Tuesday, November 6, 2007

My Canadian Life vs My Korean Life

I wouldn't go so far to say that I've been homesick lately or anything; I'm still having a great time! I have; however, become a little nostalgic as I think every person who has suddenly realized they are, indeed, an adult as opposed to a university kid tends to feel, so I thought I'd give you all a little comparison on how my life was in Canada and how it is now that I'm living in Korea.

You'll see that some things in my life will never change, such as the popularity of the sexy kitty pose, and that some things are unchangeable, such as the crappiness of Korean coffee. The one thing that will probably never change is my lame sense of humour. Enjoy (don't get too bored)!




My favourite pose in Korea (this picture is from Japan, but you get the point):


My favourite pose in Canada:




My Coffee in Korea:

Stale medium roast (I'm guessing) with overscalded, unproperly frothed, steamed milk cafe au lait. Sigh.





My only other option. This little package has instant coffee, powdered milk, AND sugar so you don't need to add any of your own. The only problem is I don't take sugar in my coffee! Geeeez.





My Coffee in Canada:

Fairly traded, organic, light roast coffee cafe au lait with a slight dusting of cocoa. Sigh.




My Korean Coworkers:






My Coworkers in Canada:


My favourite campus bar.





Ahh... the Christmas Axe Staff party, complete with Karaoke.










Where I live in Korea:








Where I live in Canada:






My Korean Pets:









My Canadian Pets:


Chelsea. The sweetest dog in the universe.







Belle: 16 years old. This is all she does now... but I still love her.





My Korean Family:



These are the girls I spend (or have spent) my entire Korean life with! Thank God for them, too... they've been here way longer than me and pass down their knowledge. We decided today that I am the kid sister of all Maple Bear teachers and it's true... I am the youngest.





Faye takes care of me like she's my big sister. In the three months since I've known her she has given me two pairs of shoes, two of my three birthday cakes, a bag of rice, fruit, numerous other snacks and God knows what else.




I spend five days a week with these kids, and I never get tired of them. Some days are better than others, but no day is ever excruciating. Also, Faye says that when I do projects with them and read them books I look like their big sister and that's exactly what teaching them is like- fiiiiinally, I'm the oldest in the family.


Charlene took the role of Mother Hen the second I got to Korea- she showed me around Suwon, gave me all the bus numbers and their destinations, took me to GS Mart and the grocery store and helped me identify groceries in Korean, and had movie nights with me when I didn't know anyone. She has been great, to say the least.





My Real (Canadian) Family:



My lovely Mother, Marlene.





Daddy-o, Ian




This was the least intoxicated picture I could find of me and my brother Rory. Don't judge. We went to university together. And worked at the same bar (see above coworkers)!




My big brother Matt and his pretty wife, Margret. They live in Alberta and I haven't seen them in ages!



Mr. and Mrs. Bear- Rory is a grizzly or something. Sarah, his main squeeze, is clearly a panda.





My Korean Friends:


Rachel, Kim, Kerri, Helen, and Amy at Galbi.


My Korean homies- Kerri and Kim!


All my closest friends at my birthday!

Enda and Charlene






My Canadian Friends:
My future lawyer, Amanda. Not that I'm planning on needing one or anything. Just in case...





My friend who has done the most tequila shots in a bathtub (besides Shelley), Zack.


My fellow Arts Degree graduate- best buds. Zack, Amanda, Drew.


Friends since grade primary, Monica and Stef... Monica and I were, in fact, the only two babies born in our community in 1984!







5 comments:

Helena said...

You have a lot of coworkers! Must be a big school.

Stephen said...

Hi Janine, I just found your blog from mybloglog. Your experience looks awesome, except for the backyard in Suwon...
I'm teaching ESL in Korea as well, for awhile I was going to be @ Avalon in Suwon, but now it looks like a school in Incheon. I'm going to keep checking in on your posts!

Janinel said...

We know a lot of people that work at Avalon- we all live in the same neighbourhood! Incheon is a cool city too though, and right on the coast. Good luck with everything!

Anonymous said...

HI Janine,

Love your blog....take care

chris x

Unknown said...

Just saw ur blog.. really nice one..njying the life.. Each time i travel to Suwon, i feel bad that I am coming to country, where life is all about work.. but ur blog looks like ur r njoying here as well..good!!