As of today, December 21, I have officially been in Korea for 4 months! Wow, how time flies! My experiences have surpassed all my expectations and I have 8 more months to enjoy all the marvels and wonders this country has to offer.
I apologize for not being a diligent contributer on my blog, but my New Year's resolution is to change that.
Christmas is certaintly different over here. I've seen only about a dozen Christmas trees, all of which I had to travel into Seoul to see. I will be celebrating Christmas very unconventionally this year by having Christmas dinner in a local foreign bar. Yes, that's right, I said "bar". Strangely enough, I'm almost appreciating my non-Christmas this year. It's refreshing to not have the stress that this time of year always brings. With the exception of sending a few small things back home to my family, I haven't been racing around a mall, fighting for that last item on the shelf. My only regret is not being able to see my family.
Speaking of family, I had the pleasure of meeting a very famous skin doctor here in Korea. So famous, he's actually been advertised on T.V. here. He and his wife were kind enough to invite my friend Anne and I out to dinner, along with their hired foreign english teacher who teaches their daughter. I have attached a photo from a few weeks ago of our dinner. It was a traditional Korean dinner and then we went out for coffee after. They were so nice. They paid for everything, including our $8 coffee and a very fancy coffee shop. I'm the one sitting next to Dr. Kim. Dr. Kim is a male, so no..I'm not the guy in the picture!
Three months has now passed and I have finally settled myself into Korean lifestyle, so what better opportunity to go out and make life a little more interesting.
Any of you who have known me for the last few years would know that I love latin music and I've been salsa dancing for the last five years (on and off), but nevertheless, dancing every opportunity I can get. I have discovered that you find some of the best things by ditching the Lonely Planet book and simply taking a walk. I did just such a thing about three and a half weeks ago. To my amazement I actually found a dance studio in my neighbourhood! So, naturally, I walked the five flights of stairs to get to it. Yes, it's Korea, but as soon as I walked in the place, I felt right at home. As luck would have it, they had two pre-professional dancers tearing up the floor. I immediatly signed up for Latin ballroom. Good sales tactic on their part! I guess I was feeling a little overconfident in my dance skills because I signed up for the intermediate classes. I figured I was paying good money, why not skip the first level altogether. I mean other than the fact I've never taken Samba, Cha Cha or Rhumba before and the classes are entirely in Korean, how hard can it be?
Now, I've actually found a Salsa club in the foreigners district of Itaewon, Seoul called Club Caliente. It's the one place where I find myself in Korea, speaking Spanish to a Brazilian soccer team and I can dance with a Korean belly dancer. It's cultural diversity at its finest! The crowd is full of American G.I.'s, English teachers, and entrepeneurs from all walks of life, all over the world...Costa Rica, Brazil, Nicaragua, Argentina and even Nigeria.
The lessons you learn in another country can sometimes be cruel and harsh, then there are those moments, that there are either simply no words for or you just "had to be there".
I officially went on my second grocery trip since arriving here two months ago. Secretly, I've been quite nervous about shopping for food. The aisles are a giant maze of weird textures, strange packages and fishy smells. Not to say that you can't find some of the comforts of home, but you will pay dearly for them. It's not uncommon to pay $6 or more (Canadian currency) for about 5-6 apples, and oranges...well that's just crazy talk! Funky tasting grapes, pineapples, and bananas are in abundance, and therefore cheap, but let's face it, if I have to eat another banana I'm going to go bananas! Anne and I were fortunate enough to find the "reject fruit" bin, where apples are as cheap as $2, but you have to eat them within 12 hours, otherwise, it's apple sauce.
At last, the food shopping was over and it was on to housewares and toiletries where I could relax and shop freely. Little did I know what was about to become my demise.
Two hours later, I was back at home, unloading my groceries and actually cooking for a change. I pulled out my new economy box of 500 Q-tips that I also managed to snag from a bargain bin. I proceeded to clean my ears fulfilling that inner ear scratchy feeling to my hearts content and pulled out the Q-tip in horror. The cotton from the end of the stick was completely stuck in my ear! I pulled out a new Q-tip only to discover that bargain Q-tips are sold as a "bargain" for a reason, the cotton has mearly been spun on the end of the stick with a quick twist and comes off the stick like a piece of cotton candy. I used the stick from another Q-tip to try to dig out the ball of cotton, but I was only successful in shoving it in farther. I'm sure I reached brain!
An emergency phone call home to access the situation ended in roars of laughter. What was I to do? The clock was ticking and it was already midnight! I thought of taking a shower to moisten it and hopefully free it from the holds of my inner ear, but thought against that idea when I thought it may worsen this already dire situation. There was no way I could sleep with this ball of cotton in my ear. I had wedged it so far in that it was now starting to hurt and I was deaf.
Thankfully, I remembered a guy who lived on the 6th floor of my building whom I met just a couple of times prior. Without hesitation, I ran down to his apartment and rang his doorbell. He sleepily opened the door wearing his flannel pajamas and replied with a "hey, what's up". I proceeded to tell my story and then ask for some tweezers. I only wished I had a camera to take a picture of the perplexed look on his face, before he too, broke out into hysterical laughter. Me laying down on the floor sideways and he holding a flashlight and a pair of tweezers and 15 minutes later it was out!
Moral of the story: Quality is better than quantity.
On the bright side: I have 498 Q-tips left to make an awesome Halloween costume.
I can only imagine how scary the North American media has made the situation appear over here in Korea. For those of you who weren't sure of my location, I am not in North Korea, I am in South Korea, almost 10 miles south of Seoul, but I am still considered as part of Seoul, just a district outside of it. I appreciate all of the concerned emails about my well-being. I can assure you as of today that I and the rest of the foreigners over here still remain safe. In fact, up until Saturday, I was not even the least bit concerned that I would be in danger in this country. I am sure most of you have felt somewhat the same in that this is just another lame North Korean tactic to gain attention and prosperity.
When news of the nuclear test conducted on October 9th broke out, South Koreans felt threatened little, but there was some cause for concern, as in most other countries. Considering their close proximity, I was a little surprised; however, for the most part, life here has been business as usual. At least, that was until I left for work today.
Since I cannot read or understand the news here, I've been tuning into the CNN website for details about this dispute. Before work today, I read that North Korea outwardly refused to resolve the issue and the DRNK representative defiantly said that North Korea was prepared for talks or for confrontation and should the U.S. continue to "bully" them, that they were prepared for war, before simply walking out of the UN six-party talk. You can imagine my now uneasiness about living here in South Korea.
Early this afternoon, I got a real sense of just how sensitive and precarious this situation is and that each next new political move must be thought out carefully and be carried out with precision. Upon walking my usual one hour walk to school this morning, I was happily listening to my MP3 player, thinking in my own little bubble, when I felt a sense of oddness. I looked up before crossing the street only to notice that traffic in all four directions had abruptly stopped and the pedestrians were standing on all corners of the street not walking. Two men were standing in the middle of the street. At first, I thought that perhaps I walked into a demonstration or some sort of rally, but after almost a minute of standing on the corner and not seeing anything come down the street, I ruled that idea out. For almost four minutes no one had moved and there was this eerie silence for a time that is usually jam packed with traffic and people on the streets. The silence was followed by distant sirens, which now began to panic me. These were not ambulance sirens, they were something else. My mind began to race at the possibilities and I began assuming the worst. Then, within a minute life just seem to continue on again.
I was told that it was somewhat of a South Korean tradition not long ago, where on the 15th of every month sirens would ring through the streets of cities while they stood in silence to keep them in the mindset of possible war. I didn't understand if this was also meant as a practice evacuation warning. As recent events would have it, there is potential for this to be a reality and I am still coming to terms with my new found reality.
This weekend, I went to Bukansan National Park, within Seoul. I am unclear as to the total area this national park consumes, but it is very large, and for a $1.60 it's yours to explore. It's a popular place among both locals and tourists as it is home to some of the best rockclimbing, hiking, and cultural relics such as Bukhansanseong Fortress. Within the deep valleys you can spot many small temples and hermitages. Not knowing what I was truly getting myself into, I obliged to go on the 837m hike to the top with some people from the school.
So, from what I thought was the top of the mountain, was actually only about a quarter of the way! You can already see about half of the entire city of Seoul.
Mid mountain was kind enough to provide a small map to remind you, just in case you forgot, that you were not even close to the top and just how much farther it actually was.
But I still had a smile on my face, despite the fact that trees are almost growing horizontally!
I saw more hikers on the trail than I would ever see on a trail back in Canada. In fact, there was a point where I actually had to stop and wait in a line to get around the next corner as the trail was quickly becoming more technical. Not that that stopped the 90 year old Korean grandmothers who put us to shame by actually passing us on the trail because we were moving to slow.
Closer to the top I was beginning to understand just how serious of a "hike" this was. I would like to call it, "one step from death", but hey, that's just me.
Onward and upward and finally at the top! See Seoul in the background!
We had to pay our respects to Buddha at the bottom of the mountain.
A country with 10 million people in it's capital alone certaintly has its challenges, or does it? Certaintly, with such a large population, some adaptations have needed to take place for order to remain in such a society. Let me be the first one to give my appreciation and a cyber handshake to the South Koreans. It's a good thing North America exceeds it's land mass by its people because we are spoiled.
1. MANDATORY RECYCLING.
Ummm, hello? Why can't we implement this into North American society. It's BRILLIANT! Frankly, I can't believe it never even crossed my mind before. Garbage is such a responsibilty in Korea. All trash must be neatly separated into one of three piles. All food garbage is separted from regular garbage. You must purchase pink garbage bags which are used only for disposing of regular trash consisting of our usual plastics, wrappers, ect. Then, the food is kept separate. A neat little trick I learned in my first three days here...keep a bag in the freezer with all of your food garbage so as to keep the fruit flies and smell away. As in Canada, ALL bottles must be recycled, which granted most of us do anyway, but there is still an element of laziness in all of us, in which we throw the odd bottle or two out. There is no laziness here. If you are caught not properly disposing your garbage, it's a $1000 fine! Yup! That's a good way to enforce recycling.
2. PAPER CUPS
Drinking water of out mini slices of paper is an art that I am still perfecting. Perhaps it's just the city I live in, but most businesses have a filtered water station with cute little triangular paper cups, yup, you guessed it, made out of recycled material and are recycleable. Many shop owners are also very accomodating in filling up your water bottle for you.
3. Take out is not really take out
This may sound a bit odd, but actually makes a lot of sense and also saves the country being littered with take out "waste". You know, those styrofoam containers and plastic forks. So, when you order take out here, it actually comes to you on one of the restaurant plates. When you are done with your meal, you simply place it outside your door and someone comes along and picks it up. I especially like the "no dishes for me to do" idea behind this.
Well, there you have it. Korea is an environmentally friendly country and we could certaintly take some notes.
Hi everyone! One of the teachers snagged me last weekend and was kind enough to take me into downtown . These are just a few pics that I managed to take. The name of the palace is and was built in 1395, the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo, one year after he moved the capital from Gaeseong to Seoul. It was the primary residence of the royal family, but was invaded by the Japanese in 1592. Many of the buildings have been destroyed but this is what remains with some repair work. A full restoration will begin in 2009.
I’ve managed to meet a nice girl from named Anne and we have designated ourselves as each others travel buddy, which is really nice. I feel much more comfortable getting lost with someone else.
We went for a hike yesterday in the hills behind Migeum (the city where our school is located). I must send pics of that experience. Although, these are not mountains per se, it was still a vigorous hike. One I am ashamed to say, where even 80 year old Korean seniors were passing me on the trail. A spider was kind enough to help me along the way, by scaring me half to death by its shear size! Didn’t get a picture of that, I was running too quickly.
Once you arrive at the top of the hill, there is an outdoor gym where you will see everyone stretching after the hike. It’s actually a very brilliant idea. I’m not even stiff today because of it. There is a lot of value on physical education in this country. Once at the top, there was a little temple upon which many Koreans sat in complete peace. We didn’t talk once we reached the top, only sat and ate lunch in silence with everyone else.
Hello everyone!
Yes, I'm in South Korea! I was asked to fill a position at a well-respected polytechnic school called Avalon to work with students at their campus in Migeum, one of about three that I know of. I left Calgary, Canada early Monday morning, August 21st, 2006 and I will be living here for one year. This is my first time overseas in Asia and I must say I am experiencing a severe case of culture shock. I don't think I could have ever prepared myself for taking on this new chapter in life, but it's all part of the experience. Upon getting off the plane, I just about fell over with the enormous amount of humidity. As the doors of customs opened for my arrival I was promptly greeted by a Korean man (my personal chauffeur) holding a sign with my name on it. He assisted me with my luggage and we were off to my apartment in Sunae. I would have liked to have seen the view on our hour long drive to Sunae but I was delerious from lack of sleep and jet lag that I nodded off, only to be awakened by the slamming off the breaks and I think a few Korean expletives. I must admit I was getting a little concerned when even my Korean driver couldn't find my apartment. I suddenly imagined all of the horror stories that I had heard of were beginning to become true for me. At last, we found the apartment and it's quite nice and respectable, for a one room studio apartment. I am living in a town called Bundang, which lies 6 miles south of Seoul. My little "village" is called Sunae.
"I agree that should I wish to obtain the results of the exam..."
To understand the meaning and use of the word "should" in this sentence please see below.
The meaning of should in the sentence: I agree that SHOULD I wish to obtain the results of the exam is as follows:
This should is in a CONDITIONAL CLAUSE and can be thought of as the same meaning as "If I were". The above sentence could also be written as
"I agree that IF I WERE to obtain the results of my exam...
The reason the word "should" is used instead of "if I were" is because it's a formal and/or legal document which requires very formal writing. Should is more formal and sounds more authoritative than the weaker "if I were" statement.
SHOULD IN CONDITIONAL CLAUSES
Choosing which verb to use in conditional clauses, such as those beginning with if, can be tricky. In certain clauses, you use should for all three persons: -if I (or you or he) should decide to go-if it should begin to snow.
Note that in both sentences above you can delete the "If I" or "It it" statement and simply begin the sentence with "should", but then you have subject movement in which the subject "I" or "it" needs to be placed after the modal verb "should". This subject movement is a syntax thing that you should not concern yourself with why, just know that it exists when you delete the "if"
Conditional Clause
If I should decide to go
Subject-verb movement after deleting "if"
Should I decide to go
WHEN ONLY SHOULD IS CORRECT
To express duty or obligation, you use should as the equivalent of ought to: I (or you or he) should go.
WHEN ONLY WOULD IS CORRECT
You use would (and not should) to express willingness or promise (I agreed that I would do it) and to express habitual action in the past (We would walk along the canal at night). Would also has the advantage of being a polite substitute for will in requests: Would you lend me a dollar?
Detailed? Yeah, I know, I tend to get carried away.
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Hi Kerri, Thank you for the discussion yesterday and I am very glad you have made a discussion about gender... read more
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