Cheryl's Adventures in Korea

Ulleungdo / Dokdo - Korea's Jewel Islands

2011-06-07T00:03:00.007-04:00

It all started at McDonalds. Friday night at 11pm a mixed crew of foreigners wandered into McDonalds, loaded down with luggage and anticipating a long night, followed by a fabulous weekend. We were due to leave at 3am for the port town of Donghae to catch a ferry over to Ulleungdo. Some of us opted to meet early and get to know each other before the journey. Finally at 3am with our bellys full of cheeseburgers, our eyes heavy with exhaustion - we were off. It would be a 3-4 hour bus ride and another 3 hour boat trip.
Ulleungdo is a small island located in the East Sea about 135km east of Korea. It is actually an extinct volcano, known for its quiet harbours, jagged cliffsides and fishing boats. The island is sparsely populated with most of its residents making their living fishing and catering to the summer tourists. Our high speed ferry ended in the largest town on Ulleungdo, Dodong. Dodong looked like what it once was, a pirate,s hideaway, hidden in a narrow valley between two forested mountains and only visible when approached directly. We left the ferry with the other hundreds of tourists and made our way to the hotel where we were staying. The hotel was in a perfect location - a mere 2 minute walk from the Dodong harbour. After dropping our luggage and eating a quick lunch of bean sprout soup and rice we were off to what was meant to be the highlight of our weekend, our visit to Dokdo.

Dokdo is nothing more than 2 rocky islands in the middle of the East Sea and yet it is one of the most controversial areas in Korea. Korea and Japan have long been in dispute over who owns this land. In 1905 Japan claimed if for their own renaming it Takeshima. After WW2, the US designated the island as belong to Korea and a monument was erected. In 1952 Japan destroyed that monument and the 2 countries have disputed the ownership ever since. The land itself is of no real value but what the 2 countries want is the fishing rights that come with it.

At 2pm we boarded the boat for the 2 and a half hour journey to Dokdo - knowing that when we arrived we could only stay on the island for 20 minutes. In the beginning the journey was rather pleasant. We were able to stand on the top deck, outside, and watch the water go by.

The further we got into the journey the rougher the water became and the sea sickness started. What was a highly anticipated trip soon became a nightmare. I spent most of the journey to Dokdo either throwing up or sitting in my seat waiting to throw up. I couldn't wait to get to Dokdo just to get off the boat - even for only 20 minutes - but when we arrived the sea was too rough for the boat to dock. We had to turn around and go back another 2 and a half hours to Ulleungdo. We had come so close to touching the controversial rock and yet had to be content with only taking pictures. At this point more half the people on the boat were sick so I think most were happy to go home.

That evening my roomates and I spent quietly relaxing in our room, most of us still feeling unwell and not wanting to do much. The room we had was pretty tiny and once we all lay down there was no space to be found. Fortunately we all go along so the coziness of the room became a joke.

Sunday arrived with bright sunshine and the promise of a better day. Sadly I still wasn't feeling well but I was determined to make the best of it. I ate a small breakfast of yogert and fruit down by the pier watching the fishermen bring in their catch and the ajummas expertly cutting up the raw fish for the Koreans waiting to buy it. The pier was lined with seaweed and squid drying in the sun and big tubs filled with fresh fish waiting to be sold.

That morning we set out on a bus tour around the island. The island itself wasn't that big but the coastline was beautiful. Throughout the ride we had all the famous sights pointed out to us, which mostly involved rocks shaped like various animals - this is turtle rock, this is elephant rock.

The highlight of the morning was a monorail ride in Taehadong. It started in a place called Charcoal Cove and ended at Taeha Lighthouse with spectacular views over the harbour

After lunch most of the group opted to hike up Seonginbong Mountain but I chose instead to do a cruise around the harbour. The ride lasted 2 hours and went around the entire island. I grabbed a prime spot along the rail on the top level and spent the next 2 hours taking pictures of the spectacular coastline. The only downside to this ride were the seagulls. The Korean passengers were fascinated with these birds and spent most of the trip throwing food to them, which meant that for most of the trip I had seagulls swooping down at me, sometimes coming within inches of my face. To me they were dirty animals but for them they were marvellous. Some were more interested in these birds than the views of the island. Despite this I enjoyed myself and it was a great way to spend 2 hours.

Our last day we were due to catch the boat at 10am so some of us got up early to explore the last bits of the island. On the edge of Dodong is a cliff walk that you can take along the edge of the water. We walked on this and it took us through little inlets and caves. It was a great way to finish off our visit to Ulleungdo.

Finally it was time to go and we boarded the ferry exhausted but pleased with the trip. I will say without a doubt this has been my favourite place so far in Korea and somewhere that anyone visiting Korea should see.

Jeju Days 2, 3, 4 and 5

2011-06-02T02:27:00.009-04:00

I appologize for the delay ay getting this published but here are some photos from the rest of my trip to Jeju. This entry will be almost all photos with little writing - so enjoy and remember all you have to do is click on the photo if you want to see it enlarged.

Day 2

Most of the people in our group chose to spend this day climbing up Halisan Mountain but given that it is 1. very high, 2. looked very difficult and 3. it was raining, I chose to stay back. There were 4 of us that didn't go and we spent the day visiting some of the many tourist sites on our side of Jeju. One of the places we went to was called the Glass Castle. Basically it was a glass factory where you could see demonstartions of glass blowing and wander around looking at all the statues made of glass. It was pretty neat.
Yes, these trees are made from glass.

Day 3

Once againwe woke up to a rainy day. The remainder of our group arrived and the rest of the trip was spent travelling by bus. Given that it was Budda's birthday the morning was spent at a buddist temple. The rain started clear and it looked like it would be a nice day afterall.

After the temple we moved onto Cheonjeyeon Falls. There were actually 3 waterfalls here and you could hike different paths to see all 3. These pictures are of the nicest one.

From the waterfalls we moved onto the rock formations at Jungman Daepo. This area was breathtaking.

Day 4

Today we headed over to Udo Island where we had the option of renting scooters or ATV for a few hours to drive around the island. I was all excited about getting a scooter when I saw 2 of the guys in our group crash. After seeing that I decided that an ATV was a safer bet. I opted to ride on the back of my friend Jenn's ATV so that I wouldn't have to drive. There road around the island that we drive on, stopping half way for some lunch. Udo island is famous for women divers who go to get the pearls from the oysters at the bottom of the sea. Sadly the closest I saw of the women divers was this statue.

Udo Island was great and probably the highlight of the trip. A great place to spend my birthday and funny enough I ran into a friend of mine there. It had been exactly one year since I last saw here as I spent my birthday last year with her touring the DMZ.

From Udo Island we made our way over to a giant maze. We given a map, sent on our way to find the way out. It was great fun.

We finished the day on the beach back at our hotel. That night we dined on bbq pork and grilled mackeral washed down with some makeoli. We were all sunburned but happy.

Day 5

Our last day on the island and once again it was raining. We decided to go to the trick art museum. It seemed that everyone had the same idea as the place was packed. This place was full of painting and illusions that you could pose with so that it seemed you were part of the picture.

From there we moved onto Loveland. This is a sex themed park for adults. It was full of penis statues and sex toys. The best part of the place was watching all the old Korean women look at the statues and start giggling like school girls.

From here we made our way to the airport and back to Daejeon. It was a great vacation,

Jeju-Do - Day 1

2011-05-14T06:51:00.004-04:00

When I found out that I had a 6 day holiday in May I thought to myself - what should I do? I knew that I didn't want to stay in Daejeon and briefly thought about going to another country when it hit me - Jeju Island. Then when I saw that Discover Korea was offering a trip it seemed like destiny.
Jeju Island is a small island off the southern coast of Korea. It is nicknamed the Hawaii of Asia and comes complete with palm trees, beaches and tangerines. It is one of those places that everyone says you must see before you leave Korea.
I arrived at Jeju Internation Airport after a quick 1 hour flight. I hopped into a taxi with 2 other trip members and with the guidance of our tour leader, William, we made our way to the hotel. There was already a group waiting there who had arrived earlier in the day and they were about to head out to the island of Marado. Not wanting to miss out I decided to join them. I put my luggage in the hotel, made some quick introductions, hopped in the van and we were off. When we arrived at the pier we discovered that it would be an hour until the next boat, what to do, what to do? We drove over to an area where you could walk down to the beach and see caves that had been built by the Japanese.

Some of these caves were quite large and at one time had been used to hide Japanese guns, weapons and other secrets. Now they sat empty but we entered the first one hoping to find some forgotten treasure. Sadly all we found was an unbelievable stench - reminiscent of the bathrooms in a subway station in Toronto. We made a hasty retreat and we content to stand on the beach and take pictures instead.

Finally it was time to board the ferry to Marado and we piled on the boat with hundreds of Korean tourists. Being the aquaphile that I am I made a beeline for the top deck while the rest of my group stayed in the warmth below. It was an easy 1/2 hour journey and before long we were there.

Marado Island is a small island that seemed built for tourists. Along the side of it were giant cliffs that reminded me of the coast of Ireland. Along the top were ajummas and ajosshis waiting to rent you golf carts to ride on around the island. The island itself is fairly small and could easily be walked around in less than an hour. There was a small village with some restaurants selling their famous black noodles and some small shops. A few in the group wandered away to explore the island while the rest grabbed some beer and snacks and sat out in a sunny field relaxing. After the hectic pace of the morning it was nice to sit and enjoy the sunshine and each others company. After an hour of relaxing we got back on the boat and headed back to the mainland.

From there we made our way back to the hotel where we could watch the sunset from the beach. The hotel looked like a mini resort right out of Hawaii. It came complete with a beautiful pool surrounded by palm trees and cheesy resort music coming out of the speakers . Sadly it was too early in the season for the pool to have any water in it but you could imagine what it would be like in the summer, sipping a cocktail and watching the palm trees sway.

At the hotel we had a delicious meal of bbq pork and then finished the night with a campfire on the beach. We all headed to bed exhausted but happy with the day that we had and eager for tomorrow's adventures.

Journey to Tongyoung

2011-04-04T07:09:00.005-04:00

In the late hours of friday night I emerged from the depths of a Seoul subway station to surround myself with the eager faces of 80 expats all ready to embark on a journey across Korea. Our destination was the southern port town of Tongyong where some planned to board a ferry over to the island of So Mae Moor Do while the more daring ones would hike the island of a Sa Ryang Do. With our backpacks placed underneath and the clinking bottles of soju safely stowed away, we were off. Our transportation of choice was a burgundy bus complete with kareoke disco lights and an echoing microphone. After quick introductions around the bus, the lights were dimmed and as the bus rolled down the highway we attempted to get some sleep. At about 5:30 am we staggered off the bus into the cool, crisp sea air and the promise of a great day. Sitting huddled together for warmth we quickly downed some muffins, hopped into some taxis and headed to the pier for the ferry over to So Mae Moor Do. When we boarded the ferry we all eagerly ran to the top deck anticipating the stunning views and photo ops. The views were stunning with glimpses of jagged coastlines and tiny island popping up here and there. The sun was shining and it seemed as if the weather was going to cooperate.

After about 40 minutes, however, the stunning views became less of a novelty as we instead focused on staying warm. The open deck of a ship going full speed across the water in early April is not the warmest of places. Again we sat huddled together with our faces tucked inside our hoods praying that each island that we stopped at would be ours. Eventually 1 1/2 hours later, we were there, frozen and tired but ready for the day.

So Mae Moor Do is a small island that looks more like a giant hill rising out of the sea. There is a small fishing village at one end where sea weathered ajummas and ajosshis sat selling their wares. Offering such delicasies as fresh fish, eels and octopus.

There was a trail heading around the island slowly climbing its way to the top of the hill offering stunning views out over the sea. We headed up the path happy to stretch our legs expecting a nice, leisurely hike. The hike started out great and then it slowly started getting steeper and steeper until suddenly we found ourselves clamboring over rocks at an 80d angle hoping we were almost to the top. Every so often there would be lookouts with cliffs jutting out into the sea where we could rest, catch our breaths and take endless photos.

Finally after about an hour of climbing we emerged from the trail into the brilliant sunshine on the top of the mountain. We were a little exhausted and slightly in awe of the old men and women who had gone running past us up the hill. At the top we found a sunny field where we collapsed for an hour and admired the view looking down over the fishing village below.

Eventually we picked oursleves up , climbed the steep path back down to the village, grabbed some quick lunch and boarded the ferry back to Tongyoung. This time on the ferry we were smart enough not to sit outside and instead we climbed onto the heated floors where everyone quickly fell asleep.

Back in Tongyong we settled into our motel, admired the ocean views from our windows and then rested for a few hours while waiting for those on the other hike to arrive. Finally they made it back and regaled us with stories of steep climbs, sheer cliffs and propelling down rock faces with ropes. I was very thankful that I had opted out of that hike.

Finally the evening was here and it was time to chow down on some traditional Korean bbq. Seated at tables of 6 or 7 people with others milling around at the ends of the tables we feasted. The supply of meat seemed endless and we gorged ourselves with bits of seasoned pork, dipped in sauce and wrapped in fresh lettuce, washed down with icy cold beer. It was a delicious end to an adventurous day. With full stomachs and aching muscles we climbed into our beds and dreamed of the things that we had seen.

The delicious side of Korea

2011-03-07T01:49:00.010-05:00

In Korea they love their food. They love to share their food and it is considered rude and a personal insult if you decline the food that they offer you. When you meet a Korean person it is not uncommon to be asked 밥 먹었어요 (pap megeoseoyo) which when translated means "have you eaten"? In most cases this is just another way of asking how are you, but be careful how you answer because if you say no you may suddenly find yourself being whisked away to a Korean restaurant and being force fed food that you may not want. Meals in Korea are a communal event usually with one main dish and then everyone sharing from the various side dishes that are always part of the meal. These side dishes vary usually with some sort of salad, different vegetables, sauces and always kimchi. The best part is that they come with the meal meaning you don't pay extra and you can refill them as often as you like.

Seriously though, there is no excuse to go hungry in Korea as food is available in abundance. There are restaurants everywhere, ranging from small family run bibimbap places, to Korean bbq's to street food. The small family run establishments are great for a quick meal. They usually have a few plastic tables, limited decorations and you can get a delicious and healthy meal of bibimbap and beer for about $5.00. They aren't fancy and often you have to get your own water from a giant water cooler at the front of the restaurant. They rarely have English menus but usually the menus have pictures on them so you know what to order and most neighbourhoods have 2 or 3 of them. There is a particular one on my street that I am rather fond of, when I go in I get a big smile from the ajumma working there, spend $3.00 on bibimbap and leave full for the night. For those who don't know, bibimbap translated means mixed rice. Basically you get a bowl of steaming, boiled rice, it usually comes out in a cast iron dish still sizzling, mixed in the rice are various vegetables, bean sprouts, sometimes bulgogi or hamburger meat and always an egg. You can then mix in some spicy sauce to make it less dry. It is delicious and one of my favourite Korean dishes.

Probably one of the most popular style of Korean eating, and one of the more delicious, is the Korean bbq. BBQ restaurants are everywhere and some of them specialize in certain meats such as pork or duck while in others you can choose any. At a bbq you sit a table in the center with be a small grill, either heated by propane or hot coals that are placed underneath it. Slabs of raw meat are brought to you along with tongs and scissors and you proceed to grill your own meat. Along with the meat you always get the side dishes mentioned above and usually individual portions of rice. Once the meat is cooked you use the scissors to cut it into bite sixe pieces and the feast begins. The appropriate way to eat bbq meat is on leaves ... yes leaves. You will be given a basket full of romaine lettuce leaves and sesamee leaves. You use your chopsticks to take a piece of meat, place it inside the lettuce leaf, put any sauces, salts etc. as you desire, add any other vegetables and then eat. Although bbq restaurants are more expensive than the bibimbap places, compared to restaurant prices at home they are relatively cheap and you always walk away stuffed.

If you are looking for a really cheap meal then there are always street food vendors. They are everywhere and sell everything from hot noodles, to shishkabob meat to my favourite fishbread. Fishbread is more of a snack and is similar to a waffle with a red bean paste inside. They taste the best when they are freshly cooked and the insides are steaming hot.

On the street where I live there is often a man selling hot noodles from the back of his van. He has a portable propane stove set up with a pot of boiling water and noodles cooking. He opens the back door and the people line up to buy his food. I have never tried it but given the lengths of his lines I am guessing it must be good. Finally lets not forget about the pizza. There are just as many pizza shops here as there are in Canada some are cheap and some are not. The difference here has to do with the toppings. I often frequent a little place on my street called Pizza Maru where I wil order an Italian cheese pizza. This is just a plain cheese pizza with some corn mixed in. I have seen pizza here with such topping as pumpkin, potatoe wedges and bbq'd steak. As well with every pizza you order you get a complimentary packet of pickles.

2011, New year, new home

2011-01-31T23:14:00.002-05:00

I started 2011 with a dilemma. Do I stay in my tiny, closet of an apartment, or do I move somewhere new. Given the size of my current home you would think that it would be an easy decision, but it wasn't. What my apartment lacked in size it made up for in charm and comfort. I had heard horror stories about other Korean apartments, bugs, noisy neighbours, heat and water that didn't always work. I had none of these problems in my current place and knew that I could regret it if I moved. However, I longed for my space. I wanted to have friends over for dinner without them having to sit on my bed to eat.
After some thought, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to look. If I saw something that I really liked than great and if not then I would be fine to stay put. I set an apartment hunting date with my friend Ally, she speaks Korean and would translate with the estate agent. Between the time that I set the date and the apartment hunting day, I had built in my mind an image of this fabulous apartment that I was going to find. Of course, the image in my mind was based on memories of Canadian apartments, which really don't exist in Korea, especially for the money that my school would pay.
Apartment hunting day arrived and Ally and I headed to one of the estate agent offices on my street. We had plenty to choose from as there are about 10 just on my street alone. In Korea renting an apartment or building is very different from Canada. In Canada you normally pay first and last months rent and then a set monthly rent. In Korea you instead negotiate a key deposit (usually around 5 mil or roughly $5,000) and then the monthly amount is low. You can negotiate to pay a higher deposit and then have lower monthly payments or sometimes no payments at all. You get a portion of this deposit back at the end of your contract. In my situation my school was going to actually make the contract so I had no room to negotiate. The agent took us to look at an apartment near where I already lived and although the building was OK, the apartment was no different than my current place. We then looked at 3 or 4 more places and all of them were the same. They may have been slightly larger, but not much and none were as nice. The image in my mind of this great apartment was starting to fade and I began feeling disappointed.
Just as I was about to give up hope, Ally says there is one more place. It's actually in the building where I currently live and it's 2 rooms. This sounded promising so we went to look. It was actually on the ground floor of my building with it's own seperate door to the outside and as soon as we walked in I knew this was the apartment that I wanted. It had one large livingroom / sitting room in the front and then a 2 other rooms, bedroom and office, off of that. As well it had a small kitchen and bathroom. It was 5 times larger than my current place, brand new, clean and in my same building so moving would be easy. I quickly agreed, we called the administration at my school who promised to come by the next day to sign the contract. I left the real estate with a plan to move at the end of February, plenty of time to pack my things and get settled.
I went home and a few hours later my landlord came by and asked if I would move sooner. Right now is a busy time for university students to be looking for new apartments so she wanted to get my place on the market as soon as possible, so I agreed to move the following weekend. I went to bed excited and happy about my new place, not realizing that the next few days would feel like being on a rollercoaster.
The next day was friday and my school was supposed to go and sign the contract. Late afternoon on friday I get a phone call from Ally saying that they did not go. They were busy and would try and go saturday. I start to worry, will the landlord hold the apartment for me. I am reassured that it will be ok, but still this is Korea and you never know. Saturday morning I get a phone call from Ally saying that the school needs my new work contract before they can sign for the apartment. No problem, I get on the bus and deliver it to the school. At the school I meet the Principal who told me she approved me to move and I leave feeling much better. A few hours later Ally called saying the administartion will not sign the contract until the end of February, as that is when my new work contract starts. At this point I had become very excited about this apartment so the disappointment over this news hit me like a tidal wave. I knew there was no way the landlord would hold the apartment for a month. To make it worse I couldn't express my frustration to the school as no one speaks English. This was one of those rare moments when I really felt the cutlure shock and isolation of living in a foreign country.
Later that afternoon, just as I had come to terms with my disappointment and resigned myself to staying in my current apartment the phone rings. It was Ally again. She had spoken to the estate agent, who spoke to the landlord, who agreed to let me still have the apartment. She would let me move in without the contract being signed, on one condition ... I had to move that day. Keep in mind that it is now 3pm, most of my friends are out of town so no one to call for help. I frantically started putting everything I own into suitcases, bags, anything that I could find and started moving. I worked steady for about 4 hours packing and carrying down the stairs load after load of belongings. At some points I would fill my suitcase up, carry it downstairs, dump the contents on my bed, go upstairs and refill it. However by 9pm, I was sitting in my new apartment eating pizza, surrounded by all my belongings either on the bed or in bags on the floor around me.
As stressful as those few hours were, looking back it was the best way to move. I didn't have the anxious days leading up to the move or the time to feel nostalgic about leaving my old place. Afterall, it had been my home for a year and not just any home. It was my first home in Korea and my safe haven when life in Korea became overwhelming. I know though, that soon this new place will feel like home and I know that I made the right decision.

Christmas in Korea

2010-12-26T00:19:00.007-05:00

Since this was going to be our first Christmas in Korea, my 2 friends Andre and Kristina, and myself decided that we should go away. We only had the weekend so we couldn't go far and after some debate we decided on Seoul. We would head up on the 24th, spend Christmas Day wandering and seeing the sights of the city and then go to a restaurant for a great Christmas dinner.

So far this winter hasn't been too bad in Korea, at least compared to what I am used to in Canada. Most days it has been fairly mild with the odd cold day mixed in. WELL ... December 24th I awoke to -12 temperatures and reports that it is only going to get colder over the next few days. At 5 pm I headed to the train station to meet my friends and just in the short distance from my house to the bus stop I was frozen. I decided it would be a good day to splurge on a taxi. At 6 pm my friends and I board the KTX and head off to our first Christmas together in Korea.

When we arrived in Seoul we all looked at the throngs of people waiting for the subway and in unison said the same word ...TAXI! We headed outside to the taxi stand and joined the long of people waiting. The wind there was so cold that in a matter of minutes my hands were numb. Being Canadian, I know how to dress for the winter. I was bundled in sweaters and parkas, scarves and hats and mitts and yet the cold just went right through it. Finally it was our turn. The 3 of us were frozen solid and with a sigh of relief we hopped into the warm car. We told the driver anguk yak (our destination) and he immediately said NO, get out. It seems that we had gotten in the taxi on the wrong side of the road and since we wanted to go in the other direction, we would have to cross the road and find a taxi over there. Cursing all the way, we climb out of the car, back into the cold night, across the road and after some confusion hailed another taxi.

We finally arrived at our guest house, only to be informed that we weren't actually staying there. We were staying at their other guest house further up the road. The young man (Kevin) who was working, piles us all into his jeep and drives us 5 minutes up the road to the other place. He told us not to worry as he sped down narrow alleyways barely missing pedestrians and other cars. Afterall he was a driver in the army.

The place that we had chosen to stay in was called Yoos Guesthouse. We had chosen it because it was a traditional Korean Hanok that had been restored. A Hanok is an old style Korean house built with an outside courtyard in the middle and then bedrooms and kitchens all off the courtyard. This particular guest house was located on the grounds of the former Unhyeon palace.

We thought it would be a very interesting and unique experience, not knowing that it was going to be -12. The room we stayed in was heated but in order to use the bathroom, kitchen etc you had to go outside, and it was chilly. The rooms were traditonal Korean style rooms, which means no beds or furniture. Just a room with a floor and then mats and covers that you lay down to sleep on. Since they use the ondol, or under floor heating, it was warm and comfortable on the floor.

We had decided to spend Christmas Eve inside and given the cold temperature outside, it was a wise decision. We all brought an assortment of foods and beverages and we had a cosy night talking and laughing at all the funny things that we had done and the people we had met the previous year.

The next morning we awoke to even colder temperatures and frozen pipes. There was actually icicles hanging off the tap in the bathroom. We bundled ourselves up and headed to our first destination, a guided tour of Seodemun Prison. The guest house where we were staying had arranged for us to have a tour guide and we thought no better place to spend Christmas Day, then in jail.

At the prison we meet our tour guide, a sweet little girl named Sarah who was all of eleven years old. Her English was excellent and she led us through the prison telling us the stories of all the horrible things that happened there. The prison had been built by the Japanese and many Koreans who fought for independance had been imprisoned, tortured and killed there. At one point we were even led through the torture chambers and shown all the various methods that they used. It was so heartwarming for Christmas day. The first half of the tour was comfortable as it was inside a heated building but the second half was either outside or in the jail cells where there was no heat and by the end we were frozen and ready to go. The tour ended with us standing outside bewildered watching Sarah running away while at the same time thanking us for coming. I htink she was cold too and anxious to get back inside.

We had planned to spend the rest of the day going ice skating and shopping but quickly decided that it was too cold. Instead we headed back to the guest house where we sat huddled under blankets until it was time to go to dinner.

We finished Christmas Day with a meal at La Cigale Montmartre, a french restaurant in an area of Seoul called Itaewan.

This place was truly french and the food was superb. I dined on mussles cooked with ham and garlic and a lime dacquiri. We lingered over the meal, enjoying the food and each others company. It was a relaxing and comfortable night.

It truly was a memorable Christmas and as Kristina pointed out, a Christmas with an international flair. You have a Canadian, and American and a South African celebrating Christmas in Korea at a french restaurant. It doesn't get any better than that.

The new men in my life

2010-11-24T18:52:00.006-05:00

So I was recently informed that I was doing a poor job at keeping up with this blog. Frankly I wasn't sure if people were still reading it, but apparently they are, so I promise to start writing more frequently.

About a month ago something happened, which at the time I thought was a little strange, but it turned out to be a huge blessing. One day I was standing at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to go home from work, when an older Korean man approached me and speaking in very good English, asked me if I was a teacher. This in itself isn't unusual as here people often speak to you in strange places and they usually fall into one of two categories a) someone who is curious about you and wants to practice their english skills or b) someone who wants to recruit you to their church. The first group of people I am more than happy to speak to and, well with the second group I usually quickly pledge my allegiance to Satan and make a hasty retreat. This man, however, proved to be neither.
He introduced himself as Mr. Bak and told me that he is a retired Engish teacher who volunteers at a nearby seniors center. He teaches an English class and explained that he had an American girl helping him but she returned home so now he is looking for a replacement. Although he never actually came out and asked if I was interested, it's not the Korean way to be that direct, I knew that was what he was wanting. I immediately thought that this might be an interesting experience but also wanted time to consider the idea so I asked him to call me the following week so that I could check with my school. It didn't take much thinking for me to realize this was an opportunity to befriend some older Korean people who I was sure would have some interesting stories.
I agreed to spend an hour every saturday there helping with this class. On my first day I arrived not really sure what to expect or what the students reaction would be to me. I went into the clasroom and met my students, 8 men ranging in age from 70 to 84. Most of these men spoke decent English, enough for us to have a simple conversation, and they immediately started asking me questions about Canada and my life in Korea. I was expecting things to be uncomfortable because age is a big deal in Korea and usually when you have someone younger and older together things get very formal. Not with these men though. Right away they started joking around and teasing each other and bragging about who has the most girlfriends.
I felt instantly comfortable with these men and they started telling me stories about their lives. They all fought in the Korean war and one man told me that during the war they were all taught to say 3 words "I am South Korean", and this saved many of them from being killed by American soldiers mistaking them for North Koreans.
After the class finished they took me downstairs to the cafeteria for lunch where many of the other seniors in the building came over and started talking to me. At one point one man came over and started naming all the American states and which point one of the men in my class became angry and said "She's not American, she is from Canada". Without blinking an eye the man stopped in midstate and started reciting all the provinces instead.
Since that first class, I now go every saturday. What was supposed to be only 1 hour has instead turned into 4. All the men in the class put their money together and bought me a good Korean text book. Every staurday after our English class, I eat lunch with these men and then 2 of them spend 2 hours helping me learn Korean.
Meeting Mr. Bak that day at the bus stop was truly a blessing. I look forward to my saturdays with these men. They have become my friends, they have let me into their circle, and allowed me to see Korean people in a different light. I feel like I have 8 grandfathers and they have made it very clear that if I ever needed anything, they would be there to help. They even promised to be at the airport on my return from Canada, holding a sign with my name on it to welcome me back to their country. I have been given a unique opportunity that many westerners here don't get and for that I am very lucky.

Beijing part 3 - The Great Wall

2010-10-10T08:00:00.004-04:00

It was my last day in Beijing and I had only one goal in mind - to visit the Great Wall of China. Afterall, that was the main reason that I went and I couldn't leave without seeing it. From Beijing there are 3 sections of the wall that you can travel to. The 2 closest and more popular are Badaling and Mutianyu and then further away was Jinshanling. The jinshanling section is more rugged and is better for the hiker and more adventurous sort and I heard that Mutianyu wasn't as scenic as Badaling, so my decision was made.

There are many companies offering tours to the wall, most of them were expensive and included stops at shopping districts and other attractions that didn't interest me. With the guidance of the people at my hostel I opted to find my own way there. Keep in my mind it was a 2 hour bus ride away but it seemed easy enough to find that bus.

I headed out early in the morning, hopped on the city bus over to the bus station where I was told to get on bus 902. Well, when I got there, there were about 30 buses in the parking lot all with the number 902. After asking a few people I finally found the 902 bus that I needed, got on and sat down. Slowly people started to get on but it wasn't too busy and I thought this will be a nice 2 hour bus ride. We stopped at the next staion and more people got on, and more people and more people until eventually the bus was so crowded that people were practically hanging out the windows. Many of them looked at me strangely as I was the only foreigner on the bus. All I could say was that I was thankful that I had a seat. Eventually we arrived and I disembarked with the other cattle and followed the crowds up to the front gates. I had to walk past all the tacky souvenir stands selling the t-shirts saying I climbed the Great Wall and I couldn't resist buying a memento.

I could see the wall off in the distance and it was exactly how I expected it to look, a crumbling stone wall meandering through the hills for miles into the distance. It was beautiful. I climbed the steps up to the wall (about 1000) until eventually I was standing on it. I couldn't believe that I was there. I started walking and at times it was very steep but I was motivated by all the old people running past me. I stopped often to take pictures, more to catch my breath than anything else. The place was very crowded but not so crowded that you couldn't appreciate where you were. The view were stunning and the weather was perfect. I climbed for about for 2 hours before deciding to head back down and try to find my bus home.

I knew where I had gotten off the bus but I wasn't sure if that was where I got back on. There were many people standing there and andit seemed that there was a continous stream of 902 buses coming but nobody was getting on them. Then I noticed on the side of the buses was a sign with the final destination on and I knew the name of the staion I wanted to go. Eventually a bus came with that station written so I took a breath, climbed on and hoped it was the right bus. I wasn't lucky this time to get a seat and had to stand in the aisle jammed in with half the chinese population. I start looking out the window desperate to see something familar so that I know that I am going in the right direction. Slowly people start getting off at various stops so after about 45 minutes I am able to get a seat. At this point I have seen signs indicating that I am headed back to Beijing so I figure evenn if I don't get to the rights station I will at least be in the city and can find my way home. I didn't need to worry as I arrived back to where I started exhausted but relieved. It had been a great trip to Beijing but I was ready to go back to Korea.

Beijing - Part 2

2010-10-01T18:33:00.010-04:00

Having arrived at my hostel I was now faced with the dilema of what to do with my time. It was late afternoon, so too early to call it a day, and yet I was exhausted from the early flight and the stress of finding the hostel. However I felt the need to make the most of my time in Beijing so I sucked it up, headed back out the door and walked towards Tiananmen Square. Halfway there I came upon an entrance to a park, Zhongshan Park and decided to spend some time wandering through it. It turned out to be a really beautiful park with some lovely gardens and these giant rock formations. On top of that it wasn't very busy. It was a peaceful and tranquil spot in the midst of a bustling city. At one point I could hear the screams and shrieks of children and as I wandered towards the noise I found myself at a pavillion with kids riding on bumper cars. It was a little strange in the middle of this beautiful park but it reminded me of my childhood at the local fair. I wandered the park for an hour and exited to find myself on the edge of Tiananmen Square. I decided not to enter the square and save it for a day when I was less tired and could appreciate it more. I headed back to the hostel figuring I would spend the evening poring over my lonely planet making plans for the rest of my adventure.

Back at the hostel there were a few other patrons wandering around so I sat at one of the tables, ordered some noodles and started making some plans. Within a few minutes 2 older women sat down with me and we started chatting. It turns out they were 2 sisters who were on a 6 week journey that had taken them to India, China and then Singapore and Australia. We ordered a bottle of wine and sat there late into the evening laughing over stories of our various adventures. By the time we said good night we had made plans to spend the following day together and I went to bed feeling exhausted but happy.

The next morning came early and I woke up excited about the day ahead of me. After a hardy breakfast I headed out the door with Sherry and Carol, headed for the Beijing Zoo to see the Pandas. We decided to take the local bus and I was a little apprehensive about what the buses might be like in China but figured they can't be any worse than the ones in Korea. They actually turned out to be much nicer, the bus was hardly busy and the drivers were very competent and respectful. It was very different from Korea, where you sometimes feel like you are risking your life every time you step aboard. After about 20 minutes we were there and we followed the throngs of people into the zoo. It was holiday in China so everyone with a child had decided that a day in the zoo was in order. My only concern here was to see the pandas and I had no interest in the other animals so we headed straight to the panda pavillion. It was packed with people but we manged to fight our way to the front of the crowds and peer through the glass. It was worth it, they were so adorable. We spent about an hour here, taking pictures and staring at these cuddly creatures.

We finally decided to head off to our next location - the summer palace. I had been told by many people that this was a must see in Beijing and it definitely is. This was the summer hideout for the those at the Imperial Palace seeking refuge from the summer heat. Located on the shores of Kumming lake it was like a giant park consisting of temples, palaces, gardens and pavillions. Of course today it also consisted of thousands of people but that didn't take away from the beauty of the place. We wandered for hours marvelling at the architecture and the scenery. At one point we climbed high atop a hill to the Buddhist Temple of the Sea of Wisdom, which was about 1,000 steps up but worth it for the views. After a few hours wandering here it was late afternoon and we were all exhausted and felt it was time to head home. We made it back to the hostel, changed our clothes and headed out to the night market in search of food. When we hit the night market we all knew that we would not be eating here as the smell alone was enough to make you vomit. The night market consisted of various stalls selling a variety of snack items like, octopus and scorpions on a stick, bug larvae and giant shishkabob beetles. It all looked yummy. It was fun to wander and look at all these interesting foods, knowing that never in a million years would I eat any of it. After a while here we headed to a normal restaurant and had a lovely meal of duck and rice. Day one was finished and I hit the bed, thoroughly exhausted.

The next morning I woke, ready for another day in Beijing. I headed out alone this time and decided to visit locations closer to the hostel ie. Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I hopped on the bus to Tiananmen Square and emerged from it to yet again, giant crowds of people. I made my way through the security checks and stepped out into the square. The square itself had little to see but was still impressive as it was surrounded by 1950 style soviet buildings - communism at it's best. It was an overwhelming feeling to stand in that square and think back to the events of 1989 and the bravery of those people who stood up for democracy. Unfortunatly the crowds here were stifling, which made it difficult to appreciate the significance of where I was standing.

I slowly made my way across the street to the Gate of Heavanly Peace with the giant picture of Mao and into the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was given it's name because it was off limits to commoners and foreigners for over 500 years. It is the site of the Imperial Palace where at one time the Emperors ruled the country. I followed the crowds through the main gate and walked and walked and walked. I kept looking for the ticket booth but somehow missed it. I started following a tour group, went through a turnstile and ended up in the main courtyard. Somehow I had gotten in without buying a ticket. I found out much later that the tickets were rather expensive and the security was fairly tight - you needed to show your passport to buy your ticket. Somehow I bypassed all this and got in for free. The place was huge and the avid enthusiast could spend days exploring it. I did it in 3 hours. It was overwhelming, filled with courtyards and temples and gates. I had rented an audio guide so I was able to hear what the various buildings were used for. It was definitely worth the money to get that. After 3 hours of being transported back into history I exited the Forbidden City and made my way to my next locaton Jingshan park.

Once again this was a small but peacefuly park at the the edge of the Forbidden City. The park sits on a hill which was created from the earth that was excavated to make the moat around the Forbidden City. Legend has it that the park was built to act as a shield for the palace from evil spirits and also as a barrier to the dust storms from the north. In the center of the park was another pavillion with about 1000 steps up to it. I made the climb and was rewarded with fantastic views over the Forbidden City. The park was peaceful break from the crowds and at one point I came upon a group of older people practicing Tai Chi. I left the park feeling refreshed and ready to face the crowds again.

From Jingshan park I headed over to Lake Beihai and Beihai park. This place was mostly filled with picnicers and families. There were people on the lake with rented paddle boats and at one point I even saw 2 men swimming. At this point a kindly old lady approached and in very poor english asked where I was from. I said Canada and she said that she lived in Australia but was from Beijing, then she gave me a big smile and walked away. It was very sweet. I stayed an hour in Beihai park before heading to my final destination - Bouhoa bar street.

This area is a long street that runs along the edge of the lake and contains over 200 bars and restaurants. I had been going all day with very little to eat and thought I might find something here. Most of the places that I passed were either very busy or looked really dodgy. I had been prewarned about the cleanliness of restaurants in China and was reluctant to enter many of them. After another hour of walking I gave up on finding somewhere to eat. I was tired of being constantly harrassed by the rickshaw drivers and I was exhausted so I made my way back to my hostel where I knew the food would be good and there would be someone to talk to. I had a lovely plate of noodles and headed to bed early ready for my next days adventure to the Great Wall.

Beijing - part One

2010-09-26T04:21:00.004-04:00

I've decided to break my posts about Beijing into a few different blogs because there is to much to say in one sitting.

DAY ONE

I stepped from the Beijing International Airport into grey clouds, a slight drizzle and with a vague sense of apprehension. I was apprehensive because 1) I didn't know how I was going to get from the airport to my hostel and 2) I had heard various stories about the dodginess of China. I didn't know what to expect but thought it would be a harsher version of Korea. I was right - it was a MUCH HARSHER version of Korea.
I solved my first problem by hopping onto the express train from the airport which would take me into Beijing and one of the subway stations. I knew that my hostel was somewhere near Tiananmen Square so figured I would take the subway there and then walk. I had no problems using the express train, it was when I exited the train and attempted the subway that the problems ensued. I could see where to go to get on the subway but didn't know where to buy the tickets or how much they cost. There were some automatice ticket machines, all in Chinese and no one around who spoke English. After 5 minutes of standing around feeling lost, I finally found a ticket booth, bought 1 ticket and hoped it was for the subway. It was.
I had a subway map so I knew where to go and I knew that I had to change to 3 different lines. The first line was only 2 stops and when I got on I thought - no problem. The train wasn't that busy and it was a piece of cake. I got off and switched over the next line for another 2 stops. This train was a little bit busier but still not too bad. Then I switched for the line to Tianamen Square. It would be 5 stops and this is when the insanty began. The crowds waiting to get on the train were scary and they had guards waiting at the doors trying to control the traffic. When the doors opened it was like a vacum sucking you in, you had no choice but to move with the crowd. Somehow I arrived at my stop and managed to fight my way backt through the crowd and out the door. I was at Tianamen square.
I thought my hostel was close by but really it was 2.5km away. Armed with my trusty Lonely Planet I found the road I needed and walked and walked and walked. Just when I thought that I had to be going in the wrong direction I saw a little red sign with my hostels name pointing down a small alley. I must have looked confused because this little old Chinese lady tapped me on the shoulder, pointed at the sign and pointed up the alley. So I headed up the alley and within 5 minutes I was standing at the gate to my hostel.

My hostel was located in one of the old hutongs of Beijing. Hutong is the name given to the alleyways that crisscross throughout the city. There are over 360 hutongs in Beijing, all with seperate names. Each hutong is like a little community. Within the hutongs are the buildings or Siheyuan - which is what my hostel was. Bascally each Siheyuan has a door that leads out into the alley, when you step through the door you enter the courtyard of the building. When I first arrived at my hostel I questioned where I was staying but as soon as I stepped through the door it was like I had entered another world. It was breathtaking.

The main room of the hostel was the original courtyard of the Siheyuan. A roof had been put over it with a fountain in the middle along with tables, chairs, couches and 2 computers, typical hostel lounge. It was all decorated with Chinese art and decorations and along the sides of the courtyard were all the rooms. It had a very cosy, homey feel and definitely one of the best hostels that I have every stayed at.

Ramblings of a weary traveller

2010-08-16T01:04:00.004-04:00

I often wonder what people love about travel in all honesty, it can be very exhausting and a little disheartening.

I read this quote somewhere and as an experienced traveller it's meaning really rings true. I am now back to work after 2 weeks holidays, the first part of which I spent in Hong Kong. I came back from Hong Kong feeling a little let down and disheartened. I was really looking forward to my visit there and was a little disappointed in what I saw and experienced. I was ready for adventure, a mind blowing cultural experience and instead I got a big city that could easily have been Toronto or New York or London. Don't get me wrong, it was a beautiful city and it was refreshing to be around so many english speaking people and to have access to familiar products from home like doritos and diet coke, but after a few days I was bored. I came to Korea looking for a unique experience and although I have done some interesting things here, I still feel like a visitor, travelling where the other foreigners go and eating where the other foreigners eat. I returned from Hong Kong really questioning why I was here. I made some sacrifices to come here. I left friends and family behind. Although I have enjoyed myself there are days when the lonliness can be unbearable. I am rarely alone and yet I often feel a little lonely. I have made some great friends here but I have spent years cultivating the relationships that I have in Canada, so how can they even be compared. I left Hong Kong wondering why being an expat was so appealing and was it really worth scarifice. By the end of my vacation I am able to answer with a resounding YES. Here's why.

On my way home from Hong Kong there was a little airplane trouble and we were forced to spend an extra night. While standing around the airport trying to sort what was happening I started talking to a man who has lived in China for 4.5 years (from Mexico). He was coming to Korea on holiday / business and after talking to me he decided to come to Daejeon. We had dinner in Daejeon and he suggested that I come to Busan (another city in Korea) since I still had a week of holidays. I am not normally that impulsive but I didn't even hestitate to say yes. Our connection was purely on a friendship level so I knew I was safe with my own hotel room and could easily catch another train home should I change my mind. We spent the day at the beach and the night eating Korean bbq. The next day we caught another train to Seoul where we spent 2 days wandering areas in Seoul that I never knew existed and are rarely frequented by foreigners. We ate only korean food and stayed up until 3am drinking copious amounts of beer and having great conversation sharing stories of our travels and experiences. I left there feeling, for the first time, like I am embracing Korean life. I am not just a tourist who eats a bit of rice and then says they have been to Korea.

This is why I love to travel. It's not about the temples and the landscapes, anyone can visit those places. It's about sitting in a dingy little bbq restaurant, down some back alley at 3am , while an ajumma is trying to explain the menu to you. Going anywhere you want without worrying about the language barrier. Knowing that you can make yourself understood and enjoying the process of doing that. To me, this is what it means to travel and experience a culture. Being catapulted away from your comfort zone, being forced to react and recognize your strengths. I feel a great deal of pride in the travel that I have done and knowing that I am capable of going anywhere on my own. I feel smart and competent, adventurous and independant. I feel happy.

2 Americans, 2 South Africans and a Canadian .... adventures at the beach!

2010-07-26T05:12:00.003-04:00

For the past month the heat and humidity here has made life uncomfortable. So 2 weeks ago when the oppourtunity to go to the beach presented itself, I leaped at the chance. The thought of swimming in cool water and relaxing in the sunshine was very appealing. I have recently started taking Korean lessons at the Daejeon International Community Center and on my first day there they gave us a sheet of paper with a list of upcoming trips, including this beach trip. For a mere 20,000w they offered transportation to the beach, refreshments, lunch and dinner - you can't beat that. I immediately called 2 of my friends and signed us all up. When I signed up they pointed across the road to a yellow sign and very clearly said be there in that parking lot at 8am.
So, sunday morning 8am, under the threat of grey skys and rain I met my friends in the parking lot and we wait. No one comes. We wait some more, still no one comes. I decide to cross the road to the community center to see if anyone is there. I have to mention here that crossing the road is not an easy feat as it is a major intersection so to get across you have to go down into the subway and walk underground and come up the other side. I cross the road and sure enough there are 2 other english speaking people standing there. I later findout that their names are Andre and Donovan from America and S. Africa respectively. It seems they are also waiting for the beach trip but have no idea where to go and the community center is locked. The three of us now cross back over the road to join my other 2 friends where we wait some more. 15 minutes later after numerous phone calls to a woman who barely speaks english and crossing the road a couple more times, 2 women approach us and herd us into 2 taxis. I climb into one taxi with Andre and Donovan, leaving my other friends standing on the side of the road looking slightly anxious and a little bewildered. I am sure we were all thinking the same thing - where are we going and what have we gotten into. As we have affectionatly started calling it Dynamic Korea - you just have to go with the flow. After driving for 10 minutes we pull into a parking lot where there are 2 busloads of people waiting for us. we manouver our way onto the bus and manage to find seats we realize that we are the only white, english people on the entire trip.
We drive for about 2 hours before reaching our destination, Mongsanpo beach. Mongsanpo beach is on the west coast of Korea, on the yellow sea. They shepherd us off the bus and make gestures of taking pictures and eating. They then pull out this huge banner and make us all stand under it to take a group photo. At this point the 5 of us are doubled over in laughter because the whole thing is absurd. We think how funny this photo is going to look with all these asians and 4 very white people and 1 very black man. Then they pull out these big coolers and start handing out lunch. This is when things become chaotic as Koreans have no sense of how to line up. Everyone makes a mad dash for the coolers while the 5 of us are pushed to the back. It was like a free for all at a bargain basement sale. We just stand there in amusement waiting for the crowd to clear. Eventually we get our lunch, which was a rather delicious meal of rice, chicken , fish and vegetables. We grab our lunch, seperate from the crowd and make our way to the beach.

The beach was really beautiful although the tide was out when we arrived so it was a long walk to the water, but well worth it. Of course we were the only white people on the beach so our every move was being watched and analysed. We managed to get a table which we then had to pay 20,000 to use but it was worth it. It was very similar to beaches at home except every 20 minutes or so they would start saying things over a loud speaker and at one point some man starting driving down the beach in a tractor. We are still not sure what that was about.

We kepy trying to guess what they were saying over the loud speakers and the joke of the day was that they were making comments about the funny white people. At this point Kristina and I went into the water and we discovered what they were saying. We were standing in the water talking when the loud speaker came on and then I hear Kristina say Oh my god and I turn around and there is a seadoo coming towards us, towing a giant raft with people on it. It seems we were standing in the boating zone, and they were not slowing down. We made a mad dash to get out of the way and just made it. We are pretty sure the lady on the loud speaker was yelling at us.

At one point I go in the water and I see the only black guy in our group being surrounded by all these Mongolians. They all want their picture taken with him. They all give me their cameras and pose in various positions . It was hilarious but they were happy.

After many hours of soaking up the sun and copious amounts of beer it is time to go. We head back to the bus find our seats and head home. We had a slight altercation on the bus as we decided to change seats so that we can sit together. It seems the people who had originally sat there weren't so happy to move and proceeded to yell at us until we moved back to our original seats. We knew dinner was at some point but we didn't know where or when. We drive back to Daejeon and then they come over the microphone and make an announcement, in Korean of course. I make a joke saying that they are saying that everyone but the white people get to have the dinner. Little did I know how true my statement was. We pull up to the restaurant, get out, climb up 3 flights of stairs and enter a room full of tables. Once again it became a madhouse with people running in all directions, pushing people out of the way to find a seat. The 5 of us just stand there in dazed bewilderment with no where to sit. At this point we decide we have had enough and opt to leave rather that stay for dinner. We say goodbye to the coordinators and head out to a more civilized restaurant and have dinner with just the 5 of us. Despite the chaos, we had a great day and it all just added to the adventure.

Teachers trip

2010-07-17T19:48:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was the last day of school before the summer break. It was saturday, yes they make children here go to school every other saturday until 12. Since it was the last day of the school all the teachers celebrated with a trip. We were told a few weeks prior that we would take a trip to Seongnisan National Park where we would spend the afternoon climbing a mountain. I am not too keen on mountain climbing, especially in 90d heat and humidity, nor I found out were any of the teachers that I shared an office with. So, we prayed for rain. Our prayers were answered because it rained, and it rained, and it rained. It rained so hard at times that there were streets that were flooded and creeks overflowing - but our trip got changed and no mountain climbing.
At 11:10 we all ventured out to street in front of our school, huddling under our umbrellas to wait for our ride. Our chariot came in the form of a big, purple bus complete with kareoke disco lights and microphones at every seat. When I saw that I knew it was going to be an interesting day. Fortunately they opted to turn on the disco lights but leave the kareoke machine alone and we headed out to our first destination - Sangsoo Herbland. Along the way they handed out goodies including bags of snacks, bottles of water and a big piece of Deok (which is korean cake made from rice - of course). This is when the fun began and the Vice-Principal cracked open the beer and walked from seat to seat pouring each person a shot of beer followed by a piece of dried squid. To refuse would be considered rude - so I dutifully drank my beer and ate my squid.
We arrived at Herbland, which turned out to be a giant herb farm famous all across Korea and even other parts of Asia. We were given a brief lecture - it was in Korean of course but I am assuming it was on the types of herbs that they grow there and what they can used for. After the lecture we were taken on a tour of the facility and luckily everything was marked with english signs so I was able to tell what we were looking at. It was a very large place and the smells of the lavender and rosemary was overwhelming , but in a nice way. The tour was followed by lunch of their specialty dish of flower bibimbap.

Bibimbap is a popular korean dish that consists of white rice topped with bean sprouts and other vegetables and then a bean paste is added. Sometimes egg or meat can be added as well. It is all mixed together and is very delicious. In this case special flowers grown at the herb farm are also added. It was very, very good and as you can see from the picture below I am getting better at using my chopsticks.
After lunch we boarded the bus again for our next destination - Chungju writing museum. Of course on the bus ride to the museum the Vice principal once again made the rounds with the beer shots and dried squid. At the museum we were given a tour guide who showed us displays of ancient writing tablets and explained how the monks made books and papers centuries ago. Again it was in Korean but there were some english signs so I was able to understand some of what it was about. I expect that if I had been able to understand the tour guide it would have been very fascinating.
We left the museum and headed to our final destination - Beupjusa temple in Songisan national park. It was a 30 minute bus ride, which of course involved more beer and dried squid and when we arrived the rain was pouring down. We tumbled out of the bus, put up our umbrellas and started the 20 minute trek into the park. Despite the rain it was a very pleasant walk through the forest. The temple sits at the base of Songisan moutain so along the walk you can see the mountian peaks showing through the trees. Since it was raining it was all very misty and quite beautiful. We finally emerged through the trees to the temple compound and it was breathtaking.
One of the first things you see is Palsagjeon which is the only 5 story pagoda left in Korea. This temple was built in the year 553 but was destroyed by the Japanese and had to be rebuilt in 1624. The temple was built with the hope of unifying the 3 kingdoms of Korea. It's sad that 14 centuries later millions are still hoping for a unified Korea.
Amongst the wooden pagodas and ancient buildings is this giant golden statue of Budda. It;s called the Golden Maitreya Statue of National Unification and was erected in 1990 on the site of the original main hall of the temple.
We wandered the temple for half an hour and then walked back to the bus to head for dinner. Our dinner consisted of Korean bbq - which is an interesting experience. First it is served at Korean tables, which means you remove your shoes and then sit crossed legged on the floor. It gets very umcomfortable after awhile but I am starting to get used to it. The tables are long and about 20 people would fit at the one table. For every 4-5 people at the table there would be cooking spot. We were then given plates of raw duck meat which you place on the BBQ and then let it cook. As well you would be given mushrooms and other vegetables which you could put on to cook with the meat. You then take your chopsticks and eat the meat rigth off the bbq. It's delicious. Most people take lettuce leaves and put the meat inside the lettuce and eat it that way. It doesn't matter how you eat it - it's very good. The dinner was followed by a dessert of potbinsu which is a type of Korean icecream made with crushed ice, bean paste and fruit mixed in. Also very delicious.
After dinner we climbed back on the bus for the trek home. At this point most people were exhausted and fell asleep . There was one male teacher whow as very drunk at this point and decided to round people up to go drinking after we got home. He went from seat to seat convincing people but when he got to my seat, looked at me for a minute debating whether to try to talk to me. In his drunken state he couldn't remember the limited english that he had so just said any words that came into this head. All I understood was family and schedule, however I knew what he wanted so I agreed to go. It turns out all the teachers had agreed just so that he would go away but once we got back to the school nobody went anywhere. We all headed to our respective cars and buses and went home. It was a fun but exhausting day.

5 months in ...

2010-07-05T07:15:00.003-04:00

So, I have been here for almost 5 months and I thought I would give my thoughts on Korea and the things that I have come to like, dislike and just find amusing. On the whole I have come to enjoy living here. It's very exciting to live in a new culture and having new experiences every day. Here are some of the things that I have come to really like about Korea.
1. Buying ice cream - when you buy ice cream in the grocery store in Korea it comes packaged in an air sealed freezer bag that keeps it frozen until you get home. I could be wrong, but I have never seen this in Canada. What a great invention - it lets me buy ice cream, take the bus home, and still have it be frozen solid.
2. Outdoor exercise equipment - All over Daejeon, and I suspect Korea, are outdoor exercise machines. You see them everywhere, in parks, on sidewalks and in school playgrounds. It varies depending on where you are but basically they consist of bikes, stepping machines, weight machines etc. They are free for anyone to use and quite often I pass by on the bus and see some old man pedalling away on one of the bikes. They are a great way to avoid paying for a gym membership.
3. I have mentioned this before but I will say it again - banana milk. This stuff is so delicious. Here is a picture of what it looks like. It costs about $1.00 and basically it's banana flavoured milk.

4. Lack of credit cards. It seems that credit cards aren't used to often here in Korea as everything gets paid through wire transfers at the ATM. Since I neither like or use credit cards this makes my life very easy here. Basically if you want to buy something online, order plane tickets, reserve seats on a tour they will give you their account number, you go to the ATM, type the info in and voila it's paid for. It's made my life much easier here in Korea as I have been able to buy books, reserve tickets and plan holidays without use of the dreaded visa.

There are many things that I have found amusing or interesting about Korea and I will mention a few of them here.

1. The need to be the first person on the bus. I ride the city bus at least once every day and every time it's the same. There are always a group of people standing at the bus stop waiting with me, and it always very orderly and civilized until the bus appears. Suddenly it becomes a mad dash for the door. I have seen people run and body check others out of the way just so that they could be the first on. I'm not sure what the reasoning for this is - it's not like the bus is going to leave without them. I have a theory though, that it's an ingrained survival instinct. You see riding a bus in Korea, especially a crowded bus can sometime be a life endangering experience. Korean bus drivers are sadistic and there is a rumour going around that they purposely try to knock down as many people as they can (probably get extra points if it's a foreigner). If you are unfortunate enough to have to stand then you hang on for dear life because that driver will take corners without slowing down and and will quite often slam on the brakes for no apparent reason. So I think people try to get on first so that they can get situated with a death grip on the pole before the driver takes off at breakneck speeds. I have included some comics from a website that I found that depicts life in Korea because some of it is very accurate.

2. Misused english language - Koreans like english slogans and you see t-shirts and signs everywhere with them. Unfortunately they are often wrong, sometimes making them really funny. At other times it is very obvious that the person wearing the shirt has no concept of what the slogan means, or I am sure they wouldn't be wearing it. More than a few times I have seen men wearing shirts stating it's just PMS I am not a bitch. The worst, though is when the students at my school show up in shirts that their parents obviously didn't understand the meaning of. I saw a third grade student wearing a shirt saying I love my hooker or the worst one was a 4th grade boy with shirt saying I am c--t (think a very nasty word for female genitalia). I have seen other slogans like Kitty Litter Revolution or Love the World's Butt. One time I saw an old Ajumma wearing a shirt with glittering letters on it stating I'm a Gangsta. When I took a second look I got the dreaded Ajumma stare (see below)

It's not just t-shirts either. I have eaten in restaurants called Eat Me or Sexy, Honey Bar (which surprisingly was not a strip club). I have seen menus with foods such as Potatoe meet onions (these were french fries who would have guessed).
Finally one of the last things that I find amusing in Korea is this fear that they have of the sun. Most Koreans hate the sunshine and strive to keep their skin as white as possible. It's funny to see the foreigners out in their shorts and tank tops trying to get as tanned as possible standing next to the Korean who is covered up with only thier eyes peaking out. How they stand it in the heat, I don't know but they do.

So,these are a few of the things that I have come to like about Korea. I have decided to skip the dislike section as I will leave that for another post.

Hwaseong Fortress

2010-06-19T06:32:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago on my trip to Jeolla Nam Do, I met a lady who lives in Suwon. It was big joke on the trip because her name is also Cheryl M and she is also Canadian so I kept referring to her as the other Cheryl M. Anyway, Suwon is a city just south of Seoul and she told me about these fortress walls that surround it. Since I love fortress walls I decided that I must check it out. When I looked it up in my trusty Lonely Planet book I discovered that not only did it look beautiful but it was in fact a Unesco World Heritage Site. I decided that I must pay it a visit. I called up my friend CJ, and sure enough she was game for the adventure.

We caught a train to Suwon and 1 1/2 hours later we were there. We knew we had to go to a place called Paldalmun which was the south gate into the fortress, with steps leading up to the walls, but we weren't exactly sure how to get there. We headed for the tourist info booth where we met a very kind man who spoke no english. Somehow we managed to explain what we wanted and he gave a small slip of paper with the bus number that we needed to take. We were off - but where to catch the bus. Outside the train station was a row of taxi's but no buses to be seen. I did however see a man in a straw hat, with a map and I assumed that he was going to the same destination - so we followed him. Sure enough he led us right to our bus. We were a little concerned that we wouldn't know where to get off the bus but it turns out you couldn't miss it as there was a giant stone gateway in the middle of the road. Also the straw hat man got off here so we knew we were in the right place.
Hwaseong fortress was built in the late 1700's by King Jeongjo to house the remains of his late father, Prince Sado. Prince Sado was locked by his father inside a rice chest where he died. It was punishment for disobeying his command to commit suicide. Parents were so unreasonable back then. High above the fortress are the walls that total a distance of 6km around the perimeter.

At Paldamun we climbed the very steep stairs up to the walls where we began our journey under black skies and the threat of rain. Despite the grey skies the weather was very hot and humid and within no time we were exhausted but determined to walk the entire length. Off in the distance we could see a fairly large mountain with a pagoda at the top and we knew at some point we would have to climb it. We journeyed on toward the mountain ever fearful of the sky that was getting darker and darker.

The wall itself was very beautiful and well maintained. Every so often there would be look out stops with pagodas and cannons all strategically placed for the soldiers to keep watch for the enemy, the Japanese. Given the height of the wall we had excellent views over the city. After about an hour of walking we noticed the sky getting even darker and we started to feel a few drops. At this point there were some stairs taking you off the wall and I noticed some shops selling umbrellas. Since I wasn't smart enough to bring mine I thought I had better go and buy one. We still had at least an hour of walking. I bought a lovely pink umbrella and we climbed back up the stairs and continued our walk. Sure enough, simply because I bought an umbrella, the skies cleared and the rain stopped. We continued on with that mountain looming in front of us.

We had been walking for almost 2 hours when suddenly we were there. At the mountain. There were stairs straight up to the top and it seemed like an endless climb. To make it more difficult the stairs were cut from stone on the side of the hill so they weren't exactly even or evenly spaced. Somehow we made it to the top, did our Rocky dance to the amusement of others there, and looked out over the city. Down below was the fortress and we knew we had reached the end.

We walked a little further where we found the stairs down and signs to the entrance into the fortress. Outside the fortress there were crowds of people and some sort of festival going on. We got there in time to see this crazy man doing tricks on the tightrope. We watched for a little while and then decided that we were too tired and hungry to stay any longer. We made our way back to the road where we caught the bus back to the train station and the train home to Daejeon. Soemhow we managed to right bus to the train station as this time we were without the services of straw hat man.It was a fun day and definitly worth the time and effort.

Since I have complained about them a few times I have included a picture of a squat toilet. This way those of you who have never seen one will now know what I am talking about when I complain. I have actually gotten used to them and they are not so bad.

I've got Seoul

2010-06-05T10:11:00.007-04:00

So today I decided that it was time to get out of Daejeon and pay another visit to the big city of Seoul. My last visit to Seoul was less than satisfying. I ended that trip feeling like I hadn't seen any of the city and looking back on it, it was because I hadn't. This time I decided to travel alone. That way I could follow my own agenda and visit the places that I wanted to see. So at 9:08 am I boarded the superfast KTX train to make the 50 minute journey to Seoul. Going to Seoul is like going to a different world compared to Daejeon. For one thing there are foreigners (aka white people speaking english) everywhere. The city is very tourist friendly with english signs on everything and the subways announce all the stops in english. It's a very easy city to manouver your way through. I arrived at Seoul station at 10am and decided that my first stop should be to one of the many Palaces spread throughout the city. According to my trusty Lonely Planet Guide to Seoul there was one close by. How convenient, it was only one subway stop away. I navigated my way through the throngs of people and managed to push my way onto the subway. One stop later I elbowed my way back off the subway. I had reached my destination - DEOKSUGUNG PALACE.

This palace is situated right smack in the center of the city. Although it had a bit of a park like surrounding it was a little strange to be looking at these ancient buildings and then look up to see the skyscrapers behind it. The Palace was typical of most in Korea with the main building and alot of little buildings around it. They were all traditional Korean style with ornate designs and angles. What was more interesting than the buildings though was the ceremony taking place in front of the palace - the changing of the guards.

This takes place at various times throughout the day and is done with much ceremony (for the tourists I am sure). The guards are dressed in very ornate, traditional Korean clothes. They had a man playing on a giant drum while another group played flutes and various instruments while the guards change places. It was interesting to watch but what was more interesting was watching the people afterwards running up to have their pictures taken next to one of the guards. It was all the Koream people doing this while the white people hovered on the sidelines debating whether they would look too foolish doing it too.

After an hour or two of wandering around this place I decided that it was time for the real reason why I came to Seoul - INSADONG. Insadong is an area of Seoul that is known for it's shopping. Bascially it's a giant market with stores and vendors selling everything from traditonal crafts to tacky souvenirs.

Before I headed to Insadong I thought I had better take a sidetrip to the restroom. I stopped into the one at the subway station (it's not like Toronto it's actually safe to use the toilets in the subways here). Anyway, I wait my turn, enter the stall, of course it's a squat toilet, and on the wall beside it is a big, red button with an arrow pointing to it and some korean writing. After I finish I didn't see any levers to flush so I thought hmmm maybe that is what the button is about. So I push it. Next thing I know there is a man talking to me in Korean through a speaker that I had failed to notice before. That's when I see the button on the floor to flush the toilet so I pressed it and ran as fast as I could out of the bathroom. In my hasty retreat I could see all these Korean women looking at me like I was crazy and I could hear the man still talking through the speaker. Thank God I will never see these people again.

Back to Insadong - it was marvellous. Basically it consisted of one main street, about a km long, full of shops and street vendors selling various crafts. It was packed with people but I had the best time wandering from shop to shop looking at the variety of goods. I had gone there with the intention of buying some gifts for people and I was not disappointed with what I found. The only downfall to the visit was the heat. The sun was out in full force and it was hot.

The highlight of my visit to Insadong was a certain purchase that I made. I wandered into this store that sold these beautiful printed fabrics, wooden carvings and fans. At the back of the store they had these hangings that were bordered by fabric and then hand painted on top. One in particular immediatly drew me in and I knew I wanted it. I looked at the price and it said 200,000 w ($200). I knew it would be pricey but that was a little steep. I wander the store but my eye keeps going back to that print. I wanted it. I kept going over in my mind the reasons why I should get it. Sure it was expensive but I could afford it and this was something that I would keep forever as a memory of this exeperience. I talked myself into and I told the woman I wanted it. She said she would only take cash and I was like who carries 200,000 w around with them. That's when she said "No it's only 20,000 ($20)." I had misread the label. I now have this beautiful print hanging on my wall, bought at a reasonable price.

With my purchases clutched in my hand, sunburnt and exhausted, I decided it was time to go home. I made my way back to the train station and boarded the KTX back to Daejeon. On my journey home I decided that I was very lucky to live where I do. I love Daejeon - it has everything I need minus the crowds of Seoul, but when I want a taste of the big city it's only 50 minutes away.

Happy birthday Budda! My adventures in Jeolla Nam Do

2010-05-26T06:10:00.004-04:00

Last friday was Budda's birthday and since there are many buddists in South Korea, it was a holiday. This was the first long weekend since I have been here so I decided to take advantage of the extra day off and do some travelling. My friend Kristina and I booked seats on a 3 day tour to Jeolla Nam Do, which is one of Korea's southern provinces.
The tour was scheduled to leave from Seoul at 11:30pm on thursday evening. After school on thursday I raced home, grabbed my pack and my sleeping bag and hiked over to Daejeon station to catch a train to Seoul. It seemed that everyone in Daejeon had the same plan to get out of town because the train station was insane. Fortunately we had the foresight to prebook our train tickets, so while others were scrambling to find rides and waiting in massive lineups, we were sitting on an air conditioned KTX train. We arrived in Seoul at 8:30 and since we still had 3 hours we caught the subway over to Itaewan for a send off Mexican meal. Itaewan is a strange area of Seoul because it is so packed with foreigners that you don't even feel like your in South Korea. At 11:30 we met the other 43 people on our tour (mostly other teachers from various parts of Korea) and by midnight we were on our way.
After driving all night we arrived at 6am at our first destination, Hyang - Iram. We were supposed to be there at 4:30am in time to see the sunrise but traffic prevented that. It was a long and sometimes scary bus ride. There were a few times when I was convinced that the bus driver was falling asleep as the bus seemed to swerve on the road quite frequently but we made it alive.
Hyang - Iram is a small temple and monastery perched high on a cliff on the southern tip of Dolsando Island. We disembarked from the bus and started to make the trek up to the temple - and what a trek it was. First we walked up a steep hill to reach the bottom of the stairs. From there is was 350 steps up to the temple. The steps wound through the mountain and at times it was just a narrow passageway through the rock. Given that it was Budda's bithday the entire trail was lined with decorations and lanterns and all the way up you could hear the chanting of the monks. Despite the hard climb it was very peaceful and serene and the views from the top made it well worth the effort. Upon reaching the temple you could look down over the harbour below and the views were spectacular. After appreciating the views Kristina and I pulled out our sleeping bags and had a little nap until it was time to leave.

After leaving the temple we headed to Yeosu harbour for a 2 hour boat cruise. Once again we were rewarded with spectacular views of the water and the rocky cliffs on the shore. The breeze from the boat were much appreciated as it was turning out to be the hottest day I have seen here yet. Thank God I had packed some sunscreen or I am sure I would have been burnt to a crisp.

After the boat cruise we headed out in search of some lunch. We were given two choices, a place that sells raw crab or the food court of a local department store. Since I am not a big fan of raw seafood I opted for the chicken burger at the Lotteria.

Our departure from there found us going to Odongdo Island. This island is basically a large park or botanical garden, with fountains that move to the music and trails through the woods. At this point we were all exhausted from the bus ride and heat so we didn't explore the island too much but instead found a shady spot to wait until it was time to leave.

Our last destination of the day was to a place called Sun Cheon Bay, which is an ecological park surrounded by rice fields. This park has a 2km hike up to the observatory where we had planned to view the sunset. We headed out on the trail to the observatory and then saw the thousands of people headed on the same path. We could barely move the path was so packed with people so we decided that it wasn't worth it. We instead walked along another trail that ran alongside some rice fields. We realized as we were walking that we would get spectacular views of the sunset right where we were so parked our butts and decided to wait. We were not disappointed.

Finally we headed to our destination for the night outside the Nagan Folk Village. We occupied 3 guest houses and I shared a room with 4 others. The rooms were Korean style which basically means no beds and just a mat on the floor. At this point we were so exhausted that none of us cared. I woke up earlier than the others and decided to explore around the folk village.

Nagan folk village is one of the best preserved fortress towns in South Korea. It is a village consisting of tradition Korean houses surrounded by a stone wall. Originally this wall was built as protection against Japanese pirates. The houses are still used. Some of them are restaurants and gift shops, others can be rented to stay in and others are lived in by families. You can walk along the tops of the walls and get glorious views of the village below.

Eventually my friends joined me. It had started to rain so Kristina and I bought straw hats to keep the rain off. We ended up being the envy of everyone else on the trip and my hat is now hanging on my wall as a souvenir.

After the folk village we went to an organice green tea making farm where we would learn the art of making green tea. First we were sent out into the fields to pick the green tea leaves. Armed with our baskets, hats on head, we ventured into the pouring rain to gather our leaves. It was so wet that we ended up soaked to the skin but it was worth it for the experience. After we picked enough leaves we headed inside where we were served hot green tea and were taught the proper way to drink it.

Then the fun began. We were divided into groups, given special aprons and gloves to wear and began making green tea. First we had to cook the leaves in a big pot. You don't want them to burn so 2 people have to constantly be turning the leaves with their hands. After about 10 minutes the leaves are taken from pot and laid on a special mat where they have to be rolled and pressed inorder to get the waxy film off the outside. From here they are again cooked and then again rolled. This process is repeated numerous times. It was hard work and I have great respect for those who do it daily.

Our stop for that night was at a beachside condo but it was raining so hard that we couldn't appreciate either the beach or the views. However, there was a sauna in the basement that we made use of. The sauna was fabulous and contained a green tea bath which felt so good after being in the rain all day. Once again the rooms were Korean style which meant we slept on the floor, but that was ok.

In the morning we woke early, paid another visit to the sauna and then headed to the Boseong Daeha Dawa Green Tea Hills. For me this was the highlight of the trip. When we arrived it was green tea hills everywhere you looked. Since it had been raining it was very misty out and you couldn't see the tops of the hills through the fog. The only way I can describe it is breath taking.

We wandered around the green tea hills for a while and then headed over to the Juk Nok Won bamboo forest. This was essentially a bamboo forest with various trails that you can follow through the bamboo. It was rather busy there but it was still beautiful.

After the bamboo forest it was time to head back to Seoul. At this point Kristina and I started scheming about ways to get the driver to drop us off in Daejeon, since we were going by there anyway and it seemed silly to go all the way into Seoul and then come back. We eventually stopped at a roadside stop near Suwon, south of Seoul where we decided to leave the group. The traffic into Seoul was bad and this way we could get a taxi to the subway, which we could take to the Suwon train station where we would catch a train to Daejeon. There were 5 of us that opted for this. However taxi's would not come to the rest stop as it was on a toll road so we had to find a way to get across the freeway to a gas station that had a back road leading to it. We hiked along the side of the road, in the rain, for about a km to an overpass that we could see in the distance. We thought we could climb up it and walk across. I am sure we were the talk at many dinner tables that night. You won't believe what we saw while we were driving on the freeway - some crazy white people walking in the rain. The overpass turned out to be a railway crossing so we headed back to the start but along the way found a path to a tunnel that led under the freeway. We made our way to the gas station somehow got the attendant to understand that we needed a taxi and were on our way home. We got back to Daejeon 2 hours earlier than we would have, had we travelled into Seoul.

It was an exhausting but thoroughly enjoyable weekend.

Destination DMZ

2010-05-09T07:33:00.003-04:00

So, after having been here for 2 and 1/2 months I have finally left Daejeon and ventured into other parts of Korea. I came to Korea with the intention of travelling as much as I can. Afterall that is what I do. Having visited 30 plus countries I believe I have earned the label of world traveller and yet I haven't seen much of Korea. When you live in a foreign country it's very easy to allow yourself to become cocooned in the area in which you live. Afterall you've become familiar with that place and the thought of adventuring beyond those borders is a little scary. However I took my first steps this weekend, mind you they were baby steps, but they were steps nonetheless. I went to Seoul for the night on saturday and then went on a DMZ tour on sunday. I will leave my impressions of Seoul for another blog and focus today on the more interesting part of the trip, the DMZ tour.
For those of you unfamiliar with this term, the DMZ is the demilitarized zone seperating North and South Korea. Since the Korean War has never officially ended, they are only at a ceasefire, this border heavily guarded by both sides. The DMZ itself is a 4km wide stretch of land seperating the 2 countries. Since this area is virtually sealed off from people it has become an environmental mecca and a haven for wildlife. The views of it were spectacular.

We started the tour at ImjinGak which is as far north as civilians can go without permission. When the war ended there were there were many families that got seperated, some in the North and some in the South. This place was established to console those who had to leave their homes and families in the north behind. Within ImjinGak is an alter called Manngbaedan, which is where people who have been seperated from their families get together and pray. It is mostly visited on New Years Day and Chusock (Korean Thanksgiving).

Also in ImjinGak is the peacebell which was erected during the 2000 millinium and is meant to signify a wish for peace and reunification between the 2 countries.

We were also able to walk on the freedom bridge which was given it's name because it was where prisoners were exchanged after the war ended.

After ImjinGak we visited the 3rd tunnel. This was a tunnel that was discovered in 1978 and was built by North Korea to infiltrate South Korea. They also found 3 other tunnels but they believe that there are many more. The tunnels all go under the DMZ and into Seoul and could allow 30,000 soldiers to invade South Korea within 1 hour. Their discovery was by accident when S. Korean soldiers disccovered vapours rising from the ground. When they started digging they found the tunnels and were immediatly fired on by N. Korea. The walls inside the tunnels had been marked with coal so that they could argue that were actually coal mines. Other tunnels were found after an engineer from North Korea escaped and gave out the information on other tunnels. It is believed that North Korea, to this day, is continuiing to build tunnels under the DMZ.

We were able to walk down inside the 3rd tunnel and what a walk it was. We were given helmets to wear because of the low ceilings, which of course didn't bother me - I didn't even have to duck. We then walked down an extremely steep hill for about 10 -15 minutes. When I say steep, I mean steep. When we got to the bottom we entered into the tunnel. The tunnel was about 2 feet wide and very damp. Basically we walked to the end, maybe another 10 minutes, saw some barbed wire that was blocking the exit, turned around and walked back. We then had to climb back up that extremely steep hill and it was not easy. Although the story of the tunnels was very interesting, it was not worth the effort of going down and seeing them.

After the tunnels we headed to the most interesting part of the tour, the Dora observatory. This is the closest that you can come to North Korea and given that it was a clear day you could actually see Kesung City, which is the 2nd largest city in N. Korea. Unfortunatly you weren't allowed to take pictures of the DMZ here but the views were spectacular. Since the area is virtually uninhabited, it was very serene and beautiful. It looked like a painting. I won't even try to describe it here because words won't do it justice. Off in the distance you could see the only 2 towns in the DMZ zone. The first one is called Daesungdong or freedom village, which is located on the S. Korea side. The people who live in this village pay no taxes and the men are exempt from military service (in South Korea all men must serve 2 years in the military before they turn 40). The other town you can see is called Kijongdong, which is a propoganda village built by North Korea. No one actually lives here but it was designed to give visitors the impression that North Korea is prosperous. Apparently it contains giant loud speakers that blare out propoganda messages 6 - 10 hours a day, although we couldn't hear anything while we were there. According to one of the soldiers that we spoke to neither country is allowed to enter the DMZ zone or do anything in it without telling the other, however North Korea continously breaks this rule.

After the observatory we went to our final stop which was the Dorasan Train station. This is the most northern train station in S. Korea. It has trains that leave once a week to Pyongyang. It was very surreal because, of course, the train station was completely empty. It is under construction with tracks eventually being opened to connect to China and Russia. Someday if the 2 countries are reunited then this will be the station used to reunite families that have been seperated.

It was a very interesting tour and it made me realize just how real the tension is between the 2 countries.

Sport's Day at Wadong Elementary School

2010-05-04T09:34:00.002-04:00

Today was sports's day at Wadong Elementary school. I was told over a month ago that this was happening today, so unlike most things in Korea, it didn't come as a surprise. What did surprise me was the amount of preparation and ceremony involved. I shouldn't have been surprised by that, afterall this is Korea, a country that prides itself on ceremony and tradition.
I arrived at school this morning expecting a fun day with the kids playing a few games and having some good natured competition. I was taken aback when I had to walk past the food vendors and cotton candy stands to get to my school. It was no longer a school but rather a carnival. The playground had been transformed from a dirt field to a stadium. There was a stage at one end for the Principal, Vice-Principal and other important people to sit (the royalty of the school). There were tents set up along the edges of the field for parents, grandparents and other visitors to watch the games.
At exactly 9am the ceremony began. The kids marched onto the field, dressed in the schools colours of blue and white, where they lined up in perfectly straight lines, according to their grades and teams. The entire school had been divided into 2 teams (blue and white) with students from every grade level on each team. Let the competition begin and in Korea there is no such thing as good natured competiton.
The ceremonies started with the national anthem followed by a speech by the principal welcoming the families and officially opening the games. This was followed by warm up exercises led by a teacher who was formally in the military, and it looked like a small army on the playground. They did calisthenic exercises all in complete unison. It was a little wierd and reminded me of the propoganda videos you see from N. Korea with everyone moving in sync.
Finally it was time for the fun. The kids competed in a variety of events some of which were similar to games in Canada and some that were very different. They had relay races and 100m dashes to see who was the fastest. They had one game where they had long poles with balloons on the top. On top of the balloons there were giant balls and the kids threw bean bags at it until the ball broke open. The first team to break their ball would win. It was different. I think the most exciting part of the day was the last relay race between the grade 5 and 6 students. It was a close race and the winning team only won because a girl on the opposing team dropped her baton.

Overall it was an excellent day, the kids had fun, and I was impressed with the number of parents that came out to cheer on their children and participate in the games. The day ended with another round of calisthenics and the children singing the school song.

Let's get naked ... my night at the Jjimjilbang

2010-04-25T02:14:00.003-04:00

Last night, with much hesitation, I decided to do something that is a very common Korean pastime, but something that would make many westerners uncomfortable. I visited the jjimjilbang (korean bathhouse / spa). These can be found all over Korea, in almost very town. In Daejeon alone there are probably hundreds (ok overexagerration but at least 20 or 30). Basically it's a public bathroom where you go to bath amongst many other people.
My friend Kristina and I decided to give it a try as we had heard wonderful things about it. I was very hesitant to go because as a white person I already garner enough stares so I could only imagine what it would be like as a white, naked person. However, I swallowed my pride and told myself that I am here to experience Korea. We arrived by subway to the Yusong spa district area of Daejeon. This area is known for it's natural hot springs and abundant spas. We weren't too sure where to go once we got there but when we stepped out onto the street we were inundated with hotels and signs advertising their saunas. We chose the closest one and walked in. As we descended the steps we were met by a very lovely woman who informed us that the cost would be a measly 5,000 won (about $5.00). We were given a key for a locker, handed 2 towels, instructed to remove our shoes and shown to the change room. The change room itself looked like anything you would see at a pool or gym, with rows of lockers, the walls lined with mirrors on one side and women in various stages of dress blow drying their hair and applying their makeup. There was an old woman behind a counter selling various bathing products, soaps, wash cloths, packets of face masks and body lotions.
We could feel all eyes on us as we walked into the change room and found our lockers. Of course the lockers we were assigned were at the very far end of the room. This later turned out to be a good thing as we were next to the door to the pool so we didn't have as far to walk in our nakedness. Taking a deep breath we removed our clothing. At this point I realized that people had lost interest in us and no one was even looking at us anymore (or at least that's what I told myself). We gathered up our bathing products and made our way to the pool area. The room we entered had a giant tub in the middle (it looked like a big hot tub) that could hold about 30 women. Around it were other smaller tubs, all with digital displays of the temperature. The temperatures ranged from 44d down to 23 d. Along the sides of the room were the actual showers. Before you can enter the main pools you have to bath. We each found a shower and preceded to wash, using our soaps and shampoos etc. Amazingly I very quickly forgot that I was naked and no one seemed to be paying any attention to us.
After the bathing ritual was completed we made our way to the pool. We chose one of the hotter ones (34d) and it was so relaxing. Apparently the water contains special minerals that are good for your skin. It felt like sitting in a giant hot tub. Over in the corner there was a spot where you could pay for massages and other things. There was a sign advertising the different options but it was in Korean so we weren't really sure what they were offering.
We spent the next hour wandering from pool to pool, combining hot and cold. All the pools had jets that you could turn on and off and some had fancy fountains in the middle of them. They also had 2 different saunas. We spent some time in the cooler sauna but after a few minutes I decided the heat was too much for me. As I found refuge in the cooler pool, Kristina headed into the even hotter sauna.
Reluctantly after about an hour and a half we decided that it was time to leave. We were both tired and hungry and as much as we wanted to stay we knew it was time. After a quick shower, we dressed and headed back out into the city.
It was a great experience and one that I will definitly be repeating, very soon. For $5.00 you can go and stay for as long as you want. They are open 24 hours and quite often people will go and sleep there. If you are travelling to another city, rather than spending money on a hotel many will just check into the jjimjilbang and sleep on one of the many lounge chairs around the pool.

It's a pink world ...

2010-04-18T07:04:00.004-04:00

Spring has arrived in Korea and it came in a gust of pink. Not only has the rain finally stopped, and the yellow thing has returned to it's place in the sky, but the cherry blossoms are in full bloom ...and they are everywhere. There aren't words to describe just how beautiful this city looks right now.

Last saturday I headed to the north end of Daejeon to place called Sintanjin, with my friend Kristina, to attend the annual cherry blossom festival. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was very excited. I was envisioning cherry blossoms everywhere and walking under a canopy of pink flowers. Imagine my disappointment when I arrived and saw nothing but bare branches and white tents. We quickly learned that because of the cold spring the blossoms hadn't bloomed yet. Basically we were at a cherry blossom festival without any cherry blossoms.

We decided to stay and make the most of the day anyway. There were mile of tents lining the street, all of them offereing a variety of food. The air was ripe with the smell of bbq and chestnuts being roasted. There were giant pigs being cooked over flames, mounds of clams the size of dinner plates and piles of octopus, squids and other sea creatures that I couldn't even name. We wandered the street checking out all the unusual things in every tent. The fact that we seemed to be the only foreigners there did not go unnnoticed and many of the tents owners called out to us in broken english encouraging us to come and try their foods.

We wandered off the street and into the main grounds where the actual festival was being held. The festival is sponsered by and held every year on the grounds of the Korean Tobacco and Ginseng company (strange combination) and I think they are the main industry in Daejeon. On the way into the festival there were booths inside handing out free samples of ginseng tea and bottles of water. Inside there were more cherry blossom trees, minus the blossoms, and I could picture in my mind how pretty it would look in a weeks time.

What surprised me were not only the amount of people but all of the families. Spread across the lawn there were families, kids, parents, grandparents all doing activities together. I don't just mean little kids, but kids of all ages right through high school and they seemed happy to be there. It's not like in Canada where once a kid hits adolescence you have to force them to be seen with their parents. Korea is a very family oriented culture but never was this more apparent to me than here. We had fun watching the different events, including a paper airplane contest, where old men lined up to see who could throw theirs the farthest. We tried some unusual foods including some kind of cucumber drink that tasted like nothing more than the juice out of the pickle jar. I had to force that one down. We wandered for a few hours and went home tired and only mildly disappointed at the the lack of cherry blossoms. However I vowed to return in one week when I knew they would be in bloom.

A week later I returned to the scene of the festival and it looked like a different world. It was exactly the way I imagined it would be with canopies of pink everywhere. What did surprise me was the fact that the white tents were still there. The festival, which was supposed to have ended last week, was still happening. There were still pigs on the bbq's and octopus on the tables and the amount of people there seemed to have doubled in a weeks times. What had changed was that the bare trees were now covered in cherry blossoms. They were everywhere and it was spectacular.

I wandered for an hour or so up and down the streets lined with these pink blossoms, just in awe at the sheer beauty of it.

A scary moment ....

2010-04-14T02:58:00.004-04:00

Before I begin I would like to stress that up until today my experiences here have been nothing but positive. I have met all sorts of Korean people. Some of them have been over friendly and helpful, going out of their way to make sure that I am happy and comfortable. Others have been curious, from a distance, watching me on the bus or walk down the street while others have been indifferent to my presence. One thing they have in common, they have been non-threatening. Before I left Canada I knew that there was a small fraction of people in Korea who do not like white people and resent us being here. I knew that at some point I would encounter one of these people but when it happened I was left shocked and shaken.
This morning, as I do every morning, I boarded the bus to go to school. When I got on this morning the bus was 3/4 full but there were some empty seats towards the back. I noticed a man standing in the aisle at the back but I didn't pay him much attention as it is common for people to stand on the bus, especially if their stop is soon. I sit down and immediately the man comes and stands beside my seat. For the next 5 minutes I can feel him staring at me, now I have gotten used to being stared at, but in this case it felt really uncomfortable. I tried not to let it bother me and I certainly refused to awknowledge him looking at me. I just stared out the window hoping that he would either go away or get off the bus. Suddenly he lifts one of his feet up and places it on the seat beside me, partly on my leg. I move over because the last thing I want is his dirty feet on my black pants. After another few minutes he moves his foot under the seat and up tight against mine and then partly on top of mine so that I can't move my foot. I manage to get my foot out from under his and move over a little bit more. This entire time I refuse to look at him and sit there calmly, although my mind is racing trying to decide what I should do. Suddenly he lifts his leg again and places it on my arm and starts running it against my jacket, getting close to my face.
At this point I am starting to get a little scared and decide to move from my seat to the front of the bus, closer to the driver. I get up from my seat and he puts his leg out so that I can't get by. I am half standing in the aisle and he has his two legs on either side of me so that I can't move. I try pushing past but he won't budge. I was verytempted to give him a swift kick but didn't want to risk making him angry or cause a scene. At this point I see other people on the bus watching, they all looked shocked and unsure what to do, but nobody offers to help. Somehow I manage to get over his legs and move to the front of the bus, where I stand in the aisle. After a few minutes he follows me there and starts standing close beside me pushing me against the seat. This entire time I refuse to look at him or give the appearance of being anything but calm, although inside I was shaking. I'm sure this infuriated him more.
I still have a long way to my stop but decide that I have had enough so I push the button to get off the bus. I make my way to the back doors and wait for the stop. The man follows and precedes to stand almost on top of me, practically pushing me down the stairs. I am starting to think wildly about what I will do if he gets off the bus too, but luckily the bus stops, I run off and he stays on. I managed to stay calm the entire ride but now I start shaking, both out of fear and and anger. I sit down on the bench in the bus shelter, still shaking when this ajuma (old Korean lady) comes over and sits down, giving me the warmest and friendliest smile that I have seen in a long time. I decide that I can't let one lunatic taint my view of Korea and Koreans. After all there are creeps in every country.
In a few minutes another bus arrives and I get on and go to school with no other incidents. When I arrive at school and tell my fellow teachers, they are shocked. They tell me that this man is crazy and next time I should punch him in the eye. Hopefully there won't be a next time but if there is I may take their advice.
I don't know if he targeted me because I was white and he didn't like that or if he really was crazy and I was his victim for the day. Regardless I will start avoiding the back of the bus and sit a little closer to the driver.

My adventure with scissors

2010-04-03T09:43:00.003-04:00

Today I did something a little more adventurous in Korea. Something that required me to communicate to a Korean person beyond saying annyong hasseyo or kamsa hamnida (hello and thank you). Yes - I went to get my hair cut, and not just a minor trim but actually change the entire style. I hadn't thought about how I was going to talk to the stylist or tell her what I wanted and I didn't really have a plan. I kept hoping that I would think of something or magically know the korean word when I go there. I was a little stressed about it because I had heard horror stories from other people about bad hair cuts but I knew someone who had gone the week before so I decide that I should go to the same place.
I head out on the bus early in the morning because I figure if I wait to late I may lose my courage. It was a beautiful morning and a great time for a new, shorter and stylish hair do. The place where I have to change buses is beside a park and suddenly all these kids come out of a building and start playing in the park. Normally this wouldn't be unusual but they were all dressed in traditional Korean costumes. I don't know what that was about but I couldn't resist a picture. Anyway back to my story. I arrive at my stop and I locate the hair place. It called CharlesLee hair (the owner I am assuming). I go through the door and into a small room with a couple of barber chairs ,a few sinks, a desk and some wine bottles (?), but no people. At the end of the room there is an elevator door. It was very strange. I stand there for a few minutes not really sure what to do but thinking maybe someone will come out. Of course no one does. So I leave. Maybe they are just on a break. I come back in a few minutes but still no one. I leave again and wander outside, peeking in the door every few minutes to see if someone is there. Finally I go back inside, take a deep breath and push the button for the elevator not really sure where it will take me, or what to expect. The door opens and in I go. There are buttons for 2 floors, both labelled in Korean, but one of them also said the word hair beside it, so I took my chances and pressed that floor.
When the elevator opened I was in a whole other world. There was a woman standing at the door waiting for me. She ushered me over to these comfy chairs, took my coat and purse and offered me drinks. I felt like I was at some 5 star spa. Another girl came over and took me to the sink and washed my hair and gave me a scalp massage, it was amazing. Finally I was taken over to my stylist and I start trying to explain to her what I want done. She's looking at me with this blank expression on her face, probably thinking what the hell is this woman talking about. I'm starting to panic because this woman does not understand me and I don't know what kind of hair I will end up with. Suddenly another stylist walks by with the exact hair that I want so I turn around and say "her". I want my hair to look like her. The hairdresser's face lights up and she says "nay, nay, I understand.
As she's cutting my hair there's a man in a full black suit walking around making sure everyone is happy. He reminds me of a pit boss at casino making sure everyone is doing their jobs. The woman next to me has some wierd contraption attached to her head. She had rollers in her hair and this machine came out of the ceiling and 2 people came over and started hooking all these wires onto her head. It looked like something from a sci fi movie where they are trying to read her brain waves. Finally my hair is done. I put on my glasses and look in the mirror with some trepidation but then breathe a sigh of relief. She did a fabulous job and I love it.
Now it's time to pay and I'm wondering how much is this going to cost. A place of this caliber at home would cost $50-60 at least. She says 12,000w which is about $12. My jaw drops. I don't know anywhere that you can get a $12 hair cut at home, not to mention a shampoo and style as well. On top of that if I come back 5 more times I get a free hair cut. I know where I'm going next time.

What I love about Korea

2010-03-27T11:24:00.003-04:00

I have been in Korea for just over 5 weeks and although there are moments when I wonder what was I thinking coming here, there are many more moments when I know I made the right choice. I thought I would use this space to mention some of the things that I have come to love about Korea.

1. No tipping. In Canada we tip for everything - when you get your haircut, take a taxi ride, eat in a restaurant, get a delivery etc. ect. but in Korea you never leave a tip. I'm sure if you tried they would just look at you like you were crazy.

2. No GST / PST on anything. That's right - no taxes. If the price tag says 1,000w then you pay 1,000w.

3. Banana milk. A fellow teaching friend of mine introduced me to this and I am now addicted. Basically it's banana flavoured milk and it is so good. You can buy it anywhere you can buy snack foods like the local 7 eleven. It comes in a small, pastic container and usually costs 1,000w ($1.00). The way I see it must be better for me than drinking pop.

4. You can eat an entire meal at Homeplus with all the free samples they give away. Homeplus is the local department / grocery store. It's a huge store with 2 floors but in the grocery section they have people (sometimes more than 1) in every row giving out samples of food. It sounds like the floor of the New York Stock exchange with people yelling over each other trying to get you to sample their food. You could spend all day wandering around and trying the different things. The only downside is that you don't always know what your eating. More than a few times I have put something in my mouth only to descreetly spit it out.

5. Finally I love Korean McDonalds - not because it tastes good but because it tastes so bad. A few weeks ago I went to the above mentioned Homeplus and thought I would splurge and have McDonald's while I was there. I was excited to eat something other than seafood and rice as that seems to be the main staple of the Korean diet. I eagerly went up to the counter, ordered my chicken nuggets and french fries and sat down anticipating this taste of home. I ate my first nugget and almost died - it was so spicey my mouth was on fire. So I tried the french fries and somehow they managed to even make those taste like fish. I like Korean McDonald's because I now have no desire to ever eat McDonald's again and given how unhealthy the food there is - this is a good thing.

The honeymoon is over ... now reality.

2010-03-24T23:50:00.004-04:00

I have been in Korea for just over a month and up until now I have felt like a tourist. This whole experience was like an extended holiday, an exciting and adventurous holiday, but still a holiday. Last night I came home from work to find my heating bill waiting for me. It should have been no big deal, the amount wasn't anyting exorbitant or shocking, but when I saw it reality hit home. I live here. I live in Korea. I'm not on holiday. I'm not going home in a few weeks. I still have to do the same mundane chores I did at home. I still have to pay my bills, buy my groceries, clean my apartment, do my laundry and go to work. It's time to stop being a tourist in Korea and start living in Korea.

A day in my life

2010-03-17T07:50:00.004-04:00

So a few people have asked me what an average day is like here in Korea and how it compares to Canada so I thought I would give a brief summary here. Bascially this is a breakdown of an average weekday for me (weekends are different because of course I don't have to go to work).

6:45 - I wake up and turn my hot water on. The heating system here is very different. I have a box on the wall where I control both the heat in the apartment and the heat of my water. I flip a switch to have just the water heater on or the room heater or both. You have to be very careful not to leave the water heater on when your not using it or you will pay dearly when you get your heating bill. You also turn your heater off when your not home. They use a heating system here called On-dol heating which means the heating comes up through the floor so the room heats up quickly. It's kind of great because your floors are always nice and warm and you can walk around barefoot.

Once the water is heated up I will have a quick shower. My shower is very different from a Canadian shower. Basically my bathroom is my shower - we call it a toilet shower. You have a showerhead attached to your sink and a drain in the floor and you shower standing in the middle of the bathroom. Your toilet paper and other items are in a special enclosed area so they don't get wet but everything else gets soaked. Usually I open the window so the floor dries pretty quickly.

7:45 I head to the bus stop to catch my bus to school. My bus ride usually takes 15 min depending on the traffic. The bus stops are great here because every bus stop has a screen and it will tell how many minutes until the next bus comes. I'm lucky because the bus I take is fairly empty when I get on so I can usually find a seat. The seats on the buses are wierd. Some buses have almost no seats in the front just open spaces for people to stand, but all of them have seats in the back that are up higher, you actually have to step up into them. I try to avoid those seats because you can't see out the windows and it's hard to know when your stop is. Bus drivers are crazy drivers too. If you have to stand then you hang on for dear life because they barely slow down when they take a corner and usually wait until the last minute to hit the breaks. Compared to Canada buses are very cheap. It costs $1000 won (approx $1.00) if you ar epaying cash. If you have a Hannkumi Card then it's only 950w. A Hannkumi card looks like a credit card and you deposit money onto it at the GS25 convenience stores. Every time you get on the bus you swipe the card and it deducts the cost from your balance. They also let you transfer to another bus or subway without repaying.

8:15-8:30 I arrive at school. I go to my desk, turn on my computer and review my lessons for the day. Sometimes I meet with my co teachers to go over last minute details for our classes that day. Usually this means that they try to talk to me and I don't understand a word they say, then I speak to them and they don't understand a word I say. We then go into class and try to teach together. Usually the first class of the day is difficult because we are both unsure of exactly what the other is going to do. However we teach the same lesson all day, so for example on wednesday I teach only grade 4 but to 5 different classes, so after class one the rest of the classes usually go fairly smooth.

9:00 - 2:00 I teach. I am pretty much in the classroom right through until 2. We have 40 min classes with 10 minutes inbetween and an hour at lunch. The classes are fun so the day goes by quickly. The school is very digital, so everything is computerized and high tech. It's pretty neat and I'm starting to do things on my computer that I didn't know were possible.

Lunch - this is an experience. My lunch is provided for me in the cafeteria. I believe the cost is deducted from my pay. I usually go to lunch with my co teachers, we butt in front of all our kids and then grab our spoons, chopsticks and metal tray which is divided into compartments. the lunch lady fills the various compartments with different foods. There is always some kind of soup (it usually has tofu in it), a generous portion of rice, some kimchi and some kind of vegetable. Occasionally we will get stuffmixed with the rice like seaweed or vegetables and sometimes we get fruit or meat. Last week we had chicken legs. I am slowly getting used to the lunches but they give such large portions that I can never finish. Also my co teachers eat very fast and I am not good enough with my chopsticks to keep up. I ususally end up leaving half my lunch behind. After we are doen eating we take our trays to thesink and then we are given a glass of lukewarm tea which comes out of a big water dispenser. I got a shock the first day when I took a big gulp thinking it was water. I believe the tea is meant to clean your mouth as rice sticks to everything.

The rest of the afternoon I spend at my desk preparing lessons and activites for the next day.

4:30 I head back to the bus stop to go home. I sometimes feel badly leaving at 4;30 as all the other teachers are still there working. I found out that some of them are there until 6:30 - 7:00. However my contract is only until 4:30.

My evening is usually spent watching tv. Occasionally I will meet with friends but that doesn't happen to often during the week. It takes me 45 min on bus to get to downtown so usuallyafter teaching all day I can't be bothered. I learned that I can get a few english channels on my tv and I can watch all my favourite shows on the internet.

Air Raid

2010-03-15T08:10:00.002-04:00

So I am sitting at my desk at school today when suddenly I hear this noise. It was a very loud siren. It reminded me of those war movie where you see the bombs falling in London and the air raid sirens going off. Suddenly I see some of the teachers standing at attention and staring out the window and I start to think, Oh my god we are being attacked. I think I must of had a look of shock on my face because my co teacher said to me, just a drill. It turns out that every month on the 15th they do these air raid drills to practice in case North Korea decides to attack. It's kind of surreal to be in a country that lives in the constant shadow of fear that one day they may be attacked by their neighbours to the north.

What I have learned so far ...

2010-03-12T07:01:00.002-05:00

1. Despite the fact that there is supposed to be close to 1,000,000 foreigners living in South Korea, we stick out and attract a lot of attention. I must admit in my first few day here it was rather unnerving to walk down the street and have every other person stare at you. It's not done in a shy, don't let them see me looking manner that we Canadians would use. Instead they are very open and unashamed about it, sometimes tripping over themselves to look at you. It's not rudeness but curiosity. I'm at a point now where I don't even notice anymore although there are the occasional moments when it annoys me. Then you get those moments when your walking down the street and some little kid opens the window of his car as he's driving by and yells HELLO at you. Some Korean's are very curious about you but others seem downright fearful. It's almost funny to be riding on the bus and have the seat beside you be the only empty one. Watching the faces of the people as they get on and realize that their only options are to sit next to that strange looking foreigner, or standing. It's amazing how many people choose to stand.

2. In Korea there seems to be no rules on the road. Drivers just seem to go whereever they want, whenever they want to. Although they do seem to stop for red lights there seems to be no protocol for who turns when. It seems to be whoever is quickest or whoever pulls out first. You see cars cutting in front of each other constantly - and yet I haven't seen a single accident. It makes it a little scary when your trying to cross the street as you don't know who driving where. They really love to honk their horns, all the time, for no reason that I can see. They also seem to park anywhere they want. Sometimes they just stop their car in the middle of the road and park, oblivious to the fact that they are blocking all the traffic behind them.

3. They eat rice for every meal. Now I like rice but I just can't do it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I told my co teacher this she laughed and said that when she visited the UK she couldn't understand how they could bread at breakfast. It made me think about how all the things here that I find strange are normal for the people who live here and all the things that I find normal must seem strange to so many other.

Are you looking at the monkey or is he looking at you?

2010-03-09T05:55:00.003-05:00

So, after a quiet saturday of doing nothing more than navigating the buses to the local Homeplus and then sitting home watching movies and eating popcorn, I decided I needed to get out and do something on sunday. I contacted my friend Andre and we decided to check out the Daejeon Zoo. They don't actually call it Daejeon Zoo it's called O world and it's a combination zoo, amusement park and flower garden.

Sunday morning came and for once it was sunny out. I believe it has rained everyday since I've arrived so it was delightful to see some sun. I made my way to the subway and travelled downtown to meet Andre. We then boarded a bus that was, from our calculation, supposed to go to the zoo. We drove and drove and drove until we were outside of town and the last two people on the bus. Just when we were starting to wonder if we were going to the right place, there it was. It was actually in a very beautiful spot, surrounded by mountains and walking trails.

We lined up with the other zoo goers,, mostly families with children. We were very noticably the only foreigners there but we didn't care. Inside there was an amusement park with a few rides and then the zoo. As far as zoos go it was pretty good. They had an area with polar bears and otters and seals with an underwater observatory. They had all your typical monkeys in various cages and of course the people were crowded around watching the monkeys jump and fight. They are always the most popular animal. At one point some of them were reaching their hands out of the cage and the crowd was throwing food to them. I'm not sure how healthy it was for the monkeys but fun to watch anyways.

The coolest part was the big cats, leopards, cougars etc. They were in cages that went on both sides of the sidewalk. They had an overhead walkway where they could travel between each side while you stood underneath. I'm sure I was hit by cougar drool.

I was impressed by the number of animals that they had there and the manner in which they appeared to be cared for.

Next to the zoo was an area called Flower World and you pay for one admission to get into both. We wandered around there for a while and the views over Daejeon were spectacular. At this time of the year there wasn't much happening but I imagine in a few months when the flowers start to bloom it will be very beautiful. You could see where the flower beds were and I can only imagine how gorgeous it's going to look. I will definitly take a trip back.

my home part 5

2010-03-07T03:55:00.003-05:00

Notice the brand new washing machine. All the instructions are in Korean so it's a bit difficult to use.

my home part 4

2010-03-07T03:53:00.002-05:00

My apartment is very tiny, but it's clean and new. Basically it's 3 rooms, kitchen, bathroom and everything else.

my home part 3

2010-03-07T03:51:00.002-05:00

However, if I walk up my street it's like I enter another world. It's a busy street full of bars, coffee shops, restaurants and take outs. I live right next to Hannam University so the street is always full of students and hence most of the shops cater to them.

My home part 2

2010-03-07T03:49:00.003-05:00

My apartment is on quiet street with a few shops and restaurants but mostly other apartments.

My home in Hong do dong

2010-03-07T03:43:00.003-05:00

So I have had a few people ask me to post some pictures of my apartment and around my neighnourhood so the next few post will be just that. Unfortunatly I haven't quite figured out how to put more than one picture in a post so I will do it over a few posts.

This first picture is my building.

Squat or sit - which do you prefer?

2010-03-03T23:21:00.005-05:00

So, I was faced with the harsh realities of living in a new country when I ventured into the bathroom at my public school. There were only empty cubicles with a basin in the floor - yes they were squatter toilets. Now, in my many travels I have certainly used squatters before. In Africa we had many days where we didn't even have that and had to do our business behind the tent, waving the flashlight madly to scare off any animals. Still I wasn't epectting it in my school. There's something comical about wearing a dress and squatting over a whole in the floor trying not to let your skirt touch anything. I'm getting used to it though and just think how strong my leg muscles will be by the end of the year.

First Day - Wadong Elementary School

2010-03-02T20:28:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, with butterflies in my stomach, I headed out to Wadong Elementary School, for my first day at work. I was slightly anxious because I didn't know what to expect. When I saw my coteacher on friday she never explained to me about what would happen on the first day or even where I should go on my first day. All I knew was that I was to arrive early (7:50 instead of 8:30) and that I should take #711 bus and get off at the bridge.

So I got on the bus at 7:15 and of course it was raining so the windows were fogged and the bus was crowded. I peered anxiously out and watched for the bridge, praying that I didn't miss my stop. Of course I missed it, I saw the bridge as were driving under it. I got off at the next stop and walked back (only 5 minutes so no big deal). I get to the school and there is no one there. In my nervousness and paranoia I start to wonder if I am at the right school. I wander around until another teacher sees me looking lost and directs me to the staff room / vice principals office. First I have to change my shoes because outdoor shoes are not worn inside the school. Fortunatly someone prewarned me so I brought my own shoes rather than wear the ugly, uncomfortable slippers they provide.

I am taken to the Vice-principals office where I sit trying to make small talk with him but his english is very limited. He keeps saying to me :you know Cheryl Tiegs - very pretty" Yesterday was the first day of the new school year so there were a few new teachers and eventually we were all taken into a a larger staff room and introduced to the other teachers. I have no idea what was said about me, all I understood was Cheryl, Canada and Olympics but when they all turned to look at me, I bowed and they clapped.

After that I was introduced to the students via video. They have a seperate room that is a like a movie studio where they record the morning announcements. The children run the video camera and the vice-principal stands at a podium and speaks. All the new teachers and the new principal were introduced this way.

The english classes don't start until next week so I was taken upstairs and shown the english staffroom and given my computer and desk.. I share an office with 3 other english teachers and a music teacher. The rest of the morning was spent preparing lesson plans and getting ready to for classes to start next week.

At lunch time all the new teachers were taken out to a restaurant to have lunch with the new principal. We were taken to a local Korean restaurant where we all had to sit on mat on the floor. It was a little uncomfortable as everyone kept watching me to see how I handled the chopsticks. As well the vice-principal kept coming over and pouring everyone Soju shots. My co teacher later told me the VP likes soju and I should try to avoid him.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing administrative tasks, going to immigration to apply for my alien registration card and buying my cell phone.

I survived my first day now on thursday I get to go to my second school and possibly do it all over again.

Korea the keyless country

2010-02-28T05:38:00.002-05:00

I am absolutely loving the fact that I don't have keys for my apartment. I think it's a fairly standard practice in Korea (although I could be wrong)but instead of having locks on your door you have a special security box with a code. So on the outside door to my building there is a secret little box attached to the door. I lift up the flap and it lights up to reveal a keypad on which I type in the secret code. It then makes some funky noise and the door unlocks. When I go upstairs to my apartment I have a similar keypad on my door and I have to type in another secret code. It's so much fun that I sometimes leave my apartment for a few minutes just so that I can come back and play with it. I never have to worry about losing my keys but I better not forget that code!!

Taxi's, Friend or foe

2010-02-27T18:48:00.002-05:00

So... I have come to the conclusion that I shouldn't rely on taxi's as a means of transportation in this city. Although they are cheap, they are scary and unreliable. Not only do the drivers watch TV, while zipping in and out of crazy Korean traffic, but they won't always take you to the right destination.

Yesterday I set out determined to go to Homeplus (a giant department store). I walk from my house up to the main street, take a deep breath and flag down a taxi. I get to Homeplus no prolems and I think this is easy. Coming home with all my purchases I hand the driver the piece of paper my co teacher gave me with my address on it. Off we go. Suddenly the driver starts gesturing to me asking which way to turn. I shake my head because I have no idea. Next thing I know he pulls over and tells me to get out. I'm left standing on the side of the road with all my packages and no clue where I am. After a brief moment of panic I flag another taxi, he types my address in his GPS and takes me home - a mere 2 blocks away.

Last night I meet up with some friends and this time I write my street name on this paper thinking that might help. Once again the driver starts gesturing to me and again I shake my head. Suddenly he starts driving up and down these back alleys asking if I live here. I try to explain that I have been here 1 day and don't know where I live. Finally we get to a busy intersection so I tell him to let me out - it's obvious he doesn't know where to go and he's not going to turn off his tv to use his GPS. I flag down another taxi who uses her GPS and gets me home.

Today I am going to learn the bus routes.

Hong Do Dong, my home away from home

2010-02-27T00:59:00.004-05:00

Finally ... I am in Daejeon.

I arrived yesterday after a 2 hour bus ride from Seongnam. All the Daejeon teachers rode together on two buses, everyone dressed to the nines, afterall first impressions count and we were about to meet our co-teachers for the first time. We were taken to the Daejeon Expo site where we were all paraded into this big auditorium filled with our co teachers. Then one by one they called our names and our co teachers came over to meet us.

My co teacher is a woman named Jo Ji-Yeon. Her job is to help me with any problems I have in Korea, helping me set up my apartment, telephone as well as be my liason with the other teachers who I will be working with at the school. Ji-Yeon (as I am to call her) was very nice but quiet and I had trouble understanding what she said sometimes. By the end of the day she was a little more relaxed and easier to understand though. After we gathered my luggage, which we somehow managed to cram into the back of her Smartcar she drove me to my school Wadong Elementary. It's an older school but I liked it and she showed me the new "Wadong English Village" Basically it's just a classroom devoted to teaching english and it's full of english books, posters etc. It was obvious they had put alot of time into it. I was introduced to some of the other teachers and the principal and vice-principal. They were all very friendly and welcoming.

After leaving the school we went to a store called HomePlus. It's a huge, multi leveled store with everything from food, to clothing to electronics. We picked up a few items for my apartment along with some food and then we went to my new home. At my apartment building we were met by Mr. Kim who is another teacher at my school and who was responsible for setting up my apartment. Ji- Yeon told me that it's very difficult to find housing in Daejeon right now, other people were told that by their teachers as well, but they found me a room in the University area. My place is very tiny, more like a dorm room but I like it. When you walk in the door there's a little kitchen with one burner, sink and cupboards. Off the kitchen is a tiny bathroom and then through the sliding doors is my bedroom / living quarters. Basically it's one room with my bed, desk, washing machine, fridge, closet etc. It's not big, but everything is clean and it's brand new. They had obviously put a lot of effort into making it nice for me and they seemed very concerned that I like it. Mr. Kim was especially proud of the pink and purple bedspread he had bought to match the wallpaper. They also bought me a new rice cooker - which is sweet. I haven't used it yet but I plan to soon. All the furniture including the washing machine, fridge and tv still had packing tape on them. As well the room comes with free internet so that's a bonus. After talking to some of the other teachers it seems their places are similar.

The neighbourhood I am in is called Hong Do Dong and so far it looks great. I am on a side alley so it's quiet but if I walk 2 minutes up the road I come out onto a main street filled with coffee shops, stores, resturants etc. It's all very handy and fortunatly taxi's are cheap and abundant here so I can easily go to other parts of Daejeon. The only downfall is that my school is in a different neighbourhood so I have to take a bus to work. It's supposed to be only a 15min bus ride so that's not bad and this way I'll be forced to learn the bus system rather than rely on taxi's all the time.

Tonight I am meeting with all the other Daejeon teachers so that we can compare notes and see who lives near who.

EPIK Orientation Part 2 - SOJU

2010-02-24T07:40:00.004-05:00

I am more than half way through my orientation and in 2 short days I will be travelling to the city that will be my home for the next year. Yesterday I was given the names and brief synopsis on the schools where I will be teaching - yes I said schools. It turns out that I will be teaching in 2 elementary schools (grades 1 - 6). I will be teaching at Wadong Elementary School and Hoedeok Elementary School. I am hoping that they aren't too far apart, although I will probably spend 3 days a week at one and 2 days at another, so the distance won't matter. They are both smaller schools, each with a student body of about 600 so hopefully that will mean smaller class sizes. They seem to be located on the outskirts of Daejeon city, which means I will probably be living on the edge of the city. This will be much nicer than being right in the middle of the hustle of a busy city and the city center will only be a bus ride away.

Last night a group of us Daejeonites all went out to celebrate our postings. We had a lot to celebrate as we were given our schools 3 days earlier than the teachers going to other cities - and we couldn't help but rub it in. We went to a local bar where I had a chance to try SOJU. Soju is a korean drink, similar to vodka, only stronger. It tastes a little like paint thinner and Korean's drink it in copious amounts. It's very strong and rather dangerous . I only did one shot and then sat back and watched my fellow teachers get very drunk. It was great fun and a chance for all of us to bond. Later a group headed to Norabang (Korean kareoke bar). Korean people love kareoke and there are kareoke bars everywhere.

Today at dinner a group of us decided that we had hit a "rice wall" meaning that we needed something familiar from home. Basically we were all sick of eating rice and kimchi for every meal and craved something more familiar, so we went up the road to Pizza Do. I have to say, it was the best pizza that I have ever tasted but it could have tasted like cardboard and I would have still have loved it (it wasn't rice). I have been practicing using my chopsticks and am getting much better (I only drop half my food now).

One more day of lectures and then it is off to Daejeon!

Korean Folk Museum

2010-02-21T08:07:00.000-05:00

EPIK Orientation - Field Trip

2010-02-21T07:34:00.005-05:00

Today EPIK origanized a field trip - a chance to get away from the campus and see some of Korea. It was an exhausting but marvelous day. First we drove by bus to Yong-in City (about 1 hour away) to visit the Korean Folk Village. Basically it was a museum with replica houses depicting how Korean's lived in the past. It was very interesting and it felt great to be out in the fresh air. As well as having replica houses they also had stands selling various types of Korean foods and trinkets. All you could smell in the air was fresh wood burning and spices simmering in the teas they were making. At the center of the village they had a sqaure where Korean dancers performed and a man wowed the audience on the tight rope.

After a great lunch we travelled on to the city of Icheon, to the ceramic village, where we were given a presentation on Korean ceramics. We were then taken to a workshop where we got to paint our own ceramics (either a plate or a cup). We were shown how to make a design and how to mix the paints properly. I choose to paint a plate and I am anxious to see how it turned out.

We also visited the Woljeon Museum of Art which was located on the same property as the ceramic center. This was an art museum that was built as memorial to Wolijeon Chang Woo-Soung, who was renowned Korean painter. The museum housed his art along with his collection of other artists that he donated upon his death.

The best part of the day, however, was the dinner. We were taken to a restaurant in Icheon called Taepyeong sungdae Restaaurant, where we got to try authentic Korean food. This restaurtant is renowned for it's rice and we were each given a steaming bowl of white rice. Then there were about 25 different side dishes that you can pick and choose from to mix in with the rice. The dishes range from types of fish, meats, vegetables, spices and sauces. It was unbelievably delicious. Along with the dinner we were given an ample supply of rice wine, which was also very good.

It was an exhausting but fun day!

2010-02-18T21:26:00.000-05:00

2010-02-18T21:23:00.001-05:00

DAY ONE - KOREA

2010-02-17T23:18:00.002-05:00

So after a slightly anxious journey I have arrived in Korea. My flights went with only a few minor glitches. I had some anxious moments at Toronto Pearson when they were weighing my luggage. I packed and repacked numerous times trying to keep my two bags under the 50lb limit and when I placed them on the airport scales they were were both 49.8 (I just squeaked by) and managed to avoid the $50 penalty.

I had some frustrating moments at LAX when I couldn't find the Korean Airlines check in counter (turns out I was in the wrong terminal). The travel agent that I used failed to book my flights properly so they were unable to check me in for the second part of my flight in Toronto. My luggage went directly through to Korea but for some reason when I arrived in Los Angelas I had to leave the arrivals area go back to departures and recheck in - meaning I also had to go back through security. I teamed up with another girl looking for the same place and we spent half an hour running around the airport until we found it. All ended well though and I made my flight with lots of time to spare.

The flight between LA and Korea was 13 hours and felt like 24. Fortunatly the seat beside me was empty so I was able to stretch out and get some sleep. The food they served was interesting. For dinner it was a Korean rice dish and they gave you a pamphlet telling you how to prepare it. Bascially it was steamed rice which you put over some vegetables, then you mix in this tube of spicy paste and some seaseme oil. It was good but different. For breakfast they gave us green tea porridge ( a rice porridge dish that you mix with a package of green tea leaves). It wasn't as good and actually tasted kind of fishy. I waited and grabbed a muffin when I got into the airport.

I arrived in Seoul at 6am and already there were about 20 other teachers waiting for the EPIK desk to open to register for the bus. Within about half an hour they came to check us on and we boarded a bus for Eulgi University and our orientation. The drive to the University took about 2 hours and all you could hear were excited voices asking where people came from and what city they were teaching in. When we arrived at the University it was chaos with everyone trying to get room assignments, name tags etc but it was organized well and in a few short moments I had my key in hand, dragging all my suitcases and the bag of goodies they had given me up to my dorm room. My roomate arrived at the same time, another Canadian, and we dropped our bags, brushed our teeth and headed out to explore.

The University we are at is situated right in the center of Seongnam City so it was a short walk from the campus to all the stores. We wandered around the streets where there seemed to be a 7 Eleven on every corner and every other business was a restaurant. After buying some water and other goodies we headed back to the campus for lunch. I had my first taste of Kimchi (a cabbage dish served with every meal in Korea). It was ok but very spicy. Apparently it grows on you.

So far things are going good and I have already met some wonderful people. I will keep you posted as the orientation starts tomorrow.

Well ... this is it! Am I ready?

2010-02-04T18:33:00.003-05:00

Hello friends, family and random strangers who stumbled upon my blog. I created this blog as a venue to record my adventures and to share my experiences with all of you.

With much excitement and some trepidation I will be heading to South Korea to teach for a year. I leave in exactly 12 days and I can hardly believe it's so soon. The last few months have been a whirlwind with people to see, things to buy and visas and flights to arrange. Just today I went down to the Korean Consulate in Toronto to pick up my passport with my E2 visa, so now I can officially work in Korea.

I will be leaving Canada on February 16, flying American Airlines to Los Angelas and then Korean Airlines on to Korea. I was supposed to be flying direct but my flight was cancelled so I had no choice but to take this route. At least it's cheaper. I'll be arriving at Incheon airport at 6am and then, after all the rigmarole of customs, I will be boarding a shuttle bus to Eulgi University in Seongnam for a 10 day orientation. After 10 days I will boarding yet another bus and I will head to a final stop at my new home in the city of Daejeon.

I can't help but wonder what will happen. Will I like my apartment? Will I get on with my co-teachers and like my school? I guess I'll find out soon and promise to let you know in future blogs.