All who wander are not lost

new location, new blog

2008-08-19T15:11:00.007+09:00

Hey! If you've been checking out my blog then you know that my next stop is Kuwait. I thought it would be silly to be writing from Kuwait from a blog titled "canuckinkorea" so here's the link to my new blog:
http://canuckinkoo8.blogspot.com/Stay tuned for more when I finally wrap my head around where I am and how FREAKING HOT it is here! :)
ta!

I miss mini stop patio parties.....

2008-07-13T12:13:00.003+09:00

Being back in Canada has been fun, but I find myself often wondering "what would I be doing right now if I were in Korea"....
I miss, in no particular order,

cheap love motels,
cheap public transportation (it cost me $200 in gas to go to North bay and back last week, and would not have been cheaper had I taken bus or train)
naked saunas and getting scrubbed til my skin glows
running 5k races that make me feel like a star - with my running buddies!
drinking outside the mini stop
service and being treated like a celebrity
not understanding EVERY little thing said by idiotic people....ignorance is bliss...I find that the "noise" of English is around me now and I can't help but hear it and that annoys me!
MY FRIENDS!!
my apartment, and having my own space - as small as it was
my students (well, some of them)

I really miss my friends and social circle there and am having a hard time with not having people around me who understand what coming back to western culture is like after living abroad. There is a certain amount of reverse culture shock, but at the same time I know I'm just "visiting" Canada and will be gone again soon.
I'm still in the process of getting mine and Lola's documents settled for entering Kuwait. The process is similar to what I had to go through for Korea, but I'm much less anxious about the actual move to Kuwait. Even though it's a different culture, the feelings "been there, done that"as far as leaving Canada goes, is much easier....maybe it's because I'm not as attached to Canada anymore, the apron strings have been cut and it's easier to leave....

Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks...I'll be changing my blog to fit the next chapter in my life of living in Kuwait....I'll post the link for that here on this site as soon as I get it set up.

Ready to go! (or am I?)

2008-04-30T09:02:00.002+09:00

After 2 months of thinking and planning and trying to organize my life and make it portable once again, I'm almost ready to leave Korea. I have less than 3 weeks to go and have a few errands to run, like dr's appointments (for me and Lola), immigration office, and pension office, but other than that, I'm ready to go.
But am I really?
I find myself procrastinating with the errands. As if they're the catalyst which will bring me to the end of the end and am wondering if I'm doing it on purpose. Obviously they're not FUN things to do so that very well COULD be why I'm procrastinating too. I think it's just because I've stacked my summer with such fun things to do that I keep forgetting about the LEAVING part of Korea. I feel like I'm not giving the leaving the due "mourning" that I should. That will, perhaps come later, while in Canada and having a low moment and wondering why I ever left the comfortable, easygoing life I had here. Or maybe it will come in Kuwait when I'm up to my eyeballs in marking and planning and not knowing what's what!

On a more positive note, here's what I've got to look forward to in the next few weeks/months!

Boseong Marathon - last organized race I'll run in Korea - running with the same group of girls who I started running with almost a year ago now.
Road trip through Jeollanamdo - my first driving experience in Korea - wish me luck!
Alaska Cruise with Mom and Dad when I get home - their 35th anniversary present from me
coffee on the deck at mom and dad's
running in clean air OUTSIDE along the river
CHOK Bridge run - MY FIRST 10K (oh - my - god!)
mowing the lawn (yes, I'm excited to even have a lawn to mow after 3 years in korea!)
Bon Jovi and Fergie concerts
Canada Day celebrations at a COTTAGE on a LAKE!

It's crazy how quickly the time is passing and I'll be home before I know it!

Medicine in Korea

2008-04-03T20:17:00.004+09:00

So, I've been sick on and off over the last 2/3 weeks and I thought I was getting better only to be kicked in the ass yesterday with the most ridiculously painful headache, body aches, shivers and the return of a nasty dry cough (probably lingering from the cold 2 weeks ago)
The teachers at school thought that I should go to the dr's and in order to get the afternoon off(go to the doctors and then home to rest) I did.
I came home and took some of the pills and crashed and woke up feeling worlds better.
Later in the evening I was chatting with my mom and was trying to explain the medication and how it is administered here in Korea.

I pay about 3$ for my dr's visit and then she prints out a sheet with the prescription. I then take this paper downstairs to the pharmacy where they take literally a MINUTE to fill the prescription. When they give you the pills it is a cocktail of 3/4/5 different pills and they are all administered in the same package. The dosage is already chosen for you. You can see in the picture that there are 5 packages. I was given 6 individual pockets and they are to be taken 3 times/ day with meals. total for 2 days of meds $2.50
Hope I feel better soon!

Jason Mr. a to z (Jason Mraz)

2008-03-27T21:45:00.002+09:00

I'm going to Seoul for a total of about 5 or 6 hours tomorrow night for a concert! My first western artist concert in Korea! I'm so excited to finally see Jason Mraz live!
Most people ask me who he is and even when I refer them to what I would consider his most mainstream/chart songs, they still don't seem to have heard of him.
Check him out. I hope you become a fan too. He's a great singer songwriter and I really enjoy all his music especially the up beat stuff!

"Octopus on sale, squid 2 for 1"

2008-03-27T21:16:00.002+09:00

If you live in Korea it's highly likely you've seen this video floating around the last week or so.
For those of you who don't, it's a throwback to some Beastie Boys stylin' rap and is all based on living in a small city in Korea, and making/finding your own fun! I don't know if you'll think it's as funny as I do, but check it out!

I'm coming home...

2008-02-29T12:52:00.002+09:00

Well, for a few months anyways.

My time in Korea has come to an end for now, and Lola and I'll be flying home on May 19th (just in time for Mom's birthday on the 20th).
I love living and working in Korea but am starting to feel like I need a challenge. I miss teaching geography/social studies and don't want to be pigeonholed into teaching EFL for the rest of my career. It's time to move on.

I'm not completing my contract 1) because I hope to have signed to work in another country as of August and will need/want time home to deal with visa paperwork, decompress, readjust to Canada before heading off to another new adventure. and 2) because I'm breaking my contract, means I'm responsible for my own airfare home. I have been able to get a "free" flight home with my frequent flyer miles through Northwest and for only 350 bucks will be flying home FIRST CLASS with Lola! woohoo!!!

I'm still applying to schools but so far the only lead I've had has been at an all girls school in Kuwait. That is still not set in stone yet either. I just hope to have SOMETHING lined up before I leave Korea in May.

Another little update - Mom, Dad and I are going on an Alaskan cruise when I come home. An anniversary gift for them from me! I can't wait, it's gonna be soooooo AWESOME!

Anyways, will keep posted on the job front and the packing situation as I try to fit the last 3 years of my life into two suitcases 50lbs each...:D

Vacation by Numbers...

2008-02-05T20:53:00.000+09:00

I haven't been as diligent in chronicalling my vacation as Vanessa was so I'm just going to give you a point form summary of my vacation using numbers

3 - Tubes of sunscreen - spf 30+

0 - Sunburns

20+ - bottles of water - I'm ashamed of how much waste that this created but wasn't taking any chances with the tap water!

4 - different beaches (Blue Lagooon Beach - Padangbai, Gili Trawangan, Gili Air and Legian Beach) Blue Lagoon beach was touted as a gorgeous slip of beach but when we got there we were hounded by hawkers and swam amongst garbage in the crystal clear water....GEW! On the other hand, we were told that Legian/Kuta was full of garbage but found it to be quite clean (at least in the area we stayed)

Gili Air

5 - Budget bungalows/homestays

1 - Deluxe hotel

4- boat rides

1- gravol

0 - cookies tossed

1 - unplanned trek through a jungle (pronounced by the locals as "yungle") and a shaky walk across a bamboo "bridge"

3 - unidentified marks still visible from the "yungle" trek(I think they're from plants that weren't happy I brushed up against them.)

4 - Thunderstorms

50 - times we said "no thank you" to inquiries about purchasing "transport", " bracelets" (when I said I had enough bracelets, he noticed I was reading and said that they could be bookmarks too) " lookie, lookie, lombok pearls buy some for your mother. You no buy, she will cry"

1.5 - ass cheeks actually ON the seat during the bus ride to Padangbai.

4 - beads lost from a bracelet eaten by LuLu the pet monkey kept by a foreigner on Gili Trawangan

8 - number of books read by me. (I highly reccommend "The Bean Trees" by Barbara Kingsolver, on the other hand, don't ever waste your time with a little play on words titled "Bad Heir Day"

6 - Visa Cash advances (I had planned on MOST of them because of the timing of my pay not coinciding with my departure for vacation)

10 - nights in aircon room

3 - number of nights without aircon in aircon rooms due to power outages on the islands

5 - plates of Mie goreng ( a delectable dish of fried noodles, chicken, chilis and other goodies)

1 - morning of snorkeling

7 - Games of Travel Scrabble (Vanessa Kicked my ass in EVERY STINKIN ONE!)

7 - bottles of Bintang (Bali Beer)

9 - average number of hours of sleep every night - in bed reading every night by 8/9pm

5 - swimming pools ( one wasn't even at our hotel, but down the road in front of a beach volleyball game that we watched from the pool bar while drinking a Bintang)

1 - slip into a rice paddy that resulted in me being covered in mud from toe to thigh and almost losing one of my KEEN sandals in the THICK mud

12 - Chocolate milkshakes - tie for first place goes to the milkshakes at Beach Cafe (Gili T) and SeaBreeze (Legian)

2 - new phrases learned "Terimah Kasee" (thank you) and "Sama sama" (you're welcome)

1- planned meeting with friend in Ubud (Monique)

1-random meeting with another in Gili T (Danielle) (I must mention that Vanessa and I ALSO randomly ran into Danielle on KaoSan Road in Bangkok TWO years ago while on vacation - weird stuff)

2 - Balinese Holidays Galungan and Kuningan

Galungan is a Balinese holiday that occurs every 210 days and lasts for 10 days. Kuningan is the last day of the holiday. During this holiday the Balinese gods visit the Earth and leave on Kuningan.

The first day we arrived in Ubud and everyone was getting ready for Galungan. The women were making special offerings in the household shrines/altars and the men were creating long, curved, woven elaborate bamboo poles called "penjor" that would later line the street.

14 - cups of Bali/Lombok coffee. This is the stuff you need to chew 20 times before you swallow!....but one place served it with sweetened condensed milk and it was delish!

1 - new Visa in the passport

7 - number of hours total being pampered with body massages, scrubs, flowerpetal baths and facials

50+ - number of roosters who, at 5:00am, feel the need to proclaim how COOL it is to be a rooster!

4 - times woken up by the call to prayer on Gili T (even WITH the earplugs in) While Bali is predominantly Hindu, the Gili Islands off the coast of Lombok, and Lombok itself have large population of Muslims on them.

1- Volcano and Caldera viewing

5 - emergency trips to the bathroom. Vanessa and I both got a gut bug while we were in the Gilis. I was able to recover, but she needed to get some antibiotics.

0 - checked bags. -I always GO on vacation with only a carry on back pack but this was the first time ever that I've RETURNED from vacation without having to check a bag full of stuff I shopped for.

My shortest Asian vacation yet, I've only been given a taste of what Bali has to offer and it has left me wanting to see and visit more of this small island at another time. I'll go back again, I'm sure! More pics to come soon on my Flickr page.

The smell of soju and kimchi in the morning...

2007-11-28T11:47:00.000+09:00

So I've been going to the gym in the morning lately and although I STILL consider 5am an ungodly hour, i realize that I'm just not motivated enough to go at the end of the day. Going in the morning is nice because there usually aren't too many people there, and you can usually have a treadmill in between you and the next person while you're working out.
My fitness center is a pretty huge one and pretty nice (it better be for 80,000won/month) It's on the 5th floor and the building is on a bit of a hill as well. There are about 25 treadmills all lined up facing the windows looking out on the city.
This morning I got there around 5:30 and there were maybe 4 people on the treadmills so I had my pick. I usually pick one that's not in front of the tv's because i like to just run to my music. I was about 5 min into my workout when one guy comes over with the gym trainer dude and he gets all set up on the treadmill, and away he goes walking at a brisk pace.
Then, ANOTHER guy comes up and sets up camp beside me on the other side. I checked up and down the aisle of treadmills and there are like 10 treadmills empty in either direction. Ok, I tell myself, no biggie, just do your thing and don't be intimidated.
I was doing some "speed work" today which means that I was doing intervals of fast running and then moderate running. Every time I set my speed higher the guy on my left would set his higher. WTF?!
Then, after about 10 min of that, I started to smell the effects the workout was having on these guys! Don't get me wrong, I know the gym is not supposed to smell like roses, but omg!....the kimchi/garlic/squid juice/soju/morning after smell that was coming from one of those guys (or both) was rediculous!!!...I cut my run a bit short and went over to the bikes for 10 min to finish my cardio!!! But hey, at least I finished!

movin right along...

2007-11-13T22:09:00.000+09:00

Now that November has started it really is starting to feel like another school year is winding down. I've been a little busy over the last month or so. Working on some kids camp curriculum as well as having extra classes and my regular classes is keeping me hoppin'. I finished my first set of "extra classes" (I have to do 2 sets of 20 extra classes each semester) and was sooooo bored I didn't know WHAT do do with my second set, so I brought the idea of a class project to my 7 students and informed them that there would be no more worksheets or games but they would have to work hard and be dedicated for the entire duration. They all seemed pretty keen.
So, I started them on a Newsletter/paper for the school. I even went out and bought them each their own folder and nametags to write their names in English, and "Reporter, Isu News" They are "reporting" on various aspects of the school festival, the school's baseball and taekwondo programs, doing interviews in English with students and teachers, as well as even a movie review of Rush Hour 3. There will be an English crossword puzzle as well as horoscopes. One of the students whose English abilities are limited has been put in charge of photography and helping with the computer layout. It wasn't as organized as it could have been because of my last minute decision to do the project, but all in all I feel it's going to be successful. One of the students went to interview the Principal and he(the P) wants me to make sure I give him many copies so that he can mail them out to other school principals and brag, the VP also wants an electronic copy to post on the school's homepage.

I finished my third 5k run here in Korea last sunday and am already registered for my 4th, in two weeks. As well, I'm registered for the Res run in Sarnia on NYE day! Gotta keep up my training when I go HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

So, there are about 26 more teaching days and 40 full days until I head for Canada for my first Canadian Christmas in 2 years. I'm terribly excited and still can't believe that I'm actually going home again only 4 months since the last time. What a lucky girl!
Then, I return to Korea in January, work a kids camp for 12 days straight then am thinking of taking off to Bali for 2 weeks!
Such is the life of teacher in Korea. Yes, sometimes my life is stressful, but it's the kind of stress you can deal with because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My light is a hot kitchen wood stove in the dead of Canadian winter, seeing family and friends at a magical time of year, oh, and the white sand beaches of the Gili Islands in Indonesia!!!

What's your light?

battle with the bulge continues...

2007-11-06T16:25:00.000+09:00

So, I've been a right mess since school started in September. I haven't been cooking very well for myself and have really been downright lazy as far as food goes, ordering pizza, korean food, etc to be delivered to my door and not eating properly. I haven't journalled my food for WW and am very upset that I've paid two months for a membership that I didn't use - my own fault. And of course, because of all this, I've gained about 7lbs back from my original total loss.

I was sick for the last 2 weeks and that made me turn a new leaf as soon as I got better. I realized that my body was literally shutting down from all the C-R-A-P I was putting into it. Saturday morning I was able to get my butt to the gym and run (I have a race next Sunday) and it made me realize that working out in the morning makes for a really good day (maybe it was because it was Saturday?) So I decided to test it out again on Monday! I set my alarm for 5:10 and woke up and went to the gym, did 5k, 100 situps, stretched and then went and showered, did my hair and makeup all at the gym. I still had time when I got home to make breakfast and put my lunch together (most of which had been made the night before). Now, I admit, it IS difficult to get up that early but the feeling of not having to go work out after school hanging over your head is a wonderful one! You know what? I did it AGAIN on Tuesday!!! Preparation is key to this new found schedule which I hope to make a habit (someone said you need to do something for 21 days before it's a habit) and I'm motivated again to be prepared to get myself healthy again!

Recommited to my goal: November 3rd, 2007
Current weight: 189lbs
Goal weight:140lbs
Pounds gone by christmas: 15
Kilometers run since Sat November 3rd: 13.5

The Art of Saying Goodbye

2007-09-19T22:12:00.000+09:00

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about friends and the nature of having friends in an expat community. How fitting that a few days later I found the following "experience article" written by Fred Strydom in the Gwangju News. Gwangju News is an English magazine written for the international community of Gwangju and the province of Jeollanamdo.
Now of course I have some very close friends here that I know I will stay in contact with when I finally move on from this part of my life, but I can truly understand what the writer is saying and in reference to my previous post about making MORE friends in Korea, it has opened my eyes to the possibilities of circumstance. It made me see things a little differently and for that I am thankful. I hope you enjoy it.

When you go traveling, there's one word you'll say more than any other. Goodbye. Nobody tells you this when you pack your bags for the first time, when you get your passport together with your visa papers and your twenty-six kilograms of luggage. Nobody warns you that saying goodbye will become a mantra- your perennial reminder that you have left your nest and that from that point on, words like "home" and "friends" will mean completely different things. Once upon a time, back in (insert your particular place of origin here), there was mom and dad. There were siblings and school friends and corner stores you knew inside out, short-cuts and familiar hang-out spots like a pair of old shoes you refuse to throw out. Back home, you almost never said goodbye to anyone.

You might have actually been under the impression that your little familiar world, with all of the familiar people in it, would be a part of your life forever. As independent and free as you think you might have been living in the place of your origin, you were essentially still connected by an umbilical cord of sorts; you were nurtured by your comforts. You were anchored by familiarity. You were playing on home turf, with the stands filled with people and places you knew.

Then you left it all behind. You severed that umbilical cord, you took your first breath of air, and you said the first of what would become a plethora of good byes. You said goodbye to your friends and your family, to the corner stores and the hang-out spots, to everything you know.

You said goodbye to yourself.

I'm saying goodbye again. This time, I'm saying goodbye to Korea. I see new foreign faces on the streets and I realize that, while my time has come to an end, there are others who are only beginning the adventure. Perhaps even you, holding this magazine and, having just stepped off the plane, are scratching you head and trying to figure out your left from you right. If this applies to you, fear not. You are about to embark upon a peculiar, year long comedy of errors, of frustrations and illuminations, of strange foods and strange, wonderful people. You will make friends and you will make yourself a home here. As I've already mentioned, however, neither of these things will bear relation to your previous understanding of "homes" and "friends"
When it comes to fellow foreign friends, you make an agreement.

The unspoken agreement goes as follows: we'll have fun together. We'll go bowling, we'll have dinners, we'll hike and visit temples and have a beer on a Friday night. Even though I hardly know you, and you hardly know me, we're both here in this strange place, and that's enough of a commonality for us to become best friends immediately. We have no idea of each other's histories, of our greatest dreams or our deepest fears, but we will be friends. And when the day comes for us to grab our passport and our visa papers and our twenty-six kilograms of luggage, we'll thank each other for simply being in the same place at the same time and engage in the exquisite traveler's art of saying goodbye.

Which begs the question, in this unhinged world, is there any greater accomplishment than to make friends without question? Is there any gift you can offer your fellow man or woman than to embrace them without judgment, to offer friendship without the parameters of age or race or culture - to let circumstance have it's wily way with you?

As for the notion of home, the cliche reminds us, it's where the heart is, and we can rest in knowledge that most cliches are born out of the great truths they propose. So where is my heart? Well as Maya Angelou so eloquently puts it, "I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself".

But that means home can be left, and new homes started, and between this great interchange, a great lesson must be learned; without embracing the art of saying goodbye, we can never truly appreciate for the beauty of being welcomed anew.

Weight Loss (gain) update...

2007-09-15T23:02:00.000+09:00

So, in the ongoing battle, I have to remember to take the gains with the losses. After the summer I've had, it's no wonder I gained some of my weight back. All told it was about 10 lbs gained back from July to the end of August. I'm now back on the wagon, so to speak and only have about 4.5 lbs to go until I've dropped that weight and am back to my lowest weight of 182.6 since I started WW.

I've had some problems since I've been back with eating out of boredom and for comfort. I've had a hard time getting back into journaling my food intake too. These are some bad habits that I need to break and get back to thinking about why I'm eating what I'm eating and remembering how I feel when I eat the crap and how GREAT I feel when I eat the good stuff.
I've quit drinking temporarily 1) because I need to get the rest of the summer gain off and 2) I want to prove to myself I can do it haha! Little challenges at a time. My mini goal to get to my final goal is to have another 25lbs gone by Christmas, then that should leave "only" another 20 to shed after Christmas and vacation. Slow and steady wins the race!!!

Speaking of races...I've started my running training again for a 5k I'm entered to run on October 14th. I want to finish that race strong and I don't really care about my time. I also want to be down another 7 lbs by then to get me solidly in the 170's. I remember the last time I was there was in high school.

I plan on running another 2 races in November too.....these races keep me on track with the training which keeps me on track with the exercise! I need to have an outside source of inspiration and motivation. For now I'm going to stick with the 5k races but next spring I plan to train for my first 10k!!

You can never have too many friends....

2007-09-10T19:29:00.000+09:00

Or can you?
Twice in just as many days I've had this conversation with two different people about meeting new people here in Korea. It's an interesting social situation when you live within a small expat community. I've been here for a while and I have a group of people who are a great to hang out with, share interests, good conversation and lean on when things are a little rough.
Since Mel left I've not felt like meeting a ton of new people but would prefer to put effort into getting to know better, the acquaintances and friends I have here already...

The high attrition of foreigners in this country often results in groups of 50-60 people arriving all at the same time to work in our province. We had a meet 'n greet last weekend and we were probably about half newbies and half old guard and majority of the old guard stayed together.
Someone asked me if it sounded bad that they weren't really interested in meeting the new people who arrived in Korea. I completely understood what she meant. She is comfortable with her existing group of friends and if she feels anything like me, would prefer to put the energy into working on existing relationships rather than putting the effort into meeting and weeding out new friends. Does this sound selfish, closed off, lazy, bitchy???? (maybe all of the above?)

I guess it's not too harsh of a dilemma to have: make new friends from a constant influx of most likely interesting people or work on existing relationships with people you already know you're compatible with and are fantastic. Either way, the continual turnover of people can be hard on a person living in a foreign country.

all it takes is sunshine and friends....

2007-09-09T17:11:00.000+09:00

Today I am thankful for the sunshine and nice weather after a long, long period of rain. Also the friends I have made here in Korea who remind me to let loose, have a little fun and not take myself and life so seriously!

xo

Duck for dinner...

2007-09-05T21:38:00.000+09:00

Went to a teacher dinner tonight at school. It was to welcome the new principal to our school. Now usually I try to get out of these things especially when I'm told that we are going for raw fish. I outright tell them I won't eat it. Tonight I was told we were going for duck. I decided what the hell, I should show my face, and I didn't want to offend the new principal. It's been said that he's a bit strict and not so nice, so I want to stay on his good side....

It was phenomenal. I LOVED it. I continually am amazed when I come across certain foods here that I absolutely love. There were no raw organs on the table, there were no fiery red hot dishes smattered here and there. It was a lovely dinner of grilled duck meat, mushrooms, onions and delicious bokeumbap (fried rice) to finish the dinner.

Today was a good day....

Aaaand I'm back.....

2007-08-30T17:54:00.000+09:00

A blog for the sake of blogging....

So, after a busy couple of months at workshops in May/June/July, I headed home to Canada for 3 glorious weeks. It was a low key and much needed return home, visiting with family and rekindling close friendships! I did some purging of my things that I had stored at mom and dad's house and had a yard sale to see if anyone wanted my junk. I made 100 bucks!

My time at home was both relaxing and tiring at the same time. The first two weeks were spent just hanging out with friends and mom and dad, but the last week I decided to rent a car and take off to Barrie and, at the last minute, Peterborough. This was a whirlwind trip to see some great aunties who were visiting Ontario from Quebec and New Brunswick. I hadn't seen them in about 3 years, so it was nice to catch up with them.

I'm having a bit of a tough time finding my groove so far this year. Mel left to go back to Canada and that has been a bit of a blow. It doesn't help that since I've been back the sun has shone about 4 times in 2.5 weeks. It's rainy and humid and blah weather. Where's the clear skies, cool weather and sun!?!? I miss the sun!

Lola is letting me sleep a BIT more during the night and now only wakes me up around 4:30 am instead of 12, 2 and 4......we're still getting to know each other and I think eventually she'll make a suitable and lovable pet. She goes to get spayed next week. Maybe that will settle her down a bit.

I'm all signed up to run the Suncheon 5K in October. There are a few girls coming from Mokpo to partake in the run as well. Should be a fun weekend! I need to get my butt in gear and train...I've not been running very much lately....

Chuseok is coming up and I don't have any travel plans for it. I may just stay close to home for those five days and save some money. My next big travel plan is hopefully India and Nepal. I will only do them if I have 4 uninterupted weeks in Jan/Feb. If it turns out I have 2 weeks off then need to work a camp for two weeks then have another two weeks off, I may take two smaller vacations - one to Bali and the other to Vietnam and Cambodia....we'll see...

Anyways, I'm back....still haven't decided if I WANT to be back, but for the meantime am relatively content...
ta!

Meet Lola!!

2007-06-26T23:57:00.000+09:00

Hey everyone. I'd like to introduce you to the newest addition to my life. She is (at best guess) 8 weeks old and was a stray at the bus terminal. When my friend Nina found her, the cat had a broken tail. it was limp and the vet said that it would probably need to be amputated, but she is too young to have anesthetic so I got her her first set of shots and took her home last wednesday. She has been a spaz and so funny looking with her hooked tail. The vet said that someone might have tried to tie something on her tail really tight. Anyways, all the nerves and tissue was dead from that point up. He said that we could amputate it later when she was older.
I've been doing some reading about kitten rearing because she was probably away from her mother too soon and I want to make sure that she's a personable, lifelong pet. This is a big decision for me to have a "dependent" now and may take a bit of getting used to.

The main thing that prompted this blog was the events that unfurled this evening....
I played with her for a bit then went to the computer to email and surf for a bit. She continued to play on her own and I ignored her for the most part. I got up to turn the lights off and I looked down on the floor and saw what I thought was a cat turd! It wasn't...it was her TAIL!!!! No blood, no yelp, she's still playing around as if she can't tell it's gone!! It was probably one of the most surreal moments to see this tail lying on my
floor....I had to take a picture of it! Seriously...she just continued to play....now she is sleeping quietly in my knitting basket - her fave place to rest from a day of playing and losing body parts. I'll take her to the vet's tomorrow but I'm sure that he's just going to say it'll heal fine on it's own. That tail just saved me 100+ bucks by falling off on its own (not that I wouldn't have paid to have it taken off when she was older)
Here is a pic of the new and improved Lola playing right through the loss of her own tail!! What a character!

Seoul is good for the soul!

2007-05-29T17:31:00.000+09:00

Friday afternoon I booked it outta school and headed for the train station. Destination: Seoul - Yongsan Station.
I was going to meet Mel, Matt and Teresa (Matt's mom visiting from Canada) since they had been there since Thursday.
The trip up was uneventful and let me just say that whenever I can, I will choose to go to Seoul by train rather than bus! I love the train - it's so much smoother, and quieter than the bus.
I arrived in Seoul around 7:15 and took a taxi to Insadong to meet the crew - I THOUGHT about taking the subway, but being on my own, never having taken the subway before, not reading up about it before hand, and being hungry, I decided to just take a taxi - BAD IDEA!.....it cost me over 10 bucks and took a lot longer than I thought. Oh well, lesson learned, and now, after following Matt around on the subway system for a day and half, I feel better about taking it on my own next time I go back

Seoul was - how shall I put it- refreshing! I sometimes forget how far south we are in Jeolla province and being in Seoul reminded me that NOT everyone spits and horks on the ground, NOT everyone throws their garbage out on the street. We really are in the sticks. The Seoulites even have better fashion sense - imo - than many of the ppl that I see around here especially women. They don't wear the frilly frou frou stuff that women around here seem to wear. They are very friendly and offer to help you if you look lost or need help figuring out the subway system. A lot of people in Seoul speak moderate to excellent English. (I don't mean to sound like I'm dissing my province, I love it here, and well, MAYBE I could live in Seoul, but I like my home in Suncheon)

It was a busy weekend, and my dogs were tired. We walked a lot, but it was good. It was fun to be a follower. Usually I'm a leader type personality when it comes to travel/tourist stuff, and my way is not always the best way. I was glad to let Matt do the leading and see where it led us.... and besides, I have more time in Korea...I wanted to make sure that Mel and Teresa saw the things they SHOULD see before leaving.
On Friday night we headed over to Itaewon and had the best Thai food (other than the stuff I ate at the Papaya in Koh Phi Phi) That was about it. It was a late dinner and the others had been going since early and I had a long day as well. Matt and his mom went back to their hotel and Mel and I headed to Insadong where we stayed at the Saelim. It's a nice little spot that we found the last time we were in Seoul.

Saturday morning, Mel and I were up early and headed to the Coffee Bean to sit in the sun and enjoy a cup of Joe and a toasted bagel while we waited for Matt and his Mom. (bliss) They were running a bit late (but who's on a schedule, it felt like vacation!)so we said we'd meet them at Tapgol Park and after we all met up we headed to Jongmyo Shrine and the adjacent park. Jongmyo Shrine is a UNESCO heritage site and Jongmyo is the term used for a place where memorial services are performed for deceased kings. The shrine holds the memorial tablets of a bunch of kings and queens from the Joseon Dynasty. After the shrine we continued on into the adjacent park and wandered around some ponds, and into the botanical garden. By this point we were becoming weak from hunger so we decided to find some food - we found a place to eat Samgyupsal mmmmmmmm...

After lunch we made our way to the NANTA! theater to see if we could get tickets for the 8pm show that night. We did! (more about NANTA! later)
By this time we were all feeling a bit tired of walking and decided to part ways for a bit and meet back up at the theater. Matt and Teresa headed back to their hotel, and Mel and I THOUGHT about heading there, but we figured by the time we got back there, it wouldnt give us a ton of time to rest, get ready and get back so we decided to stay out....wandering some more led us to Namdaemun market. I wasn't too impressed with it, and I wasn't really in the mood to shop (sidenote: I bought nothing except food and subway tokens all weekend!) Once we ran the gauntlet that is Namdaemun we found ourselves at one of the entrances to the market which had a Shinsegae department store. It's a pretty swanky place but Mel and I needed to rest our weary feet and I KNEW that there'd be a place to get manicure and pedicure soooooo off we went. We didn't have time for both, and a pedicure would have just been ruined by our running shoes so we decided on a manicure! The BEST manicure I've EVER had! Did I mention that manicure's are almost a weekly thing for me now!
We found ourselves a little pressed for time and huffing and puffing, speed walking our way back to the theater to watch NANTA! but we made it in enough time!
ok....NANTA! It was AMAZING! It's been a long time since I've seen a live show and I miss it soooooo much! It was very cool because there was audience involvement! Nanta had me laughing till my cheeks hurt, almost in tears (because of the percussion drum beats, not the plot), and made the hair on my neck stand up. I loved it, loved it, loved it. If you get the chance, GO SEE IT! Tickets were 50 bucks but it was sooooo worth it!
"'NANTA' is a non-verbal performance of reckless rhythms that dramatize customary Korean percussion in a strikingly comedic stage show." This is what was written on the tour2korea website. Click below for more information regarding the show and plot (http://english.tour2korea.com/04Bookings/Performances/seedetails.asp?oid=12&kosm=m4_2&konum=2)

After Nanta we made plans to meet up with Roberta and Rick who were also in Seoul. We met them at Ali Baba's in Itaewon for some Egyptian food and hookahs! (not hookers, Hookahs). Now I'm not a smoker, but I love to puff on a Hookah pipe now and again. What a fun time. W closed the joint and between the 6 of us had almost a 300 dollar tab! Good times!

Sunday was a sad day. We had to say good bye to Teresa and to Seoul! We woke up and headed to Matt's hotel room to wish him a happy birthday once again and enjoy some spice cake that he had brought with him from Gwangju. (btw - saturday was Matt's birthday and Teresa entertained us all day long by taking jabs at Matt and telling us stories about Matt from his childhood. By the end of the day mel and I started trashing him (like the friends we are) and it had almost turned into a roast to celebrate Matt's birth!)
Teresa once again told us some funny stories and then we gave our hugs and said our good byes and were off to the subway station to make our way to Yongsan station to catch our train.

It's no wonder I live for weekends!

Stay tuned for next weekend's adventures in Busan - second largest city in Korea!

Pink Ribbon Marathon - 5K run!

2007-05-21T13:01:00.000+09:00

This past weekend I ran in my first official 5k run. I ran the Santa Shuffle in Barrie about 2.5 years ago but it was such a poor effort on my part that I don't even like to count it. THIS race I finished strong. I only had to take 3- 1minute walk breaks and finished in about 35 min (I later found out that it was actually only 4.3 km but I don't care....I still would have finished 5k's in less than 45 min)

We had such a great day and there were SOOOOO many people out for the 5 and 10km runs. It was a sea of pink.
The fundraiser was for the Breast Cancer Foundation of Korea.
Mel and I stayed with each other through out most of the race and finished within seconds of each other. It was such a great experience to do this with her. Also, there were a bunch of other Waygooks there who cheered us on to the finish line.
Special thanks goes to Jessica who inspired me and goaded me into doing this. I'm SO happy I did! She's going for her first 10K race on Jeju Island in 2 weekends! GOOD LUCK JESS! (don't forget DFL is better than DNS!)

Poetry in my name....

2007-04-26T09:23:00.000+09:00

So I've been teaching extra classes in the morning before school starts and this week the students did Acrostic English poems. I gave them a list of words they could use and I told them that they could choose their own word if they wanted. I have to admit, i'm pretty happy with them and one of them specifically warmed my heart....it's sooo cute! The grammar and english leaves a bit to be desired but it's still pretty good!
Carol teacher is nice teacher
Angry no! happy class!
Remember Carol teacher forever
Old no! younger yes!
Long time during make nice class

Vacation part 2 of 4

2007-04-16T21:20:00.000+09:00

So after Mel and I arrived in Phuket, Thailand we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi (PP) The ferry was a bit scary and sketchy, but we made it safe and sound. We had booked a room for 5 nights at the Paradise Resort and it was absolutely wonderful. For the most part we just beached, sunbathed, floated, and snorkeled. We shopped a bit as well in the small town. The island has no motorized vehicles on it so we had to take long boats where ever we went. My legs were battered from hauling myself into these boats whenever we wanted to go somewhere. One day we did a snorkel tour that took us to the island that the movie "The Beach" was filmed on. It was all very crowded with tourists but some of the other stops were less crowded and even more beautiful.
We really didn't do a whole lot during the 5 days except relax, read, drink some beer, smoke some cigars and go skinny dipping in the night time phosphorescence! It was GORGEOUS!! What a relaxing time. You might remember that Koh PP was one of the areas that was devastated by the tsunami in 2005. It is slowly getting back on its feet and the crowds that are there are certainly not deterred by signs like these.

If you want to see more pics of this part of our journey check out this link.

For more pics of our time in Singapore look here

New WW Product - 10% less fat - Carol!

2007-04-16T13:08:00.000+09:00

Well, I did it! I blew past my 10% goal of 188.1 lbs(85.5kg) and weighed in today at 187 (85kg) 22 lbs (10kg) in 7 weeks! I feel awesome! So pumped for the next 10%!!
YAY ME!!

Totally 80's

2007-04-12T22:10:00.000+09:00

With my birthday coming around again soon and the fact that the theme of the party this year is the 80's, means that I've been thinking a lot about that time of my life. While I don't remember a lot of the earlier part of the decade as far as fashion etc., from 1985 onward it's all a hilarious look back.

Yes, I had legwarmers, wore ripped jeans, had a "Debbie Gibson" bolero hat that was SOOOOO cool! I even made a peace sign on the back of a jean jacket with a large string of fake pearls. Stretch pants and big bold colourful sweaters were awesome as were body perms and thick material headbands. I wore Electric Youth perfume and even had pictures of Emilio Estevez and Judd Nelson on my bedroom ceiling (omg, did I really just divulge that?:S) Favourite movies included Breakfast Club and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and yes I watched them on a Beta machine.
I remember making mixed tapes from the radio, records and other tapes on a side by side tape deck turntable combo! My first portable music was about 10x the size of my current iPod.

Anyways I hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with me. Click on the link above (Pop Junkie) to go to a website for an 80's music quiz if you're up for it. I got a 92!! Guess I truly am a child of the 80's!

Early Birthday present to myself...

2007-04-04T09:34:00.000+09:00

I've decided to treat myself to a new "toy". I've been thinking about getting a digital SLR camera for a while now and figured what's a better reason than my upcoming birthday to finally buy it. I've pretty much decided on a Nikon D40. This Saturday I'll go shopping to take a look and make a final decision and see if there are any deals to be had.
There are lots of friends here in Korea that share my enthusiasm for photography and I'm excited to learn as much as I can from them.
Can't wait to get snappin'!

Update

2007-04-03T08:38:00.000+09:00

Ok, well I've been at it for a little over a month now. I've had four weigh ins and have been wildly successful. I'm ecstatic with the results.

Start weight : 209lbs
Current weight: 191.4lbs
10% goal: 188.1lbs
Final goal 139lbs

I'm working out 4 times/week at the gym and am on the treadmill for at least 45 min each time. Most days I try to do 50 or 60 min. I've tried running but still have a hard time doing anything more than 1 min running 1 min walking intervals. Oh well, just taking it slow. I've got plenty of time to start my running training. I want to eventually start training for a 10k and I'll set that goal sometime this spring.. Right now I'm just enjoying the fruits of my labour and my body is responding so well. I have more energy, and my clothes are actually fitting me. I'm going shopping in my own closet, which is nice for a change! It's been a long time since I've been in a size 14 jean!! Woohoo!

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Da-dada-da!!...Vacation...Finally - Part 1 of 4

2007-03-25T15:20:00.000+09:00

Up until now it has seemed like such a DAUNTING task to blog about 28 full days of travel. The experiences were at times, magical, stressful, tiring, amazing, empowering, eye-opening, and wondrous! To date, this has been my best trip!
My time away lasted from the 16th of January until the 11th of February. I will not bore you with a day to day account but will try to keep the events in a chronological order.

Singapore
Mel and I arrived in Singapore on the evening of the 16th and promptly made our way to the hostel. I felt like a pro, having been to Singapore before and taking the MRT. I LOVE SINGAPORE. This was my second time there and the place we stayed at was in Chinatown. I loved Little India, where we stayed last year, but Chinatown was my favourite. We did a self guided walking tour (with the help of a brochure) of Chinatown and were able to fit some good site seeing in that day with a trip to Little India and a guided walking tour there as well. We got henna'd and then went to a very special place that is dear to my heart - Clarke Quay. This is a lovely area of western style restaurants and patios along the Singapore River. On various nights we had tex mex, hummus, falafal, great ceasar salad and enjoyed some nice bevvies such as some nice micro brews and a HUGE margarita.

While staying in Chinatown we also experienced what is known as "wake me up coffee". It is very strongly brewed coffee with sweetened condensed milk in the bottom. We enjoyed a nice breakfast of wake me up coffee and kaya toast one morning at a place around the corner from our hostel. Kaya toast is simply a jam made of coconut and cream and butter spread on toast. It was scrumptialicious. As you can tell by our faces, we're really starting to get in hang of this vacation stuff - relaxing.

I think one of my favourite parts of this trip to Singapore was our visit to Underwater World on Sentosa Island. Sentosa is, for the most part, a joke. It's so manufactured and commercial, but Underwater world was splendid . Mel and I got to feed rays and view lots of amazing aquatic wildlife. I also visited the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari again.

Two specific events stand out from my time in Singapore. One was the afternoon when it POURED TORRENTIAL rains and Mel and I were back at the hostel regrouping from a morning out. We lay in bed with the windows open and listened to the rain and just read all afternoon. It was glorious! I think because it was the first feeling of REAL relaxation of the trip. (of course there were many more to come)
The second was our last evening where we found a restaurant/bar called Marrakesh and they had hookah pipes at outside tables and we sat and enjoyed some strawberry tobacco, some Singha beer and some falafel and hummus. To top it off there was a lovely jazz concert outside IN the water fountain.

All in all it was a wonderful time in Singapore - even though I've been there before. I'll go back again and again...it's such an amazing place. From Singapore our next stop was Koh Phi Phi, Thailand (Phi Phi Island) (pronounced pee-pee) via a flight to Phuket Thailand and a ferry ride to the Island. You'll have to wait for another time to hear about that...stay tuned.

Just call me Bridget Jones...

2007-03-20T21:44:00.000+09:00

So tonight I decided to make a large pot of vegetable soup for nights when I needed a quick dinner. I put it in freezable containers and then at the end of a day I have at least part of a healthy meal prepared.
Well, I had made veggie soup before and put cabbage in it but this time I didn't have enough of the regular cabbage but had some nice purple cabbage.....below you will see the result of my culinary prowess. - It TASTES great by the way....just a little funny looking

New Beginnings

2007-03-19T12:28:00.000+09:00

As some of you know, I've struggled with weight for my whole life. I have tried numerous times to lose weight, never with much success because the scale always creeped back up into those numbers that I hated to see. It wasn't until recently that I realized that my weight loss success would come down to one basic fact: I HAVE TO WANT IT BADLY ENOUGH. I realized recently that this time I want it so bad I can TASTE skinny! (Is that possible?)

So, about 3 weeks ago I joined Weight Watchers online. I've witnessed a great friend who has been wonderfully successful with the lifestyle change and has maintained her weight loss and received her lifetime membership with WW. This has inspired me to be just as successful.
Along with journaling my food intake online through WW, I can post on community forums in lieu of meetings and I plan on using my blog to post my successes.

The switch has been flipped and this time it's for life, I want to be healthy, I want to live the longest, fullest life I can, I want to be able to walk up stairs without getting winded, I want to run a 10k, I want to climb a mountain and NOT be the last one in my group to get there.

Here's the biggest step. Letting the whole world see/know what my numbers are. Some people feel that their numbers are private but I feel that one of the factors of my success is support and encouragement from the people who care about me.

Starting weight - 209lbs
Current weight - 196.9lbs
10% Goal - 188lbs
Final Goal - 139lbs
Here's my before picture: (cringe):) Don't I look happy? :S)

Weekends in March...

2007-03-18T18:07:00.000+09:00

Yes, it's been about 2 months since I blogged and I'm not even going to talk about my vacation in this blog....I'll get to it...don't worry....and when I do, it'll be gooooooood;)
____________________________________________________

Anyways, on to what I've done the last two weekends.
Last Saturday night was spent in Gwangju - a great evening in an establishment called Cafe Provence. My friend Matt was playing a gig there with his friend Darren. Let me start by saying that Cafe Provence is probably about the size of my apartment but is very quaint. It doesn't look like any place I've seen in Korea and actually IS very much what I would imagine a CAFE in PROVENCE would look like.
Matt and Darren were performing together under the moniker of BIKIDO. When I asked Matt what this word meant he only explained it as a bikini with spare hair. (it actually is a portmanteau word using bikini and Speedo, but picture a man wearing it) After finding this out and having nothing to do on the Friday night before the performance Vanessa, Mel and I decided that it would be cool - and by cool I mean really silly and hilarious - to make groupie t - shirts. Vanessa designed the image and I designed the font/lettering of the name. We made stencils and spray painted them. The slogan on the front of the t-shirt says "Grab Life by the Short and Curlies Let's just say they were quite popular and Matt even gave the t-shirt we made him away as a door prize.
A fun time was had by all that evening with some good tunes being played by two very talented guys....

Mel's birthday was on the 14th of March and it was her 30th birthday. Not wanting to let her tip toe into her thirties quietly, Vanessa and I decided that she should have a party. And not just any party but a MUSTACHE party. For a look at how many people participated in this fun and ridiculously funny night and all of the different styles of facial hair check out this link
Those are pictures that Vanessa took of the everyone who wore some sort of mustache.
It was another fun fun night that lasted till quite early in the morning. I seriously thought that the police might have been called there were SO many people in my apartment - I think about 20 people in my small apartment. SO much fun! Thanks to all the people from Mokpo who came out on a Friday night right after school!
These are my pictures from the last two weekends

t-18 hours til departure

2007-01-15T15:04:00.000+09:00

Well, here we are the eve of departure for my second and Mel's first trip to Singapore and Thailand and both of our first time in Cambodia!
I've technically been on vacation now for about 4 days but Mel is, as I type this, still working. She is finishing up her last afternoon of kids camp.
I have done my dishes, cleaned out my fridge, packed and repacked, run some errands, TRIED to nap, and yet I still sit here waiting. I'm so excited to be out of here for a few weeks and especially excited to be traveling with Mel. We've never traveled together before, other than Beijing and that was a package tour.

Last night I was thinking about when Mel and I first met each other. It was about 4 1/2 years ago when we first started our undergrad at Nip. We quickly became friends and began to discuss our dreams and plans with each other. In second year we started to talk about what we would like to do AFTER uni, after Teacher's college. We both knew we wanted to travel and talked about possibilities and travel opportunities, backpacking in Europe or taking a road trip across Canada during the summer. Nothing was ever definite other than the drive, the want, the need to see and learn about new places....

Fast forward 3 years and here we are, both living abroad, traveling to exotic countries like Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia, living our dreams AND paying our bills! Go figure!

Cheers! to a great traveling companion and what I know will be an amazing and memorable trip!

New Years Resolutions

2007-01-10T23:17:00.000+09:00

I don't like the word "resolutions"as it pertains to promises made(and usually broken) about what will be accomplished in the upcoming year. I do however enjoy this email that was sent to me regarding a fresh start and taking care of yourself; body, mind and soul.
They aren't necessarily resolutions but TIPS on how to have a great NEW YEAR!

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Buy a TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is to___________ today.

5. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

6. Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did in 2006.

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Spend more time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.

11. Drink green tea & plenty of water and eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.

12. Try to make at least 3 people smile each day.

13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:

I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished____________.

19. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

20. Enjoy the ride. Remember that this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

Happy New Year Everyone!

I will be gone from January 15th until February 11th for vacation. I am traveling to Singapore and Thailand again but this time I'm also adding on Cambodia. That's right....I'm heading to Angkor Wat. I've always dreamed of going there to see the massive temple complex. I'll try to post along the way at internet cafes and such, but if not I'll make sure to take lots of notes and write in my journal and do a massive blog when I get back!

Christmas and New Years

2007-01-10T22:31:00.000+09:00

Christmas in Korea is a lot different than Christmas in Canada. It kind of sneaks up on you because you are not commercially bombarded with it for a month and half before the actual day. For this reason, I love being in Korea for Christmas!
Some of you may remember that last year I wanted to do something WAY out of the ordinary for Christmas because I knew it would be difficult. (I went to Seoul to see the Nutcracker Ballet on Christmas Eve)
However, this year I really wanted to have a true Christmas dinner. I invited 9 of my friends and cooked 6 small chickens in my oven. I had to cook them 2 at a time the day before and then clean the meat off of them and reheat it the day of the dinner but it all turned out great. I made stuffing and even made a decent gravy. Not nearly as good as my mom's but not too bad if I do say so myself! The biggest hit of the day was the home made NOG with 151 proof rum in it. People were sucking them back like milkshakes...and even offering to make more!
Roberta and Rick brought amazing creamy, garlic smashed potatos and green beans. Mel and Mike brought corn, buns and carrots. IT was a GREAT MEAL! After dinner we had a gift exchange...well it was more of a gift grab. We played the game where you can take a gift from the pile or choose to steal a gift that someone else has opened and has in their possession. I think everyone had some fun!
I thoroughly enjoyed the company on Christmas Eve and wasn't even sad for one second that I wasn't home...until christmas day when everyone went home! :( Still, it was a great time and I'm so glad for the love and friendship that I felt that night and continuously feel from the people that have surrounded me and become my friends here in Korea. Special thanks to Matt for keeping us entertained with his guitar and phenomenal voice!

New Years Eve was spent with most of the same crowd as Christmas Eve plus a hundred more people. We went to Gwangju and rang in the new year at the Speakeasy. We ate ate a great dinner and then went to the "Dog Cafe" and then moved on over to the bar around 10. It was a night of drunken debauchery and we didn't make it home until around 4 in the morning after singing at the Noraebang for almost 2 hours!!!

Check out pics of Christmas and NYE here.

Long time no blog...

2007-01-10T20:46:00.000+09:00

It's been a busy few months since November. I've witnessed a murder, seen some hookers, started a book discussion group and hosted the first meeting, cooked 6 birds and hosted another 8 people for Christmas dinner. I've just finished a teacher training workshop where I was an instructor for 2 weeks and now, after all this, I'm finally on holidays!

Murder Mystery:
We went to Mokpo for a birthday party that was planned as a murder mystery party. It was fantastic! Set in the 1920's, it involved gangsters, flappers, corrupt cops and gin joint girls. Here's the invitation that we each received.
An Evening of Murder, Mayhem & the Mob
With the passing of prohibition and organized crime on the rise, The Juice Joint, a swanky speakeasy run by Rosie Marie, has been nothing but jumping. To celebrate its success, Rosie is planning a party to remember at the exclusive nightspot… and you are invited!
However, one of the names on the guest list is also on another’s hit list…and no one is safe from the consequences.
With the murder on the menu, you are certain to find a medley of individuals to make the night most memorable. From the major mobsters and their molls to the swanky singer with her hopes at Hollywood. The cigarette girl with a temper that sizzles to the crooked police chief with nothing to lose—no one is safe from murder…but everyone will have a chance at solving it. Will the culprit be the Mayor who is capable of murder? The blacklisted bootlegger desperate to increase his sales? Or possibly the director with a shot at making history?
We were all given a role to play and had to complete certain tasks/or speak to certain people at different points of the evening. I was Flora Nemetz Gadora the ex wife of Notorious Nick the Northside mob boss. It wasn't until I got to the party that I even knew who my ex husband would be "played" by. At one point the lights go off, "shots" are fired and when the lights are back on there's one of the characters/party guests lying on the floor "dead". It ended up being my ex husband that was on the floor. So things really heated up after that. People thought I was a suspect but we had to figure out who was the murderer based on the evidence that was given. It was a lot of fun and we even dressed up in 1920's costume. It was a GREAT time!
I forgot my camera but enjoy the few photos that were taken by others...

PS: After the party we went back to Mary's and began to get ready for bed by taking all of our make up and eye lashes off. Fake eyelashes are so cheap and easy to find here that we've been using them quite often when we go out and that night I peeled mine off and started clowning around with them......

Seoul

The weekend before the murder mystery we went to Seoul to hang out and shop. We went to Itaewon the first night which was a big mistake because we couldn't find a nice hotel and ended up staying in a dive on "Hooker hill". Three of us slept widthwise in a double bed because there wasn't even enough room on the floor beside the bed for a 3rd person to sleep lengthwise....it was pretty nasty room with some unidentifiable stains and even a chewed piece of gum stuck to the headboard....GROSS!
The saving grace of our time in Itaewon was the Rocky Mountain Tavern. A Canadian bar filled with all things - Canadian. They had license plates on the walls from different provinces, hockey jerseys stapled to the ceiling and best of all they had MOOSEHEAD beer and NACHOS - the best nachos to be exact. So we enjoyed some eats then headed back to the hideous room to spend our first and last night in Itaewon.
The rest of the weekend was fun. We finally got to go to Insadong which is a great place to people watch and buy arts and crafts and all things Korean.
After Insadong....around 10pm we headed to Dongdaemun market which is open until FIVE AM!! This area consists of an outside market as well as shopping malls that are all open until 5 in the morning, AND they have plus sizes so I was in heaven trying on pants and sweaters at 1am.
FUN FUN weekend!

Meet my houseguest!

2006-11-30T21:23:00.000+09:00

This is Yeonji.
He is my friend Nina's cat and he has been staying with me for the last 2 weeks while Nina is away. He is so much fun and makes me REEEEEEAAALLLLLY want a kitty of my own. I'm thinking about it. I'll probably wait until after vacation to get a cat.

He wasn't always this relaxed...when he first arrived he was a bit scared and hid in as many places he could find.

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Mel and I have been making GREAT dinners lately...see the pics of our amazing chicken nachos that we cooked in my new oven. You can see it to Mel's left in the picture. I finally upgraded from a toaster oven to a larger one that I can bake a pie in. Gonna try my hand at a pumpkin pie for Christmas.
Tonight we made bacon, avocado, onion, tomato and cheese sammiches. They were sooooooooo tasty.
Anyways, there's just a little update on what's going on.
I'll post more after the weekend. I'm going to a murder mystery party where the guests are the actors....it's gonna be fun!

Scrubbed a dub-dub in a green tea hot tub!

2006-11-20T23:41:00.000+09:00

So.....this weekend I FINALLY did it. I've lived in Korea for a year and heard all about the public saunas or bath houses and how wonderful they are and how I should really try it and it will feel amazing. Why did I wait so long?
Well, you are naked the whole time you are in there. In my head I knew it was a great idea and I knew I would love it once I tried it, but getting myself to actually disrobe in the middle of a change room and then strut over to the shower, and then over to the tub and then sit around and chat with my friends was something that I really thought I was going to have a hard time with.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude. I love a good nighttime skinny dip as much as the next person, but this was different.
It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be. And quite normal too.
We went to what is actually called a "spa" because it had a green tea pool. There were 4 pools - a frigidly cold one, a lukewarm one, a HOT one and another HOT one that was green tea....seriously...it was like sitting in teapot!. We each had a scrub, which is where a woman (wearing bra and underwear) gets you up on a massage like table and she proceeds to scrub you down with exfoliating mitts. She was very thorough and gets into all the nooks and crannies - if you know what I mean!
I thought my armpits were going to start bleeding at one point....and although I'm making this sound like a terrible experience it was really quite good because my skin felt GREAT after she was finished.
We spent a total of about 3 hours at the spa and circulated from Sauna to cold pool to green tea pool.
I'm very excited about this first experience because now I am not shy and will start to use the bathing room at my health club. It's a far nicer experience than showering in my cubicle of a bathtub and more luxurious as well. I've got a membership at the gym I might as well shower there too!

PS: after the spa morning we went and made pottery. It was fun! Thanks Vanessa for a great weekend in Boseong county!

The things you see in Korea...

2006-11-20T23:26:00.000+09:00

will make you laugh. If you check out Stu's blog about "The things Kids Wear" this one could fit right in. I saw this on a kid about 10 years old while we were out in Suncheon during the Free Hug day. It says: "If you had a rich boyfriend he'd give you diamonds and rubies. Well, maybe next year you will when you've bigger boobies"

They have no idea what it says....they just care that it is in English.

Free Hugs Suncheon

2006-11-20T22:49:00.000+09:00

So, a while ago I posted about the Free Hugs Campaign and afterwards I couldn't stop thinking about it. I decided to gather up some friends and tell ALL my students about it and see if we couldn't get some magic happening in Suncheon. It was such a huge success. We had out of towners from Mokpo and Gurye show up just to get in on the hug action. There were about 10 of us who gathered in the downtown core with home made signs in both English(Free Hugs) and Korean (mu-ryo-ro an-a-de-rim-ni-da) the Korean translates to "I will give you free Hugs"

Koreans, in general are not "huggy" people but we were confident in our mission and away we went. It was soooooooooo much fun! I think about the most fun I've had in Korea so far. It was so fulfilling. I gained as much from that day as anyone. I felt totally renewed after the day of hugging and my face was sore from the constant smiling....I didn't even realize I was doing it!

We hugged old people, young people, children, babies, women, men, and shopkeepers. I think my favorites were the older generation who, maybe weren't so sure, but tried it out anyways and ended up giving some of the best hugs. The younger generation (middle, highschool and uni age) were the most receptive and most had heard of the campaign from seeing it on the Internet or TV.

Remember I told you I challenged all my students to come out that day and join me and my friends. I told over 1000 students. Well about 10 kids showed up at different areas in Suncheon with their signs. Even though I wasn't in those areas to see some of them, I heard from other foreigners that they got hugs from kids with signs at Home Plus and other shopping areas.

Such an amazing day. Do it if you can. It's two hours out of your life that will add years and totally fill you up!
Check out pics of the day. Special thanks go to Christa, Nancy, Mary, Lana and Bryce for actually making the trip to Suncheon to help out!

Halloween

2006-11-20T22:19:00.000+09:00

It was a party!
It was in Yeosu
It was full of fabulous costumes.
It was completed with a trip to the Noraebang at 3 am.
You should check out the pics!

Mary's Birthday Weekend

2006-11-20T20:39:00.000+09:00

I know this is a little late in the making but I've been sans computer for quite some time and have finally gotten it fixed. It needed a new hard drive. It's only 2 years old but something I did (or didn't do) f'd it up. Anyways, all is fixed and I'm back up and running and wired to the world again.

Anyways, I wanted to update a little on some of the events in the last few weeks.
I went to Mokpo the weekend before Halloween for Mary's birthday. You might remember her from the Beijing blogs. She arrived in Korea in the same orientation session that I did, however it wasn't until this year that we really started hanging out. I always have a blast when I'm with her, so when she invited us to come to Mokpo for the weekend we jumped at the chance. We went down on the Friday night for what was supposed to be a low key girls night. Well, what ensued was a drunken night in with talk of boys, sex toys (aren't they the same thing??) ;) pedicures and lots and lots of wine....oh gawd, the wine!! Saturday night was supposed to be the actual birthday party but we had much more fun on the Friday night. Even Mary said so!!;)

Thanks go out to Maura, VHS, Crystal and Kristin for making it such a hoot!

On the Saturday afternoon we went out to the hair salon so that Mary could get her hair curled for her birthday and Vanessa wanted her hair cut. Mel and I didn't want to be left out of the salon day so she got her hair straightened and I got mine CHOPPED. Yes, that's right, my hair is short once again! Usually people say I'm "brave" when I chop my hair like I always do. I've pretty much of the frame of mind that it'll grow back, no big deal. This time, however I think I was pretty brave for getting it done in a foreign country where there is a bit of language barrier. I love it short. It's lots of fun and a nice change.

Mel and I looking hot with our new hair dos

On the Saturday evening we met up with about 15 other foreigners and went out for dinner and drinks for Mary's birthday. I had my first experience with discrimination when as a group we entered a place called Plastic and almost immediately (even though we ordered a pitcher of beer and were drinking it) were told to get out. ALL OF US! They didn't want us there. I couldn't believe it! So we drank up what was left in our glasses and left....didn't pay for it or anything because they had just told us to "go away" with sweeping arm movements! Just to piss them off we stood in the stairwell and sang a rousing "Happy Birthday" to Mary. We finished the night off at P-Club with no major incidences and a fun time was had by all!

Hug Campaign

2006-10-17T12:45:00.000+09:00

A friend of mine sent me the link to this video on Youtube this morning. I haven't jumped on the YouTube bandwagon yet, and really haven't used it much but I did check this link out. It touched me so much that I thought I'd learn a new trick on Blogger and embed it right into my website so you can enjoy.
What a great campaign and a great song! Let me know if the audio is working on the video, am still running into some glitches!

Peking, Beijing, whichever way you say it, it's a great city!

2006-10-13T13:30:00.000+09:00

Well, a lot of people have been asking me to blog about my trip to Beijing. You asked for it...
Last week was Chuseok here in Korea. Chuseok is kind of like Christmas in North America. Everyone eats too much and spends time with family and pays homage to their ancestors. This year Chuseok ended up being a whole week long (plus weekends, that made 9 days off) What a great opportunity for some out of country travel!
Let me begin by saying I couldn't have asked for better traveling companions. My trip and my memories of that trip have been made richer because Mel, Mary and Vanessa were there!
We booked ourselves on a package tour and although I haven't done a LOT of traveling I was nervous to try this form of travel because of the lack of freedom. However, we had limited time during Chuseok and wanted to see as much as we could while we were in Beijing. Although we were herded around like cattle, I must say it was still an enjoyable and informative and entertaining trip. We would have never seen or done as much as we did in 5 days if we had of done it on our own.

Day 1.
Forbidden City and Tiananman Square
While it was immense, many of the Forbidden City's larger buildings were under construction while we were there. The Forbidden City is named as such because for almost 500 years during the Ming and Qing dynasties the royal city was closed to outsiders. This ended in 1924 when the last emporer of China was driven from inside the city walls. It is the worlds largest palace complex and is almost 1 km from the north to the south gate and has 9999 buildings within the city walls. The guide books say to take a full day to explore the the FC but our tour guide Peter breezed us through in about an hour and half to two hours. We were able to see the Royal gardens the Hall of Mental Cultivation where the living quarters of the emperor were and where they conducted their business. We also learned about the Empress Dowager Ci'xi. who was nicknamed "The Dragon Lady" because of her tactics in ruling and maintaining her power. She was originally a concubine of the Emporer who quickly rose above the classes of the other concubines and eventually provided the emporer with his only son. When the Emporer died, the son was too young to actually rule so while he sat on the throne she gave orders from behind a yellow screen. Through various tactics and decisions, she maintained her role as ruler and continued to rule from behind the yellow screen for over 40 years because at that time in China women were not supposed to be in the outer palace or hold any public positions.
So we made our way from the north gate of the FC to the south gate and into Tiananman Square. It was PACKED with people so we had to take a round about way of walking into the square. Usually you can just walk from north to south through the FC and continue on through the south gates of the FC into the north end of TS. It was a Chinese national holiday while we were there so many people tourists and Chinese alike were out and about touring the city.
Tiananman Square was impressive even though I have no other city squares to compare it to. It is said to be the largest open urban square in the world. Marking the south side of the square is the Mao Mausoleum where you can enter and view the chairman's body which is raised on an elevated platform and is supposedly lowered down into a cool, earthquake proof chamber at night. creepy!
We didn't enter any of the buildings that are on the outside of the square as there was not enough time. All in all the square was way too busy to get a feel for the size and openness of it and way too busy for my liking.

That night when we checked into our hotel, we were like little kids in a candy store...it was a Holiday Inn hotel but it had to be the nicest, swankiest hotel I've ever stayed in. There were even a phone and a volume knob for the television in the bathroom. When we saw that we had robes and slippers we actually jumped up and down!
We enjoyed a swim and sauna every night before bed and even treated ourselves to a foot massage on the last night of our trip! We ate one meal a day at the hotel and that was breakfast....sigh...oh, the breakfast....it was amazing....they had pastries and bread, and cheese, and fruit and eggs, and bacon and hash browns and waffles, and french toast and pancakes with syrup and cream and juice and milk and yogurt and many different kinds of cereal....and it was all you could eat buffet.....We LIVED for the breakfasts there! A small tear rolls down my cheek as I reminisce....;)

Day 2
The Great Wall
The Great Wall was, I thought, going to be my favourite thing about the entire trip. While it was fun, and somewhat amazing to be standing there ON THE GREAT WALL!, I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at the throngs of tourists and the 4 lane highway running under it. I don't know what I was expecting...that we would be the only ones there... I don't know?? The part of the wall where we were was at Badaling and this is where the wall has been completely rebuilt for the benefit of the tourists (dollars). Other parts of the wall are in shambles because of construction and also because people actually steal blocks from the wall for construction in nearby villages.
There is a cable car to take you to the top if you don't feel like actually "climbing the Great Wall". As tempting as this was, I made the climb to the top and even have the t-shirt to prove it...(f'n tourists eh?) So I guess now I can really say "Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt" *groan*

The Summer Palace
In order to escape the heat of the Forbidden City Palace in the summer, the Summer Palace was built. Its grounds include palaces, gardens, and a large lake (Kunming Lake) that takes up most of the grounds. The palace grounds have been destroyed and rebuilt many times and the Summer Palace was not always this large. Do you remember the Empress Dowager Ci'xi? She supposedly diverted money that was earmarked for the Chinese Navy to reconstruct and enlarge the park which she used as a summer resort. She built a marble boat but that was about as close as the money got to helping build up the imperial navy.
We were able to take a beautiful, albeit, short boat ride across Kunming Lake and walked across the 17 arch bridge.

Day 3
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven was my favourite place of the whole trip. While the name conjures up large buildings, altars and the like, a large part of it is parkland. This is where many people in the city go early in the morning for exercise (physical and mental) and socializing. It is mostly the retired people who can take advantage of this but it is truly beautiful to walk through and see groups doing tai chi, painting, choral singing, playing cards, playing a game that looks an awful lot like hackey sack (these were senior citizens playing hackey sack!, I can't even play hackey sack!!) There were men playing instruments and women playing badminton and a group of people doing a wacky form of Chinese line dancing. What a great place to go and people watch. If I'm ever back in Beijing on my own I'm going to go back there and spend a whole morning just people watching and taking it all in.

Shopping - Yashow Market and Lido Market
Shoes, Luggage, Purses, Silk, Souvenirs, Winter Coats, Clothing of all kinds and name brands....oh my. We were introduced to TWO markets in the afternoon on the third day and I didn't really buy too much because I felt too rushed, but I knew that we'd be coming back to Yashow Market the following day on our free day. I'll just say here that Yashow Market is the nicer of the two markets and the hollering and arm pulling is kept to a minimum. However at the Lido Market a woman grabbed my arm to come and look at her wares and I just pulled away glaring...like I'm gonna buy something from someone who does that!

Day 4
More shopping and Lotus Lane
This day was our first free day, without a tour guide, and although I had said that I really liked the Temple of Heaven, I chose to go back to the Yashow Market and shop til I dropped. WOW...I never knew I had it in me! I shopped and haggled and shopped some more. Yashow Market has 4 floors of goods and at first it was all a bit much for the senses but I soon became accustomed to it and away I went. I bought presents for other people and some for myself too. I bought some art and chopsticks and scarves and a purse and shirts and oh so much more....truly a bargain shopper's paradise. When you ask the shopkeepers how much something is, they come at you with a rediculously high amount. I had read, and we were told, that this price is the initial start out price and that you can usually make your lowest price about 20% of that price. Example: buying a Calvin Klein hoodie - her price 480yuan (about 38bucks) my price: 80 yuan - her price: 360 yuan - my price: 90 yuan - her price: 300 and she says this is her lowest price and asks me what my final price would be, the most I'd be willing to pay and I say 110 yuan is my top price and I walk away. She says she can't go that low and I start to do what I've termed as "the walk away" and BAM! it's mine for 110yuan (about 14bucks) and you know what?...I probably could have gotten it cheaper too!
After shopping for about 4 hours we began to get tired and shlepped our bags back to the hotel. We got back in a cab and went down to Lotus Lane. This is an area of Beijing where there are traditional homes (Hutong) and some shops and restaurants surrounding a large man made lake. We even took a bicycle rickshaw tour of the Hutong area at night. It was great! A great place to just chill and people watch and do some final shopping. It had a bit of an asian yuppie feel to it but it was still a cool little area with outdoor patios and even a Starbucks! haha!
Well, I've pretty much exhausted myself with blogging 'bout Beijing so I'll sign off now. You can take a look at my pics. I've posted them on a new site called Flickr - you can find the link to my pics in the right column.

Carol 1 - - Wolchulsan 0

2006-09-25T16:41:00.000+09:00

Saturday dawned clear and cool. There was barely a cloud in the sky when we left Shidae Apartuh for the bus terminal at 6:45 IN THE MORNING. I was excited and had a spring in my step.

Fast forward 3 hours and we arrived at Yeongam where we met up with about 12 other foreigners. There were about 15 of us in total from Mokpo, Wando, Naju, Boseong and Suncheon. We set off in 4 taxis to the base of Wolchulsan - the Cheonhwang Temple was our starting point for the course we were doing that day. The mountain loomed overhead as I took my first look at the beast I was attempting to conquer.
I have to admit, I became even more nervous. It's a beautiful mountain and doesn't look the same as many of the mountains in Korea. It is very craggy and has a lot of exposed rock and not as much vegetation at the summit peaks. Our destination that day was Cheonwangbong, the highest peak of Wolchulsan at 809m.

Within the first 1/2 hour we separated into 2/3 groups. I, of course was in the last group. This group was comprised of Mel, Vanessa and I and had they not been there, I probably wouldn't have finished the hike.

I found it both physically difficult and mentally challenging to push myself in such a way. That being said, it was an amazing experience and what a rush to summit the top of such a difficult peak. I need to mention here why it is such a difficult peak to climb. Most of the climbing is done on STAIRCASES and because of the geology of the mountain, even when you are climbing to the top of it, in some intances you are going downstairs only to climb up more to get to a higher location.
There was a really neat suspension bridge called "The Cloud Bridge" and we had to walk across it.
I managed not to look immediately beneath it but did look down on the few of the fields below. On the way down I was ready for it all to be over. The "spring" was definitely gone from my step. I had consumed 3 Litres of water, some fruit, veggies and nuts. It was a 6.5km course and it took us over 6 hours to climb it. My legs were like Jell-O and my feet were starting to get sore. I'm still quite sore today (two days later) and I expect I'll be stiff for a day or two to come.

It was a great experience and I'm glad I pushed myself (and had friends to push me) and completed it,but I don't know if I'll try Wolchusan again anytime soon. Next mountain is Jirisan in October - it's almost twice as high but not as difficult of a climb and it's an overnight one as well.

Oh, what have I done?

2006-09-21T21:18:00.000+09:00

Being the ever sociable person I am, and also because I don't like to miss out on things, I willingly agreed to go hiking with a group of people on Saturday. "Oh wow Carol, that sounds like fun and right up your alley" you say. Haha....um..well, I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one.
We are going to be climbing one the most difficult, albeit the most beautiful mountains I've ever climbed. - Wolchusan.
I will wake up on Saturday earlier than I even wake up to go to school and I will take a bus 2 hours to Yeongam. Then I will hike for another 6 hours up to the summit (only 809m) and then across the ridge of the craggy peaks that you see above.
I'm very excited but very nervous because I know I can do this but I also know that I will be the last one in the line... the one who will have to go slower than all the rest and the one who will be carrying the most weight. It is a little bit daunting but I know that I can do it...
On a related note, because my lack of funds means that I don't have a membership to the fitness center yet, I've taken to climbing the stairs in my apartment building. I counted the other day and there are 16 steps per floor and there are 19 floors in the building. This works out to be 304 steps and so far I've been doing it TWO TIMES every day. Tomorrow I will try it 3 times. That is over 900 steps...So hopefully that little bit will help when I'm climbing the trails on Saturday.
I'll keep you posted with the outcome and post hike pics and feelings on Sunday or Monday. Get out the A535, I'm sure gonna need it!
tata!

A low key, low cash weekend....

2006-09-17T17:33:00.000+09:00

So I must have sent too much money home this month because for some reason I'm short on cash. Not being one to let this stand in my way, I made sure that this weekend was still a fun and enjoyable one. Friday night Mel and I made supper and had wine and watched a Korean movie on DVD. It was called Il Mare. It was very interesting and was the inspiration for the movie The Lake House with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. On Saturday we met up with a bunch of other foreigners and went on a city tour that took us to 4 different sights around the city of Suncheon. Most of them I had been to before but it was still fun with a group of people. We went to the set of a famous Korean soap opera, Songwangsa Temple, Nagan Folk village and Suncheon Bay to walk along the boardwalk and also hike up a ridge to a lookout.

We were very tired by the end of the day and Mel and I came home and made the most delicious chicken,avocado, bacon, tomato, onion, olive and cheese sandwiches...I'm salivating just thinking about it again.

I'm trying to post pics on this blog so bear with me if the layout is not very good. Last weekend we went to Juliana Bar to have some fajitas and while we were there they had an Eric CLapton concert dvd playing on the big screen....at the end the title came up on the screen. You will see a picture of what it said. Remember, Koreans ALWAYS mix up their r's and l's...so I had a good laugh at the title on the screen.

No computer, feel lost!

2006-09-05T14:20:00.000+09:00

Ever since I returned to Korea my computer has been out of commission. I'm working on getting it up and working so that I can post some pictures on my new blog.
Feeling a bit stiff today after doing some cardio and upper body weights last night. On the agenda for tonight is just cardio. Tomorrow night will be cardio and weights. After the workout tonight I'm meeting a few friends at Outback for April's good-bye dinner *sniff, sniff*. You'll be missed April!

The Switch has been Flipped!

2006-09-04T21:35:00.000+09:00

So Mel and I started our workout tonight at Dongsuh Fitness. In University we were machines and would workout together almost every night, well, at least 5 times a week. We spot each other with the weights and we keep each other motivated. I've never had a workout buddy that I just click with and am so happy, for fitness and friendship reasons, that Mel is here. Our goal is to look good in bathing suits on the beaches of Thailand and Cambodia in Jan/Feb. Oh yah, and Vanessa, Mel and I are booked for our trip to Beijing, China during the first week of October. Who's going to climb The Great Wall???? This girl!!!

The Green Tea Diet

2006-09-01T14:59:00.000+09:00

So, I was told yesterday for the first time outright that I was fat. Well, I wasn't really TOLD as much as I was MIMED to that I was fat and then told "Drink lots Green tea, good for diet" (The miming included the MALE phys ed teacher making the motion of a "spare tire" around his middle and pointing to me)
UGH UGH UGH! I have a REALLY hard time believing that they don't think this is rude, and YES I did take it personally! On top of this he motioned for me to come over to him with his palm facing up. For those of you who don't know, this is considered quite rude in Korean society. I was told this was the way you call a dog and to always motion for someone to come to me with my palm facing down.
So, what am I to think... that this teacher was trying to do things the "Western way" or was he really disrespecting me? (in front of the Principal no less)

New year, new site

2006-08-30T13:29:00.000+09:00

Well, if you made it here you've realized that I've changed my blog site. I had read so many blogs on Blogger.com and had been told how user friendly it is, so here goes.
After one year in Korea I've decided to try to be more diligent in posting my blogs. I aspire to be like Virginia who posts every day, sometimes twice a day!. We'll see how that goes.
Melanie is here now. She was my best bud in University for first and second year and now she is living and working in Suncheon too and living 13 floors above me. It's gonna be a fun year!