Coulda Woulda Shoulda

Sunday was a glorious day as as we have never lived THIS close to a hot beach, we decided to make the most of it and trek down. It's about an hour on a bus but the time seems to fly by now, more so than it used to when we would go there. We had sand in our toes by 1pm and didn't look at our watches until 6:30. Magazines, crossword puzzles and books in hand, we spent the day with a couple of friends, alternating to go and get food and chatting about everything under the sun from Koreans to their language to the history behind the civil war to who EXACTLY was the hottest celebrity and why. These type of days leave me more energised for a week of work. We are really getting down to crunch time here on making decision about when to leave, if to leave. The hours and the communications issues can leave you drained and frustrated. Spending time away to regroup can really lift your spirits. My kindergarten kids seem to be getting more and more like little students every day. There are...

In case you missed Anonymous comment on my blog, I thought I would share it with you. There are a few parts I like the best, like the fact that there are actually people on this planet with THAT LITTLE of a sense of humour, or the fact that our dear commenter can so eloquently exude a holier than thou attitude with just words, but mostly, that someone with such insight and wisdom decided not to leave their name. Anonymous said... I find it incredible that you refused to shut off the music even after your students expressed their displeasure with it--in unison, no less. They didn't LIKE IT, so why would you defiantly FORCE them to endure it? You know, I was looking for blogs by English-speaking teaches in Korea because I'm considering this path next year myself. Your blog was the second one I looked at. The first one was from an American teacher who posted non-stop about the things in Korea that annoyed her including how Koreans "smell like onions and garlic and kimchee...

Dear Ms. Blog, I am sorry you have been abandonded by your said owner, that being me. I'm sure you're feeling neglected and curious as to why, considering all the goings on that seem to be happening here in Korea now that the weather has turned. It's not that I'm taking you for granted, which I suppose you might think, as you are an old friend, and as people often do with the ones they love thes most, that I am pushing you aside, casting you out, finding a newer younger model. Well, that's not entirely true. Although I have to admit to you, and really admiting you have a problem is the first step, that I have realised something. I have an addiction. Quite a serious one. And I'm just going to say it, like ripping a bandaid off really quickly, it's FACEBOOK. Blog, FACEBOOK has taken over all of my computer time without me even realising. You can blame sister C for starting the whole thing. She invited me, I signed up and now, I just can't...get...off! I go...

When we first arrived in Korea, my mom asked what I needed in a care package. Besides oatmeal and medicine and EVERY OTHER WESTERN FOOD YOU CAN THINK OF, I also requested something for the kiddies. I wanted to have a CD with kids songs to teach the little ones. Little did I know that in the end, I would be the one who was enjoying them as well. She sent me a couple but my favourite is the Raffi CD. Being a good Canadian, I grew up on the stuff. And if playing with little kids all day doesn't actually make you feel like a kid again, listening to the songs of your youth will do the trick. And so, I often have the Raffi CD on in the background when the kids are doing writing or coloring, just to have ENGLISH IN THE FACE for the duration of the class. It also allows me to sing along. And it was only today when I realised that maybe that wasn't such a good thing. Because there I was, sitting at the front of the class, quietly singing along, putting in some actions to one of the funn...

When I was younger, me and my siblings used to use our parents archaic stereo system to blare music like the Dirty Dancing and Tiffany REALLY LOUD just so that we could make up dances and perform them for the bi-annual video-camera-renting-extravaganza. When my parents actually bought a video camera it actually got even worse and we did more and more songs with more and more elaborate moves and....then the novelty wore off. But before it did we also, on occasion, would learn songs at school and then come home and perform various shows for the camera. There was a classic version of 'A Bicycle Built for Two' - me on bended kneed with my coke bottle glasses at the end of my nose as Henry and my dramatic sister C, pulling a face and being all dainty as Daisy. Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true I'm half crazy over the likes of you It won't be a stylish marriage I can't afford a carrige But you'll look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle built for two... I'm sure...

"Teacher Teacher Pink Please!" During an exercise in kindergarten class today, I was handing out sheets of 'long' paper and 'short' paper, meant to be specifically to be pasted onto a head as 'long hair' and 'short hair'. This, my friends, is the complex workings that go on during my day. Cutting up pieces of paper to ensure we have both 'long' and 'short' and that the little kiddies can understand the difference. There was one little child who was frantic - and adamant - that I made sure pink was made available. Sounds normal enough, although the child was boy. Helooked up into my eyes, pleading for 'pink please, pink'. And I just couldn't help but smile and think of my brother. Because when he was little, his favorite color was pink. And I think that perhaps when my father might have given up hope that he would one day play for the NFL. Although, I never did see my brother use the colour pink to draw hearts around ...

Dear Mr. Defeated Ragweed, Due to my enduring curiosity and ingenious research skills, I have discovered that the pescription allergy medication I used in Canada is actually AVAILABLE IN KOREA. It's under a different name and of course all instructions are in Korean but it is made by the SAME COMPANY. Not only did I enquire to my pharmacist friend the very day that I wrote you my first letter but I also was able to see a doctor a 7 AT NIGHT and actually get A DISCOUNT on both my vist to see him and my purchase of the said drug. I celebrated my triumph, again in another language and another country, by having a nice tall well-and-duly breathed glass of merlot - something I KNOW you and your allergen buddies like to use to stuff me up as well AND since the dust arrived, I had not been able to really enjoy a nice glass of red wine. But HA the joke is now on you. Yes, I see you just dropped that fag hanging from your lip and downed that last drink of yours as a symbol of THE PARTY'...

Dear Mr. Ragweed, After 5 springs of avoiding you like the plague, you'll be happy to know that I am back in the land of now breathing, specifically due to a very unlikely ally of yours.... The Yellow Dust from China. You see, here in Korea, all of us unassuming foreigners are being attacked by this dusty substance that is blow over the entire country for..well..I've been told the ENTIRE SPRING SEASON. This means, I'm back to being stuffed up and nasally, except this time, I don't have any of the strong stuff to help me avoid you. The Korean medicine is doing it's best but I can tell you, it's no match for your dust friend. You must have been in such a rage while I was in the UK, breathing in and out, smelling and eating like a normal human being, while you were stuck all the way back there in Canada, helpless to debilitate me as you usually do during the spring and autumn months. I'm sure you're partying it up right now, with your allergen friends, smok...

Okay okay, since I didn't get ANY comments from my HILARIOUS video yesterday, I thought I would try again with this one.... Happy weekend everyone. I believe the beach festival in Busan is calling my name....

I have been uploading some videos over the past couple of weeks after discovering that my camera takes pretty good videos. Anyone who has seen the V Video collection knows that I'm no stranger to videos and now that I can actually RECORD MYSELF, I see a lot more in my future. What's even better is that I can INSTANTLY SHARE with the world. Now that's I'm liking. Here is a little video I like to call 'The Elf Show". This was the REAL halftime entertainment at the basketball game we went to last Saturday. I won't spoil it, but I expect comments because I all know you've been to a basketball game before and I challenge you to tell me you've ever seen anything LIKE THIS!... There ya go Awesome Bringer....it's all yours...

D and I have recently been having conversations about the near future about what exactly it is we should do. After numerous conversations and flip flopping back and forth we have definitely decided on one thing. We have too many options. I remember watching a movie with Elizabeth Shue and other nameless people about a blackout in LA. She was married to this guy whose single brother comes to stay with them or maybe the brother is only there for the blackout and for the life of me I can't really remember the plot or the husband or the point of the whole movie, which leads me to believe it's not actually a big deal that I can't remember the name because I do remember one conversation that has stuck with me for quite a few years. Shue's character is in the kitchen with the brother where the contrived sexual tension is building and she turns to him and says: "You know what you're problem is, (insert dumbass name here)? You're problem is that you have too many op...

Although this is a day late, I thought I'd throw some kudos out there to my sister and brother-in-law on their first anniversary. A year ago yesterday, both of our families were joining together and celebrating their official union. Weird to think that a year has gone by and we're all still so spread out all over the place. In honour of their big day, I thought I appropriate to post some snaps of what was happening last year at this time. Clearly much more exciting that my battle with the yellow dust... A fairy tale ending for a prince and her dashing prince...

Okay, I'm TOTALLY stealing again from the Documentarist but she had the greatest shots to show exactly what I was hoping to write about today. We've been told a little bit about the 'yellow dust' from China, which basically is sand that is swept across from the deserts by winds during the spring season. I wasn't quite sure how I would know it was here but yesterday took the cake. This is the view of the Documentarist's apartment normally: And here is what it looked like on Sunday: It's not smog, it's not fog, it's dust. It has this weird chalky smell to it and smacks me with a headache and nausea every time I step outside. It's not like it's falling from the sky or that it's turning any of my clothes yellow, it's just this stuff that's hanging in the air. Talk about a smog alert. I think I may have become truly Korean and get one of those masks. Thanks Lady D for the use of your pics again!