Mudfest!

So in Korea they have this yearly festival called mudfest. The purpose of it used to be to sell mud products for your skin by having people test them out. It has turned into a full out party! You can get painted with coloured mud, play on one of the many airbounce rides, have a mudfight, jump in the ocean and let the wave take you for a ride, there are beer tents and sculptures!!!

At first when I got there I was concerned because there didn't seem to be much mud. I was picturing a whole beach of mud with people covered from head to toe in mud and moshing on the beach. You did have to search out the mud a bit and it could be due to the torrential rains that kept coming down every so often. Regardless we found a clay mud pit or area or whatever you want to call it and got ourselves covered head to toe in dark black, clay mud! It was awesome!

One fave memory from the weekend was seeing Chase (the American I am seeing) and he was all clean and white because he had not found the good mud yet. I just jumped right up on him and gave him a big muddy hug!

The most disastrous event was slipping in a gutter. Now using the word gutter makes it seem worse than it was. It was just where the water was flowing between the sidewalk and the road. So the deal is my friend and I were separated and she was supposed to call me when she headed over to our muddy beach... this means I had my phone with me... in the mud... Well I did have it in a plastic bag but overtime a little bit of water got in the bag and at the exact moment she called me to say she arrived on the beach... MY PHONE WENT BLACK AND WOULD NOT TURN ON!!! nooooooooo. I ditched the people I was with and began wandering around looking for my friend. I could not see her anywhere and I was carrying around my clothes and broken phone so I decided (maybe partially due to the soju I had consumed) the best idea would be to run back to the hotel (since it was on the other side of the beach) ditch my stuff and then it would be easier to find Adriana... well I don't know why I thought ditching my stuff would make it easier but I had my mind set on it. So I ran back full throttle in my flip flops and bikini and when I got to the street I started walking... Now I don't know exactly how it happened... but I went to go walk on the sidewalk and in the process I set my foot down in the gutter not knowing it was slippery with algae, slipped and scratched up my knee and the whole top of my foot and smashed my elbow.  At first I laughed and the pain set in and I realized I could not stand up. Remember I was completely by myself at this point. Some guy helped me up and then two of my gfs happened to walk by, saw me and were like "Olivia???" and I started crying cause I noticed I was bleeding everywhere and I believe I said something like "I fell down" which is totally something a little child would say! Well Steph and Leslie walked me back to my hotel, put me in the tub and washed my wounds. The whole time I was bawling like a little child and could not stop. We got some bandaids and I borrowed Jenelle's phone to call Adriana and explain what happened and that I was on my way to find her! (she was using Tina's phone and T got a kick out of all the random text messages that went to and form her phone during this time period) I went back on the hunt and after wandering around for awhile Adriana saw me and jumped me and we laughed...

So I was walking around for the rest of the night with my wounds in bandaids... but any time anyone nudged my elbow I would almost cry from the pain. I got back to my hotel room around 4 am and went into the bathroom and FREAKED out! my left elbow was about three times the size of my right elbow... everything looked swollen and infected! I went into the bedroom and woke Tina up (because of course my wife was with me :)) and she went out and bought some soju to disinfect my wounds.... She even gave me her hand to squeeze when the intense burning of bacteria being killed by soju flooded through my body.  The swelling did go down... but it didn't look great on Monday so I went to the doctor. He said it was infected but not too badly. So don't worry... I am not gonna lose my foot!! It still looks nasty and I leave for Japan tomorrow. At least I can walk on it now. Monday through Wednesday was a huge struggle to walk!

So that was mudfest. It was a great time and I wish it had've lasted longer. It is still going on today. It runs for two weekends. I really wanted to go again... but due to my foot I think it is wiser to stay away from the mud!

Oh and I put my phone in a bowl of uncooked rice and magically it works again. Rice is a miracle worker!

Here's some pictures of my foot.. yummy!

Celebrity

One thing I LOVE about Korea is that everyone wants to take a picture of me or talk to me. Well not just me but any cute foreigner (and yes... I know I am cute). Everywhere we go crowds seem to gather. We were in Insadong a few weeks ago for the Lotus Latern Festival and Parade (for Buddhas birthday) and we made these lotus hats. We wore them and were standing together. We were approached by a Korean asking to take a photo. We said sure and stood in line... before we knew it everyone around us was taking picture after picture!!!  The whole day everywhere we walked everyone was taking pictures of us and pointing and smiling. It really does make you feel special when everyone pays close attention to you. During the parade instead of is watching it, they were watching us. Everyone walking by us would say oh so beautiful or giggle at our hats or give us thumbs up or give us a high five. I really felt more important than the parade lol!

In Namhae (a beach on the South end of the country) we played volleyball with a group pf male Koreans because they saw we were going to play and wanted to join us. It was soooo much fun! A bunch of them joined us later on the beach and we drank wine and interviewed each other (except they called it something else and I don't remember what that was) We basically just would stand up and tell a little bit about ourselves. Then they sang Happy Birthday to Jenelle in Korean. Afterwards we set off fireworks. I don't think I mentioned this before but you can buy fireworks at pretty much every store anytime of the year. They are everywhere!!! Later in the night I went skinny dipping in the ocean! It felt amazing!!! We went back to our hanbok style room (mats and blankets on the floor) and tried to play cards but we were all tired and fell asleep.

One night I was taking pictures with Flat Thomas (a school project for a kid from my church in Canada) and a Korean man asked if he could get a picture of Veena and I... totally out of the blue and he was super drunk.

I am a little worried about when I go home... being here might be making me a bit conceited... I might be offended if people in Canada don't constantly complement my looks and tell me how beautiful I am and ask to take a picture of me. I did not feel too much culture shock when I came here. Over time I have just accepted everything as normal and never felt this outright difference. It will be weird to go back home and not drink in the street and not be able to buy soju at any corner store for 1 dollar. I am going to miss the constant attention!

Soo... I took a little break...

Okay... I know I have not blogged in like 4 months.... Sometimes it just feels overwhelming to type out everything that happens here. I am gonna try and blog again..

So number one thing... winter in Korea was hard. I am from Ottawa so you would think that I wouldn't mind a winter and mind you it only snowed about 4 times here but for some reason winter really got me down. The weather was cold but not nearly as cold as Ottawa. When I got back from vacation I just kept getting sick. First I got an ecoli-infection, then Swine Flu, a throat infection and a sinus infection!! I had to go on two rounds of antibiotics within one month!!! It was sooo ridiculous and I actually have continued to get sick off and on up to this week. I usually feel good for about a week or two and then I get sick again... hopefully this time I won't get sick again... here's to me being healthy.

Also what made winter sucky... well I was seeing someone and that didn't work out. I have decided that chances are there is something wrong with every single male foreigner in Korea... There is just always something.

The most awesome thing that happened this winter is that Tina arrived. She got here at the end of February and has made being here just sooooo much better. She moved into the same neighborhood as me and we were spending pretty much every night together. We cook dinners together and shop and eat ice cream and everything wonderful! Having one of your closest friends move to the same foreign country you live in makes everything soo much better. It's great having someone who knows pretty much all the same people as you do and has watched you grow up live just around the corner. I say she is my wife and I am her husband... there is no doubt that I am the man in this relationship lol.

So this was all good and great... then at the beginning of April I found out that my Hogwan was closing. I was assured I would still have a job at our schools other campus and had nothing to worry about. Veena and I were in shock... but it was not that surprising seeing as we only had about 12 students at our school and even though we had lots of new students join we saw many leave. We were informed that the school would be closing at the end of May. Well I asked to stay in my apartment because I didn't want to move away to Tina. I figured I have commuted my whole life living out in West Carleton why can't I do it again? So they tell me I can stay in my apartment and Veena decides to move down to Beomgye (pronounced Bumgay... not even kidding!!) where our new school would be. They offered me a ten hour a day position and Veena an 8 hour. We asked to switch positions as I would be commuting an hour each way and did not want 12 hour days... To this we got the response that we now had the option of getting out of our contracts.. we were like wha???? They decided that they didn't want to have us down there teaching for only two months (ya two months left on the contract)... So we both freaked out because they only offered us 10/12s of our bonus and flight which are things we would be guaranteed if we finished our contracts. We were not allowed to just finish out the contract. So Veena decided to go home. I however offered to extend since I had decided I am staying here till next March. It was a hard decision because I could not stay in my apartment. I did get to stay in Seoul but I will get to that in a bit. I interviewed at Tina's school and was offered to start at the beginning of June and work until March when Tina was done but the pay is less and they don't pay into the pension and what my work was offering my as severence is less than I wanted to except so I stayed on.

So May 30th brought a lot of change to my life. I moved from my beloved little cave in Kyodae to about a 20 minute subway ride to Isu. I must admit I am really loving my new apartment. It was a bit frustrating to have to move though. I did the math and I realized that in the past 7 years I have lived in 10 different lodgings in 4 different cities... talk about a lack of stability!!! The great things about my new apartment are that it has lots of light, I was able to fit a couch in, I have oddles of wardrobe space, an awesome marketplace around the corner and my location is in the middle of al my friends... The sad thing is it takes 30 minutes instead of 3 minutes to see Tina.

On May 31st, Veena left Korea. It was a sad day. Veena got here one week after me so we have experienced everything together in Korea. We spent Christmas in Boracay, we went to sooooo many bars, we walked to and from work together everyday and our lives were majoraly intertwined. I am sad to see her go but I was happy to have her here.

The final change was starting a new job. I now work Mon, Wed, Fri 9:30-5:30 and Tue, Thur 12:30-8:30. It's a bit of a change from 11-7 every day. It takes me about an hour to get to work now but I don't have to transfer on the subway and I enjoy the reading time. My walk to work from the subway station is about 15-20 minutes and it's this beautiful pathway with trees and flowers on both sides. I really enjoy the walking. As for teaching, I teach grade 1s and 2s every single day, 2 periods each. Tuesdays and Thursdays I teach 7th and 8th graders as well. I am teaching them TOEFL and SAT prep!!! I have to do a lot of learning myself before I teach these kids. My grade 8s are working at a grade 11 level!! I am learning lots of new vocabulary words!

I am enjoying my new job and I work with 14 other teachers who are all American. I am the only Canadian at my entire Hogwan!

Well this has been a pretty big update and I will write more soon... I actually will this time!

I Did It

Six months in Korea as of today!

I can't even believe that I have been here that long. I mean a school year is only 8 months... I can't wait for winter to be over. I always found it hard back home but here it is cold and no car and I am away from all my close friends and family.

I am super excited because Tina is moving here at the end of February!!! She is working at a school in my neighborhood and will be living just around the corner from me! Looks like I have to move to Korea to get my best friend to live close by lol...

Yay!

My package finally arrived today!

Christmas, New Years and Boracay!

So this is the first Christmas in my 24 years of life that I did not spend with my family... well in person. It was definitely weird and I feel like Christmas did not really happen this year.

Some friends and I cooked up a storm on Christmas Eve. I provided the roasted chickens (turkeys are way tooo expensive here!) and we had all pulled names and brought a secret santa present. We opened the gifts one by one and it was a lot of fun! It kind of felt like a family dinner and we were all missing home so it was nice to be together.

My Christmas morning I called my parents and brother so it was their Christmas Eve. I had them open presents and my Uncle Peter, Aunt Maureen, Zach and Phoebe were there too! We talked for about 3 hours and my mom also showed me some presents she had purchased for me. Kitchen stuff for when I return home... whenever that will be...

My German friend Sarah arrived on Dec 23rd and the two of us flew to Manilla in the evening on Dec 25th.

Waiting at Incheon to board the plane... almost forgot my purse here!!!

We arrived in Manilla at 12:30 am Dec 26th with our friends Maggie and Kiren and proceeded to hang out in the airport until our flight at 7:20 am... Sarah and I had a nap and I set my alarm. It went off and the boarding was called so we went and got on the bus that drove us to the plane... as we get out of the plane they call our names and inform us we are an hour early for our flight and we will be on the next plane!!! Oops forgot to change the time on my clock from Seoul time!!!

Our plane from Manilla to Kalibo.

We finally got on the right flight and arrived in Kalibo. We knew we had to find someone to drive us to the Jetty Port Ferry near Caticlan. We essentially just had to trust that the Philippinos who were guiding us to a van were not lying to us or ripping us off and we tucked into the van for a two hour drive. We arrive at the ferry in our sweaters and jeans with the sun beating down on us. We had different flights from Maggie and Kiren but we all met up again at the ferry and started through that ordeal... we had to buy three tickets... one for the ferry, one for the terminal fee and one for the environmental fee... Why can't one ticket encompass all???? So we get on the "ferry" or small boat rather and head over to Boracay.

On the other side we meet someone from our hotel and hop into a tuk-tuk and head to our hotel.

Us on our way to the hotel.

This is what the tuk-tuks look like... a motorcycle with an attachment!

Finally around 10:30 am Dec 26 we arrive and are on the beach!!!!

This was just after finishing our first meal!

There were 9 of us in total staying at our familly "villa" at Orchid's resort. Veena (my coworker), James (Veena's Korean boy), Sarah (my friend from Germany I met in September in Korea), Maggie and Kiren (two American girls who work in our neighborhood and work with my coworker Jon's fiance), Deanna, Maria and Keisha (3 Canadian cousins, two live in my neighborhood and 1 was visiting) and myself.

This is all of us at our New Years Eve dinner. Going around the table in a circle starting on the left is Sarah, Deanna, Maria, Keisha, James, Veena, Kiren, Me and Maggie

I spent most of my days lying in the sun and dancing and partying at night. We spent a day snorkeling... a day riding motorbikes... a day on our own boat where our guide cooked all the food we brought with us!!! Seriously it was the most amazing week of my life... I think it may even beat out those summers at camp I loved so much.

This is our trip on our private boat.

New Years was probably the best one I have ever had in my life. It was funny because no one had on watches or was carrying cells so we didn't really know when midnight was... then the fireworks went off and we were like Happy New Years!!! then about 5 minutes later there was a countdown!! lol oh well... we celebrated it twice in five minutes.. There were tons and tons of fire works. It really was awesome!

Veena and I watching the fireworks.

So now I am back in Korea... The moment I got off the plane I was pushed around and I remember how rude and pushy Koreans are... Going away has made me realize how much of an awful place Korea truly is. Philippinos are amazingly wonderful and friendly people... they may try to rip you off here and there but its not like they have a lot of money so why not let them rip me off?? I arrived in Korea Saturday Jan 2... woke up for work on Monday and... there was snow... everywhere... I was not happy!

I thought that this would be my first winter without having to trudge in the snow... I do love snow but a one year break would not be so bad. They have not had snow like this in Korea since they started recording their weather in 1937... what are the odds?? Maybe Canada misses me!

I heart you Boracay!!!

These are the links for the full albums of my trip. The pictures are in order from arrival if you go through 1 first.

1. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2303350&id=81005275&l=33e13f05e1

2. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2303385&id=81005275&l=f347edfa54

Somehow i made it home when the subway closed...

Tonight I had my choir performance. It went well and I had a drink with some friends after... Being responsible we decide we better go catch the subway since it is approaching 11:30 and the subway ends earlyish never quite sure on the exact time... Turns out on Saturdays it ends exactly at midnight... leaving me stranded in Yaksu...

I picked a random Korean and said "English?" I was super lucky today as he spoke English well and he was drunk. Korean's are often afraid to speak English when they are sober because they don't want to embarrass themselves... THANK YOU SOJU!!! SO he didn't know the subway was closed early either... many Koreans seemed to not know this... How was I supposed to know it ends early on Saturday??? Usually we are out so late we have to cab home...

So I talked to this Korean boy and we established that neither one of us had money but fortunately this random person from the subway lives in my neighborhood!!! We go to an ATM but it won't let me take money out.. he said something like either my bank is closed... or they are doing something or another... either way i could not take out money!

So we get out to the street... looking for cab... not that we could even pay him but we have to get home it's -10 outside!!! This van pulls up and a man gets out asking where we are going. He offers to drive us and rallies up other people as well.. So I am a bit freaked out... I mean this was NOT a cab... this was a random van!! and I am with a random Korean whom I have to put all my trust into! The Korean boy went a took a picture of the mans van and license plate just to be safe. So me and 5 random Koreans drive off in this van to Kyodae (Seoul National University of Education.. which is where i live)

Korean boy had explain to the van driver that we had no money. The van driver was not angry and simply got the Korean boy's phone number and said he could pay him later! We arrived safely and I gave the Korean boy my number so I could give him my share of the money at a later date.

It was quite the adventure and at the time I was like.... shiiiit!! what am I going to do!!! If I really had've taken a moment and thought about it, I would have realized I had my Canadian debit card and I could have taken out money on that possibly if I found the right bank machine.... I also could have taken money out on my credit card but I don't even want to think about what the charges and interest would have been. Either way I solved the problem and survived another day in Korea...

Mom and Dad don't be worried! I can figure things out in sticky situations.

Note to self... if I spend the emergency money I leave in my wallet make sure I replace it!!!

C'est Lalloween

So halloween was awesome! Some girlfriends and I decided to dress up as the ghostbusters. So for the two weeks before we were scouring Korea for stuff for our costumes. It was really hard to find coveralls here! I mean things exist in Korea but if you don't know the Korean word for it or just who to ask it is near impossible to find!! Sometimes google is useful and I have found a few locations of things by using it but naver would be way better to use.... it is like the Korean google... unfortunately it is all in Korean!

Anyway we got all of our stuff together and met up at Leslie's to make the costume. This girl has such a gorgeous, new loft apartment!! Makes me jealous although my place has gotten much cozier... I still need to put up pictures of my rearranged and decorated apartment... man I am lazy hahaha!

Okay so back to halloween... so we met up on October 30th and we worked on our costumes till like 2 am or something and we weren't even finished! We had the bright idea of actually making the patches. We did not just print them off the computer... we cut out the red, black and white parts all separately and then with the one needle Leslie and Jenelle slaved away hand stitching them... we made our backpacks out of cereal boxes and attached tubing to our guns... and made gun holders! It was a lot of effort and time. oh and like everything had to be spray painted black... we had to find somewhere to spray paint because we could not do it in an apartment... we probably looked ridiculous hunting down the street trying to find a back alley to paint in... we had cans of spray paint in hand... we probably looked like criminals. We found a spot, spray painted and got stared at by Koreans... what are those crazy foreigners up to???

The best part of the night was riding the subway! No one else on the entire subways and stations we went through were dressed up... the Koreans smiled at us and laughed... asked us why we were dressed up. It was a lot of fun!

We went to Itaewon to the Wolfhound pub because they had some competitions going on. Well we walked in and everyone was impressed with or costumes. People bought us drinks because they thought our costumes were really good. The people who owned the bar were like don't leave don't leave!!! So we stayed and we won best group costume!!! 50 000 won baby!! which essentially covered the cost of the entrance cover and no where near the cost of the costumes but it was worth it and soo much fun!

This is my halloween album for my non facebookers!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297784&id=81005275&l=5658d0401d

A wonderful weekend in Busan!

So a couple of weekends ago.. I think Oct 23rd-25th I took a train to the other side of Korea to visit the southern port Busan! Here is a map of the train ride so you can see where Busan is.

So the reason we decided to go to Busan was to see David Guetta who is a really amazing DJ but the person who told me that... ahem Jess... was mistaken and it was actually some Irish nobody who lives in Seoul. Either way I ended up in Busan.

The hostel we stayed in was awesome! It was 15 ooo won a night (so like less than $15). The guy was Mr Lee and he took good care of us!

These are some of my friends in the hostel. We got many mosquito bites! It was nice to be in Busan because it was warmer than Seoul... but there were still so many mosquitos!

So the first night we decided to get some Sum-Gip Sul (BBQ'ed pork) and check out some bars. They totally lied to us at the restaurant because we also order Galbi which is marinated beef... but everything they brought was pork... the sign SAID they had beef!

This is the remnants of our dinner. You essentially take the pork, throw it on a leaf of lettuce or some sort of green leafed things provided, maybe throw on some garlic or onion and some of this green onion, red sauced salad and wrap everything up and eat it. Its okay every now and then... but you start to miss vegetables!!

The first bar we went to I played foosball with the boys. The table was awesome and totally falling apart!

I was on team lime and we dominated and totally won!

Afterwards we went to some other bar and I had a blast dancing with some Korean girls. They are sooooo funny. They like wiggle their hips a tiny bit but I wouldn't really call what they do dancing they more just stand on the spot and wiggle a bit. I really enjoy getting them to dance as crazy and as much as I do... I feel like I essentially throw myself to the music but I love doing it and the Koreans seem to have fun trying to join with me! There was this one Korean guy in a bunch of our pictures but none of us remember him so we definitely did not spend much time with him. I figure I took my camera out and took like 20 pictures in a span of 5 minutes and this Korean guy happened to be in a bunch of them.

Here Jess and I are with him on the dance floor! So we found our way back to the hostel by cab since we didn't know where we were... We literally took a 4 minute cab ride!!!! The cabbie must have thought we were really dumb but thats normal because Koreans seem to think foreigners are pretty stupid and we tend to feel that they are really annoying.

So the next day we went to go see a temple at this mountain. On the way there we saw one of the old ladies (ajuma) peeling and cutting the vegetables she sells on the street. These ladies are everywhere and I don't know where they get the vegetables from but they peel the garlic and carrots and trim the green onions for you. Well anyways my point is she was peeling or trimming some onions the whole time sucking back on this cigarette when all of a sudden about a half inch of ash falls into her green onions!! She totally ignored it and kept trimming away... Note to self do not buy vegetables from old ladies on the street!!!

and here she is!!!

So we get to the mountain and look at the temple and the area around it. It was all pretty awesome. Here is us posing in a mini temple.

There were really cool trees all over the mountain.

So Jess, Janelle and and Wes all wore flip flops even though they all brought shoes with them! and then as we were climbing down the mountain jess' flip flop broke!!! So we put hair elastics around her foot securing the flip flop to it! I am pretty sure that is not the best way to climb down a mountain. This mountain was not a nice foot path either but a steep bouldery climb!!

After leaving the mountain we picked up some McDonalds and headed to the beach since Busan is famous for its beaches. From the beach you could see the Ocean, this cool San Francisco style bridge is there and mountains!!! It was beautiful.

Afterwards we went for dinner and saw this add on the way.

So after this we went to the bar but it was empty so we got beers and drank on the sidewalk... we cheered at every Korean that passed by us and they seemed to really enjoy it.. We set off fireworks and freaked out the cabbies and burned some arm hair and singed some suits but mostly people just laughed and smiled at us.

Finally we went to the club and ordered some drinks and almost threw up when we realized how expensive they were! Drinks are really cheap here so it was shocking to be charged that much! So we danced and then after ate and ate some more and went back to the hostel. The plan was to watch the sunrise at the beach but only myself and one other guy were awake so we went down at about 4:30 am. It was soooo cold! I tried to make it but I could stay no longer. I missed the sunrise by maybe 20 minutes. It was very disappointing. The next morning we packed up and caught the two and a half hour train ride back to Seoul.

This is the hostel owners dog Chow Chow

All in all another good weekend in Korea.

Black Out Korea

So I had mentioned awhile ago how Koreans drink way too much all of the time. This website can attest to the drunken Koreans sprawled all over the streets any day or time of the week.

blackoutkorea.com

Muuido... Part 2 Arrival!!

So after a disastrous Friday night we woke up early and caught the bus out to the airport. We were meeting up with everyone at the McDonalds in the airport... We got there and lo and behold there were about 30 people travelling with us!! So after waiting around for an hour we start to head out. The first step is to find the correct bus to take us to the Muuido ferry. We must have looked pretty odd! We were a group of 30 foreigners following each other around up and down the escalators since we kept getting on the wrong floor. After about 15 minutes we finally find the right bus stop and wait for the bus. This is a picture of the group we went with. Tina and I are way in the back. I am the one with the sunglasses on.

So after awhile the bus came and we all piled in! It was standing room only!

The bus took us to the ferry and then that was our next method of transportation.

This is me on the ferry. It was such a beautiful day!!! This was also thanksgiving weekend

So after the 5 minute ferry ride (ya it was really short... if you didn't mind getting wet you could easily swim over) we had to wait for yet another bus to take us to the beach. The ride on this bus was crazy!! The driver went really fast on a winding road where people were walking. I thought for sure we were going to kill someone! The road was really bumpy as well. We make it to the beach and arrive safetly. Now part of the reason why I wanted to go on Friday was because of a catching fish with your bare hands competition that was happening in the morning.

Unfortunately as we arrived all the Koreans were packing up their fish and leaving. I was sad to miss it but it was hillarious watching people carrying huge bags of freshly caught fish.

The next step upon arrival was to rent out a little shack on the beach. Tina and I shared one with two other girls. It was 40 000 won for the shack so about 8 CAD each for the night. Not to shabby! The floors of the huts were heated which was totally necessary at night as it got quite cold. This is what the shacks looked like.

The tide was out so we walked through the muck. It felt soooo neat on your feet and there were little crabs everywhere burrowing into the mud. We all had some beers and decided to play volleyball with our makeshift net and soccer ball we found.

There was such a beautiful sunset that night!

We all got dinner on the beach. I was actually kind of disappointed with the seafood we had. It was okay but I have had better. The shrimp looked really cool while we were cooking them.

So that night we started several bonfires and this man kept telling us to put them out and eventually he called the police and they said we could have the fire but to not get anymore wood... but the really funny thing is the old man's reason for us to not have a fire... He was afraid that North Korea would find us because of our fire... a plane would fly over and bomb us because of the fire... now a barbecue was totally fine. The light from that would not attract the North Koreans because people were cooking over it.... and all the blaring lights set up on the beach... well that would not attract them either... the only thing that would attract them was a small campfire! Oh Koreans....

The next morning Tina and I went sea shell hunting. It was nice to walk in the muck again and we found some pretty cool shells. It was once again a beautiful day! It was soooo warm I could not believe it.

The only sad thing that we both felt was that we were missing thanksgiving with our families that day.

This is me squishing my toes in the muck. We left shortly after this and made the trek from bus to ferry to bus to airport bus to subway home! It was a long trek but definitely worth it and I plan to go back many times next summer!

Operation Muuido Part 1... Friday.

So a friend invited me to go toMuuido. It is a little Island off of Incheon (that is where the airport is). She and her friends were not going until the Saturday so my coworker Veena and I decided to go Friday. Veena's sister Sanjini came, as well as Tina who was visiting before leaving me for Canada (which she did this morning) :( So we get all packed up Tina and I have a backpack each but Veena has adopted two pets... So she can't leave them all alone especially since they are so young. So they had a dog, a cat, a backpack, a rolling suitcase and a purse to deal with!

So we have tons of luggage and we begin our trek. I had found directions on an official Korean Tourism site. We had to subway to Incheon which was successful... The tricky part came when we got off the subway in Incheon. We had to get to the ferry so we looked for a cab. We finally found one and hopped in. Sanj was trying to get her luggage in the trunk and the cabbie started to take off without her in it! We yelled at him and he stopped. Her suitcase would just not fit in the trunk! He would not come out and help us. So I sat in the front seat and we tried to put the suitcase on top of me but when we shut the door it did not fit and was possibly hitting electronic devices and the cabbie freaks out and yells at us to get out... so that didn't work.

I also knew which bus to take. So we wander around and some nice lady gives us directions to the busses. We hop on and have gone a few stops when i go and ask the driver if we are going the right way. He makes hand gestures and says something in Korean and then won't continue driving. Through a couple of Koreans we finally understand we were going the opposite direction and we need to catch the same bus on the other side of the street. We see the bus coming so I (look both ways of course) and bolt across the street. Veena is close behind with the dog, Tina also running and Sanj loses a shoe while trying to wheel the luggage which stops wheeling and starts dragging! We all make it across without dying and hop on the bus and sweet!!! its going the right way. So we finally arrive at the ferry... to go to China!!! and it was closed anyway.

So now we have no idea where we are. It is dark and starting to get late. We try to ask a few people and finally between a man who speaks Korean and a guy translating we figure out the right ferry to go to and he gets us a cab and tells it where to go. We arrive at the ferry and we have to take this ferry... then take a bus to the other ferry to muuido but at this point the muuido ferry is now closed. So we hop on the ferry anyway and decide to find a hotel on the other side... even though there are hotels on the side we are on. Ferry ride was fun!! and pretty. We get to the other side and there is like nothing there! A guy tells us which bus to get on but when the one lone bus arrives and everyone gets on it we decide we better take it in case no other bus comes. At this point the ferry was closed and there was absolutely nothing around us. So we drive around these windy dirt roads and there is literally nothing around until we wind up at the airport. We head over to the best western but the rooms are expensive so we rush back to the airport and make it just in time to catch the last bus back to seoul national university of education.... that is where we live. In total all of this took 6 hours and we arrived home at 11:30pm and finally had dinner!

This is where we caught the ferry from.

This is how pretty it was on the ferry.

This is where we ended up when we got off the ferry... there was nothing.

and this is how I felt about the situation!

I did make it to Muuido the next day which is more to come!

Oh and Aunt Liz it is very safe in Korea. Crime is extremely low here and I am always in groups! I am being safe!

The week of frustration

So last week was kind of the most annoying week here. I hit a wall where I could no longer stand the language barrier. I was also really sick of the constant staring and how Koreans bump into you and do not apologize... so rude.. So I have been trying and trying to make my apartment nicer and well my bedspread really needed to go as did the funky matching pillowcases. So I looked everywhere for a new bedspread that would be thick enough for the winter and would look nice in my room.. I ended up with a white duvet well its white cause it has no cover... I gave up. I also wanted a set of western style sheets and pillowcases. I looked everywhere and finally gave up on regular pillowcases cause they don't exist here... so I just got some simple cream ones that zip up and are actually a size too small. Well I was excited though cause I found some sheets. They were silver and really cute... until I got home. When at home I realized that the lady sold me a fitted bed sheet only... for 34 000 won... so I paid approximately $30 for a fitted bed sheet. AHHHHHH I was soo freakin frustrated that I spent that much money on only a fitted bed sheet simply because I don't speak Korean and I did not know thats what the Korean lady was trying to explain to me. Basically I spent a week being bitter at the fact that I don't speak Korean. Well I gave up and asked my mummy to send me some nice sheets and pillowcases so I am excited for the day when those get sent!

So it was just a bad week but I feel much better now!

Just some random info

So last weekend on Saturday I decided that this should be the night where I actually take the subway home after going out. The subway stops running at 12 am so you must be thinking wow... thats lame! such an early night... Well I mean take the subway home in the am as in it starts running again at 5am. So I danced... met some military men... danced and sang some more until finally the bar owner asks us to leave as they are closing... this is around 6:30 am. This is what the sky looked like.

and this is what I looked like outside at 6:30 am!

So we wandered around and thought it would be a great idea to go and get some breakfast. There is this place called Butterfingers that is totally amazing but I was pretty sure its location is Gagnam and these people I was with were sure there was one where we were in Hongdae... Well turns out there is not one in Hongdae so we hop on the subway and head to Gagnam... We did not make it... the stop to my house comes before that and I went home and went to bed! I was so tired and when I walked in my door the time on the clock was 8am. Not bad!

Tina arrived this week!!! Woot woot. So we went to Butterfingers this evening and it was delicious! We had pancakes, french toast, bacon, sausage, ham, eggs and potatoes!!!!!! After we went for a round of batting! I totally was way better than Tina. Finally found some posters for my apartment tonight as well and Tina and I decorated with the posters and covering another wall in my photos of friends... Updated photos of my apartment are coming soon.

Why Koreans Like Me

So today my boss informed me that I have the typical look that Koreans like. I have blues eyes, white skin and I am not too tall! I think this is the first time in my life that people are impressed by that shiny whiteness that is my skin and are not making fun of me for being short but rather quite enjoy that I do not tower over them!

Also I was told by a random girl while out last weekend that I am beautiful... the reason I am beautiful? because I have a small face. So boys if you ever want to pick up a Korean girl one huge compliment you can give her is that she has a small face. She will think you are amazing.

So I write this blog and people say they are reading it but it feels very one-sided and weird to me so please comment on my post if you read it! Otherwise I feel uber lame writing this... and this is especially aimed at Catherine as she made this blog for me and told me I had to blog!!!

Crazy Crazy Koreans!

So I have been here for about a month now and I have decided that Korean's have very little common sense.... maybe I just don't understand but to me a lot of things here seem ridiculous.

SEATBELTS
One problem I have noticed is that taxis never have functional seatbelts.... So you get in the cab and maybe you will find a strap but then there is no buckle to put the strap in. Another day you might get into a cab to find that there is a buckle but no strap! Now back home I always wear a seatbelt but here in Korea I feel as though a seatbelt is even more of a necessity and they aren't around which brings us to my next concern...

ROAD RULES
Korean's do not seem to understand the laws of the road. A red light does not mean don't drive it means you probably shouldn't drive... but if you don't want to wait you can go ahead... I am like "What???" Many cabbies have just chosen to ignore the red light and okay maybe if there is no traffic around it kind of makes sense but still a car could come and kill us and well I am not wearing a seatbelt!

FAN DEATH
My coworker Jon has been here for three years and he has told many stories. The most recent being about fan death. Basically many Koreans believe that if they are in a room with all the windows shut and they turn on a fan, then they will die! What? What is this blasphemy? Check out this link! http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2009/01/fan-death-is-real.html

NO SHOES PLEASE
Now this one I think is kind of cool... Many restuarants require you to remove your shoes when you enter. This stems from the fact that many Korean's sit on the floor while eating! Which is kind of cool.... but also can be painful. Some restaurants have tables and chairs and shoes are not taken off for most of these places but on occasion they are.

MAGICAL FOOD
Many Korean's believe that the food they eat has special powers and I would even go as far to descrbe them as magical powers. When you have any problems with your throat, you should eat pork. Yes pork cures all! Anything phallic shaped is good for male stamina as anything round shaped is good for female stamina. This is why Korean men eat and drink soooooo much ginseng! Many Korean's believe that Koreans do not get as sick as people from other countries because the food they eat cures all. Kimchi (fermented cabage that actually tastes quite good) is supposed to be a cure all for everything and it is what causes Koreans to live such long lives. Well if you look at world life expectancies, a Korean life spans average is shorter than a Canadian....

YOU ARE NOT MY FRIEND
People can not be friends with someone of a different age. Even students who are only one year apart cannot be friends. My students were shocked that I have friends who are significantly older than me and laughed at the idea of calling each other friends when they are different ages.... Seems weird to me. It stems from the fact that you have to show respect for someone who is older than you. A very important question to ask someone when you first meet them is to ask there age because the language you use is different depending on if you are older or younger!

DRINK YOURSELF STUPID
Almost everyone drinks here and there is always one person in the group who can't walk home. Korean's get stupid drunk to the point where a man wearing a nice suit will be passed out in the gutter of a main street. I have seen sleeping men in suits many times. I have also seen friends carrying a friend who is completely passed out. There is vomit everywhere on Thursday and Friday night!

So I have decided that Korean's have limited common sense and something else must be ruling their brains!

Scary Events!

So last Saturday I went out to a Canadian bar and had some delicious pepperoni pizza. This bar had a Canadian flag attached to a hockey stick hanging outside. The bar was called Beer-O'Clock and they had advertisements for their bar on a TV Screen. It included photoshopped pictures of Snoop Dog

and Don Cherry and Ron McClain.

Later we went to a Nor - e - bong (Karaoke room) and sang and laughed. Arriving home at 4 am I went to bed.

You must be thinking why is this post titled scary events? These events don't seem scary! Well you are right. Scary event number one occured when I got home.

So I had been asleep for about 30 minutes (making it 4:30am) when I heard a strange sound. At first I thought I was just crazy and there was nothing to worry about. The sound did not go away. It sounded like someone was pulling and fiddling with my neighbors front door and then my front door. It was a menacing sound and I began to shake with fear. I decided someone must be trying to break into my apartment! I began to freak out. I have no phone here to call for help since I have not recieved my Alien Registration Card yet which you need to get a cell phone. There is also no other way to escape my apartment as the windows are barred to prevent people from breaking in. Trembling I made my way to the door in the dark. I decided not to turn any lights on so that I would not alert my intruder that I was aware of his presence. I looked out my peephole and I could see the outline of a man standing in the dark. Panic begins to set in as my only escape would be right by him. I decided to try and hold my door knob tight so he could not turn it. He kept pacing and it looked as though he was on the phone. I couldn't figure out how he knew the code to get into my apartment building. I could hear a phone ringing somewhere over and over again. Just when I thought I was going to throw up I hear a girl yell in the room next to mine. She ran to the door, opened it and pulled in the man. Turns out the guy simply forgot his keys and was trying to get into his shared apartment!

I felt kinda stupid but I was still shaking when I crawled back into my bed!

Scary event number two involves my parents and a phone call. While I was at work Monday morning, the secretary Rose comes running into my office to inform me that I have a phone call. I was really confused as I didn't even know the phone number of my office and had not given it to anyone. She says that it is my dad. I answer and sure enough my dad is on the other line and he sounds so relieved to hear my voice. Turns out that night someone called our home in Ottawa. A girl called and when my dad asked who it was the girl told him "you know." He replied with "Olivia?" to which she responded "yes." My dad said she sounded really funny but it did sound a bit like me. He asked her if everything was okay because she didn't sound right. She says ya. He asks where she is and she responds "at home." My dad asks why she is calling and she says to introduce her new boyfriend. Then a man with an Asian accent comes on the phone and says, "I like pills!" The girl gets back on the line to assure my dad it is fine he just has tourettes. She says she should go and hangs up. My dad panicked because he believed that I had been drugged by some Korean man and I was in danger in my apartment as this man was probably going to rape me. My dad frantically called my recruiter, then my school director and then the school owner to track me down. Remember I still don't have a phone here. He gets a hold of the owner and she gives him the number to my school and he finally finds out I am okay and that it was a prank call. While they were trying to reach me my dad and my mom decided that the would be coming to Korea the next day to save me...

So that was scary!

As promised here is me eating street meat. Each sausage tasted different from the last and two of them had this chewy rice thing that looks like a really thick noodle.... as in like 100 times bigger than a regular noodle. They are soft and chewy and quite nice.

Here is a picture of me in the street somewhere nearby the Canadian bar.

Second weekend

So the new girl from Canada is awesome. It is so nice to have a girl around to go shopping and dancing with. Her sister came with her and will be here until October. They live right around the corner from me so we have been cooking dinners together almost every night.

Last Friday we went to Beomgye mind you it is pronounced Bumgay... not even kidding! So first we went to Happiness bar but the sign was spelt Happiduness. I love Asian english typos! We met the owner, played with his dog, had some drinks and then moved on to "Clubby Bar Slang" which was in a basement and had a stripper poll on the dance floor. Now both of these places contained foreigners.. mostly unattractive foreigners to be exact but there were still some Koreans floating around. One guy grabbed my arm as I walked by him, kissed my face and told me he loved me... It was repulsive! All the Korean boys want to chat with all the foreign girls and it was sooooo loud and they were yelling in my ear trying to talk to me... and then the lingering cigarette smoke everywhere. It grossed me out. But I am going to try again tomorrow as it will be Friday and time for another night out.

We have made a Korean friend and he has been taking us around and translating for us. It has been wonderful having him around!

More to come soon and some pictures of me eating street meat!

One Week In

Well its been a full week. I started teaching full time on Thursday and it is actually quite easy. There are only 2-4 students in each of my class. Quite a change from my placements in high school classes with about 26 students! The kids are really cute and the call me Olivia Teacher. I really am enjoying teaching them.

There are only 4 teachers here including me. There are about 15 teachers at our sister school so we went out with them on Friday. We went to a North American style bar and the bartenders were throwing around their bottles of alcohol and there were flames involved and a tower of flaming cups precariously stacked. It was really neat. The waitress came up to me and asked my name... so I told her... and she said nothing so I asked her name... and she told me... then she says that the Korean men sitting over there think that you are beautiful. She then went over and told them my name so for the rest of the night anytime I walked by them I heard O-Lee-Vee-A.

Living wise... well mosquitoes... mosquitoes... mosquitoes!! I don't see many in my apartment but my body appears to be covered in bites when I wake up in the morning. So my mosquito net finally arrived yesterday and I attempted to put it up myself but I decided I really needed some help... so tonight another teacher here is going to help me.

Food has been good. I have tried many new things and I actually cooked something for myself...

I finally got my shower working. It turns out that someone had turned my gas off outside the apartment so I am not incompetent and could not have solved that problem myself.

Another new teacher arrived from Canada last night so I am excited to be working with another girl... Prior to her arrival it was all men!

First Two Days

So I arrived Sunday at Midnight and was told that I did not have to go into work for 8:30 am anymore! So I jumped into bed only to discover that it is hard as a block of wood!

Monday the other teachers and director took me out for lunch and after I went for my medical exam. It even included a chest ex-ray and a hearing test. In the evening I had my first taste of Korean BBQ and it was not as amazing as I was expecting... but maybe there are better places. Tuesday I observed classes and opened a bank account. Lunch was awesome! It was some kind of spare rib soup.

My apartment is a good size for me except my windows face walls. One is less than a foot from my window! All the windows have screen type things on them so that they let in light but I can't see out of them which is probably good. Brick walls are only interesting for so long...

Showering has been a challenge and I can't quite figure out how to get my hot water just right... maybe tomorrow.

So this first picture is from my door looking in. That room is my bathroom... lovely red tile and red toilet

This is all the stuff I stocked up on!

So as you can see left of the bathroom is the one room. Theres the little table, Tv stand, wardrobe, double bed. On the other side of the wall of the bathroom is my kitchen.

The door beside my bed is my mini balcony where my washing machine is.

My kitchen... that is right beside my bed!

My wardrobe that has only one door.. at the foot of my bed..