Tick tock

So it's time to start counting the hours before takeoff. Yesterday I woke late and it threw my whole day off kilter. It was a good thing my student decided to skip the first two hours of studying with me. Otherwise I would have been a wreck.

I went out with Erica and her younger brother and husband for a few drinks after work. She's really nice and her husband was very funny. Her brother had just returned from a year studying in Canada so he had a chance to practice his English with me. Actually the night was better than expected. I was afraid that it would be painful. Sometimes when going out with Koreans, and being the only foreigner can be difficult because of the language barrier. But as the three of them spoke English pretty good I didn't have to strain myself to understand what they were trying to express.

counting the hours

Only one teaching day left. I'm started to get excited. I can't wait to leave. I spent the afternoon running around getting last minute things done. I think I have everything finished but you can never be too sure so I will hope for the best.

Yesterday Andrea and I went to Gangna for lunch. It was yummy! Then we went to Carrefour where we bought next too nothing. Which was a good thing because after we went to the "Irish" bar, O'Kims, in the Chosung Western and had a drink which put us back 12,000 won for one drink.

party is over

My night clubbing days are over in Busan. When I get back from my extended trip (if I come back)I've decided that I am finished with that scene. After two years, the faces have changed a bit but the scene is still the same. Last night and the last few nights I've gone out, I realized that this is not fun. I like hanging out with my friends but these bars here really suck.

If I were back in Toronto I don't think I would be going out so much. In fact, I think my life would be a little less dramatic. But that's okay. We all can't be actors.

Dinner for Three –– Moi, Lucy and Stacey

So yesterday I was still feeling sick when I woke up but I kept on. As planned I made dinner for Stacey and Lucy. It wasn't the culinary treat that I had envisioned because I was still under the weather but it was edible.

Lucy was really hungover from her night of bed aerobics, and Stacey had a cold. Needless to say it wasn't going to be an evening of excitement. To tell the truth, I really didn't want to go out because I wasn't feeling so good. I hoped the bottle of wine that I was slowly consuming would put me in the party mood.

Andrea came over around eight and brought some of her friends from Hwamyeong. They were definitely in the party mood. Lucy and Stacey saw their arrival as a perfect opportunity to make their escape. Overall the evening was okay. I got in around 3:30 am after hopping around between OBS, Kyungsung and PNU.

Still sick but alive

I'm still sick. Last night was horrible. I vomited on and off for about six hours. Then I couldn't get comfortable or sleep. I think I slept for a total for two hours. I phoned Jake around 730 am to tell him I couldn't go in to the office. Surprisingly enough he was okay with it, and he didn't harass me all day like I had thought he would.

Right now I feel okay but not 100% normal. My belly is still queasy. I have so many things I wanted to get done today but they were all postponed until Monday. Hopefully, I'll be well enough to make dinner and to go out tomorrow night.

Feeling sick with only one week to go

I feel terrible today. I think it was something I ate, namely the plain white rice I digested around 12:30. Every since then my stomach has not been feeling so good. I threw up a few minutes ago, and I feel slightly better. But not that well. I had to reschedule my plans with Andrea. She was supposed to come over tonight so we could make plans for meeting in Bangkok.

Last night Lucy came over to eat junk food and watch a dvd. The junk food could be another reason why my stomach feels so upset. I've tried sleeping to no avail. I hate not feeling well.

This could be a longshot but maybe the devasting Canadian loss to the Russians in Olympic hockey has literally made me sick. One reassuring thought though is that the Americans didn't make it any further than we did.

From my ipod to a live octopod

I felt a little lethargic this morning while teaching. I stayed up late last night watching some stupid made for tv movie. I can't even remember what it was about, that's how good it was.

After teaching I went out and bought some traveller's cheques. Now it really feels like I am actually leaving. The people at the bank were really kind. I took a ticket and I was prepared to wait like everyone else, but one of the tellers noticed me (no doubt my shocking blond 'do helped)and immediately inquired after me. Then he took me up to the manager's office, where the manager himself helped me. Talk about special treatment!

I then walked about Bujeon market where a live octopus that had escaped from his holding basin nearly gave me a heart attack. I still have shivers from seeing this slimy octopod crawling around on the dirty market ground.

lunch with John

I took John out to lunch today. I wanted to show him the only good place to eat in Gaegeum- my favorite Boribap restaurant. When I lived closer I would eat there at least once a week. I love the buffet style where you can eat all the veggies you want!

Stacey's chaotic tragedy with underlining romance

What started out as a night destined for fun and excitement ended in chaos and tragedy, and not to mention a little romance. Our fabulous trio of Stacey, Lucy and I had decided weeks ago that Lucy and I were in serious need of drastic hair makeovers. So yesterday our stylist Stacey got to work and made our hair dreams come true. The end result: Lucy looks hot in all her shocking blondeness/ redness. I on the other hand, look like a trailer park bytch with my bleached blonde hair and red bangs. Don't get me wrong Stylist Stacey did an amazing job on both our coiffs. I'm just not used to the color yet.

After the completion of our makeovers, we headed to Crossroads. The place was pretty busy but filled with many new foreigners, or at least ones we didn't recognize. One highlight was being serenaded by some Korean man. First he sang O Canada and after we claimed to be Americans, he sang the Star-Spangled Banner. Little did we know this small act of gallantry would set in motion a set of events that would change the course of our lives forever (okay maybe just for the rest of the night).

After the impromptu concert, Lucy was approached by one brave soul who thought she was the moon and the stars. From there the night began to get out of hand. Now that we were a foursome we decided to check out the Basement and Soultrane. Soultrane was happening so we stayed there. It wasn't long before both Lucy and Stacey were hammered. Stacey and I danced quite a bit with several nameless souls.

At some point we decided it was time to go home. Lucy needed more time with her little friend so she agreed to meet us in 10 minutes at Stacey's place. Stacey and I decided to get something to eat. After eating we felt we should go back and check on Lucy at Soultrane. However, she wasn't there. So I ran up the stairs to leave and suddenly I heard a loud thump, like a gorilla falling in the night, but oh no that was no gorrila. It was Stacey. She tripped going up the stairs and injured her right arm.

Lucy came out of nowhere or was it a dark alley? And we decided Stacey needed immediate medical attention. We jumped into a cab and sped off to the nearest hospital. Picture three half drunk foreigners looking like hell and half asleep assaulting the quiet and seriousness of a Korean emergency room. We were not what these night workers wanted to see at 5:30 in the morning. After a few amusing anecdotes, we finally left the hospital with Stacey in a makeshift splint. We didn't think her fingers, arm, wrist were broken, since we're all licensed doctors, only that she badly sprained them. The hospital fees were absolutely ridiculous so Stacey convinced the doctor to just put a splint on her arm for free.

Moral of the story: Don't encourage anyone to sing National Anthems at any place that serves alcohol, in particular bars in South Korea.

A night out in Seomyeon

Annie just arrived three weeks ago from Cambridge. She was hired at Wilshire Daeyon campus. So last night the Seomyeon crew (John, Neil and myself) took her out for a few drinks around Seomyeon. First we went to some self-serve bar called Birra where the beers were in the middle of the table, and when you wanted a drink, you helped yourself. The end of the night the barkeep tallies up the bottles. Not only was this super cool but the beer selection was great. We had choices other than Korean beers. I drank Molson,Zipfer and Hoegaadren. (Molson was the only Canadian beer on the list)

The woman's bathroom was hilarious. Mirrors covered everything but the floor. We had to take a few pictures. In the comparison, the men's washroom was a typical dirty stall.

After our beers, we went over to Hollywood Star so I could get my groove on for a couple dances. On the way there, John decided to try some bongdaegi, live silkworm. If the smell doesn't kill you, I'm sure the taste would. It's a favorite snack here. Never on my life would I ever try it. As you can see in the pictures, the three of them are loving it. Annie tried a piece too but she ate it too quickly so I couldn't take her picture. She said she'll have to try it again. It totally grosses me out. I can't believe people eat that crap.


We stayed at Hollywood for only a short time. Of course no one wanted to dance. But I knew John would dance after he had a few more drinks. Then off we went to Obriens for our last call. It was a fun night. Neil and Tae eun got really hammered, and the rest of just watched and laughed. John walked back to Seomyeon with me so he could pick up his motorcycle that he just bought. Unfortunately for him it wouldn't start. That's probably not what you want to face at 330 in the morning.

Friday afternon cleaning

I had a pleasant surprise waiting for me this morning when I got to work. I only had one class to teach. So my teaching day finished at 12 pm. I'm glad it was my second class that was cancelled because it's so painful to teach.

So off to Felia I went to get my hair cut. Lately, I've been debating with myself whether or not to cut it before I left. This morning I caught a glimse of my reflection in the elevator mirror, and I realized how terrible I looked. I quickly made my mind up to rush and get my hair done as soon as my classes were finished. Needless to say I was happy that I could accomplish my mission earlier than anticipated.

After my haircut, I decided to take it easy and go home. I had so much laundry and housework to do that I knew I had to do it now or never. I turned up the music, and danced around my apartment as I cleaned. I haven't done this in so long. It felt good. I felt relaxed.

Beautiful Chelsey

Tonight I had dinner with my best best Korean friend, "Chelsey". I worked with her at Oedae last year. Of all the Korean women I have met here, Chelsey has been my favorite. Not only does she speak English well, she has a keen understanding of what it's like to be a foreigner here in Korea. I can always count on her to be there when I need someone to talk. I like her because she is not a typical Korean woman. She doesn't talk about marriage all the time or question me about why I don't have a boyfriend. We have real conversations. I like Chelsey because she wants more in her life than teaching or getting married.

Ironically enough in May, Chelsey will tie the knot with her boyfriend of two years. I am really sad because I won't be in the country to attend. She will make a beautiful bride.

I know when I leave Korea I will always have Chelsey as a friend, and I will make the effort to keep in touch with her.

Boom Bye Bye and Cheese Ramyon

Again last night, I was feeling overwhelmed with all the work I have to do before my departure in two weeks. So despite my sore throat I met Lucy at OBS. I haven't seen Lucy in awhile so it was nice to see her. Literally, we were the only people there besides Lilly the bartender, and another male customer. Talk about having the place to ourselves. If we were on a real date, it would be an ideal situation. Too bad Lucy is not my type.

We quickly got caught up, downed our beers and went to an orange restaurant to have some cheese ramyon and bibimmandu.

Before going out, I had downloaded some old Buju Banton and Snoopy Dogg songs and loaded them up on my ipod. Those songs brought back a lot of fun memories from university. It also made me realize I miss going out and dancing. When we called it a night, I put on my earphones and walked around Seomyeon for awhile singing along to my old favorites. Then when I went home I danced around my apartment for about half an hour. Man, I am a moron.

Today it rained. The rain spoiled my plans for walking around Nampodong market but I still managed to get some shopping down in the undergound market. I was supposed to go out again tonight with other people but I wimped out. I'm just not in the mood for sitting around and making small talk.

I would much rather be watching the Olympic highlights if that were at all possible at my apartment. I'm pissed off because I don't get CNN and it seems, no sports channels. I really need to get a Korean friend over here to program my television set.

happy valentine's day

After a sleepless night, I was welcomed with a sore throat in the morning. What a way to start my day. Not only was I groggy, my throat was scratchy. This was not ideal for a 10 o'clock conversation class.

Because I have no reason to celebrate it, I forgot that today was Valentine's Day. I'm supposed to meet Lucy for a drink at 1030 but my throat is aching so I don't know if I will go or not.

Here in Korea on Valentine's Day the women are supposed to buy chocolate for the men to show their love. Then in March, I think, is White Day where the men buy chocolates and candies for the women. Korean companies obviously know how to capitalize on their marketing get rich schemes.

Snow covered mountains

A common belief is that once you have climbed a mountain ten or fifteen times, the climbing is supposed to get easier. Remarkably this wasn't the case when Andrea and I took this really really tough route up Geumgjeong mountain today. We hiked for nearly five hours. It was so difficult at times that I felt my heart was going to explode. My whole body right now is exhausted. It's my own fault I am so tired. On the last few hikes, I had to use the washroom multiple times because of my water intake. Talk about an inconvenience. So this time I decided not to drink as much water, and the dehyrdration caught up with me.

Despite my bone-tired legs the hike was fabulous. Halfway up we stopped for a little snack and ate kimbap with our new chopsticks which we bought at the hiking store. Tuna kimbap has never tasted so good. We quickly filled our bellies and headed across to PNU. Even though we were trekking for a long time, I didn't take many pictures because I was concentrating on surviving this hike.

A wonderful surprise awaited us. There was snow everywhere! Snow on rocks. Snow on trees. And most importantly snow on the ground. Who would of thought that snow would have excited two Canadians as much as it did today? We made snow angels, and we built a snowman. Then we made snowballs and threw them at hikers coming up the mountain.

It was funny because in the first lag of our hike there was no snow whatsoever. But as we reached the top and trekked across the mountain we couldn't get away from it. In fact, we were slipping and sliding up and down the mountain. And when we weren't slipping on the ice, we were slipping on the mud.

What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday!

lunch with Lynn and Carol

I treated Lynn and Carol to lunch today. We ate at my favorite restaurant in Seomyeon, the boribap place, whose name I always forget. It was fun. Then Lynn and I went and drank coffee at yucky Starbucks. I want to make sure that I see all the friends I made in my two years here, in the next couple weeks. I am going to be busy but it will be fun.

Next week my schedule changes at work again. I'll be teaching both Jake's children. That should be interesting. I'll have to ensure that I am on time everyday and that I am actually prepared. The last thing I need is having one of Jake's children complaining about my teaching methods. After this I will teach one private. I don't like the schedule because the hours are all spread out through the morning and afternoon. This week's schedule of working four hours straight suited me just find. Teaching would be so much better here if it weren't for all the stupid gaps between classes. One could actually have a normal life but oh no that would be too much to ask.

I've decided to lay off the booze and stay out of the bars this weekend. I need to gain my sanity and repair some of those brain cells that I damaged last weekend. Also my self esteem cannot handle another beating. Besides I have a million things to get ready for my upcoming travels.

Wilshire makes the cut!

"The top 33 foreign language education institutes have won prizes for developing language education with their superb programs and a great contribution to the nation's competitiveness.

Herald Media Inc., the publisher of Korea's leading English newspaper and an English educational company, presented the 2005 Korea Foreign Language Education Awards to the institutes in nine English education fields. The awards were sponsored by the Korea Association of Teachers of English."
-- The Korean Herald

Picture my surprise while I was skimming through the Herald today when I see Jake's smiling face looking up at me from one of the news pages. Shock was my first emotion and then happiness for Jake. I rushed to his office to show him but he was out at a meeting. I'm sure he's really happy because no doubt this article will attract more parents. No doubt the article will appear in Korean language newspapers as well. At least the hogwon I work at, despite all its drawbacks has some sort of credibility.

To wits end, I ask...

I rented a DVD from across the street after the gym today. It was a bit intimidating because I am always worried about looking like an idiot when I use my Korean skills. But this time proved not to be as disastrous as I had anticipated. The only noteworthy thing that happened was that the guy took my picture after he issued me my membership number. On the cash register there is some sort of camera that when a button is pushed, takes your picture and stores it along with your membership number. This is a wonderful safeguard against others renting DVDs under your name.

This morning, I was able to have a hot shower in my apartment. As normal as that sentences implies, it hasn't been a normal occurrence since I moved in. I am starting to feel a little more settled in this damn place now. Moving takes a lot of energy out of a person. As simple as it is, there are too many adjustments to be made. And having hot water to wash my dishes and to wash myself was not an adjustment I wanted to make. This building is a lot newer than that cockroach infested building I was living so I didn't think I would have as many annoyances. But I have been here for a week now and I finally have heat and hot water.

I think I have been driving Mr.Jo nuts. Everyday I would come into work annoyed and I would freak out about everything. Finally today everything was settled, including Interneinstallationon and payment for my essay book.

winter wonderland?

When I left for work today at 9 am the streets were a blanket of snow, and the snow was continuing to fall. A beautiful winter wonderland was waiting for everyone to enjoy it. Then when I finished work at 1:30 pm, all that was left of the winter wonderland was coldness. The streets were just wet and slushy. No snow remained on the ground.

Taejongdae and Ms.Kitty in Busan

Andrea and I walked around Taejongdae park today. The weather was a bit chilly but nonetheless it was a wonderful afternoon to be out of Seomyeon and near the water. As we're both good Nova Scotians, we appreciated the waves crashing against the rocks, and watching the tour boats cruise along the water. Andrea said it reminded her a little of Peggy's Cove. Only the smell of the ocean was missing.

Since Andrea lived so close to where I grew up, we have a lot of common memories of Nova Scotia. And it's really funny because we have similar backgrounds so we can make jokes and references about stuff and we both get it. It's strange the people you meet in a foreign country that are so close to home.

Anyway the park was a little disappointing. The view of the water was nice but I've seen lots of rocks and water before. It was the kind of place where you would go to take a few scenic pictures for background. One Korean couple was posing with a cute little brown teddy bear. Only in Korea would you see this. None of the guys I know back in Canada would be caught dead posing with a fuzzy teddy bear. The girls were wearing cute little black shirts with high heels over the rocks. This was an accident waiting to happen. We looked like complete slobs in our hiking ware. But it was Sunday, and Sunday is family day here in Korea. Most people dress up when they are visiting their relatives. So I'll excuse the stupidity of some of the people we saw.

After walking around, we passed one of those places where you hit balloons with a dart to win a prize. Usually you only see these things in fairs or amusement parks but here in Korea, they are everywhere. I thought what the heck, I'm pretty good at darts so I'll try my luck and win a stupid stuffed animal. Before I started I asked the woman,"how much?" but she just ignored me and handed me the darts. After I hit the five balloons, I thought that's it but the woman kept handing me a fistfull of darts everytime I throw my last dart. Finally I said enough and I had to pay 20,000W. I didn't realize it was so expensive. I just wanted to do it for a quick laugh. The prize I won was one of the larger Ms. Kitty pillows. Just what I need.

Moved to Seomyeon

On Wednesday I moved into my new place in Seomyeon. It is a short walk to work. Actually the location is awesome. But the place itself has done nothing but annoy me. On the first day my toilet didn't work, there was no heat and no hot water. Now I have heat and I can flush but I am still waiting for the hot water. I have to turn on the hot water. Then I have to wait for it to heat up but so far today it isn't hot. And today I really really need a hot shower. Last night there was hot water but today nada.

The apartment itself is quite nice. Once all the glitches are out of the way I'm sure I'll be very comfortable during my last month here.