Excitement at the Grocery Store

While browsing through the cracker aisle at Lotte Mart this evening I notice something that resembled pretzels.

Naaaaaa I thought. I pick it up, and to my surprise it is a small box of preztel sticks!!!

I'm so happy!!!!!!

More Chuesok

5 of us hiked Mt. Hallasan on Chuesok day. It started off rainy and we weren't too sure how the day would turn out but it ended up being beautiful out. Hot but not deathly hot.

The trail is rock, rock and more rock and my Asics weren't doing the job. I was slipping all over the place as the ground and rocks were all wet. I made it through without wiping out so I was happy.
My calves on the other hand have not been very happy for the past 2 days.

When we finally finished after hiking for almost 6 and a half hours, we all wanted a sweet, delicious ice cream. We go to the store at the bottom and they are all sold out. Oh no!

So the hunt for the Baskin Robbins that we had driven by before began. We punched in some number on the GPS and started driving. It felt like we were going in a big circle. It was a beautiful drive though.
Finally, after almost driving all the way back to the cabin, JP was able to direct us to the BR and we all had 2 servings of sugary goodness. It was great.

Why I love working in Korea

I just had a great vacation and only had to work Thursday this week.

Next week has a National holiday on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday I have off due to the students writing exams.

Yes!

Oh yeah, all paid for. Me likey.

Chuesok in Jeju

Chuesok is the biggest holiday in Korea. Everyone heads back to their home town and pays respect to family members who have passed and eat a lot of food.

It is the equvialnt of Thanksgiving to us in North America.
Anyway, to foreigners, Chuesok means a chance to get away for a few days.


This year I went to Jeju island for 4 glorious days. Jeju is called the Hawaii of Korea. I have yet to go to Hawaii and I'm sure it's even more beautiful than Jeju but the island definitely has a different feel than the mainland.



There are farms, REAL farms, horses and cattle roaming around free from thick chains and small spaces. Green, green hills and mountains and of course the ocean.








My friend Jessica rented this cabin/lofty type place that over looked the ocean that 7 of us shared. It was great.


Our island activities included:

* visiting Loveland/Sex Musuem in the rain

* waterfall* random stop along the road to look at the ocean

* ATVing = AWESOME!

* day at the beach! yes!
* art/sculpture park


* climbing Mt. Hallasan, the highest peak in South Korea.

Everything was awesome. My goal was to have 1 day at the beach and swim in the ocean and I was able to do that and left with a burn. Not so good, but kind of good! The water was amazing and just what I was hoping for.

Now we actually have to work for the next couple of months until winter break begins at the end of December when I will hopefully be going on another lovely vacation.

Lovely Morning

Since I missed my run yesterday which would have been in honor of the man, Terry Fox, due to the rain I went out this morning.

One thing I LOVE about running in the morning, at least at home anyway, is passing by people and saying Good Morning! I know, geeky.

When I first got to Korea I tried saying hello/annyong haseyo to the fellow power walkers that past me but it only resulted in an even stranger stare than the one I normally receive, so I stopped. boo-hooo.

But today! A Korean man went out of his way to make sure that I noticed him saying Good Morning TO ME. It was so awesome and made me so happy. Those little things.

Besides that making my morning, it was a beautiful day outside with the sun shining. Complete opposite of the weather we had yesterday and was smoking hot.

But it's raining again now!

Typhoon actually

I just found out today that there actually was a typhoon that hit Korea. Opps!

It hit Jeju island the hardest and 9 people are confirmed dead with more suspect.
That's the island I'm going to for Chusok holiday this coming Saturday.

Apparently there is another typhoon on the way????

Monsoon!?

Weather isn't something that is usually that exciting to talk about but man, the rain we had today was crazy!
I cannot imagine what a hurricane is like.

Getting out of cabs and walking down the street I was nearly blown over, umbrella turned inside out, wind blowing the trees everywhere, it was nuts!

Friends had their apartments leak/flood and there are huge puddles down every hallway in my block. Of course there is one big one right in front of my door. hahhaa

Even though it can be a little inconvienent sometimes, rain can be so peaceful at the same time. Listening to it while all snuggly inside your home or falling asleep to it.

Minus the hurricane winds!

The War on Ants

America has its War on Terror, here in Mokpo, we have the War on Ants!

I think that I might have finally won that war within my apartment.

With it being summer, or near the end, the # of our little friends usually increases but my place has been pretty good. I figured it must be due to my Martha Stewart, spic and span home fully furnished with doilies, fresh baking etc etc.

Well no. Lately I have had more friends than usual and it is very perplexing. Finally today while I was spraying/killing a few troops I found their base camp.

Underneath the container of crunchy food I have for Pabo.

Pabo is really the one to blame for ALL of this as for when he first came to Booyoung apt. I guess he wasn't too sure about his food situation and one day I had come home to find little claw marks in the crunchy container cause he was hungry, bored, whatever.

So the ants, being as clever as they are found their way in there and told all of their friends to come over too as they found the motherload!

Lifting up the container, there were a bunch of the little guys and I sprayed the shit out of them. Ha!

Yeah, one for Booyoung.


....I'm sure I'll find more later. They are very smart for being so small.

Yelling Match

This past week I had a few frustrations and was having a few of those Korea/Koreans are irritating me and I don't want to deal with anything.

As I was meeting a friend one night, I took out my recycle, which looks like that. A big pile of crap, all messed up with mice. It's great.
So I tossed my stuff in and it of course made a noise. Glasses and cans and bottles banging together usually does that. There were 2 ajuma's sorting stuff out, and they freak out on me. Yelling God knows what, whatever, I walked away only to discover that there was something else in my bag, so I go back, put it in and get screamed at again.
Being the mature, 30 year old woman I am, I yell back at them in my best pretend Korean which sounds like Haaaablhablahblahbalalahhalalhalb.
They gave it right back. It was pretty funny but also so frustrating. What the hell, I'm just putting my recycle in and you're gonna scream at me. Would you have screamed if it was a Korean person?
I don't scream at whoever is dragging those damn garbage bins across the parking lot at 4/5 in the morning or at those people who are going through the recycle pile clanging glass bottles and jars and whatever else.
Uhhhhhh, frustrating but funny.

Loungin

When he's not rippin around the apartment, tearing up the wall paper, attacking me or getting into some other kind of trouble, Pabo, my little Korean rescue-e is a lovely cat.

His rehab has come along nicely since I got him in May. He no longer humps me which is nice, nor does he hiss or attack me like he used to. I get major snuggles when I come home, until he decides it's play time and then starts to squirm and bite me, and he always wants to be around you.

As for loungin, that's pretty much what my Saturday has consisted of so far. Sleep in, talk on the phone, computer, organize and tidy, breakfast and tea. It's great. I love the weekend.

Pabo is taking a nap, I think I'll join him!

Canada, does a body good?

Since I've been back from summer vacation, I have been asked about a dozen times "did you lose your weight?".

Putting the "your" in there makes it sound like I had weight to lose in the first place. What are you trying to say?

This has come from almost all of my teachers and some students.

The funny thing is, is that I had lost about 5 pounds prior to coming to Canada, so I could eat lots of delicious food and I am the same now as when I left.

Funny. I think being at home, in the fresh, beautiful air and scenery, friends and family energized me and it was still ooozing from me upon my return to Korea.

In short, summer at home was absolutely amazing and I have a greater appreciation for Canada. It is big and beautiful, fresh and clean. But.... a little expensive!

Aside from the Native guy who was shouting "I'm gonna fuckin kill you" in Winnipeg, it was great!

Highlights included:

* 2 lovely weddings

* 2 triathlons, one went well, one not so well

* 2 glorious weekends spent at friends' cabins

* about 10 servings of Stella's pancakes

* about 4 veggie burgers from Stella's

* learning how to row and NOT falling into the Red River

* laying on the beach with my girl Jen and tatooed cousin Courtney

* golfing

* eatin chips and watchin the "box" with mom and dad

* getting vegetarian food

* coffee shops that are open before 10 in the morning and don't cost $3 a cup

Pretty much everything was awesome. I saw most of my friends and family but missed a few sadly.

I am re-charged and ready for another year in Korea and have successfully convinced Darren to come work here next year! yes!

While I was setting up my USB and stuff for my last class, I can hear some jerk store boys saying sex, do you like, whatever.

Then I hear a loud "do you like sex!?"

Uhhhhh ok, what do I do? do I acknowledge them, punish them, answer them!? I ignored them.

Thennnnnnn I hear "pussy is delicious". Oh my god I thought! Ok, what the hell do I do with that. What I felt like saying is how would YOU know.

On the positive, at least they were forming correct sentences and used words that I don't often hear from them!

Ohhh, and another one I liked. We were playing a word games where the students make a sentence using the word they are given. One word is tatoo, while showing a picture of Courtney's sleeves, the kid writes:

I want to tatoo my penis.

Uhhhh, no you don't kid. I had to give their team a point for the sentence cause it was correct and better than the other teams! hahhahaha

never dull.

Late night tv

After coming home last night from a nice potluck/party I was hoping there would be a nice movie to fall asleep to.

Instead I found some kind of female wrestling program that consisted of Korean women wearing bikini's and fighting each other. Well, it wasn't really fighting like North End Winnipeg fighting, it was like girly/sexy fighting.

The program looks like a sleezy way for men to watch "cat fights" and bet on the chick with the best rack. It was really strange, so of course I watched it for a while. These are some images I got.

Surprisingly, the chick with the biggest boobs didn't win!