The End... of many things.

Well, readers, it certainly has been awhile since I last posted on this Godforsaken blog, and while I hinted that something was keeping me quite busy, I never got into full details. I'm not entirely sure I am still able to, but let's give it a shot!

So several, long months ago, I was asked to write a guide to Seoul for high end (aka, not those teaching ESL- although I'm sure there are plenty classy teachers out there!)expatriates for Expat Infodesk (dot com). I foolishly (?) agreed, thinking it would take a month, at most, for me to bring the world up-to-date on the wonderful city of Seoul (a city I have never resided in) and educate those in the process of/thinking about moving to the city from abroad. Mainly from Western countries.

It turns out, what I though would take a month ended up taking about six. Seoul has turned out to be the most impossible city in the world to obtain correct information on. Income tax? Shipping your car? As a lowly teacher, these are things I have never really thought about. And it took me six months to find the best answers to questions like these. It was hard. I am finished, though, and I am glad.

But in the meantime, having taken up this task, my time in Korea has also come to an end. A permanent one. Patrick and I are finished in Korea and won't be coming back- at least not as teachers- anymore. We both want to start (in Pat's case, restart) our careers. Korea was a wonderful place to get some perspective on my life. I'll never forget my experiences there, and will never forget the amazing people I've met who I'll remain friends with forever. In short, I really love Korea. I'll always miss it. But I am happy with my memories and am ready to move on!

I'll miss this blog, too! This was my first one, and I will never cease to be amazed with the fact that people read- and what's more- ENJOYED this blog. You're all great. Take care, and many happy returns. I hope Korea (and particularly, Suwon) is as good to you as it was to me.

As promised, here are the pictures from my last weekend in Busan. We had a great time! We stayed in the Haeundae area (no tsunami warnings, but we were only allowed to swim in a tiny little area). Since it was September, we were practically the only people on the beach since beach season is officially over after August (even if it's still boiling hot and the water is lovely!). We sunbathed a bit, partied a bit, swam a bit, and took in the gorgeous surroundings. Say what you want about Busan, but Haeundae continues to be my favourite Korean beach... aside from Hamdeok in Jeju-do, of course. Enjoy the pics! And... thanks for reading.

xo




Just stunning.


Sara and Sophie, catching some of summer's final rays!


Pat was clearly enjoying himself...


The pasty ones stayed under the umbrella.


And I figured I got enough sun in SE Asia, so I stayed under too.


Love!

Blogging Hiatus

Hey ya'll.

If you're wondering when the hell I'm going to start blogging regularly, I'm sorry to disappoint! Actually, I have a bit of an online project on the go that's taking up a lot of my time... I'll tell you about it when it's finished ;)

Until next time...

Oh! I went to Busan this past weekend. It was lovely. I'll defs post about that as soon as I can. In the meantime: go to Busan. I love that city (it keeps me coming back...).

Summer Holidays in Sunny Jeju-do!

Sometimes monsoon season gets the best of you. You're tired and grumpy because, let's face it, no one wants to get out of bed when it's grey and dreary outside. Your tan that you've been able to maintain since your trip to Southeast Asia is now fading to a dull beige. You want to enjoy the outdoors but you simply can't. and you're getting cabin fever from being inside all day.

Enter summer vacation and the beautiful island of Jeju-do!

Note* "Do" in Korean, means both island and province. Jeju-do is an island (Jeju-do) annnd a province (Jejudo). Maybe it's the other way around... help me out here, people.

Anyways, it doesn't matter. The point is, I was feeling dreadful for weeks and needed a beach holiday *pronto*. So did some of my friends, although Patrick thought he would have to go to Japan and didn't accompany me.

I hate airplanes... like, a lot. It's a phobia of mine. So I didn't even consider taking the much easier and not-too-expensive option of simply flying to Jeju, which you should all probably do. I took the bus at some ungodly hour to the port city of Mokpo, and then took the ferry to Jeju, which took an entire day of travelling- made much worse by a monsoon which hit the path of the ship on the way and resulted in everyone around me (minus myself) puking ramyeon into little paper bags. Yuck!

On a sunny day, I assure you, the boat is a lot of fun!

The next day I met two of my friends at the airport and we spend our first day enjoying the scenery (the monsoon had been replaced with beautiful, glorious sunshine). We went to Udo (Cow) Island off the East coast of Jeju and rented some bikes. We did a little sight seeing and hung out on the beach, but we didn't go swimming because the water on that side of the island was freeeeeeeezing.

We found a nice motel near Hamdeok Beach and we spent the next few days using this area as our home base. There was a great little restaurant run by a Korean family, and the mother used to live in the States. She spoke excellent English and she made us "American" breakfasts every morning- bless her. She also made great cheeseburgers.

We used a taxi to get around, since it wasn't very expensive between the three and then four, and five of us (our friend, Elaine, arrived the next morning and our friend, Jeff, arrived later that evening) to share. Generally speaking, if you're going to Jeju alone, you're best bet is to a) rent a scooter (fun!) or, b) use to bus system, which isn't hard to figure out. There's basically one route around the whole island.

Hamdeok beach was amazing- full of people, sure, but it was surrounded by beautiful, green hillsides and the water was nice and shallow a long way out. Very wavey, as well, so it was fun to play in the water.

We got some sunburns, ate some "doongdedji", otherwise known as the famous Jeju specialty, poop pig (they weren't cooked with poop, of course, but historically the pigs in Jeju would live under the outhouses and... well... eat shit). Putting the poop thing aside, the pork was very high quality and some of the most delicious samgyupsal (and other mysterious pig pieces) I have ever eaten. We also spent a lot of time sitting outside convenience stores, drinking beer and having a laugh.

Vacations are necessary, aren't they? And I think teachers, above all other professions, need a nice, long holiday to de-stress. Not that I'm a real teacher, I'm thinking more about my Mom. Imagine doing this for 30 years... I don't think so!






Beautiful Hamdeok!




Palm trees galore...



The very crowded beach...




Enjoying some conversation, beer and ramyeon with Jeff... and fireworks...



Night out with the girls in Jeju-si (Jeju City).



Sara and Sophie, agonizingly waiting for their cheeseburgers to arrive. We were so hungry.



Checking out our pics from Udo.



Being silly, waiting for my dinner.



Our gorgeous boat ride back from Udo.



Sophie and Sara on the ferry- we were watching some giant jellyfish in the water. They were fricken huge!



I love my pink bike!



Udo Island Beach



Biking around Udo...



Our awesome, retro bikes.




Udo Beach, from the ferry.



Sara and Songsan Ilchulbong, the famous extinct volcano crater.



Sophie et Moi



Songsan Ferry Terminal

Going to Cambodia anytime soon? Check this place out.

You won't regret it!

When Pat and I were in Southeast Asia, we had some great opportunities to meet new people and try new things. However, the social highlight of our trip had to be the orphanage we volunteered with while in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

This orphanage is an interesting place. It's run by a man named Mr. Samith and his wife. The children here are not up for adoption- many still have at least one parent living- but their families cannot afford to take care of them, so they are sent to Mr. Samith.

He and Mrs. Samith treat the children like their own kids. The kids fight and squabble and cry, and are just like any other bunch of brothers and sisters. Their ages range from 2 to 18, and their main goals are education oriented.

Yes, for all it's faults, Cambodia is really putting a lot of emphasis on educating their children and these days, while it is quite common to see children out selling trinkets or begging for money, it is very much discouraged by the government and by the locals to buy from these children. Why? Easy. Because if the kids are making money, they won't go to school. And they need to go to school.

The kid's at Mr. Samith's orphanage want to learn. They're so eager. They're smart, and are fast learners. The orphanage is barely two years old, but in those two years, somehow, these kids have learned *a lot* of English. A lot.

It's not just the kids at the orphanage who benefit, though. The school that was specially built for the orphanage offers free English lessons to all of the children in the village (located just outside of Phnom Penh).

There are usually several volunteers teaching at the orphanage. Pat and I were pressed for time, but we managed a class with the kids and they were great! We had an excellent time! If you want to volunteer while you're travelling, you have some options:

You can stay at your guesthouse in Phnom Penh and hire a tuktuk every day (or rent a motorbike, if you know the way), or you can stay at the orphanage for as long as you like- for about 5 bucks a night you get accomodation plus all of your meals. Plus you get to play with the kids. Plus, when we were there, they had, like, five amazingly cute puppies to play with.

I think Mr. Samith is a pretty cool guy.

If you're interested in volunteering while you're travelling, or if you want to donate (the money goes directly to Mr. Samith and then goes toward the univeristy education for his oldest kids, as well as food and clothing costs) you can go to this website:

http://www.savechildreninasia.org/

You should not donate clothes, non-food supplies or toys because it makes the kids fight with each other (you have a nicer shirt than me, wah wah wah, etc.). So many of the orphanages in Cambodia are gimmicks, but this one is legit, so you should support it if you have the time. If you are in Cambodia, a bag of rice is always appreciated as a gift, but is not necessary if you plan to teach. They want your knowledge more than anything.




Lee may be the reason I became so smitten by this place. He is just the best kid ever. Always smiling, always laughing- and he really loves his teachers. He isn't the best student in the class, but he is definitely the happiest and the sweetest! I just adore him. And I plan to sponser his university education someday.





Pat and our students for the day! The girls are so, so smart. They pick up on things very, very quickly.




Me, Mr. Samith and the youngest of the kids. What a great, generous guy he is!

I am currently not in Korea.

Dear Blogosphere,


I have left Korea for three months and am on a whirlwind backpacking trip around Southeast Asia with Patrick- check out the new blog!

Getting My Sarong On


See you back in Korea... new job, new experiences...

Much Love

China Chronicles: Day Six

By the time we reached day six in Beijing, my feet had officially rejected me. I seriously couldn't walk without wincing, and I thought they would never return to normal. I mean, your average achy foot from too much walking was nothing like the pain I was experiencing by day six. Lessons of the trip? Bring more supportive footwear, because you're going to be walking a lot.


Needless to say, in my condition the last thing I wanted to do was go out for another day of walking. I just wanted to sit in a teahouse and watch the world go by. But, my friends were very convincing and of course, I didn't want to miss out on anything possibly specatcular. So off the the Summer Palace we went.

We took the subway and attempted to get on a bus we knew went to the palace, but as soon as we stepped on we were shooed off by a grumpy looking woman and the bus driver. Jerks! We got in a cab, or, rather, two cabs and were on our way. Ten minutes later, Bernie, Charlene and I had arrived at the entrance but there was no sign of Jeremy and Allison. We waited for what seemed like forever before we all found each other- apparently their cab driver had taken them to the North entrance of the palace while ours took us to the South. So, now we know there are TWO entrances to the Summer Palace (I advise you to take note of this if you are planning a trip to Beijing).

It was getting a bit late in the afternoon by the time we got our tickets, and Bernie, Char and I were unable to get full access to all of the buildings (Allison and Jer had to run through the palace grounds to find us on the other side so they had already purchased the tickets) so we split up and agreed to meet at the Silk Market later. It was freezing and my feet were in serious, unimaginable pain. I didn't really want to stick around for too long, and fortunately, neither did Bernie and Char. However, we managed to walk around the perimeter and, I must say, it was really, really beautiful. I would kill to spend my summers there.

The lake that you are able to boat around in the summer was completely frozen solid, and there were children running and skating around with their parents. Lovers were out on lover's strolls, and families were having a great time. It was nice, until we heard a distraught Mother looking for her child, who had presumably gone missing. She was calling her child's name for hours, and it was maybe the saddest thing I've ever experienced. I wish we could have helped.

After looking at the path ahead of us, we decided we would save walking time and cut across the frozen lake (other people were doing it, too, Mom). We had some fun on the ice and made our way to the other side where the entrance was located. What a beautiful walk! In one direction there was nothing but mountains, in another direction you could see the skyline of Beijing and in another you were looking back on the beautiful, ornate buildings that the palace was composed of. When we got to the other side, we found that the ice wasn't safe enough to get to the shoreline we wanted, so we had to go even further where it was safer to make the transition. When we were back on dry land we saw the sign that said "Don't walk on the ice". Oops.

We made our way back to the nearest subway station and went straight to the Silk Market where Allison and Jer were waiting for us. I had one last shopping sessions and then we had a quick dinner in Wangfujing. After that, I had to say goodbye to my friends and made my way back to the hostel.

I checked out of my room, found an honest cab driver and got to the train station without incident. It turned out that the 50 RMB cab ride from the train station to my hostel was only 10 RMB to go back. Travellers, beware of cabbies! I boarded by train at 11 PM and made friends with a business woman going to see a factory. We exchanged emails and she got off the train halfway through my journey. Luckily, I had a seat this time and didn't have anyone sleeping on me. I arrived back in Qingdao at 7 AM, cabbed to a hostel where my friend Tristan was staying, slept until noon, used the internet and watcted BBC Newsworld for an hour, took a walk downtown, had my last bowl of noodles and finally cabbed to the ferry terminal.

They had given me my return ticket before I left Korea, but apparently I needed to check in at a different location. Gawd. What a hassle. The woman at the terminal called out to this guy, who, as far as I knew, was just another ferry passenger. She must have known him personally. She asked him to take me to the right place. This guy knew a few English words but I had no idea what was going on or where he was taking me! He took me a few doors down the street, gave them my passport and ticket, and gave me my passport and new ticket. I thanked him, and made my way back to the terminal.

He followed me back, tapped my shoulder, and took me to another place in the terminal. I saw a sign that said "Departure Tax: 30 RMB". I got out the money and gave it to the woman. She gave me a piece of paper, I thanked her, I thanked the man again, and made my way back to the line.

Again, the man tapped my shoulder and motioned me to follow him. This time I knew I had everything I needed, so I politely shook my head and pointed to the line up. He insisted I follow him, pointing to my ticket. He was right before and I didn't want to risk missing my boat, so I let him lead me back to the other check in building, where he showed them my ticket, got my baggage allowance (I had a carry on and that was it) and kept it for himself. I was a little peeved! He just wanted my baggage allowance! When we got back to the terminal he said "Thank you" and pointed to all of his mother's luggage. I softened. He was a nice guy, after all.

I was finally able to board the boat after going through customs. I got to my room and realized, this time around, I had no roommates! Yes. I put the heating on low and settled in for a night of Korean TV (Big Bang concert- yesss), ramyeon and beer. So ends my journey. I encourage all expats to take the ferry to China- so much fun, so comfortable, and Qingdao is a pretty alright city when it isn't raining!



Char and I at the Summer Palace.

Making my way across...

O Hai. This is as happy as I get when I'm in constant pain.

Taking frequent rests...

Woo! Frozen ice!

It was a very sunny afternoon.

Near the Dragon Boat

My camera died after this.

China Chronicles: Day Five (Part Two)

After the Great Wall, our tour took us to a jade museum, the Ming Tombs, and a silk museum. Actually, at this point I just wanted to go back to our hostel and sleep and go to a tea house. I am glad that there was no possible way to do that, because I actually had a good time.

I've never been overly interested in the Ming Tombs, but I like historical stories a lot and our guide was full of them. Apparently, during the Ming Dynasty, a fortune teller told the first emporer that, in order to keep the Ming line going, they all had to build their burial tombs to the north of the river that runs through the valley. Consequently, every emporer (they all planned and built their tombs while they were still alive) chose to be buried to the north- except for one Emporer, who chose to be buried, after hundreds of years of the line being kept, to the south. It turned out that the emporer who built his tomb on the south side of the river was also the very last of the Ming emporers.

Go fig.

At the jade museum we were treated to a lesson on how to tell whether a piece of jade is real or if it is fake (which came in handy later on at the Silk Market) and then we had a yummy Chinese lunch in the museum's restaurant. I'm talking delicious. We started with a hot and sour egg drop soup, then along with our rice we were presented with about eight different dishes- stir fried vegetables, steamed bok choy, pork and beef with vegetables, and much more.

At the Silk Museum, we learned about the silk worm and what part of they silk they use from it (the cocoon). Then we learned how they soak the cocoon and stretch it to an unbelievable size and then repeat the process until there are countless silk layers piled on top of one another. After, we were free to browse through their selection of silk bedspreads. Of course I fell in love with one and had to buy it... until I found out it was the most expensive piece in the shop (about 500$ CAN, which was much more expensive than the average 100$ piece). Why must my taste be so expensive?

That evening just so happened to be New Years Eve, so my friends and I decided to celebrate with a traditional meal of Peking Duck. We had met a foreign couple the night previous at dinner who recommended a great place to us, located on "Ghost Street" as it is commonly called. The street is completely lit up with red lanterns and all of the shops on the street are restaurants. It was a pretty cool place to be at night. Also, at our particular restaurant, we were told to ask for "Vivian"- the English speaking manager who was a friend of the couple we met.

It turns out, Vivian gave us the ultimate royal treatment at the restaurant. She sat us down at the back of the restaurant, there was lots of entertainment and the food was delicious. As a Peking Duck virgin, I was so pleasantly surprised at the crispy skin that just melts in your mouth. Typically, your duck is served with small crepe-like thingies (for lack of a better word) and you wrap up your duck with lots of different fruits and vegetables before dunking it in one of the three dipping sauces and eating with great relish. We ordered two, and while it was expensive, it was so, so, so worth it. Delish.

After we finished eating, Vivian presented us with a free platter of fruit, which was beautifully laid out. Then she took us on a tour of the restaurant, which has three courtyards (where they serve food in the summer) and two floors. It was a really beautiful restaurant. Yet another reason why I want to go back in the summer!




Livin' it up on Ghost Street.

My friends and I with Vivian, after dinner.

Checking out the menu... so much food!

The beautiful fruit platter.

Pancake with duck.

Our duck, after carving.

Our duck, mid-carving.

At the Ming Tombs. The object behind us is filled with donation money for the Tomb's upkeep.

Before dinner, relaxing with drinks.

Our terrible attempt at stretching the soaked silk... our guide told us we were hopeless.

The Ming Tomb of the first emporer.

China Chronicles: Day Five (Part One)

The Great Wall (really is great).


We got up extremely early to meet our tour guide for the day. Most day tours of the Wall cost anywhere from 20$ to 50$, so of course we opted for the cheapest option. You'd think we would have gotten the bare minimum tour for this price, but actually (and I do not like organized tours) we saw a lot, learned a lot and ate some delicious food for a minimum cost. When you are planning a trip to the Great Wall, don't pay anything over 20 bucks!

Our guide arrived at 7 AM and took us to the bus in the freezing cold. I fell asleep immediately. When I woke up, there were more people on the bus from the States, Korea (what a coincidence!) and Canada. They were all nice people. We were a happy and enthusiastic bunch, needless to say. Also, when I woke up, I looked out my window and saw nothing but beautiful mountains on all sides. If I squinted I could take my first glimpse of the Great Wall, winding along the tops of the mountains. It was a magical moment.

The magic sorta ended when we arrived at the Badaling portion of the Wall and our guide told us we had two options.

"You can either hike up the mountain in the freezing cold, or you can take the rollercoaster up and then take it back down".

Um... what? Rollercoaster? That wasn't what I was expecting. Also, it looked pretty rusty. And the guys operating it looked pretty young.

So of course, we all decided to go on the rollercoaster and risk our lives rather than face the bitter Mongolian wind. It was much colder here than it was even in Beijing! * Am I really from Canada?

When we got to the top, we proceeded to make our way to the top of the Badaling section. Some parts were really steep, and some were pretty icy, but there were people everywhere and even more people there shovelling the snow and scraping the ice. So it was fine, albeit crowded. If I go again, I would go to a different, less touristy section of the Wall as Badaling seems to be the place everyone takes their group tours.

Regardless of what I will do next time, I really enjoyed myself on Badaling. It was beautiful, the Wall stretched out as far as the eye could see, and it was a beautiful day despite the freezing cold.



Communist garb on the Great Wall. I couldn't figure out why so many Chinese men were laughing at me as I walked along. The only reason I even wore the hat was because it protected my cheeks. I soon figured out that, even though I was not the only tourist on the Wall wearing this hat, I was the only person wearing the hat, carrying a communist bag with another big red star on it, wearing a khaki jacket and wearing bright red mittens. I looked like a Chinese soldier.

"Char! Bernie! Give me a pose that says 'I'm extremely cold'".

More self portraits.

Braving the wind for a few seconds...

Hello, comrade.

Wall-ey Greatness.

People going uphill. We were some of the few non-Chinese tourists there.

Meandering...

Scared, going uphill on the "rollercoaster".

More wall.

And more!

The whole group.

We made it to the top!

Now it's time to go back down...

Angry communist pose (sorry for making fun of communists so much- I actually really enjoyed my outfit).

Getting ready to go back down...