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!