I am a book that I haven't yet read

You're Love in the Time of Cholera!

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Like Odysseus in a work of Homer, you demonstrate undying loyalty by
sleeping with as many people as you possibly can. But in your heart you never give
consent! This creates a strange quandary of what love really means to you. On the
one hand, you've loved the same person your whole life, but on the other, your actions
barely speak to this fact. Whatever you do, stick to bottled water. The other stuff
could get you killed.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

100 Statements

Here's how this works. Frog had a list of 100 statements that she got from Les, who got it from Em, who got it from Dana, who got it from Dea. The list Frog got had some things bolded--those were statements from Dana's list that were also true for Em. Anything that was true from Em's list, Les bolded. Anything that wasn't, she replaced with a statement of her own. Below is my list, based on the one from Frog.

01. I need more cardigans.
02. I don't get enough sleep.
03. I eat a lot of cheese.
04. I get cold far too easily for a Canadian.
05. I am often late.
06. I love the Loft on Thursday night.
07. I like anything that makes me think... Even if it's something I don't agree with.
08. I didn't eat much today.
09. I love toast.
10. I love jean skirts.
11. I love soft sweaters.
12. I love email.
13. I love the springtime
14. I love Sex in the City.
15. I wear glasses
16. I don't know where I'll be on Christmas Eve
17. I don’t know how to knit
18. I have a lot to learn.
19. I wish I could speak Spanish better
20. I think it’s funny that the Wright memorial flight didn’t fly.
21. I want to live near the ocean.
22. I think Conservative Republicans are destroying society.
23. I love muppets
24. I love going out to dinner with friends.
25. I write thank you notes for everything.
26. I want to take a nap
27. I sing along to music constantly
28. I wish I spent more time with good friends back home.
29. I have interesting photos on my computer.
30. I rarely dream.
31. I like to read before bed
32. Both my grandmothers are still alive.
33. I don't drive.
34. I love my coworkers.
35. I love to shop.
36. I love the snow.
37. I think I am slowly learning to stop worrying about what other people are thinking.
38. Myspace is an addiction.
39. I find myself incredibly funny sometimes
40. My middle names are the names of my grandmothers.
41. I love going to the Lantern Parade in Seoul for Buddha's Birthday.
42. I have never seen Carnivale.
43. I have at least one scar.
44. I love taking a taxi.
45. My eyes are blue.
46. I never know what day it is.
47. I like signing up for classes, but don’t like attending them.
48. I love board games
49. I have kissed a girl
50. I've seen snow before.
51. I love being on the internet.
52. I stare too much at this computer screen.
53. I love rum and coke.
54. I get impatient with stupid people.
55. I am happy to have caller id on my cellphone
56. I want to spend christmas in Vietnam.
57. This is way too long.
58. I hate people who don't think for themselves.
59. I like when my friends write me letters and emails, it makes me feel special.
60. I am bad at yoga
61. Rollercoasters are amazing.
62. I love dancing.
63. I’m a teacher.
64. I am a stickler for spelling and grammar.
65. I adore music.
66. I love eating.
67. I see the dentist once every couple of years.
68. I like to talk on the phone
69. I need to charge my ipod
70. I don't believe in god.
71. I love the thought of someone loving me
72. All of my parents who are living are married
73. I'm a Radiohead fan.
74. I love family gatherings
75. I have little patience much of the time
76. I never have enough time
77. I've never had a chocolate chai.
78. I love pineapple
79. I think homosexuals should be allowed to get married and that abortion is a right
80. I am tired.
81. I love fruit.
82. I appreciate chocolate more than most.
83. I haven't seen enough of the world.
84. I like apple pie.
85. I like open minded people.
86. I daydream a lot.
87. I love snacks.
88. My friends are amazing.
89. My job has nothing to do with what I got my degree in.
90. I've never had a surgery as a direct result of my drinking.
91. Mty students make up their own words to songs all the time.
92. I know the words to many Beatles songs
93. I've learned a lot from people who have hurt me.
94. Very religious people freak me out.
95. I have lost touch with most old boyfriends.
96. I procrastinate on things that I don't want to do in hopes that people will forget about them.
97. I'm a list maker
98. I love being warm
99. I am in hiding from the news.
100. I love giving advice

You know what is silly?

Every night I tell myself that tonight I will go to bed early. And every night I stay up late on the computer. And what am I doing right now at this late hour on the computer? Messaging Athena, who works with me and lives just upstairs. I am such a goof.

Student Loans

Do you know what annoys me in this article? The fact that people make it sound really helpful that they will tie repayments on loans to income and hence lower them in some cases. And sure, in the short term, if you have no money coming in, that seems helpful. But if your payments aren't covering your interest and taking a bite out of the principal, all you are doing is extending the length of the loan repayments and significantly increasing the total amount you will need to pay back in the end. There has to be a better way, I think.

Ottawa farming out bad student loans to agencies
David Akin, CTV News

OTTAWA — The federal government is spending millions of dollars to collect outstanding student loans, resources that critics say could be better used to make a post-secondary education in Canada more affordable.

CTV News has learned that Ottawa has signed 176 contracts with 12 collection agencies to collect student loans.

Those agencies earn a commission for every dollar they collect.

The combined value of those contracts is $180.8-million.

The contracts were signed on behalf of the government by Service Canada, a relatively new government department set up by the Liberals last year to be a sort of one-stop shop Canadians could use to access a variety of government programs and services.

In its first six months of existence, Service Canada signed contracts with third-party suppliers worth $217-million, including the $180-million designated for collection agency fees.

"We're the only OECD country that doesn't have a grants system and yet all this money from Service Canada is going to collection agencies. You've just got to shake your head," said Denise Savoie (NDP-Victoria), the NDP's education critic.

Government officials say that while the government must account for and publish the full value of the collection agency contracts, in truth, only a fraction of that amount will be paid out because many of the accounts turned over to the agencies will be uncollectable.

Still, with millions of dollars up for grabs, there is a strong incentive for collection agencies to aggressively pursue each account.

"The first person I dealt with was rude, demanding payment. He told me to go take out a loan, to get my family to get the money, to do whatever I had to do to get the money," said Marcel Wattier, who graduated in 1998 from college owing more than $30,000 in principal and interest on his loan.

The lending bank turned his account over to a collection agency after he had moved and changed phone numbers. The bank believed that, in changing phone numbers, he was trying to evade lenders.

In fact, he continued to make payments on his loan and now owes just $4,000.

Once, a collection agent challenged a decision he made to move, asking why he moved to a place where the rent was more expensive.

"I told them it was none of their business," Wattie said.

Another agent working for the same firm, Accounts Recovery Corp., told him to cash in $1,200 he had saved in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP).

"He basically hounded me almost every day for about a month until I finally relented and said, ok, I'll go cash in the RRSP," Wattier said.

He is now working at two jobs to pay off his loan.

"I haven't been able to save any money. I live paycheque to paycheque to paycheque to pay the bills."

The collection agency contracts were signed while the Liberals were in government. The Conservatives have taken steps to transfer responsibility for collecting the loans from Service Canada to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Diane Finley, the Minister of Human Resources and Development, says transferring the loans to the CRA will be more "efficient" and should cut down on the frequency with which the federal government has to hire collection agencies.

Finley also says she plans to meet with her provincial counterparts and other interested parties to make the student loan system, including re-payment terms, more affordable.

"There has to be a balance," Finley said.

Last week, the C.D. Howe Institute released a report calling on the federal government to change the system so that repayments would be geared to a graduate's income level.

The study's authors say income-contingent repayment schedules would allow students to reduce the risks associated with investing in higher education and increase access for students from low-income backgrounds.

Kimchee for the Soul

Apparently my boss may be right:

Koreans' Kimchi Adulation, With a Side of Skepticism
Many see beneficial powers in the national dish, and some scientists agree. Critics keep quiet.
By Barbara Demick, Times Staff Writer
May 21, 2006


SEOUL — One might call it the chicken soup of Korea.

For years, Koreans have clung to the notion that kimchi, the pungent fermented cabbage that is synonymous with their culture, has mystical properties that ward off disease. But what was once little more than an old wives' tale has become the subject of serious research, as South Korean scientists put kimchi under their microscopes.

Last month, scientists at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute unveiled a kimchi especially developed for astronauts to prevent them from getting constipated in space. A researcher at Ewha Woman's University in Seoul reported that kimchi lowered the stress levels of caged mice by 30%.

At the Kimchi Research Institute in Busan, hairless mice fed kimchi were reported to develop fewer wrinkles. With a government grant of $500,000, the institute is developing a special anti-aging kimchi that will be marketed this year. Other new products are anti-cancer and anti-obesity kimchi.

"We are proud that we can use scientific methods to confirm the health benefits of our traditional food," said Park Kun-young, who heads the institute.

Kimchi specialists abound here. The library of a kimchi museum in Seoul holds more than 2,000 books about kimchi and thousands more dissertations. ("A Kinetic Model for Lactic Acid Production in Kimchi" was among the recent titles.) New theses are being added at the rate of 300 per year.

Kimchi is a matter of great national pride, and much of the research has been government-funded.

"I think kimchi practically defines Korean-ness," said Park Chae-lin, curator of the museum.

Understandably, perhaps, dissenters on the topic of its healing power are circumspect.

"I'm sorry. I can't talk about the health risks of kimchi in the media. Kimchi is our national food," said a researcher at Seoul National University, who begged not to be quoted by name.

Among the papers not to be found in the vast library of the kimchi museum is one published in June 2005 in the Beijing-based World Journal of Gastroenterology titled "Kimchi and Soybean Pastes Are Risk Factors of Gastric Cancer."

The researchers, all South Korean, report that kimchi and other spicy and fermented foods could be linked to the most common cancer among Koreans. Rates of gastric cancer among Koreans and Japanese are 10 times higher than in the United States.

"We found that if you were a very, very heavy eater of kimchi, you had a 50% higher risk of getting stomach cancer," said Kim Heon of the department of preventive medicine at Chungbuk National University and one of the authors. "It is not that kimchi is not a healthy food — it is a healthy food, but in excessive quantities there are risk factors."

Kim said he tried to publicize the study but a friend who is a science reporter, told him, "This will never be published in Korea."

Other studies have suggested that the heavy concentration of salt in some kimchi and the fish sauce used for flavoring could be problematic, but they too have received comparatively little attention.

Even the most ardent proponents say that at times, kimchi might be too much of a good thing.

Nutritionist Park, who in addition to the Kimchi Research Institute heads the Korea Kimchi Assn. and the Korean Society for Cancer Prevention, said that traditionally, kimchi contained a great deal of salt, which could combine with red pepper to form a carcinogen.

Nowadays, with refrigeration, less salt is needed, Park said. Instead of preserving kimchi by burying it in earthenware jars in the garden, many Koreans own specially designed refrigerators to keep it at ideal temperatures.

The beneficial power of kimchi comes from the lactic acid bacteria (also found in yogurt and other fermented foods) that helps in digestion and, according to some researchers, boosts immunity. In addition, the vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin C and antioxidants, which are believed to protect cells from carcinogens. The high fiber content aids bowel function.

Although the most recognizable kind of kimchi is made with Chinese cabbage, other variants are made with radish, garlic stalks, eggplant and mustard leaf, among other ingredients. In all, there are about 200 types of kimchi — plastic models of which are on display at the kimchi museum in Seoul.

Korean pride swelled when the U.S. magazine Health listed kimchi in its March issue as one of the world's five most healthful foods. (The others are yogurt, olive oil, lentils and soy.)

In fact, interest in kimchi's curative properties has risen proportionally with fears related to diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and avian flu.

During the 2003 panic over SARS, people started remarking that Korea seemed curiously immune, and speculation revolved around kimchi.

In March, LG Electronics put out a new line of air conditioners that have an enzyme extracted from kimchi (called leuconostoc) in the filters.

Healthful or not, the kimchi industry is booming, abroad and at home. South Koreans consume 77 pounds of it per capita annually, and many people eat it with every meal, according to industry statistics. Koreans traveling abroad seem to take it with them everywhere.

And that will soon include outer space.

"Koreans can't go anywhere without kimchi," said Byun Myung-woo, head of a team of scientists who developed a specially sterilized form of kimchi for astronauts.

The idea came about because taste and smell are greatly diminished in low-gravity conditions, giving astronauts a preference for strongly spiced foods. And astronauts often suffer from digestive problems.

"The kimchi will prevent constipation and enhance their digestive functions," Byun said.

Space kimchi is expected to make its debut in 2008, when the first South Korean astronauts are scheduled to travel on the Russian spacecraft Soyuz.

Movies and fun

So, I went to see the Da Vinci Code today. I wasn't a huge fan of the book. But the movie wasn't bad.

I have a cold. I guess that comes with the territory when you teach kids and live in such a polluted city. And perhaps my lifestyle doesn't help ;) Too little sleep, weird eating habits, a love of the free drinks at the Loft on a Thursday night...

And I do love the Loft. Thursdays are the best part of the weekend, in spite of the need to go to work the next day. It isn't just cause the drinks are free either. It's because the other girls there are so friendly. I always end up talking to new people and having a great time. The pics from this past Thursday are hysterically funny. And then there is the whole dancing on the tables fun.

Aside from that, it hasn't been too crazy a weekend. I met a friend at Geckos on Friday and then went and hung out in Brixx in Hongdae. It is the most amazingly laid back place to drink. And the shots are so creatively named!

Saturday Athena, Lucia and I had lunch/dinner with their friend Pedro, who is really cool. Then we sat in Gecko's Garden and drank some sangria. Anther laid back place. The weather is perfect for it right now. We went to Brixx, Tinpans and briefly went dancing at Stompers. But I was glad of the early evening, cause the cold is driving me mad.

I want to be healthy for the coming weekend, after all, as it's Athena's last. And Julie has even signed a contract promising to come out to Ladies Night :)

Puzzle

I put on lingerie for a squirrel!

And that line is a prime example of why the show Joey got cancelled!

I got a present from one of my students today. The explination given by my boss was that it was because she had been off due to a car accident. She is in an car accident and I get a present? Seems a bit backwards to me.

I bumped into a student on my walk to work today too. First time that has happened this year.

My latest bizarre dream

Normally, I don't recall any of my dreams. But lately, I've been dreaming like crazy. I dreamt that aliens came to our staff room and made us all dress up in costumes (toga, pioneer, etc.) and then we had to fight them. I have no idea what it is that my subconscious is trying to tell me!

Crazy Canadians in Seoul mentioned on Leno

I missed the show myself, but there was an ad put in K-Scene here in Seoul as a joke that sparked lots of discussion and apparently got a mention on Leno. Here is some info:

Canadians banned from group for cultural understanding

"An organization that promotes cultural understanding and brings together people from different nations is open for anyone in Seoul to join. Anyone that is, except Canadians.

In a classified ad in KScene, a free biweekly magazine, World Class describes itself as a group that "brings together all nationalities to discuss world issues and break down cultural barriers and prejudices."

Breaking down the prejudices, however, doesn't extend to all countries. "No Canadians please," the ad continues.

When contacted by a Korea Herald reporter by e-mail, the organizer of the group, Bernard Carleton, elaborated further, "The thing is, CANADIANS ARE SCUM! They are self-loving, welfare supporting, over taxing, work ethic hating scum!!! They are not welcome in our group."

Anyone who would like to join the meetings with Carleton in order to break down prejudices, dissolve stereotypes and have an enhanced understanding of people from other countries can contact him at cbicsmd@yahoo.com. "

I need to do more productive things when I am bored

Like this!

Julie wants my cheese!

Lately all of my dreams have been set in the staff room. Which is weird by itself. But the funniest was one where we were all fighting over one package of cheese stringers in the fridge and Julie started pulling hair to get at it. Can you tell that Korea is a bit short in the yummy cheese department?

Another weekend has gone by

Another weekend of dancing and eating western food.



Thursday I met up with Val and her friends at the Loft with Athena. I had a great time dancing, but unfortunately kinda hurt my ankle. I am pretty clutzy anyway, so the combo of the uneven sidewalks in Korea and a bit of drunkeness proved to be too much. I sort of rolled it and now it is all swollen and bruised. Not pretty.

In spite of that, I spent Friday out to dinner at a nice pizza place in Itaewon and then had drinks in Geckos. It was an early night, cause there was no way I was dancing on the ankle. Saturday Athena, Lucia and I met up with some people for dessert (we had been out for Italian food already) and then went to Tinpan's in Hongdae. I love Tinpans, as long as I avoid the tequila. Then there was some weirdness at Stompers, so we didn't dance long. Smoked another hookah at Bricks.



Sunday was lazy. Didn't make it out of the house until 3ish to go and eat at TGI Fridays and then played some pool. I discovered that there is a Korean version of pool that has no pockets on the table and two red balls and two white ones. No idea what was going on.

Saw some very funny signs...

I'm Official ;)

Seoul Questionnaire

1. Whats your favorite part of the city for partying?
Itaewon or Hongdae

2. Name the first club/bar you went to.
I think it was Polly's Kettle. Or maybe Q-Vo, back when it had another name.

3. Where were you first drunk in Seoul?
At a norae bang, in my first 24 hours here.

3A. What is your favorite bar?
I seem to spend an awful lot of time at Geckos. Or the Loft on Thursday night.

4. Have you ever gotten lost in the city?
Yep.

5. Have you ever gotten a parking ticket?
No, don't drive. I've been stopped for jaywalking though. That happens if you jaywalk to get to work everyday right in front of a police station. Have yet to be fined.

6. Loft or Helios on a Thursday night?
Loft

7. Be honest Have you ever bought silkworm larvae from a vendor?
No. But, I do buy other stuff from vendors.

8. Ever been to see the soccer team play?
no

9. Whats your favorite restaurant?
a little Italian place in Edae

10. Where's the best place to shop?
Doota in Dongdaemun. B1

11. Outback or TGIs?
Outback for the cheesy fries

12. What's your favorite English bookstore?
Abby's in Itaewon. I like my books cheap, so it's secondhand all the way.

13. How often do you get into the city?
Every day on the weekend. This week, a lot during the week too.

14. What's better Seoul or Busan?
Busan was nice, but I do love Seoul.

15. Have you ever been to the Coex Mall?
Yes, but not recently.

16. Have you ever stayed in a love motel?
Of course, I am all about budget travel.

17. Have you ever been to Apujeong?
Yes, but not often.

18. How about Everland?
Once

19. Do you keep up with the news back home?
not really

20. If you could live anywhere in the city, where would you live?
Closer to Hongdae/Sinchon

21. How many palaces have you been to?
three

22. Have you been on an army base in Korea?
Yes

23. Itaewon or Hongdae?
Both and often in the same evening

24. Could you find The Bar in Sinchon?
Been there but no.

25. Fav Korean Food?
jjim duk

Men and Women Reading

BY THE NUMBERS
April 30, 2006

When Lisa Jardine and Annie Watkins asked hundreds of British female academics, teachers, writers, publishers and literature students what book had changed their lives, many respondents wondered whether there would be a male version of the survey as well. Jardine and Watkins complied: The results were fascinating in their own right, and more intriguing when juxtaposed with the findings for women. Not only did men and women find different books to be meaningful, but they approached reading in divergent ways.

Men's Fiction

Top Five

1. "The Outsider,"

Albert Camus

2. "Catcher in the Rye,"

J.D. Salinger

3. "Slaughterhouse Five,"

Kurt Vonnegut

4. (tie)

"One Hundred Years of Solitude,"

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"The Hobbit,"

J.R.R. Tolkien

5. "Catch-22,"

Joseph Heller



Women's Fiction

Top Five

1. "Jane Eyre,"

Charlotte Bronte

2. "Wuthering Heights,"

Emily Bronte

3. "The Handmaid's Tale,"

Margaret Atwood

4. "Middlemarch,"

George Eliot

5. (tie)

"Pride and Prejudice,"

Jane Austen

"Beloved,"

Toni Morrison

Other findings:

? No male authors made the women's top five, and no female authors made the men's top five.

? Only four books made both top 20 lists.

? Six male authors broke the women's top 20, but only one book by a female author made the men's top 20: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.

? Older men were more likely to cite female authors as influential.

? Men were most likely to have read their formative books as adolescents.

? Women were more likely to read books to cope with difficult times.

? Men were more likely to cite particular authors as "mentors," particularly, among these British residents, George Orwell.

? Women liked shared, hand-me-down books; men liked new books and hardbacks.

? Women had a more diverse list of favorites ?400 women named 200 books.

? Men answered the question of what book marked a watershed moment more reluctantly than women.

I'm a mad socializer

I went into Itaewon to meet up with people at Gecko's on a Tuesday. A Tuesday, people!

I finally get paid today. It's been awhile.

I found this interesting:

MySpace is a social networking website offering an interactive network of blogs, user profiles, groups, photos and an internal e-mail system. According to Alexa Internet, as of March 2006 it is the world's fifth most popular English-language website and the eighth most popular in the world. Note that this is based on exceptionally intense usage by a relatively limited number of visitors, many more than five English language sites have a higher "reach" measurement, that is they are visited by more different people each day. MySpace has outstripped competitors such as MSN Spaces, Friendster and LiveJournal to become the most popular English-language social networking website with higher traffic and roughly 75 million registered accounts. It has become an increasingly influential part of contemporary teenage culture, especially in the Anglosphere. MySpace has 250 employees and projects a 2006 revenue of US$20M.

So, at least I am not alone in my new addiction.

Check out the Evolution of Dance Moves that Jenny altered me to. I still dance to Baby Got Back at Stompers ;)

Long Weekends are where it's at

I had a great long weekend, thanks to Children's Day.

Started at the Loft for Ladies' Night. The only thing better then free drinks on a thursday is free drinks on a thursday when you have friday off! Had a great time and didn't drink too much, so I was able to get up on Friday to head to Itaewon to get my hair cut and then meet up with Lucia. We had drinks at Gecko's Garden, to take advantage of the lovely weather. Then we went to Gecko's Terrace for food and girly drinks before meeting up with Athena. We decided to head back home for an hour to refresh before going out. It was a good night out, except for the rain that curled my hair in the dashes between bars. We went to Gecko's, Helios, Route 66, Bricks and Stompers. Had fun. Saturday we managed to squeak into Outback before the lunch specials ended (and since that happens at 4 you can tell that no one was moving fast!). Another night of Gecko's and Stompers. I love to dance! Sunday we had Italian food, went on a search for the sex shop in Itaewon (unsuccessful), went bowling on base and then had a few drinks at Geckos. On a Sunday, we stayed late enough to be kicked out! Was busy laughing at this odd Canadian from Waterloo who was dancing and drinking and just generally being odd.



The funny thing about Seoul is that as massive a city as it is, you bump into the same people everywhere. I saw Patricia and Julie all four evenings I was out!

It was back to work today. We went to a seafood restaurant for dinner tonight that just opened and had the all you can eat bar. I am stuffed! And broke. 7,000 won to last me until I get paid on the 10th. Thank god that is Wednesday.

Funniest Things Ever

SNL Narnia Rap

Titanic Two

Natalie Portman Rap

Random Survey

I like these things because when I read them years later, I find that my responses amuse me and remind me of where I used to be.

1.Is there anybody you just wish would fall off the face of the Earth?
The Korean telemarketers who keep calling me at 9am. I don't get up until 11 at the earliest!

2. How do you flush the toilet in public restrooms?
In Korea, it depends. Western toilets, with my hand. Squats you use your foot.

3. Do you wear your seatbelt in the car?
Only the front seat in Korean taxis even have a seatbelt, so no.

4. Do you have a crush on someone?
nope.

5. Name one thing that you start to get tense about if
you are close to running out of it:
money, time, toilet paper, reese peanut butter cups, minutes on my cell phone (handphone for the korean audience, mobile for the brits).

6. What famous person do you (or other people) think you resemble?
I don't think any.

7. What is your favorite pizza topping?
Potato pizzas here in Seoul, pineapple and corn in Scotland, goat's cheese and spinach in Canada.

9. Do you crack your knuckles?
no

10. What song do you hate the most when it gets stuck in your head?
The song that plays as our bell at school. the lyrics my students sing to don't cha (don't cha don't cha don't cha don't cha e wha fait, don't cha pretty girlfriend feel like me)

11. Did just mentioning that song make it get stuck in your head?
Nope, thanks to iTunes being on.

12. What are your super powers?
controlling a classroom of hyper korean kids

13. Peppermint or spearmint?
i am not sure i could tell the difference in a blind taste test.

14. Where are your car keys?
Don't have a car.

15. Whose answers to this questionnaire do you want to hear?
Dude, everyone of course.

16. What's your most annoying habit?
I have too many to mention. But that's why you all love me. Right? Right?

17. Where did you last go on vacation?
Canada

18. If you could punch one person in the nose and get away with it, who would it be?
Can't think of anyone at the moment.

19. What is your best physical feature?
Dunno. Depends on who you ask, i guess. I like my hair after it's been straightened.

20. What CD is closest to you right now?
I don't have any CDs here, but Nelly's Da Derrty Versions is playing on iTunes at the moment. I have 6420 songs on iTunes in total.

21. What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator?
Water. That is the only constant. Sometimes milk, occassionally cheese or eggs. I don't cook much in Korea.

22. What superstition do you believe/practice?
None, really.

23. What color are your bed sheets?
sheets are pink. I didn't choose them.

24. Would you rather be a fish or a bird?
Bird

25. Do you talk on your cell phone when you drive?
I don't drive. I walk and text though, which is probably not the safest thing in korea where the sidewalks are not even pretending to be straight and smooth.

26. What are your favorite sayings?
they change all the time. i pick up other people's sayings really easily.

27. What song(s) do you sing most often in the shower?
I don't. But I like singing that Buttercup song. And I like trying to sing rap/hip hop at norae bang. Trying is the key word.

28. If you could go back or forward in time, would you and where would you go?
Ancient Greece maybe.

29. What is your favorite Harrison Ford movie?
Star Wars

30. What CD is in your stereo?
Nelly on iTunes


31. What cd will be in your stereo in a few minutes?
maybe black eyed peas.

32. How many kids do you plan on having?
Anything from 0 - 2. Haven't decided yet. would rather adopt, i think.


33. If you could kiss anyone who would it be?
Myself ;)

34. Would you really want to kiss someone you didn't know, even if they are famous?
why not?

35. What do you do when no one is watching?
Lots of stuff. People are seldom watching.

36. If they made a movie about your life, what actor/actress would be the best for this job?
No idea.

37. Would you rather die in a blaze of glory or peacefully in your sleep?
A blaze of glory in my 90s!

38. Have you ever started to fill out a survey on Myspace and then thought "this is stupid" and exit without sending it?
Not yet. Give it time.

39. Coffee or tea?
Coffee and tea. I have no intention of choosing!

40. Favorite musician(s)/bands you've seen in concert?
I love concerts. So all of them! Esp Lilith Fair, Radiohead, REM

41. Have you ever been in love?
Yes.

42. Do you talk to yourself?
Doesn't everyone?

Productivity and all before noon!

I can not make my cold go away. It irks me. Bizarrely, when I am out all weekend, getting too little sleep, in smokey bars, drinking, i feel okay. it's during the week that it all comes back.

on another note, I finally got my act together this morning. I have an alien card, a multiple reentry in my passport, and a bank account. and i am going to go check out a gym tomorrow morning.

now if i could just bring myself to clean my apartment... and do my laundry...

Lazy in Seoul

I am sure you are all asking yourself "She has a computer, she is piggybacking off of someone else's wireless connection, so she can surf for free, she has tons of spare time, so where are all the blog entries???" The answer to the lack of them is simple: I am lazy and I am addicted to myspace. Between the two, I can stay up until 4am (yep, that would be the time chez me right now) and yet still not blog. For awhile, my excuse was that I hadn't downloaded my photos yet to add to the posts, but that isn't exactly taxing either!

Anyway, I was meant to go to bed early tonight so I could go pick up my alien card tomorrow in Mokdong. Didn't happen. Such is life, I guess. Need to get on that, so I can open a bank account, which will allow me to get paid on the 10th. Which is kinda key... Instead, I hung out with YunJin for a bit, had galbi with Athena and then spent far too much time doing god only knows what on the internet. This year I have several English language tv channels, rather than my one AFN channel of last contract, and yet I never watch tv cause I'm all about wasting my time on the net.



So, what have I been up to? First there was my birthday weekend. Crazy ass. We went on Friday, the actual day of, to Tinpan's. I had no intention of drinking tequila, as I always swear off tequila after a night at Tinpan's. I thought I would try and head that off at the pass. But we were sitting next to a table with three korean guys (and later one guy's wife joined in) who bought two bottles of tequila and decided to share with us. Between that and the long island iced teas, well, let's just say I enjoyed myself. We also went to Stompers, where I once again misplaced my free drinks card. It was like some sort of weird birthday repeat of last year, but with different people. I went into Itaewon for lunch the next day, which was nice, an omelette at Gecko's, but left me exhausted, cause I didn't sleep much. Then I got home, met up with Athena, Marisa, and Julie and ended up heading right back to Itaewon. We ate some (for Korea) really good Mexican food and then went to Gecko's. After some weird-guy incidents, Athena and I ended up at Stompers yet again. On Sunday, Athena and I went to Outback, to eat the goodness that is cheesy fries, and I think I brought back more food in the doggie bag than I ate at the restaurant. And then YunJin stopped by with the most adorable ice cream cake ever. It was a great birthday weekend.

The week at work flew by, the only notable thing being that I lost my favourite class, as they are finished the book. Tomorrow I will meet my replacement class, a grammar class. More new faces to attach names to!

As Athena is leaving soon, she is in the mood to go out. As I have just arrived, so am I. We went out with Lucia this past Friday (Lucia used to work at Heritage, but is also leaving soon), starting at Route 66 for a long island to start the evening off right. Met a rather drunken Korean man who told us he wanted to have Sex in the City with us. It was interesting! Then to Stompers yet again. Saturday I met up with Robyn and two of her friends (who replaced the old Poly crew, so odd to meet people who work in the job that I once did). Had a great time shopping with them but I was very tired. I met Athena and Lucia in Starbucks after Robyn left and then went to meet up with Amber and Sean and their friends for Sean's birthday. We had dinner and girly drinks at a place in Itaewon, smoked a hookah at Bricks in Hongdae and drank the free shots kindly procured by Tom, went to Halaboogies (one of the Hodge Podges back in the day), and then Stompers to close out the evening. I know you are all now thinking "She said before she left that she was going to drink less this time round..." Thing is, I sort of am. I go out a lot, but don't necessarily drink all that much (my birthday being a rather big exception!).



Sunday we went to Insadong for the Lantern Festival for Buddha's Birthday. The temple that had been covered in scaffolding last year is looking good now. Amber, Julie, Marisa and I all got face painting, made lanterns, and got some nail art. We met up with Lynn and Patricia, from Glasgow, Tom, Julie, Matt, and Sean to have dinner, though we split into two groups: Korean food and pasta (at that place Kim discovered with the baked cheesy pasta!). Tom managed to find a BC Lions foamy hand thing randomly. The parade was cool, but pretty much the same as last year. One odd moment was when we were walking down the main street in Insadong and passed some scantily clad women. Didn't realise until we got a pamphlet in English that they were Raelians, the people who believe that humans were created in a laboratory by aliens. Weird.

The other photos of the Lantern Festival are here.

Cat and Girl Comic Strip

Read more here

Night of the Rats

Last night there was a big thunderstorm. Today was really cold. Perhaps that is why we saw two rats while walking home from work?

I have a phone!

The weekend passed by far too quickly, as always. Saturday I spent with Julie, chatting and watching silly movies on Ebaum's World. Very funny. We went to Carney Station for all the food and drink we could get in by 11pm for 20,000 won and then to norae bang for an hour, and then to Stompers (where I managed to lose my free drink ticket again! and this time I didn't discover it in my purse when I got home). It was a good night and it was great to be back out in Hongdae.

After a long lie on Sunday, I woke up a bit on the hungover side to get ready to go shopping in Yongsan. I was on a mission for a cell phone and not only did I find one, but it was easy as pie. The third place I asked had a KTF phone for 50,000 won that is half English, half Korean and so I took it. I even got some service: a cell phone charm, an extra cover and battery, and an earpiece. Julie picked up some DVDs and then we headed to Itaewon for phone cards and food at the Outback. I had missed those cheesy fries. And I showed the girls What the Book, where I then succombed to the lure of books and bought three second hand ones.

We've watched two of Julie's new DVDs already - Team America (America! Fuck yeah! Kim Jong-il is so ronrey!) and Matchpoint.

I have just finished reading The Jane Austen Book Club, which I thought was cute. I had been reading Women Who Run With the Wolves, but as much as I feel like I should like this book, I don't. I like the myths she tells, but all the Jungian analysis just bores me. I feel like I should finish it, as I am one of those people who finishes books, no matter what. I can only think of a very small handfull I haven't finished (War and Peace, though I loved it and intend to one day and Pride and Prejudice, which I have since finished but I started it over again at least three times). If I can keep myself from the bookstores, I suppose I will be driven by necessity - I only brought about ten books with me.

I have been up for hours cause I was going to go and get my alien card this morning, but my boss didn't fill out any of the info on the sheet he gave me. I don't even know my address in English, much less Korean!

Kimbap Calm

On Thursday night, I went to Ladies' Night in Itaewon with Amber and Marissa. We started at Gecko's for some food and a round of fancy drinks (Green Apple Martinis, yum) and ended up having a round bought for us by a soldier on his way back to the States. Amber was also the recipient of a lovely bunch of flowers from a Korean man who later fell asleep in the bar. We moved on to the Loft, which was fun as always. Highlights of the evening included a short guy totally into the music, dancing all by himself; a Korean guy dancing on the tables and doing a wee strip show; a Swedish guy who started off nice and ended up insulting everyone; and meeting a girl from Glasgow.

Friday I walked to school alone. The school is not even a five minute walk but for some reason it has taken me some time to figure the whole thing out. I picked up some kimbap on my way and thought to myself "aren't I wandering to work just like a Korean person? Picking up my kimbap on the way!"

I met up with an old friend Friday night and it was one of those evenings where you end up wondering if it is you who has changed or them. Some friends you can just pick up where you left off, others not so much. I had to go to Dangsan Station, for the first time, and alone. Managed to make it there, but had no idea where the bus stop to get back was, so I ended up taking a taxi. And I got slagged off for my poor ability to get around, but frankly, I thought I was doing pretty damn well!

My first week at Heritage

My introduction to Heritage School has been interesting - first off, I am replacing a teacher who had a nervous breakdown the week before I came. Her classes were taught by other people for a week, which always causes confusion, things were left unmarked, she didn't leave me any notes or a schedule - all little things that just made those first couple of days that little bit more confusing. And, to top it off, there was a fire in her apartment a week before I moved in. It delayed my moving day, it meant that before so much as hanging up my clothes I had to wash the inside of the wardrobe and all the hangers, it meant that there is a real lack of any furniture or stuff that most apartments would have.

My first day of classes was long. First off, the way we teach at Heritage is very different than the way I was used to teaching at Poly. Not better or worse necessarily, but it took me a couple of days to wrap my mind around. And the schedule is definitely bizarre - each class is in a different week, in totally different parts of books. And on day one, the schedule I was given wasn't correct, so I walked into three classes with the wrong books or prepared for the wrong week.

The girls I work with are great. I've been hanging around with them a lot and everyone is so nice. Our neighbourhood is perfect for food shopping - a Home Plus (Tesco), an Emart and a Carrefour within five minutes of the apartment. However, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot else to do but eat. I have been to a couple of good restaurants (kimbap place, galbi) but the nearest movie theatre is probably Mokdong and we are a 15 minute bus ride from the most convienent subway station.

In general, I like it here. I like my apartment, I like my coworkers, I like the school. Life is good.

Back in Seoul

So, here I sit, borrowing Amber's Mac, which I find a bit odd to use after a lifetime of PCs, back in Seoul.

The flight over was really, really long. I flew through Vancouver, so after five hours of flying there and an hour to change planes, I still had the 11 hour journey to Korea to get through. It gave me a lot of time to think, trying to figure out how I actually feel about my return to Korea - at one point, I was just sitting and trying to decide where I actually wanted that plane to be landing. Korea? Scotland? Back in Toronto? The last six months have been ridiculously chaotic for me and the one good thing about this move to Korea is that after months of introspection and constant analysis of absolutely everything in my life, at least right now I am doing something instead of just thinking about what I should do.

The flight in itself, while long and boring, had a few spectacular moments - for the first time in ages, I had a window seat and the view was spectacular. The view of the mountains flying into Vancouver, the view of the islands flying out. Alaska. Russia. Ice and snow. Amazing. I like flying over the far north because while it's on that ever lengthening list of places I would love to go and explore, realistically I am not likely to ever get THAT far north. And it is just beautiful.


At Incheon, we landed early, I cleared immigration in moments, and then my bags both showed up minutes after I arrived at the luggage belt. I don't think I have ever been off a plane and through the exit gate that quickly before. Mr. Joo, my new boss, picked me up and drove me to the apartment I will be staying at while waiting for mine to be ready. He seems nice and we managed to have some bizarre conversations. Whether this is the result of extreme jet lag, I don't know. Mr. Joo on Scottish people: "They are conservative people, but honest. I like them very much." On music: "The music of the 70s and 80s is better than hip hop. They were beautiful ballads and easier to understand."

So, he left me at Amber and Sean's apartment, to wait for them to return. I have to wait for him to clean my place - I had assumed this was because the last girl had just moved out, but it turns out there was a fire there a week ago and it has to be cleaned up and new furniture bought. Which is fine, but a bizzare thing to learn upon one's arrival. I had high hopes for knowing where I was - I saw the Carrefour and thought perhaps it was the one I knew, as Mr. Joo had suggested we were near Mokdong. That turns out not to be the case - which is good in terms of having a new neighbourhood to explore, but disappointing in that I felt good to think I knew where I was in the city in terms of subway access. However, I am sure given a week I will have that figured out anyway.


Amber and Sean are really nice and I went out with them for galbi. It was good to eat Korean food again. We chatted, drank some soju and rum & cokes, and watched a film, though to be honest, couldn't tell you what happened. I was in that horrible jet lagged place where you are just totally exhausted and yet somehow totally wired. They are off rock climbing today and I had intended to sleep in, but woke up at 7 and have been up since. I am actively attempting to rehydrate, after the dryness of flying combined with last night's drinking. I may be meeting up with another teacher, Julie, today, or I will have to go out and do some exploring of my own.

I am excited to be here, I think. I am sure that sounds silly and I wish I had a more concrete feeling about whether or not moving back was the right choice. I seem to go from elation at being back (like when I got an email from Val saying she'll be back in Korea for 10 days in May and suggesting a Ladies' Night at the Loft) to being really not so sure. I have a lot of confidence that all things will work out for the best, I just wish I had more idea how that was going to happen. I need to turn my brain off for a bit and go back to that zen bubble feeling I had in Korea last time - just let life happen. Go with the flow.

Leap and the net will appear, goes a Zen saying. I've leapt!

Ranting about jobs and my discovery of libraries

My first blog post. Not bad for someone who only recently caught on to the whole scanning photos onto the computer malarkey. And due to Samarra's brilliant advice, I have ventured into the unknown world of internet banking and found it to be miraculous. The things I can do at the click of a mouse! But now, what to say?

Well, here I am at work on a Friday in Vancouver. It's not a bad job, though by no stretch of the imagination an amazing one. I recently read "Your Money or Your Life" by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robbins and they had a bit about Job Charming-the idea that one day a wonderful job will come along and make your entire life perfect. And did that ever resonate. But at the moment I'm not interested in a Job Charming-the rent is covered, there is money for exploring all the touristy nonsense that Vancouver has on offer, and the people are nice. So much better than my Scottish bank job-after that one I suspect I may be easy to please for the rest of my life. Thank Maude I finally escaped Mandate Centre hell.

Surprisingly, the aforementioned book was taken out from a library! By me, the person who has many a time complained about the annoying habit that libraries have of wanting their books back by the due date. The person who could come up with numerous reasons for being a huge "literature abuser" who never once sets foot in a library. Well, ok, occasionally I have, but only for university purposes. Never for pleasure. But I have to say, I quite like it now. I will no longer have to consider selling my kidney to support my book buying habit and I seem to be handling the whole due date thing rather better than I expected. I have had the two fines, but they were small ones. I do have a horrible habit of not even attempting to read a book until I have renewed the maximum amount of times possible and the due date is about 48 hours away, but there you go.

And that is precisely what I've done with Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. Due tomorrow, finally finished on the bus this morning. Granted, it might have been finished awhile ago, if I ever found time to sleep and was able to stay awake to read a book on my morning commute on a more regular basis. But I can't rave enough about this book. It really was fantastic.

My literary addiction continues, but my film addiction seems to have abated with the move to Vancouver. In Toronto, I couldn't see enough films. Here I hardly ever make it to a theatre, though I've seen the occasional rental. However, this has been replaced instead by an addiction to ticketmaster.ca. I now get more tickets in the mail than bills (and far more than postcards and letters, my lazy friends!). The Barenaked Ladies was the most recent, and it was fantastic. Two audience members were dressed up in chicken suits, Lisa and I sat near security so we got to see many a concert goer hustled out, and there was a choreographed dance portion, reminiscent of a boy band, but with shopping carts. Genius. I went in February to Rock for Choice, also with Lisa, where I was introduced to Hayden-now a favourite of mine. A talk by Romeo Dallaire (yet another signed book! I'm an addict, I know), and an upcoming one by the Dalai Lama. And tickets to see Sarah Harmer with Jenny, and La Traviata by myself-where are all the opera lovers? Anyone?

Soon I will be 26. An age that rounds up to 30 no less. But I will have to leave it there, as my break is now almost over and I have a few Korean teaching job chores to do. I'm not a big fan of the job hunting process. I find that generally it requires you to be on your best behavior, while potential employers can be as rude and inconsiderate as they like. I may follow the rules and do the whole "thank-you for the interview" call, but they have no need to ever call back and tell me the outcome of that interview apparently! Between my, Jenni, and Alan's experiences, Vancouver employers have proven to be a particularly rude lot, though it is possible the problem is bigger than that. So job hunting by internet has it small advantages.

Peace

I had a fairly busy weekend-which is good, it makes up for my rather lackluster work weeks.

Jenny and I went to the Anti-War Rally on Saturday. It seemed a bit less organized than the one I attended in Glasgow before the war, but that could be due to the fact that we didn't actually participate and now are just protesting the occupation. As always, going to protest one thing you disagree with means associating with a ton of other random causes you might not agree with (or even know exist)- and we seemed to be supporting everything from BC health care to El Salvador to saving the whales on Saturday.

When we arrived there were some folk singers with some interesting songs. I have a lyric book, but can't be arsed typing any of them out in this email. Too bad, cause they're funny ;) there was a real lack of organization in the signage. Granted if I was less of a lazy protester, I could have made my own-in fact many people had some fairly generic signs that makes one think they protest on a regular basis. However, Jenny and I lucked out. There were some signs on the ground, not yet attached to any sticks. No one seemed to have anything to do with the signs, so we grabbed two that expressed things we were happy enough supporting and went off to find some tape. It's a good thing the socialists come prepared.

We wandered across Burrard Bridge, did a circle around downtown and ended up at sunset beach. Jenny and I proved to be quick walkers, so we got to march with just about everyone-Greenpeace, the unions, seniors for healthcare, the Green Party, the communists, queers for peace...

The speeches were ok. There was a union guy that got heckled by some people dressed in black with face masks-they actually looked a bit like ninjas, and we never did figure out what they were all about. A guy from El Salvador spoke, making me wish I knew something about El Salvador. Jack Leighton spoke. And some other people I don't remember much about. And then...

Noam Chomsky. He was cool. He talked a lot about Reagan's war on terror, and how it relates to Bush's. And he was just generally very, very cool. Once he was finished the crowd of 25,000 disappeared fairly quickly, because they scheduled the whole thing to occur at lunchtime.

It was a beautiful day and had a great vibe. Did anyone else go to any protests?

Have now ridden the new bike. May need to purchase one of those things that pad the seat.

And "OH MY GOD!!!" I'm already getting job offers for positions in Korea in eptember. I am actually going to do this. And it's just starting to hit me now :) Woo hoo!!!

"Boredom and stupidity and patriotism, especially when combined, are three of the greatest evils of the world we live in." Robertson Davies

A future as a career guru?

One of the guys I worked with asked if I would get a job in my field once I go to Scotland (I've told them all I want to go to Korea for a year). What field??? I don't have a field, and I suppose that can be looked at in a very negative way. As
things go right now, I am mostly choosing jobs based on travel opportunities! Which, in terms of quality of life, has been fantastic, but in terms of career, well I don't have one. That bothers me occasionally I do admit. And the whole Korea thing is just me going off to have an adventure, and totally leaving career out of the picture for another year. I'm gonna do it anyway though :) I have been reading a lot of career guidance books lately, in an attempt to get my head around where I want to go with career/life/etc. I'm reading Your Money or Your Life by Dominguez and Robin right now, and it has some interesting insights.

Dallaire and Bikes

Last night I went to hear a talk by General Romeo Dallaire, who was the UN commander in charge of the mission in Rwanda during the genocide. It was really fantastic. He was very inspirational, especially regarding Canada's potential for world leadership as a middle power. And he had some very interesting things to say about what leadership qualities the military, government, and humanitarian groups need to develop and what sorts of ethical questions are coming up in the field that just aren't being thought through enough (a good example was the issue of child soldiers and what to do if they were firing on refugees in a church-do you fire back at 9 year olds?) Great talk, can't wait to read my (newly signed) book. I know, I know, I've got quite a book signing addiction.

And on Sunday Alan and I bought bikes! Yay!!! They are cheap second hand ones (mine looks a bit cooler than Alan's, but sadly was $80 and his was half that!). We only had a chance for a quick ride on them before I headed out to UBC for the talk, so I'm looking forward to riding it properly soon. And that phrase, it's just like riding a bike, is nonsense! I feel like an idiot trying to ride the thing. I haven't really ridden since I was like 12, and while ok, I can get on it and not fall over, I don't feel very confident about riding it yet. But I love it already. It will be hard to leave it behind. I sort of get the thing people have with their cars now, for the first time ;) I'm surprised I haven't named the damn thing ;)

"The real university is a state of mind." Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Canucks and Snowshoeing

It's been a rather exciting week, though not so much on Monday when I feel asleep on the couch at about 8:30. I can't seem to get used to these 5:30 starts to mornings.

Andrea and Jenny came over for dinner before Andrea flew back to Scotland on Tuesday. Which was cool, because I had thought it would be a good year and a half before I'd be able to see her again.

Wednesday we went to a Canucks game, and it was fantastic. We started off with a suitably British Columbian meal-a BC burger at White Spot, and then headed out to the stadium. We bought one of those genius big foam fingers and got free Canucks baseball caps by pretending to sign up for credit cards. It's remarkably hard to try and come up with a fake address on the spot. Having spent $14.50 on beers, we felt suitably ripped off, after all it's not a Canadian sports event if you haven't paid out the nose for some alcohol. Our seats were fairly high up, but we had a really good view. It's funny how you can go through life with not much interest in sport but when you go to a game, you're right there yelling and booing along with the rest of the crowd. They had some really cute kids playing between periods, falling over, and not being able to keep up with the puck. We bought some of those brilliant mini donuts that they make right in front of you- I haven't had those in ages, since my family used to go to the CNE in the summer. The Canucks tied the game.

Yesterday at work, along with it being a beer Friday, we also played a few rounds of darts. They bought the dart board just a week ago, and it is hanging in the company library. I get the feeling it is the most activity that library has seen in years. I managed to hit the board about 75% of the time, so I was chuffed.

Today has been fantastic. The sun is shining, it's nice and warm, and Alan and I headed out to Cypress for a day in the snow. We started off with an hour of tubing-and we were one of only two couples over the age of about 14. However, it was fantastic (I highly recommend spinning in a twosome!). Then we rented snow shoes and went around some of the trails. Weather permitting, we may try and head out to do some cross country skiing before the end of the month.

Tomorrow I am off to hear a talk by general Romeo Dallaire, who was the UN commander in charge of the mission in Rwanda during the genocide. Which sadly means I will miss my weekly dose of British telly - Heartbeat, Monarch of the Glen, and the Royal.

Postcard Mania

Working life is rather good, actually - after the bank this office is just what I need to restore my faith that working in an office can be ok. Everyone is so nice and there is almost nothing in the way of nasty gossip or evil office politics!

Alan is going nutters with the postcards. I kid you not, the guy that got annoyed with me for sending his relatives Christmas cards only months ago, because it would set a worrying trend, has run out of people who haven't received about 10 Vancouver postcards each and has started badgering me to send them out to everyone I know as well! We seem to have gotten into a cheesiest postcard competition with half of Britain, and Canada just can't compete in a contest like that, we simply can't match those levels of cheesy, tacky postcards. Sad reflection on the state of the country, I know.

It really is a pretty city, when it's sunny anyway. However, my speech patterns are degenerating at a rapid rate-the west coasters say like more than any other people on earth-I'd better leave before I start sounding like a bad episode of 90210 (did you ever get that in Britain? With all the valley girl accents?).

Anyway, back to reading and proofing my concrete specs-I like the work generally, but the content lacks excitement :)

The Rumour Mill

The rumour mill is alive and kicking in Scotland. It has Alan on his way home to Scotland by way of Las Vegas and me on my way to South America. It seems that Alan's cousin works with a girl he went to university with... Quite amusing. He is planning on going to Kansas before leaving Canada in August, and I am planning on heading out to South Korea, so I suppose it's not too far off.

Ear News

After a long boring week of job interviews, I did something vaguely exciting today-I've had my ears repierced, so I am back to having a total of 5 ear piercings. Almost went wild and had one done at the top of my ear and then wimped out.

Otherwise, not too much else going on out here. I bumped into Ellen, a girl I knew in Edinburgh back when I was an exchange student, who is now working at a coffee shop here in Vancouver! Odd, I know. And we got to listen to a raccoon spat last night while trying to sleep, though apparently this is the mating season... Finally, I spent some HMV gift certificates on another Ryan Adams CD-love his music. Ryan, not Bryan, please note ;)

______________________________________________________________________________

From Jenni:

Hi,

Well between racoon spats and ear piercings it's all go in Dunbar. In fact I may suggest to the local council there, to rename the area "Dunbar - hub of excitment". Ok, I won't be too mean.

J

Jenni, who didn't go down like a dart

Hi,

I'm back safe and sound, didn't go down in the Atlantic - or the North Sea, like a dart. Glad to be home, glad to be with my family. It's actually pretty chilly here today, but it's a beautiful day - no jet lag as yet. It's all good. Hope you're both enjoying sunny Vancouver! Keep me up to date with all the goings on, and I'll do the same here.

Love
Jenni

The Christmas Season in Vancouver

I have a job at the Bay. I am working in the jewellery section of the department store-it is pretty busy because of Christmas shopping, so I am very tired once I am finished 6.5 hours. The people I work with are all very nice, and help me out when I don't know how to do things-the cash register is a bit complex, so I don't know how to do too much yet! I only work there on weekends. There is one girl, Naomi, from England who we've invited out this Friday, since she seems nice. We don't have many friends here in Vancouver, so we are trying to meet new people. Making friends is harder once you leave school-you have to make a real effort to get to know people. On Sunday after work, I bought myself some jewellery since I get an employee discount. I bought two Roots necklaces and two pairs of earrings. It's weird, cause normally I am not that interested in jewellery, but working there has made me pay attention. I am surprised how expensive most of it is.

My other job right now is a temp job. There are only 2 people who work here and they didn't teach me much, so most of the time I just email and am bored. The people who work here are always very stressed, so it makes it a bit uncomfortable for me. It is full time during the week, so I never have any days off at all. I am tired and fed up with working, but I have three days off at Christmas.

Since I work so much, I don't get the chance to see much here in Vancouver. It is a nice city-today the sun was shining off the top of the mountains, which made it look beautiful. However, mostly it rains! It is a nice city, but I think maybe I like Toronto better. I'll have to give it more time and see.

I went out to see Timeline a week ago and Love, Actually last night. Timelinewasn't very good, but Love, Sctually was great. And lasst night Jenni, Jenny, Alan and I went out for coffee.

Christmas is busy because some people are visiting. Jasmine is here to see her family and I am going out to dinner with her tonight. David is here from Scotland, and he's going to be sleeping on our couch until the 23rd - he arrives tonight. We are going to be out most evenings while he is here to show him around (even though we don't know where anything is here either!!!). And Samarra is supposed to be here next week, visiting her sister, so I hopefully will see her too at least once.

We've been getting lots of Christmas cards from people-from Alan's cousins and Grans, from Nana and Henry and Grandpa and Grandma, Aunt Joan, and some of my friends. It's really nice to get mail :) We sent out about 50 cards, but have only got about 15 back so far. We did the last of the Christmas wrapping last night, so we are all ready.

We are going to Andrea's family for Christmas-Jenni and David and Alan and I. I think I will buy a turkey for Alan and I as well, and try cooking one since I have never cooked one before.

Looking into Korea

Wise thought of the day: Never tread on the toes today that are connected to the legs that support the arse you may have to kiss tomorrow. Found on Dave's ESL Cafe

Should anyone have worked, or have friends who have, teaching English in Korea and know of reputable companies/schools, let me know, I'm doing a bit of research into it...

I looked at Dave's and am now completely overwhelmed. Many of the posters make teaching English in Korea sound very scary. However, I think in spite of all that, I am still interested. It would probably be next august I would want to start. The other thing that gets me is I don't have a clue how to teach. Should I try and take a TEFL course? Should I be ready to prepare lessons, come up with games, etc, from day one? What if I am shit at it???

The main thing I want out this is some saved money and the experience.

First impressions of Vancouver & Adding up the pennies

Hmmm, cost of the trip... I almost hate to add it all up ;) The rail passes cost us $450, but I think they are more like $700 if you travel in peak season. Hostels were all about $18 per night. The polar bear tour was about $250 each for one day and we couldn't afford to stay in Churchill cause that would have been over $100 per night even for a crap motel. One guy we met paid $85 to sleep on someone's sofa!!! So, total, I would guess we spent about $1500-1800. Christ, is that scary...

Canadian hostels are nice, actually, or HI ones are anyway. We didn't stay in any independent ones, and I have heard that some of them are a bit dodgy. However, Hostelling International seemed good, and the membership was $40 for two years. Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver all had 4 bed rooms, Jasper was one big dorm. They are all in good areas, though the one in Jasper is hard to reach without a car.

Vancouver is nice. I can't decide if I think it is any better than Toronto though-I had expected to like it better, but don't think I do. There are a lot of nutters and beggars on the streets-far more so than anywhere else I have ever been, except maybe Rome. And people over here really don't like people from Toronto, for no real reason I can see. They say people from Ontario ignore them, but most people I know in Toronto think that Vancouver, and BC generally, is a great place and we hear about them fairly often, far more than most other provinces in Canada. So I don't really understand their bitterness. It's a bit weird, the hatred of Toronto is not just a bit of a joke rivalry to many people here. I think it's all a bit juvenile and idiotic, myself.

The Rockies Rock!

When we got to Jasper, we decided to rent a car. It such a beautiful little town, it reminds Alan of Aviemore in Scotland, and I can sort of see it, but Jasper is MUCH cooler. The weather was nice and sunny and the mountains were unreal. Our hostel was odd-going up the long road at night, surrounded by trees, tended to make us think of "the Shining", and Alan managed to quite spook us with his "redrum" one evening... The hostel had several resident dogs, all very cute, who we periodically threw sticks for. Some of the hostel's other creatures were stranger--the staff all had a lot of facial hair, and as we were stuck in a large coed dorm, it tended to smell of farts all the time. We had some tame games of chess, and a highly adversarial game of scrabble. I won, of course ;)



Our first big adventure was the drive to Lake Louise. We had to leave early, so if the weather turned bad, we'd have time to get back before they closed the highway. It was an amazing trip. Alan and Jenni making mating calls (sounded more like burps to me!), my nostril doing a Darth Vader impersonation, Alan eating some spiritual bagels (okay, this is odd I know, but essentially Alan got all "the mountains and scenery move me" after spending the whole trip mocking Jenni and I for overly emotional sentiments about polar bears and many other things. He blamed it on something funny in the bagels).

Within five minutes on the road we saw some elk. It was sunrise, so the mountains were all framed by pink sky. Very beautiful. Alan jokes that the animals are all animitronics that the park rangers activate whenever tourists drive by... There were such amazing views I guess we all felt it was too good to be true. We're calling the photos from this part of the trip the "back to nature" photos, since there are many of animal arses!



We went to Athabasca Falls, saw some bighorn sheep licking salt off the road, saw the Sumwampta Falls. Alan and Jenni did an impersonation of fat people, inspired by the incredibly inaccurate signs on the time it takes to walk the trails - we finished in at least half the time on each trail. We drove past the Columbia Icefields, but it's the wrong time of year to get to go on them. Then we hit Lake Louise... And found it frozen. Okay, so we were incredibly stupid to not have thought of this, but we were expecting that amazing turquoise water. Anyway, then we meet this very, very odd woman, who is there celebrating her wedding anniversary, since she had been there for her honeymoon. The odd thing is, her husband was too busy at work to go with her!!! It was weird.



On the way back, we saw a weeping wall (ice on rock really), some white tailed deer, coyotes (or it's arse, to be more precise), and some spooky ravens who wouldn't fly away when we came very close to them. Saw Runaway Jury at the cinema in town that night.

The next day we drove out to Jasper Park Lodge and saw more deer, elk, coyotes. We may even have some decent, non-arse photos from that day! We heard woodpeckers and saw a chipmunk. My bird obsession from the summer in Scotland is gone, but the animal spotting continues!!! Medicine Lake was pretty, but when we stopped there and used the mini tripod to take timed photos, Jenni's camera ended up in the snow! It's ok though.



So, there we were, driving up towards Maligne Lake and we see some bighorn rams. We stop the car, staying inside like good little tourists, and take a photo out the window, while the rams start licking salt off the side of our rental car. When we attempt to move on, one ram gets ready to, well, ram us. Jenni hit the gas, and the car was safe. I, however, got a nice bump on the head (bumped it off the back window).



We went tourist shopping. After about 10 shops with all the same stuff in it we were all getting a bit tired, when I decided to try on a t-shirt in the shop and nearly broke this eagle thingy. Let me tell you, smashing was all that ugly thing was good for. Sadly it is still in one piece, waiting for an American tourist with a dodgy sense of style to come along...

On our drive back to the hostel, we noticed a girl walking along the side of the road and offered her a ride the rest of the way-it would be one long walk to that hostel from town. Turns out she had hitched up from Lake Louise by herself. We earlier in the trip had met another girl who hitched around Alaska by herself. This is all made concerning by the fact that there was a reward for info poster in the Jasper train station for a girl who had gone missing, last seen hitching from Port Rupert. Spent that evening sending Emily a puzzle postcard, which I am sure she will greatly appreciate ;)



Finally we went to a lake that wasn't frozen-Patricia Lake, so we have those cool photos were the mountains reflect in the water (can you tell I love our photos?!?)

Pyramid Lake had a walk on an island that was supposed to last 20 minutes... They must think all the tourists are stupidly out of shape because it maybe took us 10. It wasn't frozen though! Yay water! Then we went to the Jasper Museum, very interesting, and did a Maligne Canyon tour.



So, here is where we wasted money, cause we did not need a tour guide for that trail. Granted, we didn't have the rental car anymore, but our tour companions were a hoot. They were all British, and ranged in age from 30-60. And damn, were they slow and unstable. One woman, I kid you not, said she wouldn't have done a walk like that when she was 20, let alone 60, and this was not a difficult trail IN THE LEAST!

Our last day we went and got dressed up in RCMP uniforms (for free!) and took photos. Then we just hung around, waiting for yet another late train. Alan and Jenni got their knickers in a knot over a display in the train station that said England, when it should have said Britain, which passed the time nicely.



We got on that train, and that was pretty much the end of our trip. My friend Jenny and her mum picked us up at the station and managed to get our mountain of luggage to the hostel in one trip. Then she fed us bagels and showed us around.

On our first day in Vancouver, we all managed to secure apartments! Yay, us. The job search has taken longer, but Alan and I are now employed, though I don't start till Friday.

Deadmonton-what's up with that?

Arriving on the train, the skyline of Edmonton seems to jump out of nowhere. Why it's called Deadmonton, I don't know, cause we all loved the city, especially Strathcona.

It was in Edmonton that Alan and Jenni were served pints with bits of lemon... What's up with that too??? We loved the Provincial Museum of Alberta-lots of dioramas about wildlife and native Canadians. The women that charged us to go in turned out to be studying to play the bagpipes, bit random, but that is the kind of stuff you find out when travelling with Scots apparently. We attempted to go and have our tea leaves read at a Russian tea house, but it was closed for Remembrance Day. Even the buses were flashing "lest we forget" instead of route names. They take Remembrance Day much more seriously in Alberta than in Ontario, which is rather nice.



The Edmonton MEC has outdoors gear and a coffee shop-Jenni was ready to stay and to heck with Vancouver ;) Alan came up with an interesting question for Canadians to ponder-if you had to nuke one province, which would it be? He seems to think my answer would be Manitoba, but I refuse to play that game!

We had dinner with Margaret (formerly of Edinburgh, but Canadian), with a very loud Oilers game in the background. The next day we headed to the mall-not just any mall, but the West Edmonton Mall, biggest in the world. And frankly, folks, we weren't impressed. it's got no more shops than the Eaton's Centre, really, it's only big cause it has a water park, a roller coaster, a dolphin tank (very evil, a single social creature in a tiny tank, made Canadians look very not cool). Went to Roots once again-that store is addictive.



What else to say about Edmonton? Alan and Jenni taught me what gurning was (when old men take out their teeth and suck their lips into their mouths, apparently this is a competitive sport in England...). They gave us free donuts because the train was late... And just generally, we like Edmonton very much. I have since found out it's my dad's favourite city in the west, and I totally see why.

Continuation of the cross Canada saga - Wininpeg and the Prairies

Arriving at the hostel in Winnipeg was amazing, as for the first time in 5 days we all got to shower... Yes, I know, that isn't exactly a pleasant thought, but there you are. Seeing polar bears was worth 5 days of bad hair.

Winterpeg is one of those nicknames that you immediately understand upon arrival. Apparently, the weather was unseasonably cold for November... However, the worst was the wind. If you can believe it, we actually found the cold worse than in Churchill. Met some interesting folk in the hostel-two potheads from Revelstoke. They gave BC a good name though, since they offered to share with just about everyone in the hostel, including all the staff ;)

Tourist-wise, Winnipeg appears to have a lot to offer, however this doesn't apply if you visit in November (or any winter month apparently). We went to the Forks, nothing to do but see a few shops since they don't exactly do outdoor theatre at -20. The Royal Canadian Mint was quite a laugh. The displays were all set up in the 70s, and some of the staff still think they are in that particular decade, judging by the hairstyles. However, I am told that mullets are coming back-on women!!! ahhhhhh.

We went to see the Museum of Man and Nature, where I fell asleep during the Planetarium show (blame the Revelstoke crew for that one), and learned only two facts. One, Churchill was set up to be a grain port for westerners who didn't want to ship through the east (wow, westerners have always hated us easties). Two, moose means eater of twigs in the Algonquin language. I saw the replica traders ship, the Nonsuch, or maybe it was a real ship-ran out of time and the ability to read by that point in the museum.

We spent a lot of time in a diner near the hostel. Jenni had her first poutine, and Alan his first perogies.

We saw the Tom Thomson exhibit (it was bigger and better when I saw it in Toronto) at the WAG, along with some fantastic Inuit sculptures. The only other thing in the gallery was a very odd exhibit entitled "German angst". Dropped by the Ukrainian exhibit-it was classic Canadian immigrant story-come over, face hardship and adversity, eventually make good. Nice museum, cool eggs.

Then we attempted to do the walking tour of St Boniface, the French Quarter. We saw the grave of Louis Reil and promptly gave in to the cold by spending the rest of the afternoon in a coffee shop. Apparently there are some very nice houses to be seen, but not at the expense of frostbite.

Off we went to see two Imax films, and boy were they disneyfied. Everything was concentrated on the US, the only things that got eaten were fish, and to my surprise I discovered that bears reproduce through bear hugs!!! And here I thought it was a bit more involved than that ;)

Our hostel was also full of some crazy women from Thunder Bay. They kidnapped a cute Kiwi and took him shopping. We never did see him again... They both run hostels, and were interesting characters.

So, we go to the zoo for the Winnie the pooh connection. The statue wasn't great, the bear was never even kept in that zoo, and the place had far too small cages. Not good. The best bit was the lemurs. there were lots of evil birds just wandering about, and an evil tropical building that made me sneeze non stop.

Our train was FOUR HOURS LATE!!! We didn't even get free coffee out of it. Then a VIA staff member managed to completely insult us by making us wait for almost 20 minutes while an old lady with a walker was boarded. Ok, priority boarding and everything, but the attitude of this woman was that seeing as we were ECONOMY passengers, we intended to rugby tackle the poor little old lady while on our way to our seats...

VIA service is shit. With the train being late, a women we met on the trip ended up stranded at the Brandon North station, without light, electricity, heat or access to washrooms or info as to why the train was late (it was behind a derailment, always comforting to hear such tales). However, the late train meant we got to see the prairies, since otherwise we would have slept through them. I really liked the scenery, lots of small towns full of pickup trucks and grain silos. The endless sky thing is nice at sunrise.

Churchill

We saw the northern lights from the train that night, it was amazing. Then we hit Churchill and headed out to see polar bears. The tour was full of Australians, naturally. We saw an arctic fox pouncing on its prey, lots of ptarmigan, and 6 polar bears. They were such beautiful and powerful animals.


One was watching a guy inside a lodge on the tundra, and standing on its hind legs to see him better. The tundra is beautiful, the setting sun turned the ice a mint green colour and the sunset was gorgeous.


And our Argentinean guide was cute too ;) The town was rather on the functional side, though we only had time to see a couple of gift shops before we headed out on the train for another 36 hours.


This time we ended up sitting near two religious people who read the bible out loud to each other!!! Very annoying.



Some of the Australians in Churchill had taken photos of the interesting ice formations on the train. At one of the refueling stops, we suddenly clued in to what they where, located as they were under the toilet cubicles...


Spot the Arctic fox!

The train ride through Ontario and Manitoba

Alan seems to notice the strangest things-he is amazed by the fact that pint glasses in Canada are never filled as full as in Scotland (wonder what that says..), that milk comes in plastic bags, that bread packages have plastic tags to keep them closed, that bubble tea exists! He and Jenni found bubble tea quite amusing.

Leaving Toronto proved interesting, as VIA Rail has some creative baggage policies. First off, I asked if there were any restrictions before we left and was told no. Since, we have discovered that you can only have carry on size bags in the carriages, that there is a weight restriction and charges for overweight baggage, and that they have a $2.50/day charge for storage BUT don't actually have storage facilities... We did managed to get our extra bags stored everywhere we stopped but it took some sweet talking. In fact, VIA service pretty much sucks.

The scenery through Ontario was trees, trees, and more trees. Lots of faded autumn colours and small towns. It was interesting being in the north though, as they say, the north is such a part of Canadian consciousness, even though many of us never or seldom are in the north. We passed Lake Simcoe, which made me sad that I hadn't made it out to the cottage before leaving Ontario. The train stops for refueling and you can get off, though we stayed on at Sudbury (as Jenni pointed out, getting off at the acid rain capital of Canada might not result in the most interesting photos!). However, we got off at Campreol and Sioux Lookout and took some exciting photos of us and the train. There are more French speaking people in northern Ontario that I had realized.

By the time we had hit day two on the train, still in Ontario, there was snow outside. None of us expected to see snow so soon. We had a four hour stopover in Winnipeg, where it was freezing!!! And windy. We watched the football (Canadian finals) at a place called Earl's and then got on the Hudson Bay train. The train across to Vancouver is called the Canadian, and it's very touristy. No free blankets and pillows on the Hudson's Bay though, and no nice staff!!! We had our first wildlife sitting, deer running through a field. Our food choices left a lot to be desired, essentially we lived on peanut butter and jam sandwiches and breakfast bars for five days. However, our fellow passengers were entertaining on the 36 hour trip-- one guy told us all about how he believes in vampires. At The Pas, we did a dash to see a church, impressively we can be tourists even with only 20 minutes in a town.

T-dot

Jenny and Alan were good sports on their arrival, as I dragged them out to Mainstreet Station in Bolton to meet Amy & Shawn and Sarah & Steve.

We did a fair amount of stuff. Went up the CN Tower. Saw the Lion King musical. Went to Spadina. Went to Chinatown. Went to Kensington Market. Visited MEC. Wandered around the downtown core and the Eaton Centre. Had dinner with Jas and Vanessa and lunch with Samarra. Saw my family. Went to a pub for Halloween.