I just moved into a ridiculously expensive neighbourhood - they do have way more access to western food items, which I love. However, there are no big grocery stores around and the little ones are expensive. I am basically going to be shopping in convience stores (just ones with lots of food, but they are tinier than your average convience store back home and lack most fruit/veg, dairy, meat, etc.) and possibly Costco runs (there is one closeish).
I have a funny feeling I may end up eating out a lot. Taco Chili Chili I've visited 4 times in the past two weeks...
Friday, August 22, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Jack, We Are Not Friends Any Longer
Who decides to award a bottle of Jack Daniels to the winning team of a Wednesday night pub quiz that ends at midnight?
We most certainly kicked ass though!
We most certainly kicked ass though!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Sunny Days Are Here Again...
And indeed it is sunny, but the key thing here is that I got off at 2:30 today!!!
That's right. Five hours earlier than I used to get off when I worked for Poly.
Life is sweet.
Now excuse me while I go drink a beer in the sun.
That's right. Five hours earlier than I used to get off when I worked for Poly.
Life is sweet.
Now excuse me while I go drink a beer in the sun.
Monday, August 18, 2008
A hundred foods you should eat
From Frog.
Those I've eaten are in bold. I had to look up an embarrassing number of these up, but a lust for travel and a stomach of steel has resulted in a pretty bolded list.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses - I'm not sure. Maybe.
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes - Maybe.
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese - I highly suspect so.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche - assuming eating it as banoffee pie counts.
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lass
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail - in kkori gomtang (꼬리곰탕).
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - larvae in Korea and spider in Cambodia
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads - possibly in pate
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette - possibly, and I've definitely had pork scratchings
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost - not sure
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum - I think so
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - in Tia Maria, for sure. Not entirely sure otherwise.
Those I've eaten are in bold. I had to look up an embarrassing number of these up, but a lust for travel and a stomach of steel has resulted in a pretty bolded list.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses - I'm not sure. Maybe.
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes - Maybe.
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese - I highly suspect so.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche - assuming eating it as banoffee pie counts.
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lass
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail - in kkori gomtang (꼬리곰탕).
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - larvae in Korea and spider in Cambodia
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads - possibly in pate
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette - possibly, and I've definitely had pork scratchings
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost - not sure
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum - I think so
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee - in Tia Maria, for sure. Not entirely sure otherwise.
Time is Not Fixed
I have to teach a one-on-one conversation class with an eleven year old boy with no book or any other material whatsoever. That was one of the longest 60 minute periods of my life AND it was the first time we met, so there were plenty of starter type questions to work with. I sincerely hope I don't have to teach him for the entire year, because I will lose my mind.
He is a lovely, lovely boy, but not especially fluent. I have completely exhausted all my sports chatter and dissected Kung Fu Panda with him. He likes bears and swimming. He has a scary older sister. He does not like pasta.
What the hell are we going to talk about next week?
He is a lovely, lovely boy, but not especially fluent. I have completely exhausted all my sports chatter and dissected Kung Fu Panda with him. He likes bears and swimming. He has a scary older sister. He does not like pasta.
What the hell are we going to talk about next week?
The Perils of Singledom
Last Thursday night I annoyed a cab driver.
It was my friend Sheila's last night in Korea and I was grabbing some of her stuff, including a clothes rack, a mattress (of sorts), a giant pillow, a small bedside table and a rice cooker. So, naturally, I hailed a cab. He happily took me over to Kyungidung (spelling undoubtably wrong there), but he was mighty unpleased upon mention of the trunk being opened and watched the packing of the backseat with stuff (he refused the trunk request outright) with louder and louder grumbling.
There are more than a few cabbies here who don't much like having to deal with a foreigner in their cabs, much less one with furniture. Perhaps this would also not go down well at home - I don't know, as I've never tried it. Though I did once help someone move 5 blocks by piling all sorts of stuff on top of beds and couches and walking them down the center of the street. No doubt the motorists would have symphathized with my cabbie.
At this point in the story, it is perhaps important to point out that our grumbly cabbie did not speak English. Nor do I particularly speak Korean - my accent is atrocious, and I know only words rather than the sentences to string them together in. However, I am incredibly fluent in context-and-gesture Korean, thus the rest of this story.
After grumbling at me that I didn't need a cab but a mover (I hadn't the slightest the idea of the word for a mover in Korean, this is where context comes in handy - obviously that was what he was grumbling about), the cabbie asks if I am married. The word sounded familiar to me, but I wasn't sure what he was inquiring about so insistently until he grabbed my hand to examine my ring finger. "Ahhh, anyo!" I said, light finally dawning.
He made it very clear that if I only had a husband, I would not need a cabbie or a mover, as the Mr. would obviously deal with all of this for me. And then he jokingly suggested that I go to Geckos.
Obviously for a single gal, an evening is much more productively spent picking up GIs in a bar than moving free stuff that she needs.
It was my friend Sheila's last night in Korea and I was grabbing some of her stuff, including a clothes rack, a mattress (of sorts), a giant pillow, a small bedside table and a rice cooker. So, naturally, I hailed a cab. He happily took me over to Kyungidung (spelling undoubtably wrong there), but he was mighty unpleased upon mention of the trunk being opened and watched the packing of the backseat with stuff (he refused the trunk request outright) with louder and louder grumbling.
There are more than a few cabbies here who don't much like having to deal with a foreigner in their cabs, much less one with furniture. Perhaps this would also not go down well at home - I don't know, as I've never tried it. Though I did once help someone move 5 blocks by piling all sorts of stuff on top of beds and couches and walking them down the center of the street. No doubt the motorists would have symphathized with my cabbie.
At this point in the story, it is perhaps important to point out that our grumbly cabbie did not speak English. Nor do I particularly speak Korean - my accent is atrocious, and I know only words rather than the sentences to string them together in. However, I am incredibly fluent in context-and-gesture Korean, thus the rest of this story.
After grumbling at me that I didn't need a cab but a mover (I hadn't the slightest the idea of the word for a mover in Korean, this is where context comes in handy - obviously that was what he was grumbling about), the cabbie asks if I am married. The word sounded familiar to me, but I wasn't sure what he was inquiring about so insistently until he grabbed my hand to examine my ring finger. "Ahhh, anyo!" I said, light finally dawning.
He made it very clear that if I only had a husband, I would not need a cabbie or a mover, as the Mr. would obviously deal with all of this for me. And then he jokingly suggested that I go to Geckos.
Obviously for a single gal, an evening is much more productively spent picking up GIs in a bar than moving free stuff that she needs.
5 Danger Zones?
What do Columbia, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Albania have in common?
According to this article they are all danger zones.
I wouldn't think twice about jetting off to Columbia or the Philippines or Albania. The other two give me pause, but don't strike me as at all off the possible list.
You know, when I lived in Britain I could never get over the scare articles about backpackers being killed abroad. Those articles always left out the fact that more Britons were in danger on a night out in Glasgow. Living in Asia has just confirmed for me that too many people back home have some decidedly odd ideas about just how dangerous other parts of the world are.
After all, if I had to pick a dark city to walk alone in at night, I'd take Seoul over anywhere in North America and Europe any day. Oddly, few newbies seem to agree with me.
According to this article they are all danger zones.
I wouldn't think twice about jetting off to Columbia or the Philippines or Albania. The other two give me pause, but don't strike me as at all off the possible list.
You know, when I lived in Britain I could never get over the scare articles about backpackers being killed abroad. Those articles always left out the fact that more Britons were in danger on a night out in Glasgow. Living in Asia has just confirmed for me that too many people back home have some decidedly odd ideas about just how dangerous other parts of the world are.
After all, if I had to pick a dark city to walk alone in at night, I'd take Seoul over anywhere in North America and Europe any day. Oddly, few newbies seem to agree with me.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Finally!
Gold, silver, bronze medals for Canada
August 16, 2008
Jim Byers
STAFF REPORTER
BEIJING–After a week-long drought, Canada won three Olympic medals within an hour, picking up a gold, silver and bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games.
Tonya Verbeek of Grimsby, Ont., is the latest in a string of Canadians to win a medal, grabbing a bronze in the 55 kg women’s wrestling event shortly before 5:30 a.m. local time.
Verbeek, who won a silver medal in wrestling in Athens, defeated Sweden’s Ida-Theres Nerell 1-0, 1-0 for the medal.
A few minutes before 5 p.m. local time, 27-year-old wrestler Carol Huynh won Canada’s first gold medal with a crushing win in the 48 kg category.
About 20 minutes before that, the men’s rowing pair of Dave Calder and Scott Frandsen grabbed a silver medal at the Olympic rowing course.
Huynh, the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, came out strong against her Japanese opponent and started scoring right away. When it was over, she bent over in tears of disbelief.
In the stands, Canadian fans who were no doubt relieved waved Canada’s flag back and forth and shouted in support.
Huynh, who trains in Calgary, earned a spot in the women’s 48 kg wrestling final with a couple wins Saturday morning. She came out strong against Japan’s Chiharu Icho and the match was almost never in doubt as she posted a 4-0, 2-0 win.
Huynh won a gold medal at the Pan American Games last year and a bronze at the world championships in 2005.
After winning her first career Olympic medal, Hunyh ran over to hug coach Leigh Vierling. He put the 27-year-old on his shoulders to carry her around the China Agricultural University Gymnasium as Huynh proudly held up a Canadian flag.
She wiped away tears as O Canada was played after the medal presentation.
“I was just thinking how proud I am to be Canadian,” Huynh said. “And I was just thinking about the road to how I got here. It’s been a long one but a good one.”
Calder and Frandsen were ahead at the halfway point of the men’s pairs event but the renowed Australian team of Drew Ginn and Duncan Free pulled ahead and took the gold.
The bronze went to New Zealand’s team of Nathan Twaddle and George Bridgewater.
Calder, who’s from Victoria, and Frandsen, who hails from Kelowna, were considered medal possibilities but not huge favourites.
It wasn’t really part of our thought process going in because that’s just unneeded pressure,” Frandsen said of breaking the country’s losing streak. “It’s great to get Canada on the board.”
"I’m really proud of it and Scott is really proud of it,” said Calder. “The Australians had a great push through the middle. We pushed back a little bit but congratulations to them."
Calder was more than happy with his silver medal.
"I have been at this game since I was 12, and now the long, hard training in the winter has paid off."
They gave the Australians a run for their money and finished with a time of 6:39.55. The Aussies were just a bit ahead at 6:37.44.
The New Zealand squad came in at 6:44.19 for third place.
Calder rowed in the men’s pair four years ago in Athens when the crew was disqualified for leaving their lane in the semifinal. Frandsen was a member of the men’s eight squad that finished a disappointing fifth at the Athens Games.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
If There Isn't, There Should Be One
This is the word I anticipated describing me this week:
Granted, this is still an improvement, because this is the world that describes what I often did in my past year at Poly, with perhaps the exception of March to June:
faineant \fay-nay-AWN\, adjective:I'm not sure there is a word to describe an individual who has to run around the world, getting $50 bits of paper with stamps on them (some of them $50 bits of paper with stamps authenticating the other $50 bits of paper with stamps on them) that take less time to come up with than it takes Emily to flush a toilet, but there should be because that has been the reality.
1. Doing nothing or given to doing nothing; idle; lazy.
2. A do-nothing; an idle fellow; a sluggard.
Granted, this is still an improvement, because this is the world that describes what I often did in my past year at Poly, with perhaps the exception of March to June:
repine \rih-PINE\, intransitive verb:
1. To feel or express discontent.
2. To long for something.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
How Not to Get Over Jet Lag (Or, My Last Week at Poly)
In Canada, I was tired. When those little girls went down for their naps, I was ready for one too. Around about 3-5 p.m. I'd start getting drowsy. The worst day was Thursday, the day I shopped like a demon, but stupidly bought shoes in the first hour and was stuck carrying them around all day. Damn, but shoes and clothes are heavy when you shop for a year's worth of stuff in just two days. Come to think of it, Wednesday was pretty hard too - after five hours of going around Canada's Wonderland with three little girls, I was starting to think that I might actually have so little energy that I'd lose the ability to move any part of my body at all.
So, no surprise I was going to be tired once I got back to Korea. It was another 20 hour odyssey of public transportation combined with hanging out in airports, so exhausting and boring. I bought a lot of books on the way back - always a sign that I am not a happy camper in terms of keeping my mind occupied. The last time I bought that many books in just one day would have been back in Scotland while working for the bank - tied with airplanes and much of high school for the absolute most boring thing ever, that bank job was one hell of a boring experience.
I arrived back on Sunday and hauled ass home. I had these vague notions of making it to quiz night in Itaewon - haha. This is why optimism is not my style - it seldom proves true anyway! I was exhausted, though the walk in the late afternoon sun actually made me feel quite cheerful about being back home. Then I crashed out and slept until the next morning.
As per usual, I started out on a responsible note, but it all quickly went downhill. The two new teachers were inquiring about dinner, so we all decided to go to our galbi place. With Orin and Asius off early in the new schedule, it seemed perfect. Sadly our galbi place folks were on holiday. We tried the place next door, which turned out to specialize only in intestines. Now, I've tried that stuff once and I must say that once was enough. Certainly no need to inflict it on newbies. We moved one more restaurant over and the galbi was fine, but certainly not as good as our regular place. There was some soju drinking, which I tried to turn down but was guilted into by Orin's birthday. Arguing that it didn't count if it wasn't on Facebook was ineffective, sadly. There is only one place that galbi and soju drinking can end and that is at norae bang, where we proceeded to sing for about four hours. Somehow that led to a quick trip to the batting cages and then McDonald's at 4 a.m. All on a Monday night.
Which perhaps explains why on Tuesday I crashed before even bothering to make dinner. I was hungry, I was just far, far more tired.
Then came Wednesday. It was one of those nights where I should have seen it coming, and yet I went to meet Sheila in Itaewon thinking everything was going to go to plan - quick dinner, go find my new apartment with my incredibly sketch directions (when part of the directions involve "you'll know it when you see it" and you've been there once, briefly, before seeing about 10 other places in the vicinity, you'd be right to be doubtful), and then go home and get to bed around midnight. I even thought I might be able to take the subway home, rather than having to catch a cab. I should have known better.
We started off by going to Geckos for dinner - this was mistake number one, however, at 9 p.m., there aren't a whole lot of restaurants still serving. So, in we went. The bartender was being very generous with the gin and sparing with the tonic, which may well be mistake number two. Then there was getting hit on by some guy in the army who arrived in Korea just a week ago - mistake number three. By the time the army guys finally buggered off, it was midnight, but Sheila needed to go have just one drink with a friend she hadn't seen in awhile. Our friend John was also there, and between Sheila, John and I we spent the next two hours convincing the friend that Sheila was Hacksaw Jim Duggan's daughter and that Hulk Hogan had been to her tenth birthday party. Completely hysterical. However, definitely mistake number four.
Finally, we get in a cab and we ask them to take us to Haebangchon. Mistake number five was not getting out of the cab at Philies' and finding the place on foot - with sketch directions, it's helpful to have time to contemplate where you might want to go next, rather than barrelling along with a very grumbly Korean cab driver. So, we end up way the fuck up one of the infamous Haebangchon hills, lost. Mistake number six was believing Sheila and John when they told me there was only the one bank on the street, even though I thought we were waaaaaaay too far up the main road. When we backtracked and let me lead from Philies', we did finally find the place, wandered in, used the facilities and then I had to catch a cab back to Hwajung. At this point, it's about 3 a.m.
I fell asleep in the cab, being at this point both tired and more than a little intoxicated. When I woke up, we were almost at the turn off and because I was a bit slow, the cab driver missed it. Now, this is not the end of the world at all. Two more streets down is a turn that really is just as good. But no. Mr. Cab Driver decides he MUST take the next turn and speeds us down a one-way street in very much the wrong direction. Right into a brawl. A brawl with cops breaking it up. Cops who are now very interested in my cab driver. And that is how I came to be escorted home by a Korean police officer in the early hours of Thursday morning - he wanted my address as a witness and I didn't actually know what it was (still don't, in fact, but now I don't live there). So, he walked me across the park to find out from the security guard. Not sure that did my reputation with the security guard any good - after all, they've caught me throwing out garbage in the wrong bags and I had a stalker who I tried to get them to help me to shake once.
Really, these things could only happen to me. I really do have the most bizarre life. Particularly in Korea, but I've noticed that my ability to end up in strange situations is not limited to any one country. These sorts of ridiculous things also happen to me just about everywhere. So, back to the jet lag. By this point in the week, I was starting to get seriously tired, but I also had done absolutely no packing! Hooray for my powers of procrastination! So, I stayed up very late Thursday night packing all my shit into boxes, until I very quickly ran out of boxes. After that, I packed in Emart and Lotte plastic bags. Very classy, I know.
Friday was a long, tiring day. Snafus with immigration, children saying goodbye all day long during breaks, the need to pop into the bank (Unsuccessfully, I might add. Turns out they didn't have my passport on file, dammit.) I felt rushed off my feet and that usual feeling of anticlimaticness that I always get when things end - it sort of felt like a normal day. Orin says I was very blase during my farewell to Mr. Kim - I certainly wasn't doing it on purpose, but by that point I was in a fog of exhaustion and operating on auto-pilot. In spite of that, naturally, there had to be a goodbye dinner, at the galbi place, followed up by some norae bang. I knew I had to be up at about 8 to do a bit of last minute packing before moving at 10, but I wasn't too worried about staying sober or getting in early. In spite of that, I had one of those nights where you drink a fair amount and feel as sober as a judge. I watched a bit of the Olympic opening ceremony - with a drink in my hand, right in front of the norae bang dudes. I guess they are chill with us drinking in their rooms. The guy even came to alert us to when Canada was on the TV. I drove Orin to near insanity by accidentally cancelling Eminem while he was singing it - twice.
Then Saturday. Moving day. Hot, hot, humid day. With a ton of stuff, one small truck, one moving dude and me. Oh, and two flights of stairs in my new place. By the time it was all over I was basically sopping wet and exhausted, but I had to unpack. Had to. I have a strong need in new places to unpack as quickly as possible. Home is where your books are, after all, and they were indeed one of the first things I unpacked. After hours of unpacking, I attended Sheila's surprise leaving dinner down the road, confusing many people with my ETA, as they hadn't the foggiest that I had moved just around the corner.
The thing is, with moving day and unpacking, and no gas (and hence no hot water), I hadn't eaten all day, except for a bit of leftover pasta for breakfast. And we went to a place for dinner that was more of a snackish sort of place, where I had some hummus with two small pitas. Can you see where this is going? I hope so, because I'm afraid I can't recall too many details of the evening. All I know is that I was home in my bed shortly after midnight, drunk as the proverbial skunk.
I spent most of Sunday with Jamar and then with the gang at quiz night, which left little time for sleeping in and doing anything to stop what was becoming some serious exhaustion, combined with sore muscles from moving all my stuff. You'd think I collected rocks or something. And there's no rest for the wicked, because on Monday I had to go to Immigration. In Uijeongbu. Which is really, really far away from just about everything. Once I was there, confusion as to what I needed to do reigned supreme. Lots of calls with old bosses and soon-to-be bosses. Then the KPS man who drove me had the gall to suggest I find my own way home! Since my boss is saving about $1000 or so on not buying me a ticket in return for sorting out my immigration status for me, you can imagine I was none too pleased with that. I demanded the man either drive me back to Hwajung (had to go transfer money at the bank) or give me the $50 or so I figured a cab would cost, because I was NOT going to spend two hours on the subway to save him a 40 minute car ride. I won out, thankfully, and I napped the whole way back. After the bank, I got my dodgy foot X-rayed, which was amusingly inexpensive as always and happily shows my foot well on the way to not being kojungnaseyo (broken - one of my favourite, and I think most useful, Korean words). Then I headed home and was tempted to collapse, but instead went to see the new Batman. I found it a bit boring and stupid, actually, though I was in the minority.
After Batman, we had another of those WGW (White Girl Walking) moments, whereby we did something completely ridiculous. In Korea, as in many places these days I suspect, they make you leave the theater through different doors than the ones you came in through. Which is fine, but perhaps a bit confusing for the directionally challenged. Also, the mall was closed and we had to go a specific way, so we practiced some Zen navigation - find someone who looks like they know what they are doing and just follow them. It failed horribly, as we ended up in the car park. Sheila figured we'd just walk down until we hit the exit - after all, the cars have to come out somewhere. And for sure, they did. However, that somewhere turned out to be a derelict area with train tracks, random dump trucks and other equipment, and a sidewalk that turned into a dirt path, that soon stopped being a path. After a random hike, we came to a street with the normal tall buildings, neon signs, and cheap cabs.
Today, I finally go to sleep in. I had thought I was finally going to have a relaxing, sort of holiday-like day, minus getting the dude to come and do something about the lack of drainage in my bathroom and the rapidly increasing lake in it after each shower I took. Naturally, another piece of fiddly paperwork is missing and I had to run along to work to get a paper which I will be taking to the Consulate tomorrow for some sort of other paper. I must say, it is insane the level of bullshit you go through to get jobs here these days. If anyone seemed to have a clue as to what exactly had to be done, it wouldn't be so ridiculous, but no one, including often Immigration themselves, seems to have much of a grip on it. However, I also discovered that the Internet box in my place is mysteriously working, so that's fun. I wonder how long I can ride the Internet for free?
Tomorrow a jaunt to the Canadians, and over to work to be trained. Then it's all work and uber-quick trips to Japan. And likely a lot of time appreciating my new neighbourhood.
Oh, and I need some toilet paper.
And this is NOT how you should try to get over your jet lag.
So, no surprise I was going to be tired once I got back to Korea. It was another 20 hour odyssey of public transportation combined with hanging out in airports, so exhausting and boring. I bought a lot of books on the way back - always a sign that I am not a happy camper in terms of keeping my mind occupied. The last time I bought that many books in just one day would have been back in Scotland while working for the bank - tied with airplanes and much of high school for the absolute most boring thing ever, that bank job was one hell of a boring experience.
I arrived back on Sunday and hauled ass home. I had these vague notions of making it to quiz night in Itaewon - haha. This is why optimism is not my style - it seldom proves true anyway! I was exhausted, though the walk in the late afternoon sun actually made me feel quite cheerful about being back home. Then I crashed out and slept until the next morning.
As per usual, I started out on a responsible note, but it all quickly went downhill. The two new teachers were inquiring about dinner, so we all decided to go to our galbi place. With Orin and Asius off early in the new schedule, it seemed perfect. Sadly our galbi place folks were on holiday. We tried the place next door, which turned out to specialize only in intestines. Now, I've tried that stuff once and I must say that once was enough. Certainly no need to inflict it on newbies. We moved one more restaurant over and the galbi was fine, but certainly not as good as our regular place. There was some soju drinking, which I tried to turn down but was guilted into by Orin's birthday. Arguing that it didn't count if it wasn't on Facebook was ineffective, sadly. There is only one place that galbi and soju drinking can end and that is at norae bang, where we proceeded to sing for about four hours. Somehow that led to a quick trip to the batting cages and then McDonald's at 4 a.m. All on a Monday night.
Which perhaps explains why on Tuesday I crashed before even bothering to make dinner. I was hungry, I was just far, far more tired.
Then came Wednesday. It was one of those nights where I should have seen it coming, and yet I went to meet Sheila in Itaewon thinking everything was going to go to plan - quick dinner, go find my new apartment with my incredibly sketch directions (when part of the directions involve "you'll know it when you see it" and you've been there once, briefly, before seeing about 10 other places in the vicinity, you'd be right to be doubtful), and then go home and get to bed around midnight. I even thought I might be able to take the subway home, rather than having to catch a cab. I should have known better.
We started off by going to Geckos for dinner - this was mistake number one, however, at 9 p.m., there aren't a whole lot of restaurants still serving. So, in we went. The bartender was being very generous with the gin and sparing with the tonic, which may well be mistake number two. Then there was getting hit on by some guy in the army who arrived in Korea just a week ago - mistake number three. By the time the army guys finally buggered off, it was midnight, but Sheila needed to go have just one drink with a friend she hadn't seen in awhile. Our friend John was also there, and between Sheila, John and I we spent the next two hours convincing the friend that Sheila was Hacksaw Jim Duggan's daughter and that Hulk Hogan had been to her tenth birthday party. Completely hysterical. However, definitely mistake number four.
Finally, we get in a cab and we ask them to take us to Haebangchon. Mistake number five was not getting out of the cab at Philies' and finding the place on foot - with sketch directions, it's helpful to have time to contemplate where you might want to go next, rather than barrelling along with a very grumbly Korean cab driver. So, we end up way the fuck up one of the infamous Haebangchon hills, lost. Mistake number six was believing Sheila and John when they told me there was only the one bank on the street, even though I thought we were waaaaaaay too far up the main road. When we backtracked and let me lead from Philies', we did finally find the place, wandered in, used the facilities and then I had to catch a cab back to Hwajung. At this point, it's about 3 a.m.
I fell asleep in the cab, being at this point both tired and more than a little intoxicated. When I woke up, we were almost at the turn off and because I was a bit slow, the cab driver missed it. Now, this is not the end of the world at all. Two more streets down is a turn that really is just as good. But no. Mr. Cab Driver decides he MUST take the next turn and speeds us down a one-way street in very much the wrong direction. Right into a brawl. A brawl with cops breaking it up. Cops who are now very interested in my cab driver. And that is how I came to be escorted home by a Korean police officer in the early hours of Thursday morning - he wanted my address as a witness and I didn't actually know what it was (still don't, in fact, but now I don't live there). So, he walked me across the park to find out from the security guard. Not sure that did my reputation with the security guard any good - after all, they've caught me throwing out garbage in the wrong bags and I had a stalker who I tried to get them to help me to shake once.
Really, these things could only happen to me. I really do have the most bizarre life. Particularly in Korea, but I've noticed that my ability to end up in strange situations is not limited to any one country. These sorts of ridiculous things also happen to me just about everywhere. So, back to the jet lag. By this point in the week, I was starting to get seriously tired, but I also had done absolutely no packing! Hooray for my powers of procrastination! So, I stayed up very late Thursday night packing all my shit into boxes, until I very quickly ran out of boxes. After that, I packed in Emart and Lotte plastic bags. Very classy, I know.
Friday was a long, tiring day. Snafus with immigration, children saying goodbye all day long during breaks, the need to pop into the bank (Unsuccessfully, I might add. Turns out they didn't have my passport on file, dammit.) I felt rushed off my feet and that usual feeling of anticlimaticness that I always get when things end - it sort of felt like a normal day. Orin says I was very blase during my farewell to Mr. Kim - I certainly wasn't doing it on purpose, but by that point I was in a fog of exhaustion and operating on auto-pilot. In spite of that, naturally, there had to be a goodbye dinner, at the galbi place, followed up by some norae bang. I knew I had to be up at about 8 to do a bit of last minute packing before moving at 10, but I wasn't too worried about staying sober or getting in early. In spite of that, I had one of those nights where you drink a fair amount and feel as sober as a judge. I watched a bit of the Olympic opening ceremony - with a drink in my hand, right in front of the norae bang dudes. I guess they are chill with us drinking in their rooms. The guy even came to alert us to when Canada was on the TV. I drove Orin to near insanity by accidentally cancelling Eminem while he was singing it - twice.
Then Saturday. Moving day. Hot, hot, humid day. With a ton of stuff, one small truck, one moving dude and me. Oh, and two flights of stairs in my new place. By the time it was all over I was basically sopping wet and exhausted, but I had to unpack. Had to. I have a strong need in new places to unpack as quickly as possible. Home is where your books are, after all, and they were indeed one of the first things I unpacked. After hours of unpacking, I attended Sheila's surprise leaving dinner down the road, confusing many people with my ETA, as they hadn't the foggiest that I had moved just around the corner.
The thing is, with moving day and unpacking, and no gas (and hence no hot water), I hadn't eaten all day, except for a bit of leftover pasta for breakfast. And we went to a place for dinner that was more of a snackish sort of place, where I had some hummus with two small pitas. Can you see where this is going? I hope so, because I'm afraid I can't recall too many details of the evening. All I know is that I was home in my bed shortly after midnight, drunk as the proverbial skunk.
I spent most of Sunday with Jamar and then with the gang at quiz night, which left little time for sleeping in and doing anything to stop what was becoming some serious exhaustion, combined with sore muscles from moving all my stuff. You'd think I collected rocks or something. And there's no rest for the wicked, because on Monday I had to go to Immigration. In Uijeongbu. Which is really, really far away from just about everything. Once I was there, confusion as to what I needed to do reigned supreme. Lots of calls with old bosses and soon-to-be bosses. Then the KPS man who drove me had the gall to suggest I find my own way home! Since my boss is saving about $1000 or so on not buying me a ticket in return for sorting out my immigration status for me, you can imagine I was none too pleased with that. I demanded the man either drive me back to Hwajung (had to go transfer money at the bank) or give me the $50 or so I figured a cab would cost, because I was NOT going to spend two hours on the subway to save him a 40 minute car ride. I won out, thankfully, and I napped the whole way back. After the bank, I got my dodgy foot X-rayed, which was amusingly inexpensive as always and happily shows my foot well on the way to not being kojungnaseyo (broken - one of my favourite, and I think most useful, Korean words). Then I headed home and was tempted to collapse, but instead went to see the new Batman. I found it a bit boring and stupid, actually, though I was in the minority.
After Batman, we had another of those WGW (White Girl Walking) moments, whereby we did something completely ridiculous. In Korea, as in many places these days I suspect, they make you leave the theater through different doors than the ones you came in through. Which is fine, but perhaps a bit confusing for the directionally challenged. Also, the mall was closed and we had to go a specific way, so we practiced some Zen navigation - find someone who looks like they know what they are doing and just follow them. It failed horribly, as we ended up in the car park. Sheila figured we'd just walk down until we hit the exit - after all, the cars have to come out somewhere. And for sure, they did. However, that somewhere turned out to be a derelict area with train tracks, random dump trucks and other equipment, and a sidewalk that turned into a dirt path, that soon stopped being a path. After a random hike, we came to a street with the normal tall buildings, neon signs, and cheap cabs.
Today, I finally go to sleep in. I had thought I was finally going to have a relaxing, sort of holiday-like day, minus getting the dude to come and do something about the lack of drainage in my bathroom and the rapidly increasing lake in it after each shower I took. Naturally, another piece of fiddly paperwork is missing and I had to run along to work to get a paper which I will be taking to the Consulate tomorrow for some sort of other paper. I must say, it is insane the level of bullshit you go through to get jobs here these days. If anyone seemed to have a clue as to what exactly had to be done, it wouldn't be so ridiculous, but no one, including often Immigration themselves, seems to have much of a grip on it. However, I also discovered that the Internet box in my place is mysteriously working, so that's fun. I wonder how long I can ride the Internet for free?
Tomorrow a jaunt to the Canadians, and over to work to be trained. Then it's all work and uber-quick trips to Japan. And likely a lot of time appreciating my new neighbourhood.
Oh, and I need some toilet paper.
And this is NOT how you should try to get over your jet lag.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Miraculous
Orin attributes his healthy recovery from cholera to Life Water.
It must work for cholera the way Jenn swears it works for hangovers, since the only other option is that Orin is a total hypochondriac.
It must work for cholera the way Jenn swears it works for hangovers, since the only other option is that Orin is a total hypochondriac.
Finally, we have vitamins!
This is what Orin needs to drink - he's 24 and the front desk staff thinks he looks 40. And certianly I'm always tired. Thank god we now have vitamins! It does have quite a helpful effect on hangovers.
SoBe LifeWater multi-vitamin: "That's right! Daily life is busy and exhausting. Our eyelids are heavy in the morning and our shoulders drop with the tiredness. All you want to do is get enough rest, but the reality is, you just can't. Is there any way to stay energetic and animated? Of course there is! We now have multi-vitamin and L-carnitine to help keep you refreshed and on the go!"
SoBe LifeWater multi-vitamin: "That's right! Daily life is busy and exhausting. Our eyelids are heavy in the morning and our shoulders drop with the tiredness. All you want to do is get enough rest, but the reality is, you just can't. Is there any way to stay energetic and animated? Of course there is! We now have multi-vitamin and L-carnitine to help keep you refreshed and on the go!"
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Canadian Traditions
My reading of Macleans started a long, long time ago. I got a cheap subscription from one of those school magazine drives. After a year I thought I'd give time a whirl. The Macleans folks called to ask why I had not renewed my subscription and when I told them about the Time thing, they sent me free copies for at least four months.
Slowly, however, it's become a tradition of mine to buy a Macleans on my way out of the country to read on the plane. I suppose it's a bit odd to finally get around to catching up on Canadian news just as I'm leaving, but magazine shopping and airports go well together. This time I was incredibly bored and ended up with rather a lot of airport books too, including the new Margaret Atwood and one of the books that the TV show Bones is based on. My Canadian content is high!
It turns out that one of the Barenaked Ladies has been arrested for cocaine! That I wouldn't have predicted. That children could identify cartoon characters but not local animals I could have though. Barbara Amiel is still bitching about what happened to Conrad - not much new there since the last Macleans I read.
Slowly, however, it's become a tradition of mine to buy a Macleans on my way out of the country to read on the plane. I suppose it's a bit odd to finally get around to catching up on Canadian news just as I'm leaving, but magazine shopping and airports go well together. This time I was incredibly bored and ended up with rather a lot of airport books too, including the new Margaret Atwood and one of the books that the TV show Bones is based on. My Canadian content is high!
It turns out that one of the Barenaked Ladies has been arrested for cocaine! That I wouldn't have predicted. That children could identify cartoon characters but not local animals I could have though. Barbara Amiel is still bitching about what happened to Conrad - not much new there since the last Macleans I read.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Grumble, Grumble
You might think that someone who keeps packing up her life into two suitcases and moving continents would be down with change. You'd be wrong. I am not actually all that fond of change, though I generally adapt to it pretty quickly. In particular, I can think of a new place as home in less time than it takes Emily to flush a toilet (which is longer than you might think, but still a short period of time.)
So, I arrive back in Korea and crash. I wake up at 6:30, feeling refreshed and up in time to actually pamper myself in the shower with random spa-type creams and cleansers, make breakfast and read a magazine before heading off to work. At this point, my last week was starting off on an incredibly high note.
But I work for Poly School, so I should have been prepared for the feeling to not last longer than, say, three seconds upon entering the building. They have changed the motherfucking schedules!!! Pardon my French there, but f@*k. It's my last damn week and I have three whole new classes, with tons of new students and I've lost a class that I had been teaching for the past 51 weeks. That's right, one bloody week short of a year. I have additional prep and new textbooks and just loads of extra crap to wade through.
Monday they changed the afternoon schedule, Tuesday the morning one. I thought I was safe for the evening, home and with no plans but dinner, interneting, maybe a little Tudors-watching to procrastinate from the pending packing disaster. And then I found out that the fuckers have changed Facebook.
Seriously?!?
So, I arrive back in Korea and crash. I wake up at 6:30, feeling refreshed and up in time to actually pamper myself in the shower with random spa-type creams and cleansers, make breakfast and read a magazine before heading off to work. At this point, my last week was starting off on an incredibly high note.
But I work for Poly School, so I should have been prepared for the feeling to not last longer than, say, three seconds upon entering the building. They have changed the motherfucking schedules!!! Pardon my French there, but f@*k. It's my last damn week and I have three whole new classes, with tons of new students and I've lost a class that I had been teaching for the past 51 weeks. That's right, one bloody week short of a year. I have additional prep and new textbooks and just loads of extra crap to wade through.
Monday they changed the afternoon schedule, Tuesday the morning one. I thought I was safe for the evening, home and with no plans but dinner, interneting, maybe a little Tudors-watching to procrastinate from the pending packing disaster. And then I found out that the fuckers have changed Facebook.
Seriously?!?
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Canada!
Canada is awesome, though chilly.
I must say though, Canadians on planes are obnoxious. On my flight from Vancouver to Toronto, all the passangers seemed to be acting like wankers - I was concerned that the homeland rep of being nice and friendly was dead for me, until a woman randomly gave me her extra token yesterday. Awwwww!
I arrived home exhausted and smelly, as you do after a 20 hour door-to-door trip. I have a ton of luggage, of which maybe only a tenth is meant to come back with me - along with all the shopping I can do in two days in the city! The girls have made me the cutest sign saying, "Welcome Home Aunt Amanda" and covered with stickers.
Sunday morning I was woken by loud shouts - Chloe is not a quiet toddler. However, what with the jet lag, this is not a problem, as I had crashed before midnight while trying to read the night before. We ended up going to the park to watch the men play baseball and the kids just play. Afterwords we all came home for a nap, though my attempts to take one were scuppered as Emily kept coming in to visit. Nana, Julie, Alan and the cousins came over to fix the ghetto house (more on that latter) and swim in the pool. We had a very Canadian dinner of corn-on-the-cob, steak, salad and baked potatoes.
As for the ghetto house, well, I've stayed in SE Asian guesthouses for $5 a night with less warnings attached - the water was out today, there are no seats on the toilets, and, oh, the tap in the kitchen is broken! My uncle has been installing the new super-envirnomental toilets my parents bought and apparently when they got them in the sale, the shop was out of seats... These things flush very loudly and quickly and certainly beat Korean plumbing hands down.
Yesterday when I woke up to my morning alarm of shouting toddlers, I went downstairs and enquired if Emily had eaten breakfast. Her reply was, "Grandpa CAN make pancakes, but he doesn't." So, I figured, okay, we can make pancakes. It occurs to me that I have not actually made pancakes in at least 10 years. The assistance of small children slightly hindered efforts, as we ended up with too much flour. Thus, we had to double the recipe. At this point, Grandpa walks in and comments that the reason he doesn't make them pancakes is that they don't eat more than one and he's stuck eating 5 himself! Being a novice pancake chef, I flipped the first couple far too early in the process and they were rather unappealing looking, but thankfully the under-5 set aren't picky, so long as they have plenty of syrup to dip.
I popped over to a police station to get my police check. Took 5 minutes to fill out the form, about a half hour of waiting and $45 to collect this key piece of paper - oh, and a $2000 flight home! Thus, my only real errand that needed to be covered is now complete.
Then, I got dropped off at a shopping mecca - a North American mall! My god! Sizes that fit! Many colors and options! Changing rooms! Woot! I found out right before leaving that my new job has no dress code. Apparently jeans and t-shirts are just fine. Can I say how much better this dude is than my current boss??? Anyway, I've already bought a few things, though by the time I got there the afternoon nap thing was kicking in. I fell asleep on the subway over to Yonge and Eglington, where Jas and I went for fantastic Indian food, gellato, and lots of chat.
Day two of the shopping extravaganza is about to commence. This once a year shopping is great - no guilt at all for spending a small fortune! Sadly, I'm not seeing much in the way of sweaters... Last year I was shopping a tiny bit later and the sale racks in the department stores yielded some super cheap sweaters. This year I've not been lucky so far. Shoes... gah. Haven't even really started there.
I must say though, Canadians on planes are obnoxious. On my flight from Vancouver to Toronto, all the passangers seemed to be acting like wankers - I was concerned that the homeland rep of being nice and friendly was dead for me, until a woman randomly gave me her extra token yesterday. Awwwww!
I arrived home exhausted and smelly, as you do after a 20 hour door-to-door trip. I have a ton of luggage, of which maybe only a tenth is meant to come back with me - along with all the shopping I can do in two days in the city! The girls have made me the cutest sign saying, "Welcome Home Aunt Amanda" and covered with stickers.
Sunday morning I was woken by loud shouts - Chloe is not a quiet toddler. However, what with the jet lag, this is not a problem, as I had crashed before midnight while trying to read the night before. We ended up going to the park to watch the men play baseball and the kids just play. Afterwords we all came home for a nap, though my attempts to take one were scuppered as Emily kept coming in to visit. Nana, Julie, Alan and the cousins came over to fix the ghetto house (more on that latter) and swim in the pool. We had a very Canadian dinner of corn-on-the-cob, steak, salad and baked potatoes.
As for the ghetto house, well, I've stayed in SE Asian guesthouses for $5 a night with less warnings attached - the water was out today, there are no seats on the toilets, and, oh, the tap in the kitchen is broken! My uncle has been installing the new super-envirnomental toilets my parents bought and apparently when they got them in the sale, the shop was out of seats... These things flush very loudly and quickly and certainly beat Korean plumbing hands down.
Yesterday when I woke up to my morning alarm of shouting toddlers, I went downstairs and enquired if Emily had eaten breakfast. Her reply was, "Grandpa CAN make pancakes, but he doesn't." So, I figured, okay, we can make pancakes. It occurs to me that I have not actually made pancakes in at least 10 years. The assistance of small children slightly hindered efforts, as we ended up with too much flour. Thus, we had to double the recipe. At this point, Grandpa walks in and comments that the reason he doesn't make them pancakes is that they don't eat more than one and he's stuck eating 5 himself! Being a novice pancake chef, I flipped the first couple far too early in the process and they were rather unappealing looking, but thankfully the under-5 set aren't picky, so long as they have plenty of syrup to dip.
I popped over to a police station to get my police check. Took 5 minutes to fill out the form, about a half hour of waiting and $45 to collect this key piece of paper - oh, and a $2000 flight home! Thus, my only real errand that needed to be covered is now complete.
Then, I got dropped off at a shopping mecca - a North American mall! My god! Sizes that fit! Many colors and options! Changing rooms! Woot! I found out right before leaving that my new job has no dress code. Apparently jeans and t-shirts are just fine. Can I say how much better this dude is than my current boss??? Anyway, I've already bought a few things, though by the time I got there the afternoon nap thing was kicking in. I fell asleep on the subway over to Yonge and Eglington, where Jas and I went for fantastic Indian food, gellato, and lots of chat.
Day two of the shopping extravaganza is about to commence. This once a year shopping is great - no guilt at all for spending a small fortune! Sadly, I'm not seeing much in the way of sweaters... Last year I was shopping a tiny bit later and the sale racks in the department stores yielded some super cheap sweaters. This year I've not been lucky so far. Shoes... gah. Haven't even really started there.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Misson Accomplished!
A couple of days ago I finally got the last of the Hello Kitty magnets. I had started to despair - I only had a week to go, as the promotion is over at the end of July and I'm off for that last week in an incredibly quick jaunt back to the homeland.
I walked into the Hello Kitty one afternoon and the woman started yelling, "Sangsagnim, sangsaynim..." Turns out she remembered that I had stated I needed Gwangju, had somehow gotten ahold of one, and had kept it for me. That my friends is true customer service. I also aquired Daegu for Jenn, so it's all good in Hello Kitty world.
I walked into the Hello Kitty one afternoon and the woman started yelling, "Sangsagnim, sangsaynim..." Turns out she remembered that I had stated I needed Gwangju, had somehow gotten ahold of one, and had kept it for me. That my friends is true customer service. I also aquired Daegu for Jenn, so it's all good in Hello Kitty world.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
HAHAHAHAHA!
"What you get?
1.Free TEFL, TESOL certificate
Avail our limited offer for FREE TESOL, TEFL Certificate for lucky jobseekers who will register to ESLTIGER!!! There are only 3 certificate will be given away…"
In the Formality and Taboo section:
"6. After dinner, the host may invite his guests to go drinking. Don't refuse this invitation."
1.Free TEFL, TESOL certificate
Avail our limited offer for FREE TESOL, TEFL Certificate for lucky jobseekers who will register to ESLTIGER!!! There are only 3 certificate will be given away…"
In the Formality and Taboo section:
"6. After dinner, the host may invite his guests to go drinking. Don't refuse this invitation."
I Wonder...
What percentage of the crap that I yanked out of cupboards has to end up in a suitcase versus now making a mess on the floor in order for what I did tonight to count as packing?
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