happy halloween

hey all...

my sunday is over already...

but that means that halloween is here... that doesn't really mean much in korea.. or to me really at all even when i'm in canada.. i actually tend to be anti-halloween for no justified reason.. perhaps something traumatic happened to me when i was a kid.. in anycase i would never want to ruin the fun for anyone else so i brought candy for my little hellions yesterday and will tomorrow.. perhaps i'm just bitter because all i have is kimchi.. and it doesn't hold up in a pillowcase so well as candy...

today marla and i went to get out hair done.. we got it dyed, cut and washed for 30 bucks.. not too shabby... marla who came here with long curly reddish hair.. now has short, straight orange hair.. i, who came here with really long blonde hair (ok, even though i hate to admit that it was blonde) now have shorter really dark brown hair.. aside from the way it was styled i like it... right now it's looking a little too girly for my taste so i'll edge it up tomorrow...

ANYWAYS, after the hair we went to E-Mart.. which is the korean walmart.. i got myself a rug, a full length mirror (i was tired of jumping up and down to see how my pants looked in the bathroom mirror.. seriously). after that we just got a few movies.. i got what i thought was thelma and louise because i had never seen it before... turns out it was thelma and louise 2... so i refused to watch it because i was so disappointed. in the end we watched the human stain.

mom just called and now i'm just chatting to scotty on msn.. i miss him so much! i got an email from jonnie today too and i totally wish i could call them up to hang out like the old days when we were all so accessible to eachother. no, i would never give this opportunity up for anything or any i have in the past, i'm so lucky to have met so many amazing people but part of me misses the days when it was me and my boys, driving around in russells car.

ok i'm off... much love

Haeinsa Temple

hi everyone.. i know that i've been terrible at keeping up with my blog and my mass emails. i'm sorry for that but in my defense i've been sick. i caught a terrible cold last week and could barely function in class let alone write an email to anyone.

well here's what's been going on:

a couple of weeks ago i went out with some friends and experienced my first nora bang.. basically this is a room that you rent to do karaoke.. as anti-karaoke as i have been in the past i found it really fun. there were 20 of us belting out queen!

last weekend was carey's birthday so we went out to dinner and did some late shopping on saturday night. on sunday i went shopping AGAIN and got myself some new adidas shelltoes (yellow stripes!), a lot of other stuff and some gifts for carey. on wednesday (her actual birthday) we decorated her desk and got her a cake (we're so cute).. it was so adorable to see all of the elementary students with their faces pressed to the glass window when we were eating our cake.. they looked like puppies for sale in a window..

this week has been full of work meetings and mentoring.. it's all finally over (for this month at least) and it went alright..

yesterday was absolutely wonderful.. i went with TIWA (Taegu Internation Women's Association) to Haeinsa Temple. We took a bus a little over an hour outside of Daegu up the mountain to the buddhist temple. this was most definitely the most beautiful place i have been in korea so far. i went for a hike, watched some drumming performances, ate a traditional lunch(which was vegetarian, of course.. and you weren't allowed to leave one scrap of rice and had to be almost silent while eating) , took part in a traditional tea ceremony (the tea was very strong but nice, and the whole ceremony was so particular and delicate) and saw the tripitaka. the tripitaka are the collection of all the writings and teachings of buddha printed on a series of wooden blocks (81, 340 in total). they are considered a national treasure as well as a world heritage treasure. it was amazing and they were stored in a number of buildings and as we were looking at them there was a long line of people who would stop to bow at each building. haeinsa temple is actually called a 'dharma temple' since it houses the tripitaka koreana. they are considered to be the best in the world, 52, 382, 960 letters are carved and completely uniform with no mistake or omission.

i'll stop being a history teacher now, i just found it interesting.. really interesting.. their website is www.haein-sa.org i am considering doing a temple stay in the spring.

i've attached a lot of pictures, the mountains are so pretty right now with the leaves changing.. the monk who was walking with us told us that we should take example from the trees.. that people usually think that fall is the end of summer.. but that's not true, it is a continuation of summer.. we should see life like this as well.. that death is not the end, only a continuation of our journey.. he said that just as the leaves that fall from the trees, we as people should learn to abandon our possessions..

after that morning/afternoon i did not want to go to work.. but i did and had no problem getting to sleep.. i'm not sure if it's because it was so relaxing or because i was up at 7 am! probably both.

anyways, this weekend is halloween and there is a big halloween party.. i think i'm going to skip it though and have a night to myself for once.. plus i've never been too keen on halloween.. not since i was too old to trick or treat anyways..

i miss you all... and hope to hear from you soon..

jen xoxoxoxo

miss you Jen!

xxoo

guys... my gums are burning!!

so.. remember those trucks that drive around announcing various items which are for sale ie. fruits, veggies, jet skis, whatev..? remember how i found them hilarious? not anymore. what was once amusing is now annoying (as i hear is the case with most things in a foreign country)... why these guys in the trucks feel the need to park under my window and leave their loudspeaker on repeat at 7 am is a mystery to me. then there's the loud children screaming. then the men who feel the need to spit outside my place. i bet you'd think that spitting was a somewhat silent activity. not so here. now, i don't see too many people doing this out in the street when i'm walking around. maybe they just confine it to 8-9am. after that there is what sounds like construction, but i swear when i leave in the morning i see nothing that has been constructed. so from 7-8am there is the truck guy, 8-9am the spitting, 9-10am the invisible but definitely audible construction. bascially this is the loudest place i've ever been.. and i've been to my fair share of punk shows. of course when i get up, and leave the house the city seems much quieter.



ok so here's my latest mass email with a few pics (including the one of my new favourite jacket!):

Hi everyone,

I'm back from another vacation. Three of us decided to go to Pusan again, it's just so relaxing and we only had 2 days this time. The plan was to fit in everything we loved from last time, but this time on more of a budget. I was doing really well until the last half hour where I found some stores I loved. Bought a new hat, shirt and some hilarious Korean/English stuff which will be sent home to some of you.

Kocela: one store we walked by was playing Rancid! Rancid in Korea! Of course I went in.

I went back to the aquarium. I've decided it's my favourite place. I guess I'm still trying to get up the nerve to go swimming with those sharks. I think they look at me differently than the other people. I think they have it in for me.

We of course went to those restaurants I love. At the Indian place I was dared to eat a bunch of this Masala Papad (very spicy) for 10,000 won... so I did it.. lost the ability to swallow for awhile, even my gums were burning.. I'd say it was one of my most mature moments.

I just got back into town, am relaxing for the rest of the night. It's nice that this week is just 5 days. Last week I was starting to get sick, and actually a little grumpy. I know it's hard to picture me grumpy because it's such a rarity (Ha Ha). I layed low for a couple of days there and drank a whole bunch of this vitamen C elixer stuff and seemed to avoid getting sick.

Ummmmmmm.. what else? oh, went to my first Galbi restaurant. It's like a buffet but you take the raw food, mostly meat, and cook it at your table yourself. It was really fun, and we had about 20 of us at the table.

I'm thinking of heading back to Pusan next weekend for the International Film Festival.. I think I could live in Pusan, only I think once there I'd be heading to Daegu all the time. Lovin that bullet train.

Well I think that's all for now. It's still hot here, I'm dying to start wearing fall clothes. No I'm not rubbing it in.. I have always preferred cool temperatures to hot.

Miss you all, keep me updated on what's new and exciting. I don't have anymore holidays for awhile so I'm not sure if I'll be taking anymore trips for a bit.. maybe to Seoul for a day trip.

Love you,

jen xo