attendant and a dusty counter for filling out applications with no pens in sight. We walked to the right to the next doorway and found a door with a plaque on it that read "Consular" and opened it. There were two desks most likely from the 1970's and one man was at each desk.
We were told that we were supposed to come before 12, and that they were about to leave, but they helped us anyway. After taking turns writing our applications in the waiting room with the one pen I had and watching the Consulate worker apply white-out to fix our written apps, we had successfully applied for our Vietnam Visas.
We go back on Monday to pick them up. That's all she wrote!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Comings and Goings
Trust me, we are trying to keep you all informed of our whereabouts and events here, but nothing really exciting has been 
happening!
happening!I guess when you live somewhere new, after a while you just get settled. It can be an entirely new and dramatic experience for you, it can be a culture shock or even feel just backwards for a bit. But once you get into a routine, especially when you work in that certain place, it just becomes your life style. And you just become settled and comfortable. I think that is our current mode.
There is one thing that is really hard to get accustomed to here, though. That is, things come and go in Korean so quickly. Friends, students, places... 
In our neighbourhood, for example, there was an amazing non-fat yogurt place called Red Mango. It is a chain here, and I think it actually might be Japanese, but don't quote me. The employees would top the vanilla yogurt with whatever you desired- watermelon, mango, kiwi, cocoa puffs, bananas, chocolate chips... the list is endless. (However, some of those ingredients may take away from the "non fat" part about the yogurt!) Anyway, I walked by it last week and to my surprise- and dismay- it was closed! I later found out that yet ANOTHER cell phone store is going in its place! It makes me really upset! :(
In our neighbourhood, for example, there was an amazing non-fat yogurt place called Red Mango. It is a chain here, and I think it actually might be Japanese, but don't quote me. The employees would top the vanilla yogurt with whatever you desired- watermelon, mango, kiwi, cocoa puffs, bananas, chocolate chips... the list is endless. (However, some of those ingredients may take away from the "non fat" part about the yogurt!) Anyway, I walked by it last week and to my surprise- and dismay- it was closed! I later found out that yet ANOTHER cell phone store is going in its place! It makes me really upset! :( There was also a cute mandu place that Ian and Andy really liked on our neighbourhood corner. It was closed down and replaced by an Etude House. Etude House is a makeup and body store chain in Korea, so I was satisfied to learn that it was coming to our neighbourhood, but at the same time it is really sad to see little family-run businesses going under all the time here.
Occurrences such as these happen weekly in our neighbourhood. Two more little Korean food places were closed down last week, and already new clothing stores have replaced them.
As far as friends, everyone homes here at a different time, on different contracts. You can make room in your heart for people, and before the blink of an eye, they are gone. It is really hard to deal with sometimes. Fortunately, most of the people that has happened with so far are from Ontario, so at least we know there is a lot of time in the future to keep building on these friendships. People like Mark, Julia, Anne and Colin are people Ian and I wish we had more of a chance to hang out with. Even Julianne and Eric, who were here for less then a week, we wish we could have gotten to know better! I guess that is just the way it is here, though. Goodbye party, after goodbye party!
We are REALLY happy that our friends Leah and Andy have extended their
contract, however. It seems like all of our friends at our school and our surrounding branches have come within the past few months, so we are all going to be here for a while. I am really pumped about that. I keep thinking about Christmas and how difficult it is to be away from our families, and then I think of our little family here and I know it won't be so bad!
contract, however. It seems like all of our friends at our school and our surrounding branches have come within the past few months, so we are all going to be here for a while. I am really pumped about that. I keep thinking about Christmas and how difficult it is to be away from our families, and then I think of our little family here and I know it won't be so bad!Miss you all... Much love.
Pictures:
Goodbye Parties and Other Summer Stuff: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2105234&l=7cf17&id=187905622
Welcomes, Goodbyes, and other fun stuff: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2107764&l=4aca2&id=187905622
Monday, August 27, 2007
Taking a Fall....
Last weekend I endured one of the most exhilarating, intense experiences I have ever had! But I am so happy I did it! As part of Ian's birthday gift, we went White Water Rafting and Bungee Jumping on an Adventure Korea trip! Adventure Korea is an organization that runs trip all over Seoul and various places in Korea.This is the second trip that we have went with this tour group, the first trip being Mud Festival. So, we left from a subway station about an hour from ours at around 8:30 am. We drove about 2 hours to reach our first destination, where the White Water Rafting place was. It is incredible to escape the business and stuffiness of Seoul sometimes. The area we went to was in the middle of nowhere, but filled with blue skies and amazing rocks and mountains. White water rafting was pretty fun, but not nearly as dangerous as I had imagined! It was just amazing paddling in the water, looking around us at the rock formations and greenery.
After rafting we had a lunch of predominately Kimchi (obviously) and chicken. We then jumped on the buses again and headed to the bungee jumping destination. With Ian and I on our trip was Beth from the Gireum branch of our Hagwon, Erin and Justin who are Ian's friends from Orillia along with some friends from their school, and Jeremy and Jennifer from our school. Out of all those people, Ian and I were the only ones who bungee jumped! We felt bad that they just suntanned and watched everyone else, but at the same time, Ian and I were extremely focused on jumping off the 53 meter high bridge!
I jumped before Ian. Actually, I correct myself: I made the guy PUSH me! I was harnessed around my waist, and Ian was harnessed around his feet. I had a minor panic attack right as my toes reached the edge. I said t them "Just give me a second--- don't push me yet, until I say!" I am getting tingles in my feet just writing about it! Once I fell the initial time (it is so hard to breathe, you pretty much just have to hold your breath), and bounced back up, I started laughing loudly and hysterically- it was a lot of fun! Falling the initial time was just a blur of the green scenery- it looked like a painting that had gotten wet, but after that I was a bit more relaxed! I am so happy I did it, but now that I did it once, I don't think I will ever have a desire to do it again! Ian feels the same too, and since he went with the bungee cord attached to his feet, when he was finished bouncing he just kept spinning- he said that was the worst part for him! I think the worst part for me was not being able to breathe when I flew down!
The bus ride back was SOOOO long, but all in all it was a great trip and an amazing time! I am pretty proud of myself (and Ian is p
roud of himself too!) for having the bravery to do something I was so scared of. I don't think I will ever be as scared on a roller coaster again!
To check out our pictures, go to the following link: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2106526&l=4bd07&id=187905622
To checkout the Adevnture Korea website to see what knd of tours are offered to us, go to: www.adventurekorea.com
After rafting we had a lunch of predominately Kimchi (obviously) and chicken. We then jumped on the buses again and headed to the bungee jumping destination. With Ian and I on our trip was Beth from the Gireum branch of our Hagwon, Erin and Justin who are Ian's friends from Orillia along with some friends from their school, and Jeremy and Jennifer from our school. Out of all those people, Ian and I were the only ones who bungee jumped! We felt bad that they just suntanned and watched everyone else, but at the same time, Ian and I were extremely focused on jumping off the 53 meter high bridge!
I jumped before Ian. Actually, I correct myself: I made the guy PUSH me! I was harnessed around my waist, and Ian was harnessed around his feet. I had a minor panic attack right as my toes reached the edge. I said t them "Just give me a second--- don't push me yet, until I say!" I am getting tingles in my feet just writing about it! Once I fell the initial time (it is so hard to breathe, you pretty much just have to hold your breath), and bounced back up, I started laughing loudly and hysterically- it was a lot of fun! Falling the initial time was just a blur of the green scenery- it looked like a painting that had gotten wet, but after that I was a bit more relaxed! I am so happy I did it, but now that I did it once, I don't think I will ever have a desire to do it again! Ian feels the same too, and since he went with the bungee cord attached to his feet, when he was finished bouncing he just kept spinning- he said that was the worst part for him! I think the worst part for me was not being able to breathe when I flew down!
The bus ride back was SOOOO long, but all in all it was a great trip and an amazing time! I am pretty proud of myself (and Ian is p
roud of himself too!) for having the bravery to do something I was so scared of. I don't think I will ever be as scared on a roller coaster again!To check out our pictures, go to the following link: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2106526&l=4bd07&id=187905622
To checkout the Adevnture Korea website to see what knd of tours are offered to us, go to: www.adventurekorea.com
Friday, August 17, 2007
A Day in the Life... (So cliche!)
The summer has been flying by, the humidity is almost to the point of unbearable at times and the students in our classrooms need some serious discipline. I was thinking today of how Ian and I try to update you all with the exciting moments of our lives here in Korea, but it is rare we really let you in on what it feels like to be here on a day-to-day basis.
Today, I woke up bright and early and Ian had to as well. After running some errands, I came home and took a nap while Ian had already taken off, headed to one of Plus Academy's other branches in Chang Dong to teach the last of his summer intensives. Like we have explained before, we come to school at 2:30. Today, Ian and I met at school and then went to the bank to transfer money to Vietnam Airlines for our upcoming vacation. The bank machines are very high tech and most of them have the English option, which is great.
On the way back to school, I stopped in to one of our new favourite local spots, Issac's. They make a mean ham and cheese toasted sandwich for only a little over a dollar. The best part of the Issac's experience for me, though, is the cute husband and wife who own the place. Everything from buttering the grill to packing up the sandwich is done oh-so-delicately and they are too sweet for words!
Back at school, right now it feels like we are all swamped with essay marking. I feel like every time I get through a stack, another one is waiting for me on my desk! I think one of the Korean teachers upstairs was feeling our pain today though, because when I came in to work today, a little can of orange juice was next to my stack of essays. What a cute gesture!
I have 6 classes in a row Mondays and Fridays and they start at 3:40. I have my young, cute kids first called "B2's". They are really sweet and quiet, and I am slowly working them in. My goal is to try to make them laugh each class by doing a dumb dance to a song on the tape, by making silly face or doing crazy voices. It is starting to work! It is just hard because they don't know much English at all!
My other classes that I have today are usually good, but today they were all so hyper! I gave them candy as a special treat today if they did their homework, but I must admit, I usually run a 'tight ship' so to speak. I am not going to have the little Korean children walk all over me! But I do try to do fun activities and creative projects with the classes I see often. Right now I am doing a "Pen Pals" project with about 4 of my classes. They all wrote letters to my Stepbrothers YMCA camp in Florida! They are eagerly awaiting a response! Last semester, I had some classes make a newspaper, write stories, and some of my classes did show and tell too.
Right now, it is 9:07 p.m. and Ian went to the basement of our building to get some Kinder Surprises. There are hidden treasures on every floor of this building including Chinese Acupuncture clinics, music, English and science academies, pharmacies, skin care clinics, gelato and sandwich places, restaurants, lounges and much more! Sometimes we order food from the basement up to us at work and the older Korean women bring it up with big trays and/or plastic bowls on their head. We are used to it now, but when we first got here, it was so surreal to see!
Anyway, tomorrow we are going white water rafting and bungee jumping with Erin, Justin, Jeremy, Jen, Beth and some friends from Erin and Justin's school down in Suwon. That was one of Ian's Birthday presents, and hopefully the weather cooperates because we were supposed to go last week, but they postponed it due to lightening warnings! I am sure you will hear from us on the blog with the events that take place tomorrow and we will obviously load pictures as well. We have to get up bright and early tomorrow, so we will be takin' 'er easy today, probably get a pizza after work and watch a movie.
Hope all is well with you, whether you are at home or traveling. We really do miss all of you lots and I hope I gave you some insight to a typical day here in Nowon-gu, Seoul, So-Ko. Caio for now!
Today, I woke up bright and early and Ian had to as well. After running some errands, I came home and took a nap while Ian had already taken off, headed to one of Plus Academy's other branches in Chang Dong to teach the last of his summer intensives. Like we have explained before, we come to school at 2:30. Today, Ian and I met at school and then went to the bank to transfer money to Vietnam Airlines for our upcoming vacation. The bank machines are very high tech and most of them have the English option, which is great.
On the way back to school, I stopped in to one of our new favourite local spots, Issac's. They make a mean ham and cheese toasted sandwich for only a little over a dollar. The best part of the Issac's experience for me, though, is the cute husband and wife who own the place. Everything from buttering the grill to packing up the sandwich is done oh-so-delicately and they are too sweet for words!
Back at school, right now it feels like we are all swamped with essay marking. I feel like every time I get through a stack, another one is waiting for me on my desk! I think one of the Korean teachers upstairs was feeling our pain today though, because when I came in to work today, a little can of orange juice was next to my stack of essays. What a cute gesture!
I have 6 classes in a row Mondays and Fridays and they start at 3:40. I have my young, cute kids first called "B2's". They are really sweet and quiet, and I am slowly working them in. My goal is to try to make them laugh each class by doing a dumb dance to a song on the tape, by making silly face or doing crazy voices. It is starting to work! It is just hard because they don't know much English at all!
My other classes that I have today are usually good, but today they were all so hyper! I gave them candy as a special treat today if they did their homework, but I must admit, I usually run a 'tight ship' so to speak. I am not going to have the little Korean children walk all over me! But I do try to do fun activities and creative projects with the classes I see often. Right now I am doing a "Pen Pals" project with about 4 of my classes. They all wrote letters to my Stepbrothers YMCA camp in Florida! They are eagerly awaiting a response! Last semester, I had some classes make a newspaper, write stories, and some of my classes did show and tell too.
Right now, it is 9:07 p.m. and Ian went to the basement of our building to get some Kinder Surprises. There are hidden treasures on every floor of this building including Chinese Acupuncture clinics, music, English and science academies, pharmacies, skin care clinics, gelato and sandwich places, restaurants, lounges and much more! Sometimes we order food from the basement up to us at work and the older Korean women bring it up with big trays and/or plastic bowls on their head. We are used to it now, but when we first got here, it was so surreal to see!
Anyway, tomorrow we are going white water rafting and bungee jumping with Erin, Justin, Jeremy, Jen, Beth and some friends from Erin and Justin's school down in Suwon. That was one of Ian's Birthday presents, and hopefully the weather cooperates because we were supposed to go last week, but they postponed it due to lightening warnings! I am sure you will hear from us on the blog with the events that take place tomorrow and we will obviously load pictures as well. We have to get up bright and early tomorrow, so we will be takin' 'er easy today, probably get a pizza after work and watch a movie.
Hope all is well with you, whether you are at home or traveling. We really do miss all of you lots and I hope I gave you some insight to a typical day here in Nowon-gu, Seoul, So-Ko. Caio for now!
Monday, August 13, 2007
Pictures!!!
Hey Guys....
Sorry, we have been slacking with the pictures and the blogging! There has been so much going on lately! This past weekend, a bunch of us went to the "Sub Zero Ice Bar" which was really cool! (No pun indended!) The pictures are on facebook, so if you have facebook, you can check them out on there!
The pictures can also be viewed at the following links:
Sub Zero: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2103081&l=aba3c&id=187905622
We have sooo many pictures from Jeju Island! They can be found at the following links:
First Day of the Jeju trip:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102322&l=1bc08&id=187905622
First Night and the Botanical Gardens:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102353&l=a0c3e&id=187905622
Botanical Gardens, Lava Tubes and Caves, and the Beach!:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102579&l=5c340&id=187905622
Next Day and some Noreabanging!:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102580&l=9b553&id=187905622
Last Full Beach Day:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102581&l=5a588&id=187905622
Save the most X-Rated for last! We couldn't leave the island without checking out the Sex and Health Museum!!: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2103036&l=d8be7&id=187905622
Cheers! :)
Sorry, we have been slacking with the pictures and the blogging! There has been so much going on lately! This past weekend, a bunch of us went to the "Sub Zero Ice Bar" which was really cool! (No pun indended!) The pictures are on facebook, so if you have facebook, you can check them out on there!
The pictures can also be viewed at the following links:
Sub Zero: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2103081&l=aba3c&id=187905622
We have sooo many pictures from Jeju Island! They can be found at the following links:
First Day of the Jeju trip:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102322&l=1bc08&id=187905622
First Night and the Botanical Gardens:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102353&l=a0c3e&id=187905622
Botanical Gardens, Lava Tubes and Caves, and the Beach!:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102579&l=5c340&id=187905622
Next Day and some Noreabanging!:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102580&l=9b553&id=187905622
Last Full Beach Day:
http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2102581&l=5a588&id=187905622
Save the most X-Rated for last! We couldn't leave the island without checking out the Sex and Health Museum!!: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2103036&l=d8be7&id=187905622
Cheers! :)
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Jeju-do:"The Korean Hawaii"
Last Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent in the warm waves and the humid air of Jeju Island in South Korea. The trip was planned because we were surprised with Korean summer student vacation which meant 2 extra vacation days for us. We were told that 4 days is the perfect amount of time to see Jeju-do ("Do", pronounced doe, is Korean for Island.) Leah, Andy, Ian and packed our bags and were anxiously awaiting this trip for several weeks. Joining the four of us were Mark and Jessica, newcomers to Korea. They were previously referred to as Leah's cousin Jessica and her boyfriend Mark.
I won't go on forever about the trip, because once I post the pictures you will see that they are pretty much self explanatory. We arrived at the Jeju airport and picked up our 12-seater Budget rental van! During our drive to our hotel, we were continuously greeted by signs reading: "Jeju: We Love Having You Here!" Needless to say, it made us feel oh-so welcome! Our hotel, which is known as a "pension" was above a Korean restaurant, right by one of the many beaches along the coast. It had a great "light show" at night consisting of lit-up sharks, fish and other sea creatures glowing on rocks. It made for a interesting backdrop!
The beaches, waterfalls, mountains, caves, lava tubes and botanical gardens were just as we imagined. Exploring the island could take forever but we did manage to squeeze in what we felt were the biggest and best attractions. (Thank goodness for the Budget Van!) Our neighborhood was very quiet and we were left to making our own fun during the evenings. This fun was -you guessed it- heading to the local bars and noreabanging of coarse! (Noreabangs are singing rooms for those of you who haven't been keeping up with the Korean terms we have been teaching you!)
We rarely ate, but when we did, it was delicious. During our days at the beach we surrounded ourselves with -I hate to say it- Pringles, beer and ham sandwiches. Our evenings were a bit trickier since each night we decided on staying at the beach until dusk, running home to the hotel to shower, thus resulting in a late feast each night. We were surprised at how early places closed! We found some yummy restaurants and the last night we went to a great Mexican resturant and got the works- enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, and more. I recommend "El Paso" to anyone heading to the 'Korean Hawaii' in the near future. (That makes none of you? Okay, that's what I figured. You are missing out!)
The scenery, the company and the weather was all amazing, leaving nothing to be desired. t was an incredible trip. We ended it off with a bang by heading to the "Sex and Health Museum" on our way to the airport. This is not only extremely strange for Korea to have (sex is rarely spoken about here) but even if I saw this place in North America I would d a quadruple-take! There were massive statues of female and male anatomy (use your imagination) and manneqins in compromising positions. I guess you will just have to check out the pictures to see what I mean!
On that note... until next time!
I won't go on forever about the trip, because once I post the pictures you will see that they are pretty much self explanatory. We arrived at the Jeju airport and picked up our 12-seater Budget rental van! During our drive to our hotel, we were continuously greeted by signs reading: "Jeju: We Love Having You Here!" Needless to say, it made us feel oh-so welcome! Our hotel, which is known as a "pension" was above a Korean restaurant, right by one of the many beaches along the coast. It had a great "light show" at night consisting of lit-up sharks, fish and other sea creatures glowing on rocks. It made for a interesting backdrop!
The beaches, waterfalls, mountains, caves, lava tubes and botanical gardens were just as we imagined. Exploring the island could take forever but we did manage to squeeze in what we felt were the biggest and best attractions. (Thank goodness for the Budget Van!) Our neighborhood was very quiet and we were left to making our own fun during the evenings. This fun was -you guessed it- heading to the local bars and noreabanging of coarse! (Noreabangs are singing rooms for those of you who haven't been keeping up with the Korean terms we have been teaching you!)
We rarely ate, but when we did, it was delicious. During our days at the beach we surrounded ourselves with -I hate to say it- Pringles, beer and ham sandwiches. Our evenings were a bit trickier since each night we decided on staying at the beach until dusk, running home to the hotel to shower, thus resulting in a late feast each night. We were surprised at how early places closed! We found some yummy restaurants and the last night we went to a great Mexican resturant and got the works- enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, and more. I recommend "El Paso" to anyone heading to the 'Korean Hawaii' in the near future. (That makes none of you? Okay, that's what I figured. You are missing out!)
The scenery, the company and the weather was all amazing, leaving nothing to be desired. t was an incredible trip. We ended it off with a bang by heading to the "Sex and Health Museum" on our way to the airport. This is not only extremely strange for Korea to have (sex is rarely spoken about here) but even if I saw this place in North America I would d a quadruple-take! There were massive statues of female and male anatomy (use your imagination) and manneqins in compromising positions. I guess you will just have to check out the pictures to see what I mean!
On that note... until next time!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Life in Korea
I was reading The Korea Herald - one of Korea's 2 daily English newspaper - when I came across an interesting statistic that gives some perspective on life over here. A summary:
Foreigners who live in South Korea account for 1.5% of the country's population of 49 million. There were around 720,000 foreigners in South Korea as of May, up 35% from last year. About 36% of the foreigners are laborers, 12.2% are from international marriages, and the children of those marriages count for 6%.
Korea is one of the most homogeneous countries around (rivalled only by North Korea perhaps) and must be the most homogeneous 1st world country (it has the 11th biggest economy in the world). It is shocking that a country this well off would attract so few foreigners. I have a few reasons why I think this might be the case:
- Koreans are a loyal, nationalistic people. They have put up with a lot of crap over the years, largely from the Chinese and Japanese, that they now seem a little bit distrusting and overly unified as a people. They enjoy white people because they like Western pop culture and the English language, but foreigners from any other area seem relegated to 2nd class. They aren't afraid to tell you what they feel either, whether it is your breath smelling or your face being dark (our Indian friend Tina was often called 'darky' in class at our school). Toss in the historical punishment from their Asian neighbours, and the people have a bit of a chip on their shoulder and are riding sky high right now. They only seem to want English-speaking Caucasians immigrating.
- They have come from economic instability to near-powerhouse in such a short time that educated, English, Caucasians are not yet aware of the power of Korean enterprise. When you consider that worldwide brands like Hyundai, LG, Samsung, and Kia are Korean, as well as national powers Doosan, Lotte, and SK, there is a lot of wealth to be shared. However, a lot of people view Korea as a 2nd world country at best with no knowledge of the culture, so it does not seem an ideal place for setting up shop. The fact that the number of foreigners is growing so rapidly suggests the word is getting out.
- I've heard it mentioned that Koreans as individuals are as nice as anyone you'll ever meet, but as a whole can seem rude, crass, unapologetic, and selfish. I have never found this, personally, but the perception might be enough to turn would-be immigrants off before they get to know the culture and people that make up the nation.
I thought I had more to say but I can't think of it right now. It's probably for the better.
Foreigners who live in South Korea account for 1.5% of the country's population of 49 million. There were around 720,000 foreigners in South Korea as of May, up 35% from last year. About 36% of the foreigners are laborers, 12.2% are from international marriages, and the children of those marriages count for 6%.
Korea is one of the most homogeneous countries around (rivalled only by North Korea perhaps) and must be the most homogeneous 1st world country (it has the 11th biggest economy in the world). It is shocking that a country this well off would attract so few foreigners. I have a few reasons why I think this might be the case:
- Koreans are a loyal, nationalistic people. They have put up with a lot of crap over the years, largely from the Chinese and Japanese, that they now seem a little bit distrusting and overly unified as a people. They enjoy white people because they like Western pop culture and the English language, but foreigners from any other area seem relegated to 2nd class. They aren't afraid to tell you what they feel either, whether it is your breath smelling or your face being dark (our Indian friend Tina was often called 'darky' in class at our school). Toss in the historical punishment from their Asian neighbours, and the people have a bit of a chip on their shoulder and are riding sky high right now. They only seem to want English-speaking Caucasians immigrating.
- They have come from economic instability to near-powerhouse in such a short time that educated, English, Caucasians are not yet aware of the power of Korean enterprise. When you consider that worldwide brands like Hyundai, LG, Samsung, and Kia are Korean, as well as national powers Doosan, Lotte, and SK, there is a lot of wealth to be shared. However, a lot of people view Korea as a 2nd world country at best with no knowledge of the culture, so it does not seem an ideal place for setting up shop. The fact that the number of foreigners is growing so rapidly suggests the word is getting out.
- I've heard it mentioned that Koreans as individuals are as nice as anyone you'll ever meet, but as a whole can seem rude, crass, unapologetic, and selfish. I have never found this, personally, but the perception might be enough to turn would-be immigrants off before they get to know the culture and people that make up the nation.
I thought I had more to say but I can't think of it right now. It's probably for the better.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Birthday Weekend
Another week has come and gone without a single post. Oops. So much for trying to do it more often.
The truth is that everyone around the entire country seems to be extra busy these days. The regular schools (elementary, middle, and high) have summer break from July 23-August 24 so those of us at academies are left to pick up the slack. Every academy runs summer 'intensive' courses, sometimes instead of regular classes and sometimes in addition to regular classes. Of course, ours in additional rather than substitute. I am travelling to another branch of our school (about 30 mins by bus) for 2 classes, 3 days a week, which adds an extra 4 hours onto my day. Kelly is busy with some other stuff that she can explain, but neither of us have it as bad as Leah who is at our school from 9am-9:30pm 5 days/week.
We all brushed aside our fatigue and rocked Seoul pretty hard this weekend. Friday night Kelly and I went to Outback Steakhouse - who give away a pair of complementary steak knives for birthdays - and came back here to meet people. Jennifer, Jeremy, Leah, Andy, Mark, and Jessica came over for a night of chilling with beer, wine, and soju. Jessica is Leah's cousin and Mark is her boyfriend. They are replacing Mark and Julia, who went back to Ontario this week after 11 months of running amok. Sad to see them go, just as North America must've been sad to see Mark and Jessica come our way. You gotta give up something to get something, as Bryan Colangelo has taught us all.
Saturday was the real fun however. Jay Huth, a friend from Laurier who lives down south of Seoul, Jennifer and myself all celebrated birthdays in the weekend so we had a three-way party. It started with 2 hours of all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffet in a university district called Hongdae. Most of the people you've heard about were there, including Seoul's freshest couple Justin Page and Erin Brownlee from Orillia. It felt like we had just seen them last week.
After the buffet we hit Rocky Mountain Tavern, a 3-store chain of Canadian bars. The pictures that Kelly will post tell most of the story about that stop, but let it be said that I was outperforming Michael Jackson at his own game. They also did an awesome birthday shot routine that ended with a bartender lighting his fingers on fire and spitting alcohol across them resulting in the bar catching on fire. The drinks were also delicious.
After too many drinks for everybody involved we hit up a luxury noraebong for some karaoke. The details are a little hazy, but everyone seemed to have a good time and I have yet another palm bruise from my overzealous tambourine playing. We cabbed it back after that, Justin and Erin slept at our place after some McDonald's.
Now for the best part of the weekend....my gift (I'm a narcissistic bastard). It started off great, with a Buckaroo t-shirt (my favourite Korean brand, hilarious to see people walking around with a giant BUCKAROO across their back like a baseball jersey), a little coffee table book about the history of the Raptors, and an Adventure Korea trip to go rafting. It got exponentially cooler when I followed the book's directions to look under the bed. I pulled out a blown up picture of the 8 guys who gained fame (in apt. 305 where Laird and I lived at least) for spelling Bargnani across our shirts (if you don't know about that, we don't talk enough). I was happy with that, enjoying the view for a while before I realized that IT IS SIGNED BY BARGNANI HIMSELF!! Definitely A1 gift giving on Kelly's part. I don't know how she does it, I just hope it doesn't stop.
We're going on a little 4-day vacation Thursday-Sunday this week, but I hope to post 1 more time before that. I'd like to give a little insight into Korean life, maybe starting with their insane driving.
The truth is that everyone around the entire country seems to be extra busy these days. The regular schools (elementary, middle, and high) have summer break from July 23-August 24 so those of us at academies are left to pick up the slack. Every academy runs summer 'intensive' courses, sometimes instead of regular classes and sometimes in addition to regular classes. Of course, ours in additional rather than substitute. I am travelling to another branch of our school (about 30 mins by bus) for 2 classes, 3 days a week, which adds an extra 4 hours onto my day. Kelly is busy with some other stuff that she can explain, but neither of us have it as bad as Leah who is at our school from 9am-9:30pm 5 days/week.
We all brushed aside our fatigue and rocked Seoul pretty hard this weekend. Friday night Kelly and I went to Outback Steakhouse - who give away a pair of complementary steak knives for birthdays - and came back here to meet people. Jennifer, Jeremy, Leah, Andy, Mark, and Jessica came over for a night of chilling with beer, wine, and soju. Jessica is Leah's cousin and Mark is her boyfriend. They are replacing Mark and Julia, who went back to Ontario this week after 11 months of running amok. Sad to see them go, just as North America must've been sad to see Mark and Jessica come our way. You gotta give up something to get something, as Bryan Colangelo has taught us all.
Saturday was the real fun however. Jay Huth, a friend from Laurier who lives down south of Seoul, Jennifer and myself all celebrated birthdays in the weekend so we had a three-way party. It started with 2 hours of all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffet in a university district called Hongdae. Most of the people you've heard about were there, including Seoul's freshest couple Justin Page and Erin Brownlee from Orillia. It felt like we had just seen them last week.
After the buffet we hit Rocky Mountain Tavern, a 3-store chain of Canadian bars. The pictures that Kelly will post tell most of the story about that stop, but let it be said that I was outperforming Michael Jackson at his own game. They also did an awesome birthday shot routine that ended with a bartender lighting his fingers on fire and spitting alcohol across them resulting in the bar catching on fire. The drinks were also delicious.
After too many drinks for everybody involved we hit up a luxury noraebong for some karaoke. The details are a little hazy, but everyone seemed to have a good time and I have yet another palm bruise from my overzealous tambourine playing. We cabbed it back after that, Justin and Erin slept at our place after some McDonald's.
Now for the best part of the weekend....my gift (I'm a narcissistic bastard). It started off great, with a Buckaroo t-shirt (my favourite Korean brand, hilarious to see people walking around with a giant BUCKAROO across their back like a baseball jersey), a little coffee table book about the history of the Raptors, and an Adventure Korea trip to go rafting. It got exponentially cooler when I followed the book's directions to look under the bed. I pulled out a blown up picture of the 8 guys who gained fame (in apt. 305 where Laird and I lived at least) for spelling Bargnani across our shirts (if you don't know about that, we don't talk enough). I was happy with that, enjoying the view for a while before I realized that IT IS SIGNED BY BARGNANI HIMSELF!! Definitely A1 gift giving on Kelly's part. I don't know how she does it, I just hope it doesn't stop.
We're going on a little 4-day vacation Thursday-Sunday this week, but I hope to post 1 more time before that. I'd like to give a little insight into Korean life, maybe starting with their insane driving.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Another Robbery?
I hear phrases like, "Third time's a charm," and "Bad things happen in three's" and before coming here, I don't know if I believed in all that!
So, as Ian mentioned in the last post, our Mud Festival trip was amazing- definitely in the top 2 best excursions we have done here so far! Ian also mentioned that I had a story to tell, and I do. I just wrote this intro to build the anticipation. Alright, alright, so here is the story....
Saturday night, after a long day of beaching it and mudding it up, Ian was super tired and wanted to head back to our motel room that we also shared with Andy and Leah. So I said I would go back with him and told Andy and Leah that I would take the key, and leave the door unlocked for them. (Can you see where this is going?!) So, Ian and I head back to the motel, he fully passes out within 1 minute of his head hitting the hard floor where were slept, and I am left to try to sleep myself.
A few minutes after closing my eyes, I hear Andy and Leah come home quietly. I kept my eyes shut because they turned on the radiant light in the main room and I knew that if I opened them they would burn! I thought it was strange that they would even bother turning on the main light, but continued to keep my eyes shut and tried to sleep. Then, I felt the light go off and Andy come in the room. 'Ah, that's nice,' I thought in my head, 'Andy and Leah and coming in to get their clothes, so they can change in the other room so they don't wake us up.'
Have you ever had the feeling when you are almost asleep, but you feel like someone is standing over you? Well, I felt like that and slowly winked open an eye. I caught a glimpse of Khaki shorts and legs too hairless to be Andy's. My eyes slowly travelled up the man and I realized that it wasn't Andy and Leah in our room at all... it was a Korean man, going through Leah's wallet and bag, right beside where Ian and I were sleeping on the floor!
So, I stood up and shouted "What the hell are you doing, get the "~BEEP~* out of here!" He Korean man dropped the wallet, and made some hand gestures that could be interpreted as "no, no" and I just kept ye
lling "What are you doing? Get out!" And he finally bolted. My heart was racing so fast. I tried to wake Ian up with all my might. I tried kicking him and yelling to him that a robber was in our room- everything. He was fully passed out. And I clearly didn't want to stay in the room by myself anymore, so I grabbed some warmer clothes and ran outside with my only weapon- the key. I locked the door behind me and surveyed the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the criminal. I started my trek down the strip to find Andy and Leah and continuously tried reaching them on their cell phones, but I found out later that their cell phone weren't on them.
lling "What are you doing? Get out!" And he finally bolted. My heart was racing so fast. I tried to wake Ian up with all my might. I tried kicking him and yelling to him that a robber was in our room- everything. He was fully passed out. And I clearly didn't want to stay in the room by myself anymore, so I grabbed some warmer clothes and ran outside with my only weapon- the key. I locked the door behind me and surveyed the area, hoping to catch a glimpse of the criminal. I started my trek down the strip to find Andy and Leah and continuously tried reaching them on their cell phones, but I found out later that their cell phone weren't on them.To wrap the story up, after searching for Andy and Leah down the strip at the Mud Festival for about an hour, I headed back to the motel room and there was Andy and Leah, Andy glaring at me because he had no idea what had happened- all they knew was that they couldn't get in our motel room, had been knocking on the door and woken up the neighbors. They knew something was wrong because I was completely sober, so I should have heard the pounding if I were inside the room.
So, after a night of craziness, and talking with the Korean police (which is usually a challenge enough in itself!), we went to bed that night with our hearts racing. Luckily, the robber had dropped Leah's wallet when I yelled at him and took none of our belongings. Leah and I went and got a mud facial the next day and felt a little more relaxed.
After these past two months of insanely coincidental incidences, I feel like we can handle anything! While all these things have happened, we still have to credit ourselves as extremely lucky! it could have been a lot worse. And, after all, it makes for a good story in the end! ;)
Cheers!
Check out our Mud Festival pictures at the following links:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
