seouldier

Alright - so I just got back from a wonderful trip in Seoul. It was my first trip to Seoul and it is quite different from Daegu (thanks captain obvious). I just spent almost an hour uploading all of these pics from the trip so you all better enjoy it. The pic of above is Eun-Kyu, me and Jessica. They are 2 teachers from my school. Eun-Kyu is my Korean saviour. She helps me whenever I need some translation , which happens everyday. So we took the KTX early in the morning and our first stop was an Italian restaurant. It was amazing and I had artichokes for the first time in 6 months. It was good. After that Susan spilt water on herself and looked like she peed herself. (see picture below) Aside from that she was amazing. She lived in Seoul for years so she knew just where to take us.

This is outside our hotel. It was by far the coolest and strangest hotel I've been in. It was like I walked into the 80's. I think that was the right generation. Everything was red, white and blue. Very streamline. Very expensive. I'm so upset that I forgot to take pictures of the lobby bathrooms. They were like separate pods, bright red and inside this hollowed out room was a tv displaying runway shows. Basically if it weren't for Careys mom we could never afford to stay there.
In the rainforest style shower with Carey.


Part of the lobby. They had egg chairs too.. just like Austin Powers! If only I had a hairless cat with me.

We were very pumped about the bathtub because, we don't have them in our apartments. So, I was able to have a bath, and because it was open concept watch the mens finals of the Australian Open (which was sponsored by KIA - hello, Korean connection)
Our room was also covered in curtains, all over. This was Marla and I pretending to be in that scene of Pearl Harbour where they're in the parachute hatch.
I know this looks weird but these were hanging down the roof of the elevators.. it didn't show right but they were coloured lights.
So, after settling into the hotel we went to Insadong. It was a really good place for shopping and picking up traditional items. I got a screen, handpainted fan, some silk place settings and pottery. It was the first time i bought Korean stuff for myself so that was exciting. After Insadong we went to the Deoksugung Palace. It was great, and big, and interesting. Good to see but I've seen so many palace/temple structures I don't know if I'll be able to keep them separate in my mind.
Me being tough. I practiced and this was the best I could do.

Cool shot.

So this was the best part of the Palace. They had traditional games set up. This was a see-saw thing but standing. So much fun! I'm basically professh at this.

Throne Room.
Marla and I infront of the Throne Room.

This could be my favourite pic. I discovered that I was exactly the same height of this underpass. I'm on the left.
Ever being culturally sensitive, this is us trying to break down the door.
This is a statue of King Sejeong. He's probably the most famous king of Korea. He created the Korean language - Hangeul.

Alright so after the Palace we went to see a hockey game! It was Korea vs. China. I have some issues however because every single player on the Chinese team was from Sweden. So I call them the 'fake China' team. Anyways to quote Marla "An Asia League of Ice Hockey? That's like having Canadian Samurai".
So Korea won 7-1. There was a nice guy who knew enough English to explain all of the players to me. Except he didn't like the fights, and anytime there was one he explained that they were always caused by the other team. Korea is a gentle country.

After the hockey game we went for Thai food in Itaewon. It is a very famous part of Seoul that has tons of foreigners. Seriously so many, and Im not used to it. But this area has tons of Ethnic restaurants so I was in heaven. AFter that we went to about 4 different bars. I didn't lots of dancing and it was a really fun night. It was really nice to go out somewhere different. I don't have any pics from the night really except for this one of me playing pool. I'm really upset because I was playing a guy from Moonkkang, but not our branch. I right here I was about to run the table.. and then the eight ball when in and circled the pocket twice and then went out. So I lost, but it was a moral victory because I was upderestimated.

Here we are the next morning, very tired but happy on the inside to have American breakfast for the first time in 6 months. It was pretty good. They also had a big screen and were showing Canadian hockey games. I think the place was called the Rocky Mountain.

This is me riding the subway. The public transportation system here is really huge but really easy to figure out and follow. We didn't ride taxis too much but I probably spent more on them than anything else.
After we ate breakfast we went to the War Memorial Museum. It was so huge and a really good thing to see. It's very exhausting, you could easily spend a whole day there. It did a wonderful job of explaining the history.

This was the first of a series of hallways that had the names of everyone who died in the Korean War.
This was the most moving part of the Museum. It is a statue called "Two Brothers". When the North and South was divided, it also divided families as well. So this statue depicts a true story about a South Korean soldier who shot a North Korean soldier to find out that it was his brother. This shows the one brother dying in the arms of the other.




Exhausted, we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. They had a curry buffet so I was in heaven.
Today we got up, got ready and went back to Insadong to do some more shopping. I picked up some more things, and saw more things that I wanted to buy but didn't have have the money and or space for.

So this is the end of the trip at Seoul Station. The weekend went by really fast. Right now it's about 10 pm and it sucks that my long weekend is over so quickly. At least it's only a 4 day week next week!
Tonight my friend Kyung-Soon came over to give me some traditional Korean New Year desserts that they only have once a year. She's a sweety.

Anyways, i'm off to relax what little time I have left this weekend.

oh, one other thing i forgot to mention. I saw my first red light district. or at least the first one i noticed. hooker hill they call it. strange to see women just sitting in windows and doors waiting for american soldiers to come by. a few were knitting, i guess they were trying to say that on top of everything else they have mad domestic skills. i dunno.

oh docta!

so on wednesday i woke up deaf. well not completely deaf, i could still hear out of my right ear, but most definitely not my left.. i tried to go to the pharmacy and was told to go to a doctor.. eun-kyu, my korean saviour took me and the doctor proceeded to stick long, cold, pointy things in my ear.. i'm not sure what he did, but i do know that it hurt like a mother and i can hear again..

after that we had a work meeting.. then work so it was a really long day for me.. compared to my normally quite relaxed korean lifestyle.. it was the last class in the month for some of my classes and some kids are being levelled up so i won't have them anymore, which is sad so i brought a huge bag of candy with me... my one class of angels who always scream "Jenny YAY!!" when they see me each gave me a big hug and said they'd miss me.. i'm so bummed i'm losing them.. who wants to bet i'll still have v-unit class next month though?!

so tomorrow 4 of us are heading to seoul.. i love the bullet train that gets me across the country in an hour and a half.. it's solnal this weekend which means it's a huge weekend for travel.. it's the lunar new year and everyone is trying to get to their grandparents house.. we were lucky to get tickets because it's sold out.. i hear that if you have to take the bus home on monday you can expect a 12 hour ride at least.. that's so crazy to me.. makes toronto rush hour sound like a breeze.. we have some really cool things planned, don't worry i will bring my camera and document every step i'm sure..

tonight should be a relatively early night being as i have to be at the station at 9 am.. i know for all of you that's normal, or even late.. but for me that's hours before i even wake up!!

love ya

jdawg

ps- meg, today 4 canadian bucks = 3,380.06 won :)

that stings

so it's saturday night and i'm physically and emotionally exhausted so have opted to stay in.

friday i worked till after 10 and then grabbed some food and went to the dvd room with marla. i made her watch 25th hour.

today i went out for lunch to a vietnamese place downtown. it had really good and really cheap food. it was a mix of canadian and korean friends. after that marla, carey and i caught the bus to the university to see the british museum exhibit. it was a really long bus ride, around an hour. the line wasn't too long to get in but man was it packed. we were the only foreigners there and were made aware of that at every turn it seemed. i don't often experience racism here. people notice me, and sometimes stare. little kids will smile and giggle at us. i think that's cute because they're curious and south korea is not exactly multi-cultural. sometimes i think that we're here just to expose the kids to people who are not korean. anyways today it was much much more overt. we were walked all over and glared at, mostly by the ajummas (older married korean women).. one lady just hated marla for no good reason. she shoved her and pushed her a few times, gave her the nastiest looks i have ever seen. anyways by the time we were at the end of the exhibit we were glad to get out of there. the exhibit itself was amazing. they had brought artifacts from all over the world and we saw the first da vinci to ever be in korea. i felt smart because i was able to explain a lot of the artifacts to marla and carey .. i realize that i have forgotten a lot from my classes but have been able to retain a little.

so after that we were soooo tired, pissy and hungry so we found this little indian restaurant downtown. it is very charming and the menu is limited but very delicious. i'm able to handle the spicy more than when i came here but i still think i'm the whimpiest of everyone. i headed home alone after that with a headache and knowing that i have to get up early tomorrow. i did get a letter from gramps in the mail though, so that's amazing. he has great timing. it's nice to see his handwriting.

oh.. and some other good news.. careys mom was able to get us a better rate at the hotel for next weekend.. instead of the 269 a night we're now getting it for 69! staying at a 5 star hotel for 23 bucks is awesome. i love it so much that i want to marry it.

i'm going to go relax now, and breathe.

jen xo

loving weekends off

hi all..

things have been good.. it's sunday and i'm laying in bed relaxing before i go to meet tristan downtown to go get a pedicure..i spent way too much money this weekend but it's sunday and pedicures are cheap and i can think of no better way to spend a lazy sunday..

friday night i went out for a late dinner (around 10:30pm) with the girls from jisan and then went for a drink with jason (see bearded guy in christmas pics) .. we just went to a small hof in jisan and picked it because it's called "papa" and well, i have a papa..

saturday i met with my korean friend and we decided to do a little language exchange.. or at least she's going to help me with my korean.. she's so sweet.. i went there to bring her a birthday present and she also had something for me.. she bought me some traditional korean pottery.. i also brought her some twizzlers and gave her a glimpse of my childhood.. what kid hasn't made a straw of their licorice to drink their milk?

after that i went to my neighbour joannes place for lunch.. we hung out.. she's so handy being just next door.. then i met carey and marla to buy our ktx tickets (bullet train).. we're going to seoul for the lunar new year.. it should be fun, one person dropped out so we are now paying around 200 bucks for the hotel (each for 2 days!) susan (our manager and friend who lived in seoul for many years) is going to go with us and show us the sights.. i'm looking forward to an even bigger city.. courtney i know you lived there.. any suggestions of what i just HAVE to do?

after that we went downtown to do some shopping.. i was looking for astro boy accessories for kocela and found a few.. found myself another hoodie (everyone needs 76 hoodies), and some things for my apartment.. we went out for western food (i need my once a week fix) and i had myself a dang quesadilla.. as if i didn't spend enough money i went online and bought myself a new jacket and bathing suit because.....

mom and i are going to thailand! woo hoo! since her trip to italy isn't happening she told me that she would come to asia to see me (which is appreciated because she either doesn't like or is afraid of the continent) i picked thailand because i only get one holiday and it's my first choice for a place to visit.. we're going to meet in bangkok and then catch another plane to koh samui.. our first choice for a resort is all booked up so hopefully we'll find another place soon... we're just looking for a relaxing holiday... i want to eat some pad thai in thailand.. anyways once the details are worked out it will be fun.. we're going for a week in april.. it's not peak season but it's high season so that's why we're having issues..

it's the middle of january already... almost 6 months since i've been here!

anyways i'll talk to you all soon..
heal quickly kocela

the saga continues

so i wrote this in my journal to gramps today and thought i would give you all an update.. sigh..

hi gramps~
so i've discovered that in korea i'm a clutz. i'm not sure if it's a general disorientation or if korea has a different gravitational pull but i keep doing things that leave me bewildered at the lack of control i have over my own body. in the past few months i have managed to:

1) knock over a christmas tree in starbucks
2) fall down movie theatre steps
3) trip over my own toes literally everyday
4) walk into a giant heater a work
5) and today.. as i was reaching above my bed to put the book i am currently reading back i knocked over a full glass bottle and it fell and hit me right between the eyes (yes there is a mark)

everyone at work will get a good laugh i'm sure because i'm well known for my general lack of grace.

do you remember me being like this? i seem to remember a time when i could put one foot in front of the other without leaving a trail of destruction.

living for wednesdays

so the new lesson plans are going alright.. as foreign teachers we have a lot more power now in terms of grading and leveling students up.. wednesdays are good for me.. i teach 6 cuties for a little over an hour and that's it.. i stay at the office for the rest of the time doing writing work, listening to music..

we are supposed to have all new kids.. i was sad at losing some of my good ones but the thought of losing that group of hellions was also appealing.. so.. on tuesday.. when i was going into my last class i saw them.. the v-unit class.. i laugh at the thought of that new teacher who has to put up with them for 6 months.. i run into the teachers room saying.. "who has to teach in the montana classroom?"... everyone is quiet.. i think how strange.. someone has to be teaching them.. then i realize............................................. it's me! somehow this class has defied all rules and managed to fall into my lap again... how can this be? i walk into the classroom and the look on my face i'm sure mirrored theirs.. pure disappointment at the realization that we must spend yet another 6 months in torture together.. sigh..

good news is that i have a real weekend this weekend... i'm thinking of going to the museum, doing some painting.. actually getting to relax and do what i want to for once! yay!

peace out peeps