Saturday, December 1, 2007
This past weekend has been a lot more low key but Really Great! Friday night we celebrated our friend Andy, the South African’s, Birthday at the new lounge hangout in Ansan. It wasn’t a late night... and then we, Camille, Roberta, and I were up early and on the Subway for Seoul. I had the intention of doing something “cultural” as I feel it is time again and Camille needed to do some Christmas Shopping. The trip into Seoul takes about 50min or up to an hour and half depending on where you are headed. On our Subway line there is the “Seoul Racecourse Park” where a whole slew of business men often exit to go and gamble. Well my A.D.H.D. was getting the best of me on this particular ride so I said that we should get off and catch a race. SO because Camille and Roberta are the best ... we did! And Camille and I won! We walked to this huge stadium and luckily we had our trusty “Lonely Planet” books and learned that there was a foreigner section. So we trucked up to it and learned how to place our bets, put them in the machine, and cheered for our horses! It was a great new experience for Roberta and I. Interestingly, Camille has been to them before as it is big in New Zealand. Later, Will also told us that there are many parties at the horse races in Australia where everyone gets dressed in their formal gear, and the women DO wear those fun hats we see on the movies! I can’t wait to do that someday! After picking up our winnings, (mine a dollar.. Camille’s four) we headed to the “Horse Museum.” It was a small room with some old Korean horse paraphernalia... the best fact I learned was that when the old Korean master of the house died... he was buried with his alive horse!!! IMAGINE THAT!.... burying an alive horse is quite the challenge! The idea behind this is that the horse protects their wealth and they are able to ride into the next life. They were also buried with small horse figurines for the same reasons (much more practical!).
From there we headed into Itaewon. Itaewon is the area that is kinda dingy but has a lot of foreign import products. It is always weird to exit the subway and see so many foreigners on the street and to be able to understand what they are saying! We also have to watch what we are saying too... as people understand! haha this will take some getting used when I return back home. So Camille found a lot of her Christmas presents and then we got a phone call from Will and Dan (the new guy) who were also in Itaewon! So we met up and went to the overpriced red door for some food we can’t get anywhere else-- I bought crackers of all things (for $7.00), Will taco spice, Dan toothpaste, --- you know things you take for granted back home. We would have left with more but it is ridiculously priced. Then because we were with the boys... we ended up at an old Irish pub. It was great and I felt like I was back home at McNAlly’s. They played nice music and had multiple beers on tap for the boys... we all felt like we had left Korea for a moment. Not that I want to leave! ... But a little reminder of home is nice from time to time. So the intention of a really “Cultural day”-- (I was imagining art galleries or museums!)... was a bit of a bust! Then again maybe not... as Korean Horse Race Cultural... is something one does not experience every day!
Until next time!
miss you all- XO
me
From there we headed into Itaewon. Itaewon is the area that is kinda dingy but has a lot of foreign import products. It is always weird to exit the subway and see so many foreigners on the street and to be able to understand what they are saying! We also have to watch what we are saying too... as people understand! haha this will take some getting used when I return back home. So Camille found a lot of her Christmas presents and then we got a phone call from Will and Dan (the new guy) who were also in Itaewon! So we met up and went to the overpriced red door for some food we can’t get anywhere else-- I bought crackers of all things (for $7.00), Will taco spice, Dan toothpaste, --- you know things you take for granted back home. We would have left with more but it is ridiculously priced. Then because we were with the boys... we ended up at an old Irish pub. It was great and I felt like I was back home at McNAlly’s. They played nice music and had multiple beers on tap for the boys... we all felt like we had left Korea for a moment. Not that I want to leave! ... But a little reminder of home is nice from time to time. So the intention of a really “Cultural day”-- (I was imagining art galleries or museums!)... was a bit of a bust! Then again maybe not... as Korean Horse Race Cultural... is something one does not experience every day!
Until next time!
miss you all- XO
me
Life Lately- November
Life Lately
Busy Busy Busy! School has been off the wall crazy, with report cards finishing up and semester ending. Interestingly, semester end, means that all of these 6 to 11 year olds are writing final exams. Exams in which they do have to study for. I think Canadian students really don’t know how lucky they are. I never really studied for a test until I was at least 13. The pressure on these kids is unreal! In addition, one of our foreign teachers ran away! He wasn’t very close with us. He was a really nice man just quite a bit older and did his job and then went home. Well, apparently some family crisis occurred and he ran away, meaning we didn’t know he was leaving and he didn’t finish his contract! UGH!!! So that means we are back to subbing in our break times and teaching WAY too much! I can’t wait till we find another teacher... please everyone pray to your GOD’s this happens soon or I think we will all burn out!
Besides school, last weekend Camille and I took on Hongdae with my Korean teaching partner Michelle. Hongdae is the clubbing area of Seoul. We ate at a ridiculously frilly pink restaurant. I think Korean women find this look “cute”... but it made me want to vomit... it was like eating in a pink lacy, flowery, dollhouse. From there we went to a really cool, dark, trendy lounge with a DJ in a booth on the ceiling and really contemporary chairs, tables, bar, with bottles displayed on thin shelves. After, we went to lounge number two which was a basement lounge with concrete gratified walls. It was really fun and served lovely cocktails which are not easy to find. Then we made our way to a hip hop club. This hip hop club was hilarious (for us). I felt like I was the star in a comedy movie as Camille and I were the only white people in the place of probably 600. HA HA we got a lot of attention and were busting out sweet dance moves like ‘The Sprinkler”, and the Chicken Dance. ohh korea korea... but alas we were tired of being gawked at like the zoo animals we act like... so we left for a bar where we knew there would be more westerners. This lead to more shenanigans and meeting lots of people... we never got back to Ansan till 10:30 am the next day... I woke up at 5:15am that Friday that means I was up for over 30 hours!!!! OHH JEEZUZ... I will never forget the Pow Wow’s Camille and I had!
Korea Korea -Night life Edition
The drinking culture in Korea is unlike one I have ever experienced. Business people will conduct business meetings up to three times a week at which point they consume countless amounts of “SOJU.”
* Soju being cheap- l$2.00 bottles of 20% alcohol- similar to vodka
* Soju is often mixed with beer and is called a “BOMB drink”... (Will affectionately refers to this as “BUM” drink :)
* Lounges or Bars are called “HOF’s”
* One can buy 40’s or 26’s for ridiculous prices-- an Absolute Vodka can cost anywhere from $50.00 to $150.00 at a bar--- the unreal thing is that you can purchase these and then what you don’t finish... they put your name on and keep till the next time you return--- I imagine this has a lot to do with the fact that so many family members live in tiny homes--- “House Parties” just don’t happen in Korea
* I don’t drink these--- I stick to cheap soju and others stick to cheap beer which apparently is pretty awful... at clubs one can order cocktails and they are similarly priced to those at home
* Clubs/Hofs/Restaurants-- don’t close till at least 5a.m.--- in the case of restaurants I am sure they stay open till the customers leave/ or quit coming--- similarly though... hardly anything is open before 10 a.m.
* instead of peanuts (which are occasionally served) often in bars one gets rice chip like things... or multicoloured rice puffs (similar to popcorn) ... I have also seen sea weed and soya sauce (odd I know)
Korea Korea- Young “Adulthood” Edition
*So you should know by now that “young unmarried adults- (so far I have experienced up to 29 years old) live at home with their parents
* This is a “cultural” difference... fine... but the part that I find crazy is that parents actually enforce CURFEWS on these 28 year olds--- I have had to talk to a 28 year old’s Korean mother to reassure her that she was out with other women friends and not men... at which point she lied and said she was at a conference instead of clubbing! THE lies they spin to keep their parents happy is ABSURD for a twenty- something year old--- it is like being 15 again!
Busy Busy Busy! School has been off the wall crazy, with report cards finishing up and semester ending. Interestingly, semester end, means that all of these 6 to 11 year olds are writing final exams. Exams in which they do have to study for. I think Canadian students really don’t know how lucky they are. I never really studied for a test until I was at least 13. The pressure on these kids is unreal! In addition, one of our foreign teachers ran away! He wasn’t very close with us. He was a really nice man just quite a bit older and did his job and then went home. Well, apparently some family crisis occurred and he ran away, meaning we didn’t know he was leaving and he didn’t finish his contract! UGH!!! So that means we are back to subbing in our break times and teaching WAY too much! I can’t wait till we find another teacher... please everyone pray to your GOD’s this happens soon or I think we will all burn out!
Besides school, last weekend Camille and I took on Hongdae with my Korean teaching partner Michelle. Hongdae is the clubbing area of Seoul. We ate at a ridiculously frilly pink restaurant. I think Korean women find this look “cute”... but it made me want to vomit... it was like eating in a pink lacy, flowery, dollhouse. From there we went to a really cool, dark, trendy lounge with a DJ in a booth on the ceiling and really contemporary chairs, tables, bar, with bottles displayed on thin shelves. After, we went to lounge number two which was a basement lounge with concrete gratified walls. It was really fun and served lovely cocktails which are not easy to find. Then we made our way to a hip hop club. This hip hop club was hilarious (for us). I felt like I was the star in a comedy movie as Camille and I were the only white people in the place of probably 600. HA HA we got a lot of attention and were busting out sweet dance moves like ‘The Sprinkler”, and the Chicken Dance. ohh korea korea... but alas we were tired of being gawked at like the zoo animals we act like... so we left for a bar where we knew there would be more westerners. This lead to more shenanigans and meeting lots of people... we never got back to Ansan till 10:30 am the next day... I woke up at 5:15am that Friday that means I was up for over 30 hours!!!! OHH JEEZUZ... I will never forget the Pow Wow’s Camille and I had!
Korea Korea -Night life Edition
The drinking culture in Korea is unlike one I have ever experienced. Business people will conduct business meetings up to three times a week at which point they consume countless amounts of “SOJU.”
* Soju being cheap- l$2.00 bottles of 20% alcohol- similar to vodka
* Soju is often mixed with beer and is called a “BOMB drink”... (Will affectionately refers to this as “BUM” drink :)
* Lounges or Bars are called “HOF’s”
* One can buy 40’s or 26’s for ridiculous prices-- an Absolute Vodka can cost anywhere from $50.00 to $150.00 at a bar--- the unreal thing is that you can purchase these and then what you don’t finish... they put your name on and keep till the next time you return--- I imagine this has a lot to do with the fact that so many family members live in tiny homes--- “House Parties” just don’t happen in Korea
* I don’t drink these--- I stick to cheap soju and others stick to cheap beer which apparently is pretty awful... at clubs one can order cocktails and they are similarly priced to those at home
* Clubs/Hofs/Restaurants-- don’t close till at least 5a.m.--- in the case of restaurants I am sure they stay open till the customers leave/ or quit coming--- similarly though... hardly anything is open before 10 a.m.
* instead of peanuts (which are occasionally served) often in bars one gets rice chip like things... or multicoloured rice puffs (similar to popcorn) ... I have also seen sea weed and soya sauce (odd I know)
Korea Korea- Young “Adulthood” Edition
*So you should know by now that “young unmarried adults- (so far I have experienced up to 29 years old) live at home with their parents
* This is a “cultural” difference... fine... but the part that I find crazy is that parents actually enforce CURFEWS on these 28 year olds--- I have had to talk to a 28 year old’s Korean mother to reassure her that she was out with other women friends and not men... at which point she lied and said she was at a conference instead of clubbing! THE lies they spin to keep their parents happy is ABSURD for a twenty- something year old--- it is like being 15 again!
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