March 29th, 2009

Aaahhh...It is close to 9p.m. on Sunday night. I am sipping a glass of red wine, doing laundry and realizing that, for the first time ever since I’ve been here, I HAVE NO CLASSES TO PLAN FOR TOMORROW! Woot! Woot! I only teach in the morning now since I recently took over the position of Academic Coordinator at work and am able to enjoy much more time to myself over the weekends. The last two days have been great: on Friday, we had had a goodbye party for a colleague at work, I climbed a mountain on Saturday and saw Confessions of a Shopaholic and…I shopped all day today! Maybe the movie affected me, or maybe spring was in the air but, hey, a girl needs a wardrobe!

Achasan:

I climbed Achasan with my friends Abbey and Laura yesterday. It was an easy climb and the day was beautiful! The sky was bright blue and the weather was brisk and windy, just how I like it! Near the top, we were invited by some Korean men to share Makeolli (a type of Korean rice vodka) and a feast of Kimchi and barbecued fish. They cooked the fish on a grill they kept inside a plastic cooler. Interestingly, it turned out to be quite good. I'd never poked chopsticks at a dead fish staring at me before but I came out of the experience mentally unscathed ;)

Here is a view of Seoul from the mountain's peak:

We happened upon an outdoor gym:

Bus Express Terminal:

The weather is changing here and spring fever is starting to hit. I woke up in the mood for some S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G today. Some Korean friends of mine had recommended I try out a place called Bus Express Terminal. Ladies and gentlemen, I DO NOT KNOW HOW I WILL EVER GO BACK HOME! This place was amazing. Underground shopping alleys, tons of fun, cheap clothes...I am a happy girl. On my way back, I met a random Korean guy who chatted with me in English all the way home (turns out he lives right next to me!). We parted ways...and he kissed my hand. Chivalry isn't dead, and for that, I'm grateful.

October 3rd, 2008

I have made tremendous progress (and probably regressed just as much!) in the month since I’ve written on here. First, I just want to say that I’ve discovered red bean ice cream and, as crazily disgusting as that might sound since it DOES consist, in fact, of big red beans mixed in with ice cream… it is probably THE most delicious dessert I have ever had. Truly. I LOVE IT. Move over Hagen Daaz!... Here comes, well, something that sounds like Myongdeong Sun Choeon. Actually, I just made that up. That sounds more like the name of the nearest subway station. I really DON’T know what it’s called. Which brings me to say that one of my aforementioned regressed progress is that I have completed lesson 1 of my self-teach Korean book…about a month ago. And then I started teaching, and my life disappeared on me. Fear not, it is slowly reappearing, and my friend’s boyfriend is setting me up with a Korean language exchange partner which I am meeting this week. Should be fun! She is a University student who wants to practice her English (and I am, well, a dinosaur that wants to learn Korean ;)

That being said, let me go back to my last entry, in which I mentioned that I was going to the Insadong district of Seoul for a medical check-up. Now THAT was interesting! We left early in the morning (I went with 3 other new teachers: Blaise, Eileen, and Jasmine). We had a bit of a hard time finding our way around but eventually reconnoitred and ended up at the right Medical Center. And what a Medical Center it turned out to be! After registering and paying the 86 000 Won fee, which the school paid for us, we were asked to change into pink robes and plastic sandals. (This turned out to be pretty funny since Blaise wears something like a size 11 and the largest Korean men’s size is probably about a size 7, so just picture him walking around… ;) We were then sent to various stations where we were X-rayed, weighed, measured, probed, and pricked. We also had to go through electrograms and take a vision test (which I took with my lenses on but…what the hey! – I guess my vision was good enough as it was!). As unpleasant as this may sound, it turned out to be, well, I won’t say pleasurable, cause that would just be weird…but okay experience. The Medical Center turned out to look just like a hotel lobby and we got to sit on ornate couches while waiting for our next station. There was modern art on the wall and ostentatious chandeliers hanging from the ceilings…all things to fire up conversation and we had a pretty good time laughing while waiting around. The final part of my examination was the actual consultation with the doctor. I went in with the nurse, as he was a man. He smiled at me, didn’t bother turning off his computer screen – on which he was reading a tabloid article of Julia Roberts – and came over to question me on my physical habits. He asked me a few questions –Did I smoke? No. Did I do the drugs? No. He listened to my heart beat, ran his hand quickly down my spine and…that was it! We were done! (The school has since received the doctor’s diagnostic of my condition. I am listed as NORMAL in approximately 20 conditions I can’t decipher. I wonder what would have happened should one of them have said ABNORMAL…or even PARANORMAL? The first would have been scary…well, the second one too, I guess)

We then went for a long walk through the Insadong district, which is known as Seoul’s most fascinating shopping street (trust me, not a small feat!). It is like a grander Sparks Street in that it is traffic-free on weekends and features art galleries displaying the work of top artists, potters and designers. There is also a multitude of restaurants and teashops as well as tons of small kiosks selling souvenir knick-knacks, embroidery, antiques, calligraphy brushes, incense sticks, and Buddhist items.

After having refreshing plum and jujube tea, off to home we went to nap before going to a baseball game with some other teachers from the school.

Now. I don’t really know how to describe a Seoul baseball game. I will put a video up, I think, to convey the actual effect of sitting in the bleachers. It was quite an exciting game, as Seoul’s two home teams were playing each other, and the stadium was quite full. It was also a Christmas in Summer type of deal and many activities were happening in between the innings. But, and here is where I have no words, the crowd is so UNBELIEVINGLY into it. Trust me. You’ve never seen anything like it. It is such a cheerful place. Everyone comes in with these plastic clubs and - I can’t stop giggling as I write this – will pound them for 3 HOURS while led by a choreographer and a team of CHEERLEADERS. Seriously. I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! Watch the video. I will put it up on Facebook. A bunch of girls behind us were also dressed up as kittens wearing baseball jerseys, mini-skirts and heels which I thought was a LITTLE much compared to my bland shorts and t-shirt but, well…anyways…

And then, after that weekend…I STARTED WORKING. My life has been a blur ever since. I think my last totally conscious moment was the morning of September fourth, before I went in to teach my first class. I’ve been caught in a whirlwind since then. My schedule is absolutely crazy and requires much planning and correcting outside of school hours. My evenings and weekends are spent trying to get my head out of the water. I’m just trying to get ahead of things… Whenever I feel as though I am getting the hang of things, another item I have to do is added to my already long list of tasks. I’ve survived my first weekend workshop and, in two weeks, will have to go through open-classes and PTA meetings BUT I HAVE just received my first monthly evaluation and am quite happy with the results. Hopefully, I’ll survive this routine long enough to get a second one…

As much as my schedule is hectic, I want to say that I was extremely lucky with the classes I was assigned. I have the best groups of kids and I just love my last class on Friday evenings. I teach a fourth grade class that contains some of the sweetest kids I’ve ever gotten to work with. They have really magnetic personalities and their group dynamic is unbelievable. So being in class is actually fun and rewarding but it’s the being well-prepared and staying on top of the correction that is extremely time consuming. I’m working on it.

And trying to get enough sleep. Thursday night, I was in bed at 8:30 and woke up past 9:30 the next morning. Me! I’m usually a night-owl but this schedule is DRAINING me! It was about the same the Friday before that. I fare a little better on Saturdays but…please let it get better! I wasn’t expecting my time in Korea to be ALL spent on grading Writing Topics! Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a little bit (or maybe I’m just saying that because my bosses might one day read this! ;P Hee! Hee! )

I am trying to get out there and do things, though. Next week, I am participating in the Hi Seoul’s 10k race. I don’t think I’m half as prepared as I should be as I don’t have much time to go running but I’m already excited about it! And today, I visited Dongdaemun Market with a friend. It turned out to be this HUGE outdoor market surrounded by a big department store and a variety of other shops. It was neat but the CROWD of people makes you feel like an ant in a football field. You risk being crushed at any minute by a wall of people walking towards you! We did get to see a fashion show, though…

As we went though an alleyway, we happened upon what looked like a troupe of professional actors putting on body paint and fancy, out-of-this-world costumes. They looked very fancy-schmancy and we couldn’t wait to see what the play would be like. Then we turned the corner and realized they were putting on a fashion show, as a huge catwalk had been erected in the middle of the large plaza. The music was blaring, a speech was said (of which I only understood that this show was put on by university students – and THAT was written on the large billboard besides the speaker) and the show started. SOOOOOOOOO funny! I think they had put so much time and effort on creating the costumes that they actually, no joke, forgot to plan catwalk routines! They would just walk down, in an I’m half-heartingly strutting my stuff kind of way, pose in a weakly I’m hot shit but my muscles are weak stance at the end of the runway, then turn and RUSH back to hide behind the curtains. We had a good laugh!

When I got back home, I snapped on the light to my apartment and went on high alert mode. I looked straight ahead…snapped my head to the right…snapped my head to the left…tiptoed to my bedroom, repeated the stratagem… tiptoed across the whole apartment…peeked under my bed…peered behind the washroom door…gazed behind the fridge and into the sink…and tried to calm my heartbeat to a respectable rhythm. It pains me to say this but…I’VE GOT ROACHES. I caught two two weeks ago and captured another one this week. I haven’t seen any other but….EEEEEWWWWWW!!!
They are so CREEPY! I can’t sleep without the light on anymore and I’m typing this with my legs around my neck. No way are my feet touching the floor when I can’t see them! And NO, I’m not high-maintenance… Bugger off. I JUST DON’T LIKE COCKROACHES! La cucaracha my BUTTOCKS!

Speaking of creepy crawlers, my 2nd grade Listening class is listening to a CD story intitled How to Eat Fried Worms, in which the protagonist REALLY DOES eat fried worms. The CD comes with a book, which of course comes with a complete set of pictures of real kids eating real dangling worms. The kids love it but I, sometimes, litterally want to puke. No joke.

___ As an aside note, I just went to the washroom and thought I had another Roach encounter…but it turned out to be a hair clip on the floor. I’m just gonna take a moment to get my cardiac rhythm back to normal_________

Ok…What else. Oh. I’ve visited Seoul Tower, which is a 300 and some meters high tower sitting on top of a small mountain. You can walk around an observatory at the top and get an incredible view of the city. I had never realized just HOW big Seoul is until that moment. I also met some Frenchmen from Paris that night which made my weekend as I was able to speak a little bit of French and it was like a taste of home! (Although I did have to put on this phony Parisian accent so they would understand me… God I miss Canadian French.) And if someone says La Pepe La Pew to me one more time, I think I will have to seriously hurt them.

There. I’ve said it. Sue me.

On a lighter note (no, I am NOT bipolar) – I’ve bought a Korean Traditional Flute. I was actually wanting to buy a guitar but I was walking down Insadong Street and this monk was selling them. He turned out to be extremely personnable and he showed me how to play it right there on the street. He also said he would be giving classes in November and gave me the information to sign-up. So I’ve learnt to play the ukelele in Hawai, I took classical guitar lessons in Spain…and now I’ll learn to play a wooden transverse flute in Korea. I don’t know why I can’t just read a book…Well, at least my guitar-playing skills will still be acceptable in social circles!

What else, what else? I’ve spent my morning today finishing reading Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. A great read, if anyone is looking for a good book. Then I spent a few hours researching orphanages on the internet as I’ve heard they need volunteers here in Seoul. I thought I could maybe spare some time on the weekends but it turns out that…are you ready for it? - Volunteering would be illegal for me here in Korea under my current visa. HUH??? I would need permission from the immigration office AND would have to pay 60 000 Won. This, ladies and gentlemen, will require further serious pondering.

MAN! I just realized my feet were touching the ground. I really am gonna have to deal with this roaches situation. Haaaaaaauuuuuuummmmmmmmmpppppphhhhhh. To make myself feel tougher, I’ve asked other teachers to come mountain climbing with me on Sunday. There are a few mountains on the outskirts of Seoul that are accessible by subway. We chose a 10k hike one that should offer some amazing views. See! It’s NOT that I’m a girly-girl. I JUST DON’T LIKE ROACHES.

The end.

August 29th, 2008

Gosh...(Yes. I say Gosh now. Who knows where I picked that one up?). It’s only been 2 weeks since my last blog entry and, again, it seems like so long ago. It seems I haven’t been able to cook good food in ages. Don’t get me wrong, the food here is succulent, providing you go out to a restaurant to eat it. Even Korean fast food, like Kimbap (seaweed & rice sushi roll), is delicious. It’s the food that I make at home that is sadly disgusting. First, I don’t have an oven. Second, I can’t seem to find any worthwhile ingredient. Third, everything has sugar in it (even plain yoghurt or wheat cereals. You have to look extra hard to find regular – well, MY version of regular, at any rate! -tea and coffee instead of the popular instant granulated pouches). Fourth, fruits and vegetables are crazy expensive. Fifth, because I can’t yet read the labels, items I believe I’m buying sometimes turn out to be something completely different and not at all what I thought they were, and, well, six…I don’t know. I’m gonna have to try harder, I guess. I’m having trouble transitioning to the Korean diet of rice and something else at every meal.

That being said, my apartment itself looks much better! I have this great, big (by Seoul standards) place with a nice washroom. My shower is separated from the rest by a tiny wall and this prevents the counter and toilet from getting wet when I clean myself. As I mentioned before, this is by no means standard in Korea. Anyways, I spent most of last weekend painting the walls white. I painted right on top of the wallpaper (I know, a little odd) but it does look very fresh now. The wallpaper was an old, faded, whitish beige and had seen much better days. Progress at my place is slow (as in I still haven’t cleaned the floor once since I got here) but certain. I also fear I may have gone overboard with the wallpaper stickers but I’m not done. The whole place hasn’t COME TOGETHER so I can’t yet judge.

Hummm.

I received my schedule and start teaching class on Monday. I think my life is about to become extremely hectic in a way I just don’t understand yet. I’ll be working 9:00 to 7:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and 9:00 to 5:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’ve also decided I was signing up for another 10k run for mid-October and a 21k run sometime after that... I have started running again (yah, I kinda hadn’t really done any after my first 10k in May…it was as though I had attained that goal and that was so surprising it was enough for moi!). I am enjoying running along the beautiful river and through the park here though. So much so, it seems, that I stop paying attention to my immediate surroundings. I swear, I live inside my head sometimes. I was so absorbed by the fact that I was running in SEOUL the other day that, enraptured by the moment, I managed to fall flat on my face in the middle of a concrete mountain path. Needless to say, I looked like a true moron. I was so stunned I didn’t actually realize what a spectacle I’d made of myself until a few moments later. I just lay there for I don’t know how long before it hit me (hit me, HA HA!)… F***! Even my chin hit the pavement. When I got up, TONS of people were staring at me but none of them seemed to know what to do. I just played cool, yelled “I’M ALL RIGHT” (like anybody here can understand me) and when everyone just kept walking away with weird looks on their faces, I started giggling my head off and kept running. Can you picture a runner jogging along on her own laughing her head off at apparently nothing? Are you getting the picture? I must have run for another 30 minutes with bloody knees and hands and a huge bruise on my chin. What an ambassador for Canada I turned out to be.

Then, when I got back home, I realized I didn’t have any band-aids or ointment so THAT was fun, too. I’m freaking hurting right now…my muscles are tight since I forgot to stretch through all the hoopla last night. I also just watched the last 15 minutes of Miss Potter and a video I’ve made of Zeb and I feel like crying. Oh, AND I know I’ll miss Danya’s wedding, which is in what, like, 5 dodos now? Double schnits.

Hhhhhaaaaammmmmmmmmmpppppphhhhhhhhhh.

Sometimes, travelling is NOT so easy.
And, tomorrow, I am going to the doctor’s for the famous Seoul visa applicant medical checkup. Four of us teachers are going for a regular checkup and various random tests. I have heard stories about that place I’d rather not repeat here on the internet. Now THAT should brighten me right up! Did you know the results are sent directly to the school so if ever it does turn out there IS something seriously wrong with me, half of the staff will get to discuss it before I even HEAR about it.

Anyways, I’m too tired to put much else on here right now but I realize I haven’t sent much news. I do put pictures up to make up for it, though. After the medical fiesta tomorrow, I’m going to see a baseball game, which should be fun. You all know what a fan of watching sports I am. NOT! But apparently, going to such a game in Seoul is quite a spectacular event. The crowd really gets into it, there are cheerleaders… And…etcetera, I guess. It should be fun.

August 12th, 2008

Oh! And as a side-note to my last update, I felt I should add that people here often ask me where I am from... I can't count how many times I've been told I have a SOUTH AFRICAN accent !?!

August 12th, 2008

Ummm...It is after 10:30pm. I am listening to Carla Bruni (how I miss the sound of French) and I am relaxing, sipping a glass of $1 CASS beer I just bought at the corner store (yes, beer here is extremely cheap and readily accessible!) As I sit here, I find myself reflecting on how good of a day I’ve just had. Today, I went in on the early shift at school to accompany the morning classes on their monthly outing. We went to the Seoul Security Centre and, ladies and gentlemen, that place IS JUST AWESOME (if you’ll excuse the teenage expression ;P )
I wish WE had had outings like that when I was young. Children walked around in groups to different stations where they experienced an earthquake simulation (the whole floor of a kitchen would start shaking and they had to safely get under a table), a typhoon simulator (they held on to railings as strong, screaming winds were blasted at them), the fire hose station (where they could practice fire extinguishing) etc… I actually found one station fairly scary and am amazed the kids took it in stride… At one point during the visit, we were brought to the house-fire station. The lights were flashing on and off (mostly they were off) and the kids and I had to crawl through tunnels and around walls while simulated fire smoke was all around us. I found it nightmarish: the fake smoke even smelt like real smoke! Anyways, it was pretty interesting and was my first chance to get to know some of the kids as I am still in training and won’t really be teaching my first class before the end of the week.

Anyways…(I always love starting a paragraph that way!) I’m actually starting to feel like I belong here. On Sunday, I was wandering around aimlessly, exploring the town on my own, acting all Christopher Columbus-like. I wandered around Olympic Park for two hours when I had a startling moment of anxiety I’m sure my alter-ego NEVER felt… It kind of hit me that I was on my own in a city of 20 million people and that, really, I in fact didn’t know a soul. As I was ambling about, I made my way out of the Park and was going down various side streets when I bumped into Maria (another teacher and, actually, my boss ;) ) Maria invited me out for supper (she was meeting Adam, who works with us). We went out for Dalk Galbi (or something that sounds like that anyways) and it was delicious. Again, the meal consisted of meat barbecued on charcoals set in the middle of our table and many accompanying side-dishes. I am a FAN of the Korean spirit of food sharing. It really makes for a nice evening, this crowding around a table, talking and eating from the same plates. Afterwards, we walked down to a cinema not too far away to watch Batman (in English, with Korean subtitles…I KNOOOOW… but to me, that night, it was like being home far away from home!)

I made my way back after 11pm, walking alone through various dark alleyways but you should know that walking here so late isn’t scary. Ok, maybe that was bravado talking but let's just say the fear element is minimal: there are always people scurrying about or just sitting and chatting here and there along the way. Seoul is so crowded you’re never actually left to yourself.

And, tonight, the best thing happened. I ended work at about 6 p.m. and left the school for some more exploring. I bought a folding chair (for reading and having coffee on the rooftop while enjoying the view of the Park) and went through the stalls of the outdoor fish market. While window shopping on my way back, this little girl walking with her parents in front of me kept turning and staring at me. At one point, I was treated to a huge smile as she frantically waved at me while tugging at her father’s shirtsleeve and stating, quite enthusiastically: Melanie teaCHER! Melanie teaCHER! SOOOOOO CUTE! And, to me, that moment was priceless. Homesickness just melted away. Hey, I was just recognized and acknowledged by someone in Seoul! Given time, I know I’ll feel like I belong here… The dad shook my hand and off I went into a little marketplace to buy carrots. Of course, the transaction was sealed with a pantomime (the man addressing me profusely in Korean while I did my best in a weird mixture of English and Spanish…it’s really odd how, when faced with Korean, my first instinct is to reply in Spanish… I know..what the ?!? I LIVE IN A BUBBLE…AND LIFE IS GOOD! ;)

(And yes, I have started learning Korean but obviously I haven’t really mastered anything yet...bugger off!)

Hummmm.

Cicadas
A really astonishing thing that keeps fascinating me every time I go outside is the sound of the Cicada bug. Seoul is basically a huge chunk of concrete but every once in a while, you’ll walk through a neighbourhood park square and then, WATCH OUT! You won’t see them but your ears will be assaulted by this extremely loud, there-must-be-a-UFO-landing-just-around-the-corner type of noise. I was told that these insects live for a summer only to dig their way underground in order to hatch their eggs which (get this)…will only hatch seven YEARS later. Wow.

Korean fast-food
…is the BEST! The area where I live is kind of like an old part of town. The buildings are old and dirty and the streets are literally littered with vendors and restaurants of all kinds. For less than 2$, I am able to buy Tuna Bimbap (actually, I can’t really do it on my own yet, somebody has to do it FOR me but…you get the point). Tuna Bimbap is basically a long sushi roll wrapped in foil that fills in as a full meal. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

The smell
Well…
I’m giving myself time…
…and I keep telling myself that things are just, well, different and that it’s all part of the experience…
But I always have to chuckle as I walk outside because Seoul REEKS. AND I MEAN R-E-E-K-S. Capital letters and all. Thank God I live near Olympic Park as it offers a little bit of fresh air in the midst of all this. I guess it doesn’t help that the temperature maintains itself in the high 30s and it is humid as hell but I truly hope my olfactory senses will get respite come fall.

Little Tom
This tidbit of info is rather disappointing. I found out that Little Tom owes his name to the fact that his older brother is, you guessed it, Tom. I got all excited over nothing. It doesn’t seem so cool anymore.

Signing off ,
(ok, I never really know what to say at the end of these little resumes of my days…)
Oh, I’ve GOT IT: Enjoy all the clean air you breathe…DO NOT take it for granted!

August 9th, 2008

Woohoo! I just made my very first cup of coffee in my brand-spanking new coffee-maker and am planning to enjoy it as I sit down to write this. It doesn’t matter that it’s only 9:30 a.m. and it is already 27 degrees outside (I’m staying positive…and actually, I’m sitting right underneath my little air-conditioning unit!)

Ok. Soooo….I have been in Seoul all of 7 days and it feels like forever. Of course, I still can’t communicate with anyone on my own on the streets or actually comprehend what vendors mean unless they use theatrics but right now I’m happy to tag along with the teachers that have been here for longer. I have to admit that at the moment, the streets still seem like an uncomprehensible labyrinth of winding, car-congested lanes. I can find my way from the apartment to the school and, after yesterday, maybe I’ll be able to locate the grocery store from now on. I’ve visited many shops with Gretchen and Maria (two other teachers here) and I know they exist but…I’d be hard-pressed to find them on my own quickly. I’m going to give it time…and hope for the best! Which reminds me, I learnt yesterday that, if I do become lost, I need to ask people where the BOOGEY MOON is. Ha! I love it! Isn’t that fun? I love translating Korean words to English. If you translate it, “BOOGEY MOON” actually means Olympic Park Gate. If I can find my way there, I can find my way home.

Hummm…Last time I wrote home, I was about to move into my apartment. So let’s take it up from there. On Friday morning, after getting my usual latte from Town Tom’s (I know, mouthful isn’t it?) I managed to get all my baggage downstairs to the hotel’s mini-lobby. LT, a Korean teacher from school, was to meet me and help me get everything into a taxi and then settled into my flat. While we were waiting, we started chit-chatting and I asked him how to spell his name. You see, Koreans usually have two names: the traditional, Korean name and an English name they reserve for us poor incompetent English-speaking souls. Instead of having us constantly butcher their identity, they CHOOSE their own personal English moniker. This guy had chosen, are you ready for it?... Little Tom! Isn’t that great?! It’s so whimsical, just like a character out of a book! And he’s not even little in any way. He’s this sweet, burly, broad-shouldered guy that managed to carry my two suitcases up three flights of stairs on his own (and remember, I packed enough stuff to last me one year so my luggage is quite heavy!) If I could choose my name like that, I think I’d be Melodious Mélanie. It sounds GREAT even though, according to former students - I have been known to really get into the Oh Canada during morning routine ;-) - it doesn’t reflect my voice one bit!

My apartment is great. It is huge according to Korean standards and is close to twice the size of most of the other teachers’ places. I just got really lucky with timing and was able to take over this one. After running around town all day yesterday, I decided to stay in in order to clean and organize all my belongings. By the time I was finished, the soles of my feet were black (yup, the floor still needs a good mopping) and my hands chapped from much scrubbing but at least now there’s a homey feel to everything. My furniture is old and disparate but I definitely can see myself spending a year in here… Thankfully, the bedspread the school has provided displays bright shades of pink, blue and lime green and adds a joyous feel to the place.

A few more words about Korean amenities:

-If I follow the stairs all the way up, there is a door that allows me access to the rooftop of my building. From there, I have an amazing view of the Olympic Park. I plan on buying myself a folding chair and enjoying my morning coffee up there from now on.
-I’ve learnt it is illegal to throw out food in Korea. Apparently, all superfluous fare is recuperated by the city and fed to the pigs. I swear this is what I was told. I am supposed to empty leftover grub into a special container outside my residence building. Koreans are very eco-efficient and don’t believe in multiplying efforts. Why spend time and money on growing food for animals when so much is readily available? There is supposedly a fine if you get caught disposing of food waste instead of recuperating it.
-Regarding garbage disposal: I need to buy special garbage bags from my neighbourhood’s corner store (there are special bags for rubbish and different ones for recycling). Also, assumedly because so many people live in this city, I’ve been told I shouldn’t discard toilet paper into a toilet. I should actually chuck it out in the small litter bins provided to that effect. Now, that’s a habit I’m definitely going to have to work on!
-My apartment has a battery-operated keypad lock system, which I find pretty neat. I also have access to a phone that allows me to view visitors standing outside my building or my apartment door. Although I’m not quite sure if people can see ME. I’ll have to check that one out tomorrow. Yesterday, after a full day of shopping in 30 degree heat, I stripped off all my clothes when I got back to the flat. Just as I was about to step into the shower, that phone rang. I was fairly excited and, not thinking, went to see who it was. When I saw the face of a Korean lady staring at me, I ducked and said Hello? I couldn’t understand what she wanted so, thinking she might have forgotten her keys, I buzzed her in. Then, she apparated AGAIN on my screen, this time right outside my door. I threw on some pajamas and let her in (turns out she was the GAZ METER LADY but I still don’t know if she saw me naked…
-I made my first phone call yesterday as well and found it to be a pleasurable experience. You see, once you dial a number, you don’t get an annoying ring-tone. Instead, a song comes on and you can listen to THAT until someone picks-up. VERY cool!

Next, let’s talk about shopping. Shopping here is profoundly enjoyable (there are so many knick-knacks and specialty stores that one never runs out of places to visit) providing you understand a few basic rules:

-Grocery stores are often located in basements of buildings (you ride the elevators down to find them).
-In department stores, there are two rules I learnt. First: you have to pay for your selections before you change floors. Second: you may have to pay for different things on ONE floor at the cash located near the area where you a picking things up. If you choose something and wander a little further as you look around, a salesperson will run after you and insist you pay for your purchase immediately. Which means you may make many different transactions as you browse your way through the same floor. I choose to look at it as an opportunity to interact with people…

Before I sign off, I want to comment on the nightlife scene here. I don’t know if I’ll be able to survive it. On Friday, I went out for kimbat again with many teachers from the school. I had a great time chit-chatting and savouring new food. But then, everyone got up to go to this local bar, JJ’s…. Yuk! It was fun conversing with people but this bar is actually located in the downstairs area of a building and has NO windows. Not a single one. And, get this, everybody smokes. Which means, well, I’m sure you get the picture. By 1:30, I couldn’t take it anymore and had to leave… L Tamara, this teacher I met at the school, walked me home while feeding me with useful tips about the place. It’s a good thing she did because I was quite tipsy and I don’t think I would’ve found my bearings without her!

Still, I’m having a great time… I’m signing off now as I want to go out and about and see if I can actually find my way on my own. I don’t think I should keep relying on following people. I need to familiarize myself with this vicinity!

So, if you don’t hear from me in the next few days, it probably means I just got lost in the maze of intersecting streets…but don’t worry: I’m sure I’ll eventually find my way to the Boogey Moon ;)

August 6th, 2008

So I left my parents’ home in Ottawa at 4am on Sunday morning after a sleepless night. Who can sleep when they’re moving to Seoul? I had bonded with my two cats, Luna and Zeb and really tried to drive home the point that mommy wasn’t leaving them forever. God, I STILL feel like a deserter… Anyways, after throwing on some clothes and chomping down on some toasts (lovingly prepared by my brother – who had spread on an uneven two inches of peanut butter on each), off I was to the airport with the fam. What a great way to start an adventure: it was dark, everyone had just woken up and was still groggy, and the streets were empty… We got in line at the airport, I received my itinerary, and everyone waited with me until I could go through baggage check-in (which only opened at 4:45). We chatted as the line advanced, trying not to think about what was about to happen…which, of course, eventually did. I was at the point of no-return. I had to check-in my baggage and walk on through customs. I WAS NOW ON MY OWN FOR A YEAR, ON MY WAY TO MILES AWAY FROM HOME, TO A LAND WHERE I COULDN’T SPEAK OR UNDERSTAND THE LANGUAGE. I felt excited, nervous, and more than a little awed that I was actually there.

Mom and I said goodbye through laughs and tears (although we both tried to stay very cool for the benefit of other airport travellers) and off I was. I held up the line at that x-ray thing since I was so nervous that I actually emptied my carry-on bag in the boxes. Apparently, that’s not necessary. So, barefoot (because they make you take off your shoes, I tried to repack as quickly as I could on the other side and off I was again to wait by the terminal. I smiled at just about everybody I could: I was the cool girl, on her own, moving to Seoul! If I came across as extremely friendly or absolutely weird, I’ll never know!

I tried to get some shut-eye on the plane but couldn’t, maybe due to the fact that the plane only carried about 50 passengers and was very tiny according to my plane standards. I could feel every bit of turbulence and became very aware of even the tiniest movement. I also couldn’t fit my bag in the baggage compartment and had to put it at my feet, which meant there was actually no room for, well...my feet. I was reassured, though, when the pilot announced he was committed to bringing us to destination since his parents were on board. I was immediately overjoyed and became incredibly more inclined to be nice to the annoying flight attendant that felt he had to constantly walk up and down the 4 metre aisle and chat everybody up. Did I really care if the couple at the back was on its way to Vegas to get married? I was on my way to Seoul and needed some sleep!

Which I didn’t. Thanks to the attendant’s endless chit-chat, the girl next to me (Cindy) figured out we were both on our way to Asia (she to China, me to Korea) and we both had to connect to Korean Air (which, in Chicago, isn’t easy to do since the airport is just HUGE!) This turned out well since we were able to take the train together to the international terminal once there and waited together to pass the time. Her 4 years-old daughter, Karen, was very entertaining and nicely repeated her two-song repertoire (Fly, Fly, Butterfly and something that sounded like Chougmyan, Chougmyan) to me over and over again for the next few hours. What a sweetie. :)

We parted ways on the plane since Cindy was in business class, and I, well, continued on to the thrifty economy section. I sat down beside this guy named Cory who it turns out was going to Korea to teach in another Poly school. Behind us was another guy, Mike, who was going back to Korea for his third teaching stint. Cory and I tried to ignore the fact that, even though we were in the three-seat row, OUR row only actually had two… What happened to the missing one near the window, we'll never know! We chatted, watched boring, cheesy horror movies on his computer, and enjoyed all that Korean Air had to offer (their service and food was actually amazing. I even had my first taste of Bibimbap on the plane and liked it!) Anyways, it turned out Cory was a musician (he showed me one of his shows on his computer) and was on his way to meet his girlfriend who was teaching in Seoul. He was 31, had a 12 years old son who would maybe visit him later on, and turned out to be a great travel companion. We both retrieved our bags together at the airport (he waited with me since my suitcase was a long time coming) and showed me how to exchange my money. We parted ways when we were identified by our drivers who were holding up signs with our names.

I had to wait an hour in the taxi since my driver was organizing other pickups and drop-offs and the ensuing ride into Seoul was an interesting one. It takes about an hour to drive to the heart of downtown (where my hotel was located) and my driver was a kamikaze. He would pass people, curse at them with his window up, turn it down to spit out what I assumed to be big fat amounts of mucous (but could very well have been hawked up tobacco) and then turn around, smile, and tell me to sleep since the ride would be long. I absolutely LOVE Seoul!!! He helped me sign-in at the hotel and I went up to my room, which is a miniaturized version of the perfect Ikea apartment. I had to go out to buy shampoo and immediately felt extremely small in the vastness of Seoul. Everything here is BIG. In a city of 20 million people, buildings are built high up to maximize space. It all seemed pretty impressive to my Ottawaan roots!

Anyways, I bought my shampoo and apples (which later turned out to be peaches) and went back up to have a nice shower. This, I must stress, was a novelty: in Seoul, the actual washroom IS the shower stall. The whole room is tiled and the shower head is affixed to the wall right beside the toilet. You put on little plastic sandals and, as you wash, water just sputters everywhere. I’ve since learnt that this is normal and you don’t even sponge it off with a towel after: you just turn on the fan and let it evaporate on its own. Neat! But not too much fun when you put on your makeup and dry your hair...

Since then, I’ve had two days at the school. Everyone is incredibly nice to me. Training is a little bewildering since there is so much to learn but I’m taking things in stride. I watched my first class yesterday and had to laugh: kids here are the same as back home… I had heard stories of Asian kids being much better behaved but really, that’s kind of an urban myth. Kids anywhere will be kids, as I found out! I can’t wait to start! The teacher that let me watch him, Ben, was incredibly funny and I think I may have picked-up a few tricks from him.

My first day at work, I was taught how to take the subway on my own and was treated to dinner by my two bosses, Mark and Maria (who is the spitting image of Minnie Driver! It's uncanny, really). We went out for bbq pork, which is AMAZING. They barbecue the meat right in the middle of your table and bring various side dishes to share. This was actually somewhat odd for me as the Ick factor kicked-in. In Korean culture, everything is shared with others, even your food. This meant that all of us were expected to eat right out of the bowls that held the dishes. So Maria and I dipped our spoons in the same soup bowl while Mark and I attacked the same bowl of Kimchi with our chopsticks. Bah! When in Korea…

So now, I think I am actually no longer jet-lagged. It is 8:30 am and I am about to start my 3rd day of work. I feel great and move into my apartment tomorrow morning (everybody at work keeps saying I am taking over one of the best apartments the school has!) Can’t wait to see it!