Coulda Woulda Shoulda

My lovely friend from Korea, K, sent me this link and I basically strained every throat and stomach muscle laughing my arse off at all of these posts. It also made me miss the magical craziness of Korea. If you've lived there, you'll love this. If you haven't, here's another window into the wacky world of being a waegook. Thanks Kimmers. http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/

I'm salivating at the possibility that I will be here this weekend: Blitz Your Bod It is exactly 10 times the price of what I would pay for my Korean Sunday Sauna but that just means that I can only go 1/10 of the time. Better than nothing. And this time of year, I can't wait!

The World's Hardest Workers In total agreement. They whole country needs a month or two on a beach on SE Asia.

We've all had a 'beer goggles' moment, one where something just looked SO DAMN GOOD that you leapt in feet first or lips first, in awe of your chance encounter with some kind of greatness. I ended up clicking on an ad link in Facebook today about teaching in Korea and I was quite impressed by the video for its 'beer goggles' way of presenting Sparkling Korea. Sparkling Korea For most of you who don't know, Sparkling Korea is actually Korea Tourism's slogan for the place. It was quite a funny inside joke of all us teachers about how 'Sparkling' the place could be. The cities had their own slogans, usually with really ridiculous adjectives placed in front of the town's name. Unfortunately none come to mind however when I saw this video, I thought for sure the makers could work for Korea Tourism. A few things they are correct - you CAN save $1000 a month and YOU DO get a bonus when you leave. You can also stress for the duration of your contract abo...

As I've written here probably about 10 million times, I always feel better after a bit of physical activity. I'm not sure exactly what happens in the brain (okay, I'm not even really certain on a GOOD day what's going on up there) but once I've gotten some good old activity done, I feel ready to take on the world. It's like a filing cabinet appears in my head. A nice, calm, filing cabinet. That opens and closes at appropriate times. That calmly hands me one thought after the next. That allows me to focus, work and move on. Task complete, problem solved, onto the next one. I felt today that I had a lot to get done. And I almost felt that perhaps I should not go for an hour run. But I didn't go yesterday, took a day off, and last night went to bed looking forward to the exercise. I don't think I'm a terribly vain person but it is nice to know that you can fit in your pants properly, if only so that you don't have to go and buy a totally new wardrob...

So much has changed since I started ignoring this blog at the beginning of our travels. It certainly hasn't been because of the lack of things to say. More the opposite. But the internet connections in Malaysia were not stellar, especially on the islands and now that we're in Australia, we've simply been spending time eating and drinking and enjoy the company of English-speakers that I haven't really had a good chunk of time to sit down and have some verbal diahorrea on this thing. I think I'm also now in a better place to properly reflect on my time in Korea, one which I do not regret and have come to look back on as a wonderfully wacky and weird experience. Part of me feels like I've gone to the moon and back, that this entire year I've been so disconnected with so many things that everything is new to me. Take for example, pop culture. I had NO IDEA Christine Aguleria had a new CD out OR that she was pregnant and just hiding it. Ditto that on Nicole Richi...

I find this part of the journey so difficult to articulate. Perhaps this is why I've been so silent here. Mostly, I just feel it's a very personal time, something that while I'm in the midst of it, I'm just not quite ready to share all the feelings and emotions I'm going through. Almost like my emotions seem to be changing so constantly, that if I write anything down, it will suddenly become a REAL emotion, one that's not associated with any stress hormones or general anxiety. And I'm not sure that's really the right way to go. Because I don't think venting in this sort of way will actually solve any of it or even make it go away momentarily. I think it will just paint the wrong picture. One that you can't easily erase. One that is a distroted view of the actual situation. And perhaps my journalistic side wants me to 'stick to the facts m'aam'. And those facts DON'T actually include my roller coaster emotions. Because then maybe s...

Although I've already celebrated - quite extensively I may add - I thought I'd better wish everyone near and far a happy one. It was quite surreal this year as it's been the first one abroad that I've actually had other Canadians - and even Americans! - to celebrate with. Over the last 5 years, minus the one year when we were home, we were always pumping the day up for people who really, were just happy to have any excuse for a party. This year, it was a bit of sharing of past Canada Day stories, eating of the pizza, the missing of the fireworks and of course, the token drinking of many drinks. It was great. So although I'm not at a cottage somewhere, NOT working today, I certainly celebrated in good fashion. And will be hitting the sack early tonight. Because I'm an old lady people. I went to be 5 HOURS PAST MY BEDTIME last night. Oh dear. Have a great one.

A couple of months ago, I decided one very important lesson I wanted to teach all my chicldren was how to actually GREET people properly. I would frequently arrive in class, ask individual students 'how are you' only to hear responses such as 'I'm fine', 'I'm happy' or my favorite Korean invention 'I'm so so', which I have learned should REALLY translate into 'I'm okay'. What stuck out the most, was the impoliteness of their responses. And so, I wrote 1, 2, 3 on the board and explained to them that when they are asked this question, there are THREE parts in the answer: 1 - your state of being (okay, well I didn't write THAT on the board as it would have really flew over their heads) 2 - a recognition that something nice was asked of you (ie THANK YOU. Or THANKS. or THANKS VERY MUCH. Or even the Korean THANKS VERY MUCHY) 3 - do unto others..(in other words, ASK THE QUESTION BACK. The variations included HOW ABOUT YOU? or repeti...

In an effort to will the sun back to Busan so we can all head to the beach this weekend, I decided to post some pictures of the Baseball/Soccer/Football/Beach Festival weekend we had a few weekends ago. On Saturday - we hit the benches Lotte Giants on the field. Crazy Mascot dressed in a traditional Korean hanbok - female dress. D and B enjoy the game. I was there...see?? Kiwi D sneaks a peek at the camera. K and E REALLY enjoyed themselves. On Sunday - we hit the beach: Korea E prepares herself for the long day and Sun Hat K give some encouragement to N. Magazines always help footballers wives pass the time. Action of their final game. Way to go waegooks! Sand, sun, soccer, some magazines, some footballer wives, such great craic. What a blast.

For Teacher's Day, I was given a disgusting amount of money in gift certificates at various department stores here in Korea. One of the certifcates was for Lotte, quite a well known and prestigious place that has beautiful clothes, all far to small for me to squeeze into. D and I wandered up to the top floor to check out some of the electronics. It was kinda a fun home mission, for when, well, we actually HAVE home, looking at various TVs, dreaming of ridiculously huge entertainment systems and deciding which couches we could agree on. We also checked out the sports floor, which included shoes and mountain climbing gear. The matching outfits were certainly the hottest item there - you should have SEEN the Korean queuing to get the lastes polyester suits. Most of this browsing was quite normal, almost like a regular day in a department store anywhere. And it felt kinda nice to just be in a place that felt really like home. It didn't really last that long, however, before I was ...

Every year, I get a LITTLE BIT EXCITED about my birthday. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because I don't yet have kids of my own's birthdays to get excited about. Maybe it's because I'm like Peter Pan, will never grow up and am eternally a 5-year-old. As today is a national holiday in Korea, I was lucky enough to not have to go into work. This means I continue my 8 year "no going to work on my birthday" streak that started after I graduated from university. As they say in Korea, "Assah!" (Otherwise known as YEEEESSSSSSS!) Although I am celebrating today by doing whatever I want, last night was the big mexican food party at my house. Followed by some singing in the singing room. FOR 6 HOURS. I went to bed as the sun came up, begged the drink fairy to let me awake without a killer headache and a sore tummy and had a fantastic time. The best part about birthdays is that it's a great excuse to get everyone out. Because, you can always ma...

The weeks seem to go by faster then I'm expecting them. Monday - well EVERYONE gets a case of the Mondays sometimes - and certainly that is the day I am most happy to be finished. Tuesday - I'm finished early, well, earlier than on Monday Wednesday and Friday so it feels a bit like a holiday anyway. Wednesday - It's HUMP day! Who doesn't like HUMP day? And who doesn't feel a great relief after lunch on HUMP day knowing that you're closer to the weekend than you were in the morning? Thursday - again, early finish, plus the next day is Friday so all you tend to think about on Thursday is how happy you are that the next day is Friday. Friday - and then there it is. TGIF. The weekend is dropping it's landing gear and looking for the runway. And by mid afternoon, well, the weekend has REALLY already landed. I suppose what's not GREAT about this theory is that I am truly wishing my life away - you know, one of those phrases you hear in your head, your mother...

Peaks and troughs as my Korea E friend says. I'd say I'm definitely in a trough. A deep, hollow, Grand Caynon-like trough. I was chatting away to Korea E last night, about various frustrations going on in our current state here, just discussing the roller coaster ride that is living away from home. Your emotions are so very exaggerated. When things are great and you're happy, you're very very happy. But when things get low, they just seem insurmountable. It's so very hard to overcome, to understand, why certain cultures act the way they do. There was a disagreement at work on Monday. In the end, we got what we wanted. But the price was yet again a loss of trust for us in our employers and a lack of understanding why, for something so small, our employers would risk so much. I realise I'm being vague but I'm not sure details would make it any clearer. We also had a strange altercation with a taxi driver this morning. He almost ran us over. We almost kicked hi...

Last Friday we tagged along with the kindergartens to see the Korean version of The Wizard of Oz. Part of me was confused why we had to go in the first place as we don't speak Korean and then the other part of me realised, that's EXACTLY why we should go along...because...well...sometimes it's very korean to do things that don't make any sense. In the end we actually enjoyed ourselves, looking at the little kiddies eyes light up, learning new words such as "Dorashee" instead of the regular 'Dorothy'. My favorite addition to the play, when they happen upon the Tinman, he seems to have his heart but longs to be a member of the circus as multiple chorus members, surrounded him on stage, dancing and contorting themselves as he enviously looked on. There was lots of drumming as well, which I guess was a great distraction from the story line for 6 year olds but also made me immediately turn to D and say: 'I know who would love this musical'. Almost i...

One of the boys in my 10-year-old class brought in some noodles for everyone to share. He brought in two packages, dried, that conveniently can come to life after some hot water. I had met him in the market about 2 minutes before class where he informed me he was going to purchase 1 ADULT PORTION for each child in the class. I managed to convince him that ALL NINE CHILDREN did not need their own portion. He looked up at me, a bit conflicted and said: "My mother said if I can only have if I get for everyone." And so, we compromised, purchased two smaller packages and I promised to bring small Dixie cups to class so we could distribute. I was touched by his generosity, even if it was selfishly fuelled. When we reached class, with the noodles and Dixie cups in hand, he carefully distributed sections of the noodles into the cups. The most sought after bit was the flavoring. Once everyone was appeased with the amount of spicyness they would be consuming, it was off the to water co...

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...

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 ...