My Parents In Korea!

As alot of you know, my wonderful parents came to Korea to visit us. This was their first actual holiday since I was one!I was so excited and anxious to make everything perfect! I wanted them to enjoy every minute of it! When I saw them for the first time ( after I had forced my students to eat as fast as they could so I could get home) It was like no time had passed! We had a great time! They were exhausted from their flight so I got them into their hotel and met them after work for dinner!

My parents were such troupers, they ate everything I brought them too and they were game to go anywhere I sent them or took them! The first weekend was a whirl wind of activities! We went to Suwon, an old folk village, Big Buddha, Tejosan Mountain, a Cheonan Sky Walkers Volleyball game and ate tons of new food! They had a great time!

During the week we both still had to work, but between Jason and I's schedule my parents were hardly ever alone, and if not I had them go somewhere else. They did have some bad luck with things closed and not open certain days, but on Tuesday and Wednesday they went to Gyenju. Where Jason and I had been in October. They loved it! One of their favourites!

The Thursday the got to meet my two kindergarten classes and saw where I worked. They met tons of people and kids! The kids were so excited to see my parents. Even kids I don't teach wanted to meet them! I did crafts with my parents and the kids. My dad was a huge help, he kept making sure the kids washed their hands, and they loved coming back and showing off their clean hands! The kids had so much fun meeting them!

It was so nice to be able to show my parents where I live, how we are getting by, and how wonderful this country is! Now they have faces in their mind when I speak of a kid or of a friend of mine!

The following weekend we went to Seoul. My parents got us this luxurious suite to stay in! It was stunning! That weekend was filled with sites of Seoul! My parents went up early on Friday and did Seoul tower (which we were glad we didn't have to walk up all those stairs again!) and Namdemun market. Saturday we did a whole bunch of palaces, we went to Insadong and went to an old village. We then got to take them out for dinner to a garlic italian restaurant. It was so nice to be able to pay for my parents dinner finally. We were so happy that they could come and share this experience with us! I also was very proud of them for getting on a plane and coming! I thought it was going to take alot more convincing to get them here! After dinner we went to the Seoul Lantern Festival! it was beautiful! I had no idea what it was going to be like, but I was told it was the last weekend of it. I thought it was going to be lanterns hanging from trees, but it was actual figures and pictures and sculptures made from lanterns! It was amazing! They were huge! The next day was Sunday and we had a great breakfast and went to Itaewon so Jason and I could get cheese. They were getting anxious about their plane so we didn't do too much. It was very hard to say goodbye! And of course, I cried.. but I was so happy that they had come! It was a wonderful trip and we had an amazing time, and would love for them to come anytime! Love you lots mom and dad! Thank you for support and love!

Seoul Lantern Festival

The last night that Robin's parents were here, we went to the Seoul Lantern Festival. I don't think that any of us knew exactly what the lantern festival was all about, but it was absolutely amazing. There is a man made river, which was made to make the area look a little nicer, and all down the river were these beautiful lanterns, all shapes and sizes. This post is going to be short, just because the pictures do most of the talking.

One thing to mention is how efficient they were at corralling people in and out, they had people who looked like they were directing landing airplanes with flashing lights in their hands yelling at people and telling them to move through. There were times when we had to take pictures on the run. However for a city with 10 million people and others from around the country, they have to keep them moving through. 

Below is a video of some of the lanterns and the music that went with it. 

Halloween

Oops, a month late!

Halloween in Korea is not a celebrated holiday. However if you teach at an English Private School, it is another way for Korean mommys to dish try to one up all the other parents in dressing their child in the best online ordered costume and hand out the most gourmet of candies.

It was exactly that. Our kids were either; princess, witch or fairy for girls and a superhero of some sort and Dracula for the boys. The kids were dressed head to to, with head pieces, hair ties, jewellery , outfits and shoes all to match.

Then came the trick or treating. The kindergarten kids did a parade around the block of our school as the mommys handed them candy. The mommys were stationned by class in certain areas around the block. If you came to a group of moms that wern't from your class, you got ordinary candy, but once you made it to your classes group of moms the gourmet candy came out. Pre packaged bags full of delicious candies, huge suckers the size of your head, full chocolate bars, I was in kid candy heaven! Being a teacher, moms just prized themselves to give you the BEST candy!

It was a great day, full of cuteness and candy!

A group of moms along the parade!!

The Cheonen Sky Walkers!

Cheonen's very own National Volleyball league!

Emily said she needed a partner in crime to go and watch these volleyball games with her. She told me she was obsessed, but I didn't believe her. That was until after the game she was one of the crazy school girls running after the players  when they came out to their bus, trying to get their autograph!

That is exactly how crazy the games are. They have their own stadium just for the volleyball team. It has 3 levels and it is packed! It is like going to an Ottawa Senators game, crazy fans, music blaring, cheering but even better Korean cheerleaders! They do dances to all the latest K-Pop music and get the crowd going, there is even an MC who wears a shiny white suit and pumps up the crowd!

I do love volleyball, but you definitely don't have to, to go to a game, the crowd is what makes it so much fun! The players are intense though. My competitive side definitely comes out while watching the game, calling ins and outs and disagreeing with the ref. Even when it is Korean, a sport is a sport, it has it's own universal language! Each team is allowed one foreigner. We still have not figured out where he is from exactly, but either Alaska, or North West Territories we have been told!

The power in the front! Great teamwork!!

Korean Massage!

One day while I was at work, I was asking around about massage places. All the Koreans kind of looked at me funny. You get a massage at a hospital when you are hurt, or done by a blind man, and it is a form of prostituting yourself.. good thing I didn't walk into a salon and ask! I found out you ned to go to spas where they sell face cleanser and revitalizing products.

I found on the same street as my apartment. I go in, and ask for face and neck. She instructs me to take off my clothes. In the middle of her entrance way, and shows me to the massage table. Koreans have  no shame in their bodies, and it is very natural for other women to see other women naked. She starts rubbing my back and then puts the suction cups on.. Well I wasn't expecting these! She is literally taking the suction cups and scrapping my back! If there was any dry skin, it was long gone! I know you can get suction cupping done in Korea, so again, I just went with it. For about 20 minutes she is moving the suction cups around my back, leaving them for a couple minutes each time. It hurt around my arms, I was later told that you must tell them, or they just leave them there.. 

All of a sudden as I am trying to relax, I feel her jabbing a pen like object all over my back. She was making tiny pin pricks all over my upper back! I absolutely freaked. I sat right up! I did not ask for any needle! All I could think was, "yup, I now will get some blood transmitted disease, and will be kicked out of Korea, or worse die!" Anyone who knows me, knows that, that is EXACTLY how I think! 

So she can tell I am nervous, and she shows me in broken english "hanna for hanna" meaning one needle for one person. So I kind of calmed down. Next she puts the suctions back on, and this time they really hurt. She leaves them for about 10 minutes. I am squirming because I am in so much pain, and I convince myself I am dying now, so I sit up. The lady comes running over and lies me back down, and pulls the suctions off. She starts showing me with a smile, these suction cups, full of my blood! I lost it! She is wiping down my neck since I was squirming the suction came loose and blood came out! I kept crossing my arms to show an "x" (to show no) and saying "annyo, annyo" (no no). In my mind I was out of there. 

She calmed me down, and said no more needles, so I stayed, and she gave me a wonderful hour long relaxing message. The whole time I'm thinking i'm dying!I get home and immediatly google blood and suction cupping, and I do find out it is a ritual done in Korea to remove "bad blood". It used to be practiced alot more, and was quite dangerous since they would drain the human of blood, but now they only take a little bit (however it looked like a small pool in her hands) to help circulate good blood and remove toxins. 

Of course the next day I confirmed it with my Korean co-teachers who assured me what it is, but also were shocked that they didn't advertise it, and supposedly I got it done at a very cheap price! Now looking back, I will go again, to fully enjoy the experience, but maybe not for a couple more months!

My back from the suction cups. The darker the area was from the blood letting (the suction cup put over the pin pricks she made). There is only really one dark are on each side, since I only let her do it once! 

The New Addition... And His Reign of Terror

Some may not know yet, but about a month ago, me and Robin adopted a dog. The dog was saved from the pound and was being taken care of by a foster parent that would be leaving Korea soon, so we took him in. It all started when a friend of ours told us about how she volunteers at a animal shelter. Robin was interested in helping out, and stumbled upon the adoption postings. After a few weeks of debate, we decided to make our move and set up a meeting with the foster parent in Seoul. I think for the both of us, once we saw him and got to hold him, we were not letting that dog go! We took him home that day, and he has been great ever since. His name is Kip, he has a great personality and is kind of like a baby really, he loves to cuddle and sleep on your lap. We've had to work on a few bad habits of his, but he is doing great!

In Korea, they do eat dog. I've learned that it is much less common than before, many of the kids at the school do not eat dog, and only some of their parents do. I've also learned that there is only one type of dog that they eat, and the regulations on their farming, distribution and selling is very strict. Having a dog as a pet is also fairly uncommon as well, most people have rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs or mice. However, it is becoming more popular, there are a few pet stores in our neighbourhood. Although it is becoming more popular, there are still several people who are downright terrified of dogs, especially our little Kip.

The terrifying Kip

We take Kip on the mountain near us almost every day, and we also take him on walks around our neighbourhood. Almost every walk has some woman or girl screaming for their lives because Kip got too close to them. In some cases, if people see us coming, they will cross the street, walk down a bit and then go back to the side they were originally on. Most people who have dogs, well they aren't really dogs, they look more like rats or miniature sheep, standing 5 inches from the ground. One night, when me and Robin were going to get a pizza, we took Kip with us. We were going up a street that had parked cars on both sides, so there was enough room for a car to get through. As we started walking up this street, a man going the opposite way started freaking out. This man had to be at least 30 years old. He threw himself against one of the cars, flattened himself out with arms spread muttering in fear, "Pitbull! Pitbull! Pitbull!!". We tried to tell him that Kip wasn't a Pitbull but realized how ridiculous the situation was. Two owners, with a small dog on a leash that really couldn't give him more than a scratch if he really wanted to. We had a good laugh. 

Watch out Cheonan, the big bad wolf is in town. 

Jason's Health Care Visit

I've had a rash on my arm, its been there for about a week so and after taking benadryl for a few days it still doesn't want to go away. I decided (more like Robin forced me to) to go to a doctor's office. I was told that there was a doctor on the third floor in the building that our school is in. I went to the building and saw "Oriental Health Clinic". It sounded good, so I went in and showed them the rash on my arms. They took some information and I waited for a bit. The girls at the desk didn't speak any english, they were passing the sheet back and forth to each other because they didn't want to deal with me.

After waiting for a bit, a nurse took me to the back and showed me a bed. There were curtains around the beds and she took a pair of white shorts and I figured out that she wanted me to take my pants off and put these things on, and I tried to explain to her that I was just in for my arm. She paid no attention, so behind the curtain i went to change into the funny white shorts. Once I those on, a nurse took my blood pressure and I waited for a while until the doctor came. She asked me what was wrong and some other questions. Then she starts palpating my wrists and palpating my abdomen. Then she decided that the best thing to do was acupuncture.... I was a little shocked, but agreed, I figured the Koreans know what to do.

25 needles later, I'm laying on the bed looking like a pin cushion, about 5 in my left hand and up my arm, 5 in my left foot and up my leg and the same on the other side. A few in the stomach and in the shoulders. Then she says, "20 minutes." I wait for about 20 minutes and the nurse comes back to take the needles out. The doctor tells me that she wants me to come back tomorrow. I went to the front desk and the girl shows me the price. She gives me a post-it with the price on it, it reads 267,500 Won, approximately $250.

I thought I was going to shit my pants. Before I went to the doctors, I just paid for a 6 month gym membership costing around $200. I couldn't believe it, I didn't even have that much money on me. I thought that because I didn't bring my health insurance card that was why I had to pay so much. Since the girls at the front desk didn't speak english, I asked to speak to the doctor who did. She came out and I told her that I have health insurance, but she said that this type of treatment isn't covered by insurance. I must have looked pretty distressed, so the doctor asked the girl how much it was and when the girl told her, she assured me that it was wrong, and that she was sorry. It was 67,500 Won ($60), which isn't great but not something I am going to pay for again. I told them I wasn't coming tomorrow. That was my experience at the doctors... I still have the rash.

Our Trip to Gyeonju

In early October, we had a four day weekend, so we decided to take a trip to an older city in Korea called Gyeonju. The city is about 3 hrs east, close to the coast. We went with our friends Emily, Adrien and Jessie. We took a bus, and actually had a break part way. Even a six hour ride to Ottawa only has one stop. I think they like their pit stops. Anyways, as we got to Gyeonju, we needed to find a place to stay for the night. There were a bunch of love motels, some of them were very interesting, but we were trying to be cheap and found one that was fairy reasonable.

After settling in, we started to tour! There were a lot of things to see within walking distance, the first thing we saw were the Daereungwon Royal Tombs. In ancient times, the Emperors were buried in tombs, that look like giant hills. We were aloud to go into one of the tombs, but photos were not aloud!

Daereungwon Royal Tombs 

We walked around and saw a few other things, such as the Cheomseong Observatory, Gyerim Forest and Anapji Pond. All of these historical sites were beautiful, we really enjoyed being there. 

Anapji Pond

After a long day of walking around, we had some Korean food for dinner, I had bok im bop,  which is a mixture of bi bim bop and kim chi. Robin wanted a soup, so she ordered one, except it was only a small side soup. It was pretty funny, everyone else had these great meals and she got stuck with the small soup. We ended up ordering some more bok im bop for her. That night was an early one, were pretty tired. 

The next say started with us taking an hour bus trip to the coast, to see the Underwater tomb of The Great King Munmu. Although very interesting, there really wasn't much to see, however we enjoyed hanging out on the beach drinking some beer. Robin and other people were playing in the water, it was strange being at the ocean again, but this time, across the world. 

Robin at the beach with the underwater tombs in the background

Our next stop was the famous Bulguksa Temple. It was absolutely gorgeous, the architecture was great! The site is still used as a place for Monks to do their prayers. Several Korean people come to pray there as well. This place isn't just a tourist area for foreigners either, there were a lot of people who came from all over Korea. 

It was very busy this weekend, so it made getting around much harder, we didn't have enough time to get to the Seokguram Grotto, which was another Temple site, but we look forward to going and seeing it again! 

The greatness of Korea!

I have been told that Korea is so safe, and that you can leave your doors open all the time and no one would even bother you. I have my skepticism, but after a couple incidences, I do believe in what people say about Korea being so kind and helpful! A couple weeks ago, I was walking Kip when I decided to start hiking a new trail I had found. This was around 6:00 at night. I ventured on, but soon realized, it is getting dark. Now the trail is lit, but single girl white girl with a new jumpy dog.. TARGET! A lady met up with me on the hike, and with our broken english and korean, she told me she would help me find someone who was walking my way. She asked everyone who was on the path. Finally she found someone who was walking my way, and asked her to take me out of the mountain. Now it is 8:00 so pitch black where there is no light. I was so grateful for that lady and her help. I have not seen her again, but if I do I will thank her a million times over.

So on Halloween, we went to a bar called Dolce. We were having a great time, drinking, dancing and taking photos! Well I look in my purse, and no camera.. Great! I started looking all over. It was nowhere to be seen. I figured in my drunken state I put it down and someone snagged it. Well I go up to the bar to buy a poor me drink, and voila! It is sitting on the bar, waiting for me! Someone had brought it to the bar and hoped the owner would reclaim it. Was I happy, and super impressed. The honesty of people in the country is amazing. I look forward to paying it back!

The Hilariousness of Korea!

About a month ago, my school held a family fun and sports day! We all went to a big gym on a Saturday and all of the kindergarten students and their parents came. It was a day of being active and being with family. We had an MC who hosted and ran the event, the teachers were just there to participate and help out. It started with dancing and warm ups, so silly songs. Then it went into group activities, where the kids would go, then their parents would do it! We had to fill a huge garbage bag with balloons. It was one side competing against the other. Lots of fun things for children and parents to do. Then, it got into races. First he had the girls race. Now I  mean full on 100meter dash going on. Then he had the boys race. Then, he asked the mothers to do it. Well the kids were cheering so loud for their moms, the moms couldn't let down. It was head to head all the races! Well you can imagine what the fathers were like. Super super competitive. They need to be the best! You win a box of clean-ex at the end so this is for all the marbles. Fathers are going full tilt, olympic speeds, when all of a sudden one of the fathers is running so fast, he puts out his hands to stop himself once he hits the stage. (Thats right, we are running towards a stage...can't say I didn't see it coming!) He is running so fast that his momentum crashes his body against the stage and he falls to the ground. Dead silence. Then you hear a ear piercing scream, his wife, now bawling even before knowing what has happened.

Now my first aid self, jumped into action, telling kids to get out of the way and I would go look at him.. What was I thinking! These parents are loaded, I'm saying top doctors, surgeons, optometrists, dentists, all taking a look at him.. They definitely do not need me! The kids were so intrigued by it all! There was blood everywhere! The man is now unconscious on the floor, with a pool of blood, kind of puts a dent in family fun day! All the kids are ushered outside with the parents to have snack and lunch.

It turns out the father, which his son is in my Dream class, ran so hard that when he put his hands out to stop him they collapsed from his momentum. On the way down he knocked his face on the stage. He broke his right arm in several places, and there was a problem with his eyes. An ambulance showed up to take him away, which looks like an ambulance but it is just a man who walks the injured man out.. No stretcher nothing. Then followed by his wife and her friends all bawling! Quite a scene!

The kids are now all ushered back in to more fun and games... can I tell you, the mood definitely changed! But back to singing and dancing, with all forgotten, for a hilarious family fun and sports day.. O and did I mention, the father was in the hospital for 3 weeks because of his injuries...Fun!

The search for Big Buddha!

O the search.. It began when I asked my Korean co-teacher June to write down in Korean Big buddha, so our taxi driver could take us there. Well somewhere in there, there was a miss communication (shocking, knowing me!...) and we ended up at Taejosan Park. It was beautiful with a pond and neat art statues every where. It had tanks and planes to remember the korean war.
Well we were told we could get to big buddha from there if we just went up that little hill someone said.. So up we went.. and up we went... and for about an hour we were going up.. And I mean strait up, bush waking, following a maybe path! We found a family doing the same thing, but the dad was carrying his child! As if.. this was the hardest mountain I had ever climbed and then to carry a baby! Well we asked him "Big buddha-e otoke gayo" which means which way to big buddha, and he pointed us on our way. Well another hour down the road now going from one peak to another, constantly looking over to see if we can see big buddha, cuz I mean, big, green, huge statue! we should see it! These men looked at us and said "no, no, go back! and then down".. so back we went, up and down the peaks to another spot where one man said go down, well we went down alright, we had ropes and trees to hold on to and we came out at a temple.. not big buddha but hey, neat enough! The hike took us 3 hours! and still no big buddha, but some amazing memories and beautiful sites!

When we finally found big Buddha, we realized we were definitely dropped off in the wrong area, we had to walk through a town, after our hike to find it.. so yes some miss communication somewhere! We found the foot of the stairs to walk up, we are certain there is 108 stairs since in the buddhist religion you must bow 108 times to buddha! So up we went, however after hiking for 3 hours those extra 108 stairs were a killer on our legs, everyone else was breezing by us.. they probably thought "O those out of shape foreigners!" But the whole days was worth it when we got to the top and saw Buddha, it was stunning! Pictures do not do it justice, it was breath taking!

One of the best days we have had so far, and it is right in our neighbourhood, Cheonen!

1 Month!

So we made it! ONE MONTH! it flew by! We have loved every minute of it!
From discovering that korean students really only listen to the korean teachers and not the foreign teachers.. great! Eating chicken hearts.. by accident! Discovering our love of hiking.. AMAZING!

We have already started travelling, we have been to Seoul and Gyeonju, on the east coast! We have hiked and got lost on Teajo mountain, we sat and prayed to the big buddha, rang a huge temple bell, eaten street food, put our feet in the Japanese Ocean and fell in love with this country!

We are beyond happy here. Our place feels like home to us now, we have made great friends and we are constantly planning our next trip!

We wish everyone back home could experience this with us! It is a beautiful country and we would love to have anyone come and visit!! :)

Hiking on our Mountain!

There is a mountain which is about a 5-minute walk away from us and we are starting to hike it every morning before Robin goes to work. This morning we took a hike and got to the top where there is a nice Korean structure. The hike has a lot of exposed roots, the rainy season was really bad this year, but they kind of make steps which can make is easier to go uphill. All along the path are workout stations where you can find young men to older ladies doing exercises. Its really quite amazing to see all the people that hike this trail and do exercises, especially those who are at least 65 years old. Here's some pictures!!

Chuseok!

Every year Korea celebrates Chuseok. It is like their thanksgiving. They get 4 days off, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and go home to visit their ancestors and pay respect to them. They wear their Hanboks, cultural gowns. They are beautiful! On Friday at school we had our own celebration with all the kinder kids! The teachers all wore hanboks, and we were all taught how to properly bow. We helped the kids make sonpiang. Its duk, with sugar, red bean and sesame seads. The kids love it!

Jason with the Dream Class!

Me and my Wisdom class! Adorable!

First Visit to Seoul - Seoul Station, Namsan Mountain & N Seoul Tower

This past Monday was a holiday for us, the holiday was Chusok, the Korean thanksgiving. We had a four day weekend, so we decided to go to Seoul. We took a train from the Cheonan train station and it took about an hour to get there. Once we arrived at the Seoul Station, we toured around the neighbourhood. We found Nandaemun market, which has several stands of clothes, shoes, purses and food. We saw the North Seoul Tower on top of Namsan Mountain and I remembered that my kids told me about it, so we walked to it. This is what it looked like:

So we walked to it and walked up all the stairs, the mountain is 262m in elevation, so it was quite a climb.  There was a nice fountain at the bottom and some nice scenery as we walked up. 

Once we got to the top, there was a lot of up there, besides the tower, there was music, lookouts, shops, a restaurant and the famous lovers lock railings. Couples bring locks with them to the base of the tower and lock two locks together. There are thousands of locks, its quite amazing!

After Namsan, we visited an area called Itaewon. This is a very foreign friendly area with lots of shopping and tons of foreign restaurants. We had our first burger in Korea and it was pretty good. The only downside is that they don't use real cheese, everything is sliced!! (Very sad..) After walking around for a while, we took the subway back to Seoul Station and took the KTX home. The KTX is more money, but it was much faster, reaching speeds of around 265 km/h. It was dark, but you could see the flash of lights in the city whizzing by. 

Overall, it was a great day, we saw a lot, but still need to go back and do more adventuring!!

Downtown Cheonen

This past weekend, Jason and I wanted to explore downtown! Friday night, was Emily's birthday, she is also another kinder teacher like myself. A bunch of us took taxis downtown to dolce and then to NV. You can't walk down a street without finding a bar, and there is no closing time! You can be out as late as well whenever, the bar tenders leave when you do! However, we did not stay out that late, but we did get to have our first taste of the downtown night life, as well as our first street meat!

The next day Jason and I wanted to venture to the mall downtown, Shinseigai. We were told to take the 12 bus. Well we were too excited and got off at an outdoor market. When I say outdoor market, I literally mean fish sitting in a tank outside for anyone to grab. Fish, lobster, crabs as big as my head! We figured we would walk to the mall, well 30 minutes later, we finally made it. We were so proud of ourselves, we made it through the streets of downtown Cheonan, without a map I might add! The mall was huge! The way it is designed is that you go to a floor for what you are looking for. So I wanted to check out the clothes, well floor 4 is all ladies clothes. Very convenient I might add! This is where the movie theatre is as well, and they do play English movies! The food was amazing! Seafood every where and cheap! We found one place at the mall where everything is served on a conveyor belt, and you choose a plate depending on the colour which tells you the price! This is one of the great dishes we tried!

That night we partied on the rooftop of some of our friends apartment! IT was tons of fun, we met a bunch of other foreigners from all over the world! It was a great way to end our adventurous day! Topping it of with a Cass beer, only a dollar a bottle.. check out the size of them.. Let me tell you.. One is enough!

Some of our friends from SLP!

Welcome to my kinder classes!

Every morning, I am lucky enough to teach the most adorable group of kids.. ha, sometimes.. some days its like they all planned together to not do anything I say, or do the complete opposite, I don't know how they can be so smart at 4 years old.
My first class is called Wisdom, there is 4 of them in the class. In Korea they are 5 years old, but in Canada they are only 4. In Korea you are 1, when you are born, so I forgive them most of the time when they want to run and run and be silly, because really they are only 4!

My next class is called Dream. They are 6 years old (5 in Canada terms). There is 7 of them, and they give me the run for my money! Hilarious though. I showed them a picture of my mom, dad and Tyler and they said "No Robin Teacher, he isn't your brother, Jay teacher is." They call Jason, Jay teacher and thought since we came together we are brother and sister! So, sorry Ty, they don't think you exist.. I tried! They love Jason though, he came in for lunch on a Friday and they were so excited, every day they ask if he is coming. I don't feel the love! But actually, they do love me!

Exploring Cheonan

So on our first weekend, we decided to explore the city a bit, although we are in the hotel still, the area is fairly close to the school. One thing that really stands out so far is the crazy drivers and the guys on scooters that don't pay attention to the lights. Running a red light is a common occurrence! The people are very friendly, more so than expected. The neighbourhood is supposed to be really safe and very little crime. We have had a couple of experiences with korean food, its really interesting, they really love having tons of side dishes. Our first night we went out for dinner and the beef was cooked right in the middle of the table in front of us, the meat was called galbi.

Last night the whole staff was taken out for dinner, it was a Farewell/Welcome party for those who are new and those who are leaving. It was fun, all the newbies had to introduce themselves and sing a song, Robin and I were supposed to sing "There was a great big moose" together, but we found out we couldn't sing it as a duo, so she stole the song and I ended up doing twinkle twinkle little star in a jazzy poetic way. both performances were spectacular, as I'm sure you can imagine. Afterwords we went to a nori-bang and had our own karaoke room. It was a lot of fun, the staff here are great.

Here's a couple of photos from our adventure so far!

Us at the Airport with our welcome sign

 Part of Cheonan

 View from a pedestrian overpass

 Mountains in the background

In front of our hotel

Korean Food!

Bi Bim Bop - rice with salads and and a mixture of stuff all mixed together. You can also get bok im bop, which is the same just with kimchi.

kim bop - seaweed around rice with salads and vegetables inside it - kind of like sushi but without the fish

Shaboo Shaboo _ its a delicious meal, first its a broth that you cook at your table, it is full of spinach, mushrooms and potatoes. Once it is cooked, you add the meat. Once it is cooked you can eat some. You can add noodles to it, and then drink it like a soup. Once you are done they fry up an egg with rice and vegetables! Delicious!

Galbie - candy meat, Jenny calls it that. Which I totally agree with. You cook the beef in front of you and then eat it with lettuce, rice, kimchi, noodles, garlic and pumpkin. Your choice of what you eat it with!

Galbi

Mandoo - kind of like tortolini, but with pork spinach and garlic inside of it!

Mandoo

Dwoigee Galbi - Pork galbi, marinated and is delicious.

Duk Galbi - Chicken galbi, with duk, red pepper sauce, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. Definatly my favorite, and we have learned how to make it at home!

Duk Galbi

Pork Bone Soup - This is a fav of Jays'. It is a bone of pork with the meet on it, brewing in a broth. I usually like the brothe!








Ramen - Korea's version of Mr. Noodle. However less salty, still not great for you, you can get it everywhere! There are rows of it in the grocery stores! When I make it I usually put my own vegetables and crack an egg in it.

Kimchi Gigae - Kimchi soup really. Em LOVES it! I am not much of a fan, it has huge pieces of tofu in it and kimchi. Usually the broth is spicy.

Bulgogi - Beef eaither spicy of not. It is thinly shaved beef, cooked with vegetables. You eat over rice. Very yummy.

Jupjae - Stir fried vegetables over glass noodles. Quite oily. Also has sesame seeds!

Duk - It is eaten all the time. It is rice pasta, but very very thick. Kids eat it plain, I only like it when it is in something.

We are here!

We made it!

After our flight to JFK  (which was not pleasant at all) then from there to Korea (14 hours - which I slept most of the way!) to being picked up at the airport, yes with someone holding a sign which said "welcome to Korea Robin and Jason" then a 2 hour bus ride to Cheonen where we are working, then taken out for dinner, we have made it!

As soon as we got to our hotel, which, is actually called a "Love Motel" - Koreans do not move in with their boyfriend/girlfriend until they are married, so they are living at home until they are 27,28 etc. So to do their business, they rent a room at a Love Motel! EVERYTHING is provided, from shampoo, soap, cologne, toothpaste, perfume and sometimes condoms! I was told that our boss probably called before and told them not to have them their so he wouldn't be embarrassed! Hilarious! Anyways, we were taken out for dinner by Jenny and Josh, whose apartment we will be taking over and Jessi! REally great time, we had Korean BBQ! you make it all right in front of you! 

So we were given chop sticks.. and well they were really difficult to use, so I guess the waitress noticed how poorly I was using them, and brought me over a fork.. and laughed!

After dinner, Josh and Jenny walked us back to our Love motel and to the emart, much like a walmart but always open! 

Back at our hotel room, Jason figured we need to get some electronics going, since we will be staying here for 9 days. As soon as he plugged his adapter in and then his computer, big spark goes, a fizzle sound and ALL the power goes out! Greta First night in Korea, no one we know is with us, we don't have a phone, so Jason goes down and talks/mimes to the front desk. However he isn't going to tell them he caused it.. so they try everything in our room (in the complete darkness) and after 30 minutes give up and give us this beautiful room down the hall! Did we ever feel embarrassed, however they feel bad so they start hauling all of our stuff out of the room (in the dark) to our new room. I didn't care where they put anything I was so tired I went to bed. We set our alarms and off to sleep.

Well.. didn't Jason set the alarm for 8:30 pm, and I wanted to wake up for 8:30 am since I was getting picked up at 9:30. So, I didn't wake up until 9:20! Of course I would, first day, why not be late! Through myself together and got out the door, at 9:30 exactly! 

What a day, I met all 5 of my classes I will be teaching Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I met parents, co-workers, the bank people, the hotel people, my head is spinning. One lady stopped me on the street and kept moving her hands up and down over my dress I had on (which was completely respectful here) not knowing what she was saying, and she wouldn't let me leave, I kept bowing and saying "thank you". Jenny said that if she was smiling it was probably a good thing, which she was, but who knows!

I am back from my day of teaching, full of information, and ready to take on the next day! and hopefully wake up in time for tomorrow!

WE HAVE OUR FLIGHT!

So it is official, we leave MONDAY AUGUST 22!
We will be flying out of Toronto at 6:25 am Monday morning... to New York.
From there we will wait in New York (can I already smell shopping...) and leave at 1:00 pm and arrive in Incheon at 4:10 pm. It is only a 14 hour flight from New York to Incheon. However in Canadian time we will be arriving at 3:10 am..

I don't know if internet will be set up when we get there, once we do you will all know we arrived!

HERE WE GOO!!

Robinism!

So many of you may know, I say funny things at unexpected times. I find they make sense, but usually they do not in the context we are talking about! I figured since I am going to be teaching English to Kindergarteners,  I may have a few "Robinisms" as my family calls them!


I'll continuously update this page to let you know what "Robinisms" I have said.


1. foopla: As meant to be Faux Pas. Said to my dad when I was playing cards and made a mistake "that was such a foopla!"

Count Down Begins!

As of now we do not have our tickets... BUT the count down is starting! We have estmated that we will be leaving August 22. Our visas are in processing so it is still a waiting game! I'll feel much better once I have those tickets in my hand!