it's been awhile

alrighty. so it's been a little while since i've written and here's a little update. things are going alright. i'm fairly bored with my city and am seriously considering moving at the end of this contract. i'm thinking to seoul or possibly another country depending on my financial situaiton.

last weekend was lunar new year. i headed to seoul with a bunch of friends. it was a good time. i saw some temples, did some singing, played some traditional games, ate some delicious food and saw some good punk. the rest of the week was emotional and tiring and i'm happy to start a new fresh week.

here is bree. we stuffed her in a locker in the subway station.

this is what happens when you go to a nore bang (singing room).. everyone becomes rock stars.
mel, ben, jay.
usual suspects.
i don't remember which palace this was, but we went to a few.

a giant shrimp in myeongdong. we chased him down for the pic. totally worth it!

ps- i got to talk to meg today and it was like good medicine. i love you best megs.

again.

ok seriously. korea hates me. sratch that. my immune system hates korea. they're in a constant battle to control my universe and the side of good (sorry korea, that would be me..) is losing. i don't know exactly what tactics korea is using but the effects have been water in lungs, exhaustion, and lightheadedness. seriously. i'm eating nothing different. if anything i'm eating healthier. perhaps i need dr. house to come and investigate my house. maybe there is radiation coming from under my bed, or the lady that makes my kimchi has been slipping me some drugs. OH or maybe it's some genetic thing that i couldn't even know about because one of my parents is hiding a career in the fbi that took them to exotic lands where they weren't immunized. either way, my sunday was a waste. well, i did go for a walk which led me to an excercise park near my house that i hadn't seen yet. i also watched some guys playing tennis.

hmm. also, i am becomming slightly annoyed with the number of koreans trying to convert me and make me go to church. twice this weekend i was walking and approached by people chatting me up, saying how much they love canada, just to begin preaching the bible. they are persistant and will follow and corner you. it sucks. it's like finding out someone just wants to be your friend because you have the new nintendo game system or some rockin candy. it's this lately, or men asking me if i'm russian (read, prostitute). is it so hard to believe that i can exist on a moral plane somewhere inbetween those two extremes? though, i must say, a prostitute has never tried to force me to turn or take tricks. score one for the ladies of the night.

i'll probably be in bed before midnight tonight.

send me healthy vibes.

mystery police?

ok, so it's sunday again. saturday was so uneventful that i decided that i wanted to go somewhere today. well, actually i went to a wedding on saturday but a la korean style it was all of 20 minutes long, complete with bubble and smoke machines.
anyways, today i went to palgong mountain with intentions of hiking a trail. normally i go up the other side of the mountain in order to get to the big stone buddha. i took a different bus this time and decided to go to donghwasa, which is a temple. actually, i had been here before once in august of 2005 with my manager of the time but the weather was so terrible that we were flooded out and i didn't get to see anything. so a year and a half later i went back, this time alone, to listen to some music and take some pictures. i like returning to places after long periods of time to think about the changes that have taken place. in those first few days in korea in 2005 i definitely didn't think i'd sign up for a second year. i'm sure that my manager didn't also think she'd be leaving the country sooner than planned to have a baby. i don't feel different but i know that i am and though at the time for me it doesn't feel like much is changing, when looking back i can see that so much has happened. i tried to think a little about what i want for the future but didn't come up with much. i've always hated making decisions because i feel that you shut out so many other possibilities when you do. annoyingly usually this also extends to mundane things such as choosing a restaurant or movie to see with friends. alas, i know i will have to figure it out sometime soon. not now though.

the weather was beautiful today and i can't remember when the sky has been this blue in korea.

so here is part of the temple. it's actually pretty nice here and i'll definitely go back, despite the annoying trek from my place. there are some good trails i think from the temple so next time i hope to check that out, when i'm not feeling so lazy.

seriously, i was just impressed with the sky today. i know you canadians don't think it's a big deal but when you see so much pollution all the time it's nice. plus, remember how amazing it is on that first really nice clear day after a long dreary winter. mmm hmm.

a pagoda with palgongsan in the backgroung.

this is the giant buddha. i tried really hard not to take pictures of the people bowing underneath. i think this is the buddha which is meant to represent a strong, cherished desire for Korean reunification.
some little buddhas and statues placed in the rocks. you make a wish as you are placing or making the statue.


so it was nice.
though, on the subway ride back, my batteries died on the ipod i was using. i removed my headphones and was immediately approached by a korean man asking me about my religious affiliations. i said i had none, and he gave me a pamplet for a church (blah blah). then he tried to practice his english on me, asking me about canada. then he started to talk about the canadian mystery police. i sure as hell hope there was something lost in the translation because if canada has a mystery police and noone told me, i'll be pretty pissed. being a member of team mystery police is WAY cooler than being an english teacher in korea. sorry korea, but it's true. i was thinking on my ride home that my experience here may be completely different if i wasn't attached to my ipod all the time. so lesson of the day is : even if your battery dies on you mp3 player, still keep your headphones on.