It looks a little blustery. 

oops, wrong caption. The little red umbrella in a blizzard was the view from my window. The giant snowman is a prime example of your western 3-ball snowman. The other snowpile with a head is a prime example of an Asian style snowman. Both were tons of fun to build. 

The view from my window around 10:30am 

SNOW DAY!!!!

Yes, I can hardly believe those words myself. After the first tiny dusting of flakes that didn't even linger for a moment on Christmas Eve, we've been bereft of the white stuff. Our days have been sunny, clear and chilly. Until today ~

I woke up around 9am and peeked out the window. The day was cloudy, but bare. I could see some students playing soccer out on the field. I made myself some coffee and wandered into my office to check my e-mail and scratch my cat. 'Round about 10:30 a took a load of laundry out to my balcony (where my washing machine is) ... and what did I see?!?!?!? Yes, that's right!! A BLIZZARD!! Snow everywhere! It was the biggest snowstorm Daegu has seen in well over 4 years. Immediately, I started phoning or text-messaging all my friends. I rustled up some breakfast, bundled up, and sat on my (unheated) balcony to watch the amazing event. As I finished my last bite, my phone rang. John and Hee-Jin were heading out to build a snowman. Would I join them? OF COURSE!! So, bundled up like woolen sausages, we joined others already outdoors. Together, we constructed the largest snowman I've ever been a part of making. (I'll post pictures tomorrow). It was great. After our snow folks were completed, and dressed, we headed around to the back of the building where there's a steep hill. Armed with heavy plastic bags and a snowboard, we proceeded to create and enjoy the best toboggan hill this side of Seoul. For the Canadians, it was a typical and welcome winter day. For the South Africans, it was a unique experience. Tracy was apprehensive about going down a hill on her bottom, but after the first run, she was hooked.

When we were all tuckered out, Tracy, Jen, and Annelie joined me at my apartment for hot chocolate and movies. (When I got back upstairs, I peeked out the back window and saw a slew of neighbourhood children already screaming and sliding down our hill on scraps of cardboard). It was the perfect snow day. I know that all of you who have been shoveling, slipping and shivering for the past 3 months may not be as excited as I am, but even though we were all around the 30 year mark, it really felt like we were 7 years old again enjoying the first big snowfall of the year. It was wonderful.

Ummm... Happy New Year!

Hi, yes, I know. I haven't updated my Blog recently. But hey, after the thrilling tales of my talented feline, it's been hard to find something to say of equal calibre. To be honest, I still don't have anything to say... Maybe I can make something up....

... nope.

Back to the truth. Yesterday I went to see Ocean's Twelve with my afternoon conversation class. (Their idea, not mine). It was nice ~ and a pretty easy class to teach! The movie was good, but I think something was lost in the subtitles. (The movie was in English, but the subtitles were in Korean). After the movie, we went for dinner, and I asked my students what they thought of the movie. The girls all liked it (Brad Pitt, George Clooney) and the guys all liked it (Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta Jones) but after a few moments, they all started to say "I didn't really understand it. It was confusing. What happened?"

Oh, and I've just remembered. I plugged my name into the Super Hero Name Generator (which can be found on Ben's Blog). I was rather distraught to find that my official super hero name is The Green Philosopher. I don't think I'll be getting my own comic book with that one anytime soon. Everyone else in my family has cool names. sigh.

There, the proof is in the pudding...well, actually, the proof is in the toilet. I don't think I'd want it in my pudding. 

Mission Accomplished.

Hooray! My cat is now toilet trained!!! Not litter trained, toliet trained. She does her business in the toilet (but she can't flush). No more litter boxes for me (well, not that I used the litter box, so it's not really for me...) Three Cheers for Catticus!!

Christmas Eve at the Police Station

So, how did you spend Christmas Eve this year? I spent mine in the local Police Station. Here's the story:

I caught a ride with my friend Justin to Costco to pick up some food for Christmas. On the way there, a delivery truck was doing some severe tailgaiting (Not uncommon in this part of the world). Justin braked slightly a few times to get the guy to back off... but he didn't. Finally, Justin put his hand out the window and motioned for the guy to go around us.

The truck driver though that Justin had given him the finger, so he pulled up beside us, looked down into my window, then drove his truck into our lane (while we were still there!) He swiped the side of Justin's car, scratching the paint and denting the side a bit, but nobody was hurt at all. Then the guy stopped his truck right infront of us, and as Justin got out of the car, he got out of his truck and started pushing Justin. He refused to give us his lisence #, insurance or phone numbers (all of which drivers are required by law to exchange after an accident). As it happened, a Korean friend of ours was driving by and saw us all standing around in the middle of the road, so he stopped and translated for us and called the police.

The cops came, took our statements, then escorted us all to the police station. We sat around while the cops gave the truck driver a lecture on recklessness. Then, the police asked where we were from. We said "Canada", which then prompted the cop to give the driver a lecture on being kind and showing a good face to foreigners. Finally, after some discussion, the police suggested that it would save everyone a lot of trouble if we didn't engage the insurance companies, and agreed to let the guy pay us in cash for the damage(!?). So then we had to wait for a guy from a local autobody shop to come in and estimate the cost of the damage. (about $100) Then we had to wait for the guy to go to the bank machine and get the money. We were a little skeptical of a cash transactio, but the the cops mentioned that this was really the best way ~ it would save them paperwork, it would save us the time and trouble of engaging translators to help us process the paperwork, and Justin wouldn't actually have to get his car fixed he could just pocket the money! lovely.

The nice part of all this is that as we were in the police station, a gentle snowfall (the first of the year here) made it look a little bit like Christmas Eve afterall.

Just a Superstar kind of day...

In grand Korean style, my univeristy is hosting a number of recruitment events for highschool students. As part of the program, the English teachers have been asked to participate. "No problem", thought I. ...

My task was simple. I had to go up on stage; introduce myself; and give a quick, fun quiz. Reality was a little less unobtrusive. I found myself standing at the back of a dark, crowded auditorium, waiting (along with a Chinese exchange student) for our names to be called. When our names were finally called, the lights dimmed, a popular rock song started booming, and a spotlight followed us down the long aisle as hundreds of highschool students cheered. I felt like The Ultimate Warrior and Oprah all at the same time. Once we'd finished the proscribed quiz show (and the MC co-erced me into singing a few bars of Yesterday by the Beatles), we made our way back down the aisle as students reached out their arms to touch us/shake our hands. Afterwards, some of them approached us to get their pictures taken.

Just another day in the life of a foreigner.

4:42 pm Office. Have spent most of afternoon reading sequel to Briget Jone's Diary (Briget Jones: Edge of Reason). As a result, have spent remainder of afternoon, and most likey evening, with disjointed (almost)30-something single woman dialogue running through my head. Even worse, it's coming bereft of modifiers and aritcles AND in an unconvincing British accent. Next time, must remember to read something intelligent, containing properly constructed sentences.

4:58 pm. Still narrating own life with botched accent. Must stop, as am now starting to fear opening my mouth in case horrid mental narration becomes audible.

Well, I guess it's time for an update...

... My plants are all still alive. None have been voted off yet. I've discarded the idea of plastic ones as that removes the challenge...and I'd have to dust them.

... I'm still going to Yoga class 2~3 times a week, and I like it even though my instructor tries to coax my limbs into the proper position then gives up muttering "impossible. impossible."

... I got accepted for the Master's of Applied Linguistics program at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia. I can do most (all?) of the coursework while I'm still living and working in Korea. I start next semester with "Grammar: Meaning and Discourse". fun, eh?

... I wanted to spend the day taking pictures around campus (our leaves are still lovely colours) but of course, since it's the weekend, it's cloudy and gross.

That's all.

STRETCH......

Since finding myself to be just around the corner from old age, I have joined a Yoga class. The martial arts offered on every corner here seemed to be too daunting for my limited physical capabilities, (I was afraid I'd fall over), so I opted for a more sedate form of exercise. It was harder than I expected, but I feel pretty good now. However I must confess that even in yoga I fell over...while laying on my back. Yes, it's true.

In other news, my plant died from the rampant epidemic of "Drought --oops! -- then drown" in my home. The good news is that I got 6 new plants for my birthday. It'll be like a giant game of horticultural Survivor in my place. They're just waiting to see which plant will be 'voted off' next.

Happy Halloween everyone.

Just thought you'de like a look at my 'new hair'. Actually, it's just a wig for a birthday/dress-up party on Friday night. We had a good time, but a I had to wrestle a fierce pineapple on the fruit-plate to get the little mini-umbrella. (It looks better on me)

I've picked up a couple of quotes lately (okay, okay, my brother-in-law e-mailed 2/3rds of them to me ) and I thought that I'd better write down before I forget them, and now you get to read them too!

1) (Thanks, Walter) This one seems to sum up at least my style of Journal writing pretty well.

"People don't keep journals for themselves. They keep them for other people. Like a secret they don't want to tell but they want everyone to know." -Marilyn Manson ~ I never would have thought I'd be quoting Marilyn Manson, but there you have it.

2) I was a little tired coming home from Seoul a few weeks ago, and bust up laughing when I overheard this from a guy trying to impress the girl he was with...

"Oh, don't read that. That book is absolute garbage. It's not worth your time. Of course, I've never read it myself" (He was referring to the best selling novel Tuesdays With Morrie)

3) My 4 year old niece is a genius, and has managed to discern my hitherto most well kept secret....

"Does Auntie Janice live on that planet"? - Kaitlyn (while pointing to the Moon)

Sunday as Sunday should be...sort of.

What a lovely day. The sun was shining, a breeze was blowing, and I got to go to church for the first time in a while!

I went to the Gospel Service at Camp Walker with my friend Glenys. This was the first time I'd ever been to a black, southern, hand clappin' "Can I get a Witness?" kind of service. It was fabulous. The message was good and the members of the congregation were really friendly.

It was also the first time I'd been on an American military base. It was..... American. And Military. I had to go through a double guarded gate, but once I was inside it looked (and sounded) just like America. It was a bit of a shock to just walk through a gate and wind up in another country.

Anyway, it was a good day. I met lots of nice people, and saw another part of the city that I'd never been to before. I'm sure I'll do it again sometime.

As the leaves perform their gentle autumn dance and change colours, so to does my hair. Just like a diseased maple turns an unnaturally gross reddish hue, so has my hair turned a ghastly maroon shade.

I swear, I pointed to the colour swatch that was a light auburn...NOT K-car interior upholstery maroon. drat. Oh well, it's dramatic, and the cut's much nicer than that awful perm most of you had to look at over the summer. (sorry).

with the exception of me from the eyebrows up, everything here is good. My students (some of whom would rather drink than study) are sweating their way through midterm exams, and will emerge no worse for wear on the other side. My co-workers and I are enjoying cooler weather, and looking forward to our winter vacations. My kitty is spastic, and I like her most of the time.

I'm also reading a great book right now called "Still life with Rice". It's a Korean-American author, writing her grandmothers biography. It's a fantastic story, and really helps me understand a little bit more where on earth some of the older folks in this country are coming from. The generation gap here is huge. Changes that took 40 or 50 years to come about in Canada are taking place here in the span of 10 or 20 years. I wonder what the next decade will bring....

Some Good Advice

If you ever decide to ride your bike to the grocery store (because it's a perfectly beautiful autumn day), and your path is paved almost entirely in uneven cobblestones, and you plan to bring your groceries back in your Mary Poppins bike basket... don't buy eggs.

In other news, I haven't managed to kill either my cat OR my new plant yet. Both greenery and furrery are growing nicely. But my plant smells better....

And finally, I had my professional evaluation the other day. (My boss comes to observe one of my classes, and makes comments). Apparently, I have an "impeccable blackboard". I guess all those hours playing in the basement pretending I was a teacher and writing on the underside of the pingpong table really paid off.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
I hope you're all having a lovely holiday... unless you're not from Canada, in which case HA HA!!!

I travelled to Seoul with a group of friends on Saturday. We went our seperate ways during the day, then met at the Grand Hilton for the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Thanksgiving Dinner. As you can tell from the title, it wasn't as cozy as home, but there was some fabulous turkey and all the usual fixin's (if you count fully dressed salmon as a usual Thanksgiving fixin.) Many of the Canucks present brought Korean friends with them, and you could hear explanations down the buffet line. "That's the turkey...yes, it's really a bird that big. It's like a giant chicken." "Those are brussel sprouts... don't take any." "Oh! Beets! Like we used to have at Grandmas. Don't get the juice on you". etc. etc.

On Sunday, we had ANOTHER dinner for 7 or 8 of us who wanted to pitch in to whip something up. The atmosphere was much closer to 'homelike', but there was no turkey...

I followed up a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend (the weather was also perfect) with a flu shot today. Now my arm hurts. ouch.

I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving, and loved ones nearby to share it (and the leftovers) with.

So, more about Kyoungju. For those interested in a speck of Asian history, I present the following snippet:

HISTORY BIT: A long long time ago, (about 100 BC) on a Continent far far away, (Asia) three l'il 'ol city-state type areas bickered, fought, and sought alliances with China. The runt of the litter (the Shilla kingdom) was seen to be the least interested in wealth or war. However, as the stories of Clifford the Big Red Dog will tell you, the runt of the litter sometimes turns out to be big stuff. It was the little Shilla kingdom that eventually united the three feuding Kingdoms and created the first unified Korea. Kyoungju was the Capital for 1,000 years during the Shilla period. That's a lot of history packed into one little city. It is often called "The Museum Without Walls" becuase you can't take 10 steps without tripping over a piece of history. (Well, in my case, I can't take 10 steps without tripping over my own two feet...but tripping over history is better).

'WHAT I DID THERE' BIT: I've been to Kyoungju before, so a few of the things I saw were repeats...but worth it. It was also great this time because it was Chuseok, or Korean Thankgiving. Everyone was at their family homes, so there weren't many tourists. We went to Sokuram, which is considered to be one of Asia's finest examples of Buddha. It's way up on top of a mountain, and he's got a big jewel in his forhead, so when the sun was rising or setting, you would be able to see it for miles around. The next stop was Bulguksa, a temple, which (like Sokuram) was built around 500 A.D. It's gorgeous, and has what is considered to be "The most beautiful wall in the world". It was pretty. It's contructed with large, smooth rocks and no mortar.

THEN - the bonus of the trip... we were walking around the lake after a rotating Italian dinner. (Rotating because the three of us couldn't decide what to order, so at 5 minute intervals, we'de pass our plates clockwise and enjoy 3 dishes instead of just one.) Anyway, we were stuffed and needed to walk it off. We came across an outdoor amphitheatre (is that redundant?) and sat down. As we looked around, it looked like the stage was being set up for a show! About 20 minutes later, a show of Korean folk and court dances started. It lasted an hour, was incredibly professional, and was FREE!! I assure you that my mouth was gaping through most of the performance... I looked just like a slack jawed yokel. The best of the best was "The Dance of the Three Drums". It's difficult to explain, so when Eva gets her pictures downloaded, I'll post one here. (Silly me thought "I don't need my camera, we're just going for dinner".)

And that was my weekend.

We spent a great weekend in Korea's historic city of KyoungJu. To keep me happy, we trolled through the museum (where this happy little buddha "with lively eyebrows" lives). We also saw some of the most incredible examples of Korean music and dance. It truly was one of those "wow, I can't believe I'm here" weekends. I'll tell you more about it when it's not past my bedtime. 

My Vacation, Part II
(Since Ben threatened me with Internet Extinction if I didn't write more soon)

On the other side of Canada, one will find a large forest called "the Maritimes". Etymologists tell me that that means it has something to do with water and oceans. My eyes tell me that it means it's full of trees and people I love.

In the few days I was there, I was blessed with the hospitality of Jen&Norm&Noah, and Mitch&Mel&Maren&Malcolm. I got to do (almost) all the things I liked to do in Moncton... Saturday morning at the market, Chapters with Sara, church service at the Pool, breakfast at Dora's with Jen and Jill, and Curry with the Marshalls, and the Superstore with Mel. It almost made me wonder why I ever left...

At the very very end of my summer I found myself in Ontari-ari-ari-o. There was much to be done in that particular province. First and foremost, I got to see my precious l'il niece and nephew. Infact, I didn't just get to see them, I also got to talk to them, and hug them and read them stories. I found out that the kid's show "Blues Clues" has a new (and more handsome) host, and that it is possible to memorize Dr.Seuss's "Bartholomew and the Ooblek" in only 127 readings. I found out that
walking to the mailbox can take a really long time when it's important to discover, pick up, examine, play with and carry home all the leaves, rocks, flowers and bugs along the way, and that goodnight kisses from little lips can make me want to cry.

I also found out that while eating sushi rolls in Korea is a pleasant experience, eating sushi rolls in Ontario will land you in the hospital for a day with a number of painful and unpleasant symptoms. Only, I forgot that I'd eaten the sushi until AFTER I got home from the hospital...where the doctor had told me, "It's either gas or appendicitis. Go home. If it gets worse, it's your appendix. If it gets better, it's gas". After 2 days of it not getting better, but not getting worse, we figured it was the sushi.

While in Ontario, I also went on a little road trip. I drove down to Brockville (city of my youth) and Kingston. In Brockville, I got to visit my wonder-friend Jay. He taught me how to spit when I was in highschool. Neither one of us have honed our skills lately. I guess we're growin' up. Still, it was fabulous to see him, and to finally meet his girlfriend. In Kingston, I saw Gord. We used to spend all day every day together when I was in highschool, but I haven't seen him in nearly 10 years. We went to the pond and caught frogs, then rode the ferry back and forth across the bay. It was just like old times.

I also had the joy of going with my sister and her kids to "The Farm". You know how there's always one place that you think of when you think of your childhood? A place where you can close your eyes and picture it so clearly that you can almost smell it? Eddie and Eleanor's farm is that place for me. Eleanor even spent the day before we got their baking loaves of fresh bread because "Janice liked my bread when she was little." And let me tell you, I still do! We had such a good day. We all climbed into the back of the truck and drove out to the bush to feed apples to the cows, and pet the new calf 'Silas'. We climbed hay bales with the kids, and ate pickled carrots with lunch (how I'd missed them).
And all the while, we got to visit with Eddie and Eleanor. I don't know how they've managed to stay the same, even though I've added 23 years since I lived there...

It was such a strange summer holiday. It was full of so many things I could never do if I still lived in Canada, and may never to again. It was peppered with so many hugs of greeting, only to be salted with so many tears of goodbyes.

Sorry, I'm getting a little sentimental. I think it's Diana Krall singing in the background and my cat sleeping on my lap that's making me too mellow to write anything perky. Anyway, that was my summer, and I loved it. Thanks to all who made it so wonderful.

Hi! I know I haven't finished my vacation details yet, but I thought I'd add a few words about how my new semester is shaping up. First, as you can see, I have a new friend. Her name is "Catticus". Apart from that, I had my 1st pottery class of the semester, and have chosen to teach an overtime writing class (8am every day). It's nice to be back, and I'm enjoying all my classes (I have a lot of repeat students from last semester), and I love my new apartment. ... oh, and we've had tons of rain from the typhoon that hit Japan, but no high winds. That's all for now. 

My Summer Holidays. Part One..... by Janice Hillmer.
(Please note: This essay is not in chronological order. Infact, it's not in any logical order at all)

This Summer, I went to Canada. Canada is a very cold country - even in the summer, because all the parents have control over the air conditioners. If you ever go to Canada, and there are any parents there at the time, bring a sweater. Canada is a lovely country which seperates the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. (If it didn't, the oceans would fight). The Pacific Ocean, being more agressive, requires huge mountain ranges to keep it from trying to attack the Atlantic.

It was nestled into a spot of land in the middle of these mountains that my relatives on my Mom's side decided to throw a family reunion. It was a terrific spot right on the banks of a little itty bitty , but clear as crystal river. There were about 60 of us enjoying a weekend of eating and talking and eating and visiting and eating and socializing... and nobody worried about that ol' Ocean trying to make its way across the continent. Although, if it had tried to make a move, that might have been okay - it would have doused the terrible fires raging through BC this summer. The fires didn't affect our reunion, but we could see the smoke sometimes while we were driving.

A couple of times, I dared to venture closer to the Ocean. Once, to visit Jodi and her new husband. We had a great time eating and visiting, and eating and going to see MacBeth. Nothing like a little bit of murder and mayhem to brighten up a Sunday afternoon. It was a good visit.

The next time I approached the Pacific was with my parents to visit Uncle Ken & Aunt Luella. Uncle Bert came over too, because we buried Grandma's ashes that week. It was hard because I miss her so much, but I was glad I could be there. The visit wasn't all sadness though (it just doesn't seem possible to stay sad for long with the family I've got!) We all went to see Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" ... and laughed so hard I thought my face was going to get stuck in a permanent toothy grin.

In the great battle between the Ocean's, there is also a vast bit of neutral territory called the "Prairies" . Infact, I think the prairies are themselves a big oceanic wannabe. They are flat lands covered with 'amber waves of grain'. I know the americans used the phrase in a song of theirs, but it must have been after seeing Canada's grain ocean. I loved driving through this part of Canada. You could see anything coming near the road for miles and miles. Not like the mountains where you never knew what was ready to pounce into your lane around the next corner.

Some of my relatives have chosen to live in this part of the country. These must be the relatives who hate to play 'hide and seek'. (an entirely useless enterprise in a place where there is nowhere to hide. As I said, you can see everything and anything for miles around). I was so happy to be able to spend a few days with my cousin's in Calgary. Calgary is much easier to get to than Bolivia, where they were living before. As always, it was great to see them and laugh a whole lot. Again, I was worried about the face-sticking problem. Fortunately, I'm still able to manage a scowl when necessary.

I also got to spend a whirlwind "Hi Mom! I'm home to do my laundry" visit in Regina where my folks have moved (Dad retired) to be closer to my mom's mom (in English, we call such a relation 'Gramma'). The stay in Regina was a flurry of activity as we all prepared to embark on the above mentioned travels and visits. I was really glad that in the midst of the activity, we were able to make a trip to Semens. My Grampa is buried there, and that trip made me cry too, since I still really miss my Grampa. We also went 'visiting' in the Semens cemetary ~ since the town is so small, Gramma knew lots of stories about the other folks buried there. On the way out, I also got to hear tons of stories about Gramma growing up in the Prairies. I loved it.

Okay, I've been at this for an hour, and if you're still reading it, you might want to make sure you haven't suffered eye strain. I've covered about 1/2 my vacation, and will finish up soon.

Hey Everyone! I'm now back in the Land of the Morning Calm, and have discovered how to add pictures to my Blog! Hooray! I'll post a more detailed summary of my holiday soon. 

Walking the Dog...

My friend Marietjie is in Thailand at the moment, and I've been persuaded to take her dog for a walk while she's away. Today we chose a little path that meanders through the woods, beside a pond, over hill and over dale. It's really quite pretty - today I watched tiny tadpoles using impossibly tiny tails to propel impossibly rotund bodies through a puddle. I saw little butterflies with perriwinkle wings, and dragonflies with irradescent blue bodies careening through the air. I saw copious amounts of white flowers on long green stems crowding the hills, and I saw green leafy plant-like kinds of things...as one would expect to see in the woods. Overall, the experience made me absolutely thrilled to be alive, excited about life, and incredibly pleased that I don't own a dog of my own.

Today my summer students wrote their midterm exams, and seem to have done a pretty good job of it. When they sign up for a class, the teachers name is in Korean. For my name, that looks like 제니스 힐머 - but when the students translate it back into the Roman Alphabet, it tends to come out as "Jenis Hirma" instead of Janice Hillmer. It makes me smile.

16 more sleeps until I sleep in Canada (excluding possible naps, or dozing on the plane)

I Love Learning New Things...

I love living in Korea, because I learn so many new things. Today I was lucky enough to get a double whammy.

1st I learned that just because the pop machine says "Mountain Dew", doesn't mean you won't get a cup full of Pineapple Demi-Soda.

2nd I learned that if you have just procured a cup of Pineapple Demi-Soda, (which you thought was Mountain Dew) and your student brings you a coffee ... you need to make a choice. Pick one and stick to it. Don't try to alternate sips of Pineapple Demi-Soda and Coffee during your lesson. You'll wind up with a mouth full of curdled milk taste, with a tinge of coffied pineapple and nothing you can do to fix it. That can be unpleasant.

Drip...Drip..Drip

Ugh. It's hot...it's humid...and then hot some more. Don't get me wrong, I love hot weather I've just lately found myself to be getting quite jealous. I'm sweating away like crazy, and my Korean friends AREN'T. I don't know if it's physiological, biological, environmental or dietary..but whatever it is it's just not fair.

The regular semster here has ended, and some of my students did really well. I was pleased. My student evaluations seem pretty good too - so my students either really like me, or just raced through the evaluation without reading the questions.

One of my most cheerful students is off to join the army this summer, but he made sure I'd still be here in 2 years when he's done so he can take my 2nd semester class in 2006.

Now I'm 3 days in to my intensive course. That's an entire semester taught in 3 weeks. Seriously - I started teaching the classes on Tuesday, and their midterm is next week. And my class is HUGE! Most conversation classes are capped at 33 students ~ since this is a special class I've got 53 in it instead. I can't even move up and down the aisles to check their work!

23 more sleeps until I sleep in Canada. For those of you good at Math like me... then not counting today and the day I go home, that's only 22 more days.

Take care, and I hope to see lots of you soon.

Some great advertising...

During the hot summer months here in Korea, I've been drinking a canned iced-tea called "Ceylon Tea". Underneath it's name is a little poem that just make me smile every time I drink it:

Ceylon Tea.
Now dream of Tea is distilled each pure drop
a tear of joy
A vision of paradise for men
lost in their dreams
Sailing the Indian Ocean towards new horizons
Ceylon Tea.

There, now isn't that so much nicer than a big splash of colour declaring "NOW - with even MORE aritficial sweetners!!" or something of that ilk?

Guest List...

Hi! One more list, but this one's not mine. My sister has started making a list of food she won't eat. Looking it over, I've realized that I've eaten everything on it. Let me know what you refuse to eat!

Here's what we've got so far

(1) Cold KD. A personal weekend breakfast favourite.
(2) kimchi. Korean pickled cabbage, usually with anchovies
(3) Bon DaeGi. Steamed silkworm larvae
(4) Haggis. You already know.
(5) Anything roasted on a stick with its body still fully intact.

In other news, we had a birthday party for a South African friend here. I love birthday parties at Daegu University ~~ we sing "Happy Birthday" in so many languages. This time we had English, Korean, Afrikaans, Polish, French and Spanish. I like the Polish one the best. Next time I'm at one of your birthday parties, you'll get to hear it too!

So the Americans do it too...

While I was living in China, I got a big laugh out of what we called "put your longjohns on" day - becuase that particular calendar day indicated that it was now officially cold, and "take your longjohns off day" which was also a calendar holiday marking the official start of warm weather. Nevermind that it had been sunny and warm for weeks already. If it wasn't yet the designated day, your warm woolies stayed on.

In Korea, I've discovered the official "Air conditioner" Day ~ which is still another 2 weeks away despite the fact that I've been wearing T-shirts since April, and have been dripping in 30 degree weather for over a month now.

I had always chalked it up to being a quirky Asian phenomenon. Now, however, I've discovered that Americans have Memorial Day to start their 110 days of summer. The American Forces TV station here had a huge number of commercials during the Memorial Day weekend urging their service men and women to take appropriate precautions while enjoying their summer activities.... activities we've been enjoying (apparently without taking necessary precautions) for several months now. I was instructed to give my bike a safety check "after keeping it in storage all winter" ... except for 1 snowy week in January, I never stopped riding it! Anyway, all this to say that Americans also seem to use a specific calendar day giving them permission to enjoy summer - even though it feels like it's been here for ages already. I think maybe Canadians have such short summmers, we judge our seasons by the weather, not the calendar.

Happy Birthday Buddha...

Since today is Buddha's 2568th (?) Birthday, and about 1/4 of the Korean population is Buddhist, today is a holiday.

A few moments ago, I was enjoying this holiday with a cup of coffee and a good book on my balcony - when my quiet morning was shattered by the most horrific racket I've ever heard. It was louder and more prolonged even than any rucus I've caused since I was 5.

Moving aside my bamboo curtains, I peered down to discover the source of the commotion. It turns out bricks are being delivered to the back of our building, and they are being delivered in the following manner:

An entire load of bricks is stacked on the back of a bongbong truck (A Korean style pick-up truck). The solitary brick delivery man is standing in the bed of the truck pushing all the bricks row-by-row off the stack. All the bricks clink-a-chink together, until they go tumbling and rumbling over the metal ridge of the truck and onto the pavement below. So it's an entire prolonged symphony of "Clink-clink-chink - bricks, bang-clang-bang - metal, crash-bang-clatter - pavement." Oh well, at least he decided to wait until 11 o'clock, and didn't start conducting such noise at 5am.

Speaking of 5 am, that's when the crazy rooster has gotten warmed up. Most roosters, as we all know, go "Cock-a-doodle-doo" in their own special rooster way. Not the nutcase that lives in the village beside my building. This lazy rooster wakes up early early early every every every morning, and cries out "Cock-a....." "Cock-a...." So there I lay in bed, every nerve on edge, waiting in vain for the "Doodle-Doo". It never comes. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that my life would one day be lacking in sufficient "Doodle-Doo"'s, but lo and behold, that day has come.

No More Monkeys...

As a person approaches the age of 30, (give or take a couple of years), they should receive a reminder in the mail. This reminder should state "Monkey Bars were not made for people of your age." Yes, today I forgot that I'm no longer 10 years old. We were hiking an exercise trail in Seoul (some of you may remember Participaction Parks - it's a similar concept). When lo & behold, we saw some Monkey Bars, all my mature restraint and decorum left me, and I decided to play. Now I'm sore and bruised. ouch.

I've changed my mind...

After considering the list of 100 places I posted last time, I've changed my mind. I've decided to save myself hours of jetlag and tons of money by making my own list. Of places I've already been, and would like to see again, and would strongly encourage others to visit if they have the chance. And so... in no particular order:

1 - The Great Wall of China. (China) Sure it's just old bricks, but by golly there are alot of them.

2 - Harbin Ice Festival. (China) It's cold, and dark, and cold some more, but it's a stunning combination of breathtaking beauty and bizarre tackiness.

3 - Hershey Chocolate Factory. (Canada) 'nough said.

4 - Blue Lagoon (Iceland). Gorgeous, blue warm water 12 months a year. It's a huge natural spa surrounded by black volcanic rock. Very cool.

5 - Daechun Beach Mud Festival (Korea). Lots and lots of soft silky mud to play in. Everyone is covered from head to foot in smooth mud.

6 - Bay of Fundy (Canada). Same muddy reasons as above, but also some gorgeous hiking trails.

7 - Museum of London. (England) Hours and Hours of museum fun. It traces the history of London from pre-Roman days to the present. It's fabulous.

8 - JeunJu Paper Museum. (Korea) Yes, it sounds like an absolute nightmare of a way to spend an afternoon. But there are many hidden amusements within. I've never laughed so hard, or for so long in a museum before.

9 - Q'Appelle Valley. (Canada)They look like mountains that got shaved. The top is all flat, like the Prairies should be...then poof, you're driving in a valley.

10 - Inside my Tent. (Anywhere). It could be pitched in my back yard, and it would still feel like an adventure.

Okay - so there are 10 of my favourite places. I also have a list of 4 places I would like to go. Dorking (England), Ko PiPi (Thailand), Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and Disco Island (Greenland). Why? For the pure and simple reason that the names amuse me.

One more list...

As some of you know, this year I'm reading my way through the BBC's list of most loved English books. Not all of them are great, but at least it gets me reading things I usually wouldn't choose.

Now, thanks to Ben's Blog, I've decided to start working my way through the top 100 wonders of the world. Hopefully by the time I retire, I'll have seen at least one on each continent.

I've been to
#2 - the Great Wall of China (9 thumbs up)
#16 - the Forbidden City (8 thumbs up)
#73 - New York Skyline (I couldn't see my thumbs. It was dark)
#88 - Statue of Liberty (I was far away, so it was the size of 1 thumb)
#94 - British Museum. (5 thumbs up.)

Let me know where you've been! And assume you have 10 thumbs to rate 'em with.

And the beat goes on...

Next week is Festival Week here at DaeguDae. Already there are tents, stages, lights and mammoth speakers being erected around campus. It should be a fun week. My students are already excited about it, and have been inviting me to come visit their tents (each faculty has a beer tent, with snacks, games and, well, ... beer).

We're expected to teach next week...even though the music is so loud we'll hardly be able to hear ourselves talk, only 4 or 5 of the keenest students will actually come to class, and even they will be hung-over. So, I've told my students that I'll be there, but I won't be taking attendance. To my students, this translates as "Oh, I don't have to go to class."

On Saturday, 2 of our teachers will be close to their birthdays, so all the teachers are getting together to play volleyball and/or frisbee in the afternoon, and rounding off the evening with a big BBQ bash. There are big brick BBQ's in a little park near our apartments, and everyone is always up for a good reason to slap some meat on the coals.

All this makes me realize that I've been here for 3 months (nearly a whole semester), and I still don't feel as though I've been working. I feel as though I've been on holidays ever since the weather turned nice. Ahhhhhh..... Life is Good.

Just to prove you wrong....

On occasion, some of my friends accuse me of having an exciting life. In order to dispel such vicious rumours, and prove once and for all that my life is really pretty dull, I'll relate how I'm spending my Saturday.

I have spent 3 hours doing laundry and cleaning my closet. As a reward for finally packing away my winter wear, I made myself a glass of Ice Cappuccino, and sorted my coins. The thrills never cease.

While sitting on my floor surrounded by coins, I got to thinking... mostly about how much I like my new colour of toenail polish, but also about 3 other things.

1) There's not a great deal of creativity going into coin-size in this world. Except for the pictures, there's no difference between a Canadian quarter and a Korean Baek Won. A Canadian Dime and a Singapore dime are also about the same size. The Japanese do get some credit for showing some spunk in their coins with big holes in them.

2) Coins say a great deal about what's important to a culture. Korean coins have ancient temples, Great Historical figures and rice. (As an interesting aside, the first modern South Korean coins were minted in 1959...in Philidelphia) Canadian coins on the other hand have leaves and weird animals. I'm starting to think of some other ideas we can submit to the Canadian mint... suggestions, anyone?

3) I'll come across an old coin, or one that looks like it's got some wear and tear, and I think about everything it's been through. Riots, Revolutions, floods... all kinds of things. Then I start to think about where it's been...pockets, sidewalks, gutters, and I start to get grossed out, and go wash my hands.

What a day...

I'd forgotten how much I (sometimes) like to travel. I finished teaching at 10:00am yesterday, and today was a holiday. With a mid-week weekend available, I headed to Daejeon. Mike is heading back to Canada on Saturday, so I thought I'd wish him a fond farewell (until he comes back in June...)

Coming back this evening, I got on the train ~ with the Pusan soccer team. (drool) But they were in a different car, so the excitement ends there. I also discovered that my friend John and his girlfriend were on the same train. At our stop, his girlfriend continued on and we headed for the exit. Usually, I take the train - then the subway for 20 minutes - then a bus for 40 minutes before I'm home. However, John filled me in on a secret that there is another train that takes only 20 minutes, and cuts out all the subway / bus time. Hooray! We boarded the 'secret train' and were engrossed in conversation as the train slowed to a crawl. Thinking we were missing our stop, we lept up, and ran to the end of the car. The door was closed, but John hit a button and it opened. He got off, and I followed. As I was stepping off the train, I realized IT WAS STILL MOVING!! Slowly, but moving. Then a man with a flashlight started hollering and waving at us. ooops. It wasn't a stop at all. We were just slowing down for some reason. So, we lept back on the train through the next door, and eventually made a rather bashful-faced exit about 5 minutes later - at our proper stop. What a day.

Thunderbolts and Lightening...

Last night I had an evening class to teach. The day had been hot and sunny, but by the time 6 o'clock rolled around I had changed into a longsleeved shirt to wear to class. About 15 minutes into the class, the sky turned green, a bolt of lightening flashed and was followed almost immediately by a tremendous clap of thunder. The wind started howling, and withing moments large chunks of hail started pelting the windows. My students rushed to the windows, threw them open and started catching the hail and tossing the chunks of ice back and forth across the room. It was complete chaos, and lasted for about 60 seconds - then the hail stopped, and my students returned to their seats. Then, about 5 minutes later, I saw a flash of round lightening. Yes - round. It was like a big ring of lightening that flashed, and was gone. After that the thunderstorm moved away, but I still had to walk home in the drenching rain. I couldn't have been wetter if I had of climbed into a bathtub fully dressed.

Sorrow and Friendship...

This has been a sad week, but as is always the case, a liberal dose of blessings were mixed in for comfort.

Early Monday morning (in Korea) my Gramma passed away (in Canada). I've been hesitant to post any Blogs since then because words always seem to fail me when the subject matter is important or emotional. Gramma was 96 years old and spent the majority of those years praying constantly for her family. She lived a full life, and brought abundant amounts of joy to a whole whack of people. I love Gramma dearly, and will always be thankful for the love and support that she bestowed liberally on her massive family. I'm going to miss her alot.

I know that many people around the world were praying for our family. Thank-you. I can't speak for others in my family who were far away from Gramma when she died, but I know that although I felt the distance, I never felt alone.

On Monday, my friend Kyung-Min called to say he wouldn't be able to come visit me on Tuesday as planned. However, shortly after he heard about Gramma, he changed his mind, and travelled for several hours after finishing a 16 hour shift so he could "be a consolation" to me. He was a consolation and a blessing to me.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and words of support and encouragement.

More Politics, and some explicit language...

Now that my e-mail is up and running again, and I've plunked myself down to make a new entry, I've realized that not much has happened in the past week and a half.

Due to pronunciation difficulties, I had more then one student remind me that they wouldn't be here on Thursday because it was "Erection Day". Yes indeed, it's a national holiday. I let the prununciation slide. I had enough trouble trying to distinguish between "Mother-in-Law" and "Mother-in-the-raw" during our unit on families. Anyway, from what I can gather, the election went well, and shows stong support for the Impeached President. Also, the number of women represented in the legislature doubled from the last election. One news item that followed the election was something I've never seen in the west....they had a graph illustrating the age groups of the newly elected legislators. Only in a country where age distinctions are still so rigid would this be necessary.

This coming week is Midterms. It's so nice to be on this side of the desk at this time of year! I'm giving speaking exams in class all week, then have to proctor written exams on Saturday. Some teachers grumble about having to proctor exams on a weekend, but I'd much rather be giving it than writing it!

Oh - And I have my vacation schedule now. I'll be in Canada from Mid-July to Late-August. I'll be hitting Victoria, Vancouver, Regina, Moncton and Ottawa. (Not necessarily in that order). If you live in or near any of those places and want to buy me dinner (I'll settle for a coffee) let me know.

Spring is in the air...

It's Spring. Farmers are preparing their fields for planting. The entire campus smells like a port-a-potty for cows and sheep. Ugh.

If only everything were so easy...

This week has been FABULOUS!! I've already mentioned the weather, now I should mention my work week. In a nutshell, 1/2 my classes had quizzes ~ they write for about 30-35 minutes, hand in their papers, and are done for the day. The other 1/2 of my classes had MT's, which means they're not there at all. From what I can gather, and MT consists of 1st year students milling about between piles of small suitcases, rows of big busses, and stacks of beer cases. Eventually, the students get on the bus, the suitcases go under the bus, and the beer follows behind on a truck. Everything disappears for 2~3 days.

So today for example, I showed up for my 9am class. Only 5 students were there. I chatted with them for a bit, then sent them home. My next class, I gave them a quiz, then sent them home. My last class was entirely empty, so I sent myself home. As I was leaving the building, I saw my students and their luggage spilling out of a returned bus. The beer was gone. They called me over for a few minutes and I discovered that they had spent the last 3 days at Pohang beach. A few of the more bleary-eyed guys also revealed where the beer had disappeared to. And there you have it. It looks as though, whether I like it or not, the work "hangover" is going to be in next weeks vocabulary. I've done almost no teaching whatsoever this week, and Monday is a holiday. (However, I've now got 300 quizzes to mark....)

Incentive...

My tutor is awesome. The other day he says "Janice, I made you a present. If you get all the answers on this page right, I'll give it to you." sweet. So, I concentrated as hard as my little brain could, and got everything right. He reached into his pocket and handed me a beautiful earring. Just one. Then, with a laugh he tells me that if I want to be able to wear them as a pair, I need to get the next page right as well. So, eventually, I prevailed and now have a gorgeous pair of black earrings as a hard earned reward! I still despair that I will never be able to hold a decent conversation in Korean, but I'm studying much harder than I expected I would!

In horticultural news, the cherry trees are in full blossom, and line every lane and path on campus. Absolutely beautiful. For those of you familiar with the sight, it looks similar to Anne of Green Gables and her first drive with Matthew through the orchard. Not quite as breathtaking, but close enough.

Oh, and for those of you concerened either with my safety, or the safety of nearby pedestrians, I didn't buy Chris' scooter. I'm still riding my little Marry Poppins basket-in-front bike.

Too many nipples...

Yes, you read that right. There are too many nipples. 27 to be exact. The new office has now been decorated ~ with a whole lot of nude paintings. There are 27 nipples between the elevator and my desk. Now don't get me wrong, I don't have any objections to art. And the pictures are quite nice. But there are SO many of them lining the hallway. However, in the stairwells, there are some fabulous photos. There is a whole series of black and white photos from the late 19th, early 20th Century Korea. So, combine the excrutiatingly slow elevator with the fascinating photography, I've been taking the stairs pretty often. Unfortunately, I'm still subjected to 'nipple row'.

It was supposed to be simple...

The plan seemed so easy. For the chapter on preposotions of place, and directions, John, Jenn and I decided to send our students on a scavenger hunt. And so, we scurried around campus putting up markers on benches, behind statues, etc. We gave our students their directions, and set them loose. The finish line we happily decided, was the cafe in the main building. The plan was to sit and sip coffee while waiting for our students to finish the race. HOWEVER, some of my students took down all the markers, and what my students didn't take down, the cleaning ladies did. So, here we are racing around in the 10 minutes before our next class trying to put them all back up again. Jen would park her car, then all 3 of us would spill out and take off in a full sprint to the various locations, then make a mad dash back to the car. It was insane. My legs are killing me, and we still have 4 more classes to go through this with. Ugh!

On the other hand, the students are having a great time, and I am now on a first name basis with the nice man in the coffee shop. His name is Lee. Mine is Janice.

Oh....and just so you know, my e-mail has been down in my apartment, so I can only scrounge a few minutes here and there at the office. Sorry for not replying to any e-mails!!!

Movin' on Up...

The first hours of this day were spent packing and lugging a few (not many) boxes from our current office on the 2nd floor of the 2nd Student Union Building to our spankin' new digs on the 6th floor of the main building. The new offices are decked out with sweet swivel/rocker/roller chairs, and my desk faces the window overlooking the forest and mountains. To make the entire deal even sweeter, there is a wonderful coffee shop on the 2nd floor...which by necessity I'll need to walk past on my way to the elevator. I think that me and the nice guy that works there are going to become the best of friends.

However, just because the offices are new and beautiful, don't think that there weren't a few glitches. As always, the helter-skelter planning that seems to dominate businesses in this nation, helped contribute to some confusion this morning...when it was discovered that the office was short 2 cubicles. Yes, someone forgot to take into account that the number of teachers we have would also require that many desks. The second matter of confusion arose when one of my co-workers said "Hey, this is beautiful! Where are the computers going to be?" At which point one of the people in charge got a terrified look on his face, he glanced around the full room like a cornered rabbit, then rushed out. Yuppers...after ordering new computers and their components to replace some of the old ones we were using, nobody bothered to wonder where they would be set up! Sometimes ya just gotta laugh.

It's Friday afternoon, the sun is shining, the cherry and magnolia blossoms are starting to bloom, students are sitting around the student union building strumming guitars or practicing their fencing. I'm doing laundry. blah. I'm also contemplating buying a scooter for bombing around campus. One of my co-workers just upgraded to a real motorcycle, so I'm going to take his scooter for a test drive this evening.

I just finished my third Korean lesson with JooYong, and I think I'm improving. I still speak like a turtle with a mouthful of molasses, but at least I'm getting my verbs and object particles in the right places. (most of the time). It's a good thing he's patient.

Pottery classes are going well, and I'm going to try and sneak into the art room this weekend to make a few extra pieces. Yes, I'll do it under the cover of darkeness, and dress entirely in black, with some tree branches stuck to my head to disguise my appearance. Then, instead of asking the office assistant for the key, I'll try and sqeeze myself through one of the rusty barred windows. Yessir, it'll be an adventure.

Well, the race is on. Yesterday afternoon I played volleyball with the other foreign teachers. I stank. Today, I had my first Korean lesson with my tutor JooYong. I stank. So...the race is on to see which skill will actually improve this semester ~ My athletic or linguistic ability. ? I'll keep you posted.

I bought a pair of jeans from a sidewalk vendor yesterday. They were cheap, and they fit quite well. As I was taking the tags off, I noticed that instead of listing the fabric used, this is what the tag says....

mainly mum (25%) Korean, height, kind, stupidly believe, people, full of love.
Dad (5%) korean, height 170cm, sharp, sensitivity
#1 brother (15%) nine year older, married. sensitivity and sharp.
#2 brother (15%) six years older. Kinda lazy works with me.
#3 brother (15%) eleven years younger. student, loves with me. oldest
sister unlaw (10%) works with me. oldest brother's wife.
my wife (25%) height 173 cm, American, model

we are happy

Yup, so instead of your usual denim or cotton blends, my pants have 110% of a Korean family in them. I love this country.

I don't usually write about politics. I think that's because I'm not usually interested in politics, nor do I have anything relevant to say. However, when you're eating in the cafeteria and all eyes are glued to the TV, so you look to see what's going on, and you see a swarm of men in suits and ties brawling ~ you take some notice.

Yesterday, South Korea's president was impeached. From what I can tell, the Western Media and the Korean Public tend to disagree on exactly what went down. All I know is that Korean TV stations yesterday were full of footage that showed men in suits behaving like NHL players at a WWF Wrestling workshop. It was bizarre.

Some of my Korean friends attended impromptu candlelight rallies to protest the impeachment. About 70% of Koreans are opposed to the impeachment (according to German news sources), and everyone I've talked to sees it as an attempt for the opposition party to seize power...so they can go ahead and mis-use the money that President Roh was accused of mis-using. And that, my friends, is why I don't like politics.

Now that I've started to settle into the groove of teaching here, I've begun to fill up some of my free time. For starters, this afternoon I'll be starting pottery classes here on campus. I loved my pottery classes in Daejeon, and am looking forward to taking it up again ~ I can make myself some plates and bowls!

I've also arranged for a Korean tutor. His name in JooYung. He makes me laugh, and he's cute too ... so I think that will make studying Korean much easier :)

And finally, I was asked to write an ariticle for the campus English newsletter / magazine. I'm not sure what it is. Anyway, I took some of my free time yesterday to write it. I came to realize that with the exception of my occasional blurbs here on my Blog, I really haven't written much for over a year! That has got to change ~ I can feel my brain turning to oatmeal as the days go by. If that continues, soon the only thing you will see when you read my blogs is :

ugh. today. good. ugh.

Which, for all my caveman or neanderthal friends, that's fine. For the rest of you whos mental lexicon exceeds 12 words, it might get a bit tedious.

Of Farms and Flurries...

Sometimes, Daegu University is referred to as "The Farm" for two reasons. 1 - we're way out in the boonies. 2- we actually do have a barn and animals on the campus. My first class this morning was in the COW building ~ which, as you may guess, houses the Agriculture majors. The students are really nice, but have low level English and tend to be unmotivated. After all, if your prospective future is working on the farm in rural Korea, you don't have a pressing desire to learn a foreign language. I enjoy teaching those classes, because my flair for acting comes in handy :)


As for the weather, it's been cold, cold, cold here. A wet cold miserable rain, as well as some miserable cold snow flurries. However, we've been spared the freakish snowstorm they got in Daejeon and Seoul. Imagine a city with a climate similar to Victoria...and as ill prepared for snow...waking up to over 40cm of snow!!! It snowed heavily from 4am to 4pm nonstop. You can imagine the havoc and chaos reigning in the city. Buses skidded, and turned around so as to block all lanes of traffic, taxis were loading up with 6 or 8 passengers and people were simpling abandoning cars (by the hundreds) and walking home through knee-high drifts. I wish I was there to see it!!! Kim and one of her friends stood at the bottom of a hill cheering for cars as they attempted to reach the top, and groaning in dissapointment when the attempts failed. That amusement kept them occupied for an hour !

Hooray! I had students! My last class of the day had 2 girls in it. I gave them a syllabus, and sent them away. Tomorrow I have a 9am class in the Engineering building complex. It's the most bizarre building I've ever had to navigate. I think it was designed by drunken space monkeys...or engineers. Either way, I'm about 80% sure I'm going to get lost.

In other news, I STILL have a cold, and continue to sound like Bea Arthur, although Chris has also likened me to Joan Rivers. I don't want to sound like either one of them!!!

Well, my first day of classes has begun...so to speak. I showed up for my 9:00 am class - nervous, but ready. None of my students showed up. I guess that's pretty common for the first day of the semester. So, I chatted with a Korean professor who could locate neither his class or his students. Then I wrote my name on the board, along with the course number, and went back to the office! Now I'm finished until 6:00 pm, when I'll do the same thing over again! Whew.

“It’s wave over wave, Sea over Bow, I’m as happy a man as the sea will allow”

Thanks to Great Big Sea for providing the soundtrack to today’s adventure. My 1st thought as I boarded the hydrofoil ferry to Japan this morning was “Why bother taking a boat if you can’t go out on the deck?” Soon I realized that in contrast to an airplane, if the ferry goes down, the life vest under your seat might actually do you some good. Secondly, you can watch the waves, so you can expect when you’ll crest or pitch….unlike crazy things like wind and airpockets that just lurk around in the sky waiting to shake your airplane.

On the ferry, they showed (with Japanese dubbing) the woodworking show with the woman who used to be on Anne of Green Gables, and Road to Avonlea.

Also on the ferry, I met a guy from Florida who was also going on a visa run. He knew where the Embassy was, so I tagged along with him until we got our paperwork done. After that, I wandered about for some time in search of my hotel. Eventually I found it, and it was wonderful! An absolutely perfect place to relax for a few days. In fact, after a nice hot bubble bath, I curled up for a ‘quick nap’ at 4pm…and didn’t wake up again until the next morning!! I had an intense 16 hour hibernation to help me recover from months of GO!GO!GO! Ahhhhhhhhhh. Maybe years from now, I’ll look at such a long snooze as a waste of my time in Japan. But right now, I think it's worth it.

Ahh. I've arrived in Daegu, and am totally congested. I can hardly breathe, but I'm too excited to care.

My new room isn't ready to move in yet, so I'm crashing on John's floor for the night - but I've seen my new place and I love it!! It's small, but bright and clean and new, and has a great view of the mountains. Very nice.

Tomorrow I officially move into my new place, but won't actually sleep there until Thursday night. grrrr.

Happy - excited - and going to sleep.

And so begins my last full day in Daejeon. I got up early, feeling like a big slimy cat had crawled into my lungs and had kittens. Not a good start to the day.

Now however, it's 11:00am, and the movers have just left with 7 boxes, 2 huge suitcases, and a bicycle, which they will deliver to my door in Daegu for only $55 !! Not bad at all. Everything else I'll carry on the train with me tomorrow. I also need to find room for a big Astro Boy alarm clock that Mike gave me for a going away gift. The thing is hilarious. When the alarm rings, it plays music, and makes 'blast off' noises, and he sings something in Korean. It's pretty funny.

Mike and Paula have fled the apartment for the morning, (after doing a stellar cleaning job!) so now I have a few minutes to get used to the idea that I really am leaving - before the place fills up again for my goodbye open house.

Yesterday, I was finally permitted to tell my students that I was leaving. The seemed confused, and a little sad. I was too. They're mostly good kids. Then, last night, I went out with my favourite Korean friends 'Ken' and 'Jenny' to the Outback steakhouse. Those two make me laugh and smile and keep me sane. I'm going to miss them tons.

I may not have any new postings for a while until I get settled in Daegu, but I'll try.

2 days from now, I'll be finished my current job.
4 days from now, I'll be in my new apartment.
7 days from now, I'll be in Japan.
10 days from now, I'll be exhausted.

"The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma." ...a good tip to keep in mind next time you're stuck on a deserted island, and are feeling a little anemic.

Ugh. I've come down with a cold. I'd planned to spend most of the day packing, but now it's 8pm and I'm ready for bed...and still haven't packed yet. I keep forgetting how much I hate moving. ugh.

On a brighter note, I bought an MP3 player today to keep me company on my trip to Japan. I'm listening to Duke Ellington right now, and have a happy smile spread across my face....although that could also be the effect of the cold medication. Either way, it's nice.

I only have 5 teaching days left here in Daejeon - and the woman who was supposed to replace me just backed out. So if you, or anyone you know wants to come to Korea ASAP, we'd love to have you!!!! Send me an e-mail, and we'll talk.

"Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes." ~ thanks again to Jason and Stephanie for that useful tidbit. I immediately cancelled my ticket on the trans-pacific donkey caravan that I'd been planning on riding home next summer. It looks like I'll be flying afterall.

Today was pretty taxing. Not a single one of my 7 classes went smoothly. However, my night class did do their homework (a rare event) - which was to prepare a History lesson for me about Korean history. There are only two students, and they stood up at the front of the room for almost a full hour regaling me with tales of Korean history. Dates, Kings, Generals, etc. They're only 1/2 way through, so they said they can finish the rest of it next time! I'm looking forward to it. With that exception though, I spend most of my day mentally counting down my days here.

(8 more teaching days to go....)

Thanks to my friends Jason and Stephanie, I now have a list of tantalizingly trivial information in my inbox. I've decided to start each new blog with an interesting tidbit. Today's is "Turtles can breathe through their butts". There - now don't you feel smarter already!?

In other news, I spent some time at a PlayStation room today (where my wonder-friend Ken works). I was playing a new game - something about mobsters in London and a car chase. I wasn't interested in the plot...I was just trying to go for a nice drive around London and try to see some familiar sights. Unfortunately, the mobsters kept shooting me, and I never got very far.

Sometimes you feel like a nut...

Since today is the 1st full moon of the new Lunar year, it is auspicious to eat nuts. I asked my students if they ate nuts today. One bright young man answered "No, I don't like any kind of nuts. I don't like peanuts, and I don't like doughnuts"....but he didn't realize he was saying anything funny.

In another class, I am stuck with a textbook that is way beyond the capabilities of my 6th grade students. Most of the students in that class just finished a book about clowns, colours, and shapes. In their current book, both the vocabulary and the subject matter are way off base. Consider today's scenario: The title in itself was incomprehensible "Stereotypes: What are your initial reactions to the following occupations?" right. After lots of drawing and re-phrasing, they finally understood - then we started working our way down the list of occupations....only to be stopped short by occupations #8. The conversation went as follows...

-Students: "Teacher....nude model....what?"
-Me: "uhhhh, like a fashion model, but naked."
-Students: "Teacher....naked....what?"
-Me: "A person in a magazine - a model - but with no clothes"
-Students: "Teacher, draw!" (often, when they don't understand a word, I'll draw it on the board for them. This works well for some things, not so well for others)
-Me: "NO! No, no,no, no. It's a model. (nods of comprehension), but no shirt, no pants, no ..." (the lights go on in their eyes)
-Students: "Ugh - teacher! next question, please, next question!!"
-Me: whew.

I don't know who chose that textbook for a bunch of elementary school kids, but today's lesson wasn't an uncommon one. They'll be finished at the end of the month, so hopefully their next book will be a little more appropriate.

Two things happened today - one made me remember I was in Korea, and the other made me think I was in Canada.

When I was coming home after work, I could hear the distinctive sound of the instruments the Buddhist monks play. I thought it sounded a little loud to be coming from the monastary on the hillside. I was right. As I approached the intersection near my house, there were about 4 or 5 monks sitting on the corner with about 12-15 women behind them singing and bowing in the buddhist way. That made me remember I was in Korea.

Later, as I was running some errands, snow started to fall. Huge fluffy flakes coming straight down from a black sky. It was beautiful. That made me think I was in Canada.

Of roses and protests....

One of my co-workers broke up with her boyfriend recently, so yesterday 100 longstem red roses appeared at the office. They were gorgeous. I've never seen so many roses in a single bouquet before - and they teachers room smelled fabulous for the rest of the day. Wonderful for us...not so wonderful for they guy that bought them, because I don't think they're going to do him any good.

In other news, students at the university I'll be working at next month are in the midst of massive demonstrations. They are protesting tuition hikes by staging huge sit-ins. The protests haven't interrupted the teaching schedule, but they have blocked access to the main building (where our new offices are going to be) - so we'll be working out of the old offices for a little while longer. It makes no difference to me however, since I've never seen the old offices, or the new.

Thanks to Ben for the link to countries visited. As you'll notice, there are still lots of green 'unvisited' places yet to be explored!! I cheated and put Japan on, even though I won't be there until the end of the month. (And Singapore is just too tiny to show up)

It looks like I'll have to start working on Africa and South America next...

My roomate just came home with the movie "Maid in Manhattan"...I think I'm going to go hide in my room.

World66, the travel guide you write: visited countries: "

create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide"

A few months ago, we watched a building go up on the hillside by our house. It turned out to be a restaurant, and Paula, Kyung-rim and I went there to eat. Turns out the guy who owns it has been trekking in the Himalayas twice. Upon his return to Korea last time, he decided to build a restaurant. So he did. And he serves really tasty food (and tons of it for $4). He found out that Paula and I are teachers, and he told us that we can go there everyday after work, and he'll feed us well. Infact, he told us that the next time we go, we'll get our meal for free! Nice.

I've got to stop eating seaweed and Oreos before bed. Last night I dreamt that I was working as an undercover agent ... disguised as an Hassidic Jewish Rabbi. No word of a lie. I was just opening the locker that contained the secret documents I was searching for when my roomate coughed in the Livingroom and woke me up. drat.

DMZ = Demilitarized Zone
JSA = Joint Security Area
DML = Demarcation Line

We're back safe and sound, after seeing the DMZ. We even went down into the 3rd Tunnel (The third infiltration tunnel that the North Koreans dug beneath the DMZ...it ends only 44km away from Seoul).

The DMZ consists of 2km on the South Korean side, and 2km on the North Korean side, with the DML running the width of the country right down the middle of the DMZ. After the North and South signed the ceasefire (they're technically still at war), both sides agreed to allow 2km on either side of the fence as a buffer. We stood atop an observation deck, and could see the North Korean troops in their guard posts.

We could also see the 'Propaganda Village' which the North Koreans constructed to show how prosperous they are....however, the place is absolutely deserted. Not a single person lives in that village. It's entirely for show.

We also weren't allowed off the bus in certain spots (mostly because the bus was moving) but also because there were still unswept minefields within spitting distance of the bus.

Liam and I did get a big laugh though, as we were waiting on the bus to show our passports at the security check, there was a gaggle of S.Korean soldiers ouside. One of them was demonstrating to his fellow soldiers how to execute a proper ballerina-style perrioutte. It was pretty funny. He was quite good, even with his army boots on!
I'd pay good money to see the JSA Ballet company perform!

Ugh. It's just after 6:00 am, and Liam and I will be leaving for the DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) in a few minutes. Normally, I'd be pretty excited, but I think I'm too sleepy right now. It's one of the most heavily guarded (?) borders in the world, and we're not allowed to wear jeans, shorts, sandals, military gear, and long hair is innapropriate for men. Not your typical tourist resort.

Liam, Gina and I arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon - after a normal 2 hour bus ride instead of the 7 hours it took them to get to Daejeon on Tuesday. However, once we got back, they discovered that the water pipe to their respective apartments had frozen in their absence...so neither one of them have running water....which has it's disadvantages.

Well, Gina and Liam arrived a full 5.5 hours late. Traffic out of Seoul last night was unreal, and a bit of blowing snow didn't help either.

Once they arrived, and everyone was settled, we hung out until sometime past 3am....but we were all in bed by the time the monks started ringing their morning bell. (Iwas still awake, but in at least I was in bed.) After we finally got up, we had a spectacular day, and now the wee hours of morning have come again. Tomorrow we're hoping to climb one of the local mountains if the weather cooperates.

AAaaaahhhhh. Lovely. My roomates have been gone for 4 days now. I've had the place to myself and have caught up on so many things that needed to be done. (I even got my Christmas letters written!) Now, I'm sitting here in a clean house, with clean laundry, a clean fridge and a hot cup of coffee listening to U2. Ahhhhh.

My friends Liam and Gina are coming down from Seoul tonight and we'll spend a few days here together, then I'll go back to Seoul with them for the weekend. Since everyone and their pets will be fleeing Seoul tonight in preparation for the Lunar New Year, I imagine that the usual 2 hour bus trip could possibly take upwards of 5 or 6 hours.

My friend Kim is coming over this afternoon after lunch, and I think we're going to go 'dumpster diving'. It's not as gross as it sounds. Lots of people in the area discard furniture when they're moving, or when they get new stuff. Since 2nd hand items are considered 'unlucky' here, things like chairs, desks, couches, tables etc. just get tossed out. So aroung out apartment complex, the trash pick-up areas often look like free yard sales. Most of our house is furnished with local discarded items. Kim spotted a nice sofa yesterday, so we're going to go check it out.

Hmm, I've been so busy relaxing lately I hardly have anything to write about. Nice.

ahhhhh. I've just finished my 4th 9 hour day this week. I picked up some 'street meat'on the way home (lumps of mystery meat on a stick, covered in a red sauce that's designed to help protect the secret identity of the meat in question.) good stuff.

This is also the start of NINE days off. Sideshow Bob is leaving for Japan at 3:30 tomorrow morning, and Mike is heading to the Phillipines a few hours after that. I cannot express how excited I am to have the house to myself.

Since this is the Lunar New Year holiday, I am preparing myself to face the "Year of the Monkey". Lunar New Year is also the day that everyone in Korea eats a special soup to signify that they are one year older. Koreans don't age on their birthday....they age at New Year. Based on Korean calculations, I'll be turning 30 on Thursday. ugh.

One of my kids came to school dressed as Superman today. Cape and all. Another one tried to eat his scissors. What a day.

It's SNOWING!!!!

Yes indeed. Big thick wet flakes that sting your eyes and stick to your shoes, and cover the ground! I'm pretty excited about looking out our living room wall tonight! (For those of you who don't remember, our 'wall' is floor to ceiling, corner to corner sliding glass doors.) It gives a great view of flakes whizzing past the streetlights, and covering the hillside. It also reminds me of item #8 on my "Why I love Apartments" list...I don't have to shovel it!!

For those of you suffering through a frigid Canadian winter, (Ha, Ha) this news probably isn't exciting. However, this is the first snow that's hit the ground here and I'm pretty thrilled. It's really windy too, so I might even classify this as a mini-blizzard. sweet.

I was trying to explain the book "Baby Animals Learn" to my kindergarteners. I started by explaining that they used to be babies. (hard to do, when they don't have any understanding of English in the past tense.) So, I counted down... "Beth, how old are you?" "6". We all held up six fingers, and counted down to 1...when Beth was a baby. I repeated this a few times, and they started to catch on. Then, to fill them all with awe, I revealed that "Janice Teacher is TWENTY-EIGHT!!" (Insert squeals of laughter here). Then, we counted down many,many,many years until Janice Teacher was a baby. .... This is when little John (not to be confused with Robin Hood's sidekick) understood completely, and got up and 'lifted' me up (or tried to) as though he was cradling an infant. From that point on, for the rest of the lesson, I was "Baby Teacher".

One of my 1st graders was relying a little too heavily on picture cues. We were going through a series of pictures, showing an animal eating, as we practiced the phrase pattern - "Squirrels eat ....nuts. Panda's eat...bamboo, Bears eat...fish". Finally, we came to the last picture, of a boy sitting down to a meal with his family, at which point I learned that "People eat...their families"! Yuck!

I haven't written much lately, as we've started "Intensives". Yes, it's winter vacation for boys and girls across Korea....a time when all good parents enroll their kids for EXTRA classes at their extra-curricular learning centers. Yup, now that the poor kids are on holidays, they have lots of extra time to rush between extra Math, Computer, English, Piano and Taekwondo classes. That means that we're all working extra hours too.

We've got a decent holiday coming up in a week and a half though. I (and some friends) are planning to go to the DMZ that divides North and South Korea. It should be an interesting trip!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

I had a great night last night...and into the wee hours as well. Best wishes to all for the coming year.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

What a great day - all things considered. Even though it's warm outside and all the stores are open, our apartment was a little bit of Canadian Christmas.

We had a good friend sleep over, and shared in opening our gifts. Yes, my mother did send me furry fishnet stockings. (and Girl Guide cookies!!) As the day progressed, more friends came to share in an extended breakfast time that ended around 1pm, followed by some serious "hanging-out", (and a very welcome call from my Aunt and Grandma in Saskatchewan) and finally dinner for 10 around six o'clock. There aren't any turkeys in Korea, as I've mentioned before - so roast chicken it was. With almost all the fixings.

So now, I'm stuffed, Kim and Paula are singing carols as they wash dishes (I've spent most of the day in the kitchen, so I've been awarded a break) and everyone else has cleared out. A great day all round. If it's necessary to spend a Christmas away from my family, this isn't a bad way to do it!

Hope you've all had a great holiday, and have spent it with those you love, and eaten too much. I pray that you've taken some time to reflect on the precious gift of Christ.

Merry Christmas.

It's beginning to taste like Christmas...

Mike's Grandmother just sent 2 big boxes full of cookies and mincemeat tarts. Who needs turkey when there are cookies to be had?

A Super Weekend

Mmmm, I just had a great weekend. I've broken it down into sections below. Enjoy!

Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll...

Okay, I tricked you into reading this segment. It's actually about the Paper Museum....which was really cool!!!

Highlights included a page from the Guttenberg Bible, a page from Ann Franks Diary, and we got to make our own paper.

The funniest part was a small diarama showing the paper making process, onto which was projected a hologram of a 'paper nymph', and 3 small logs. In a sickenly sweet voice, the nymph told the logs that they would "enter the processing plant, where they would be stripped of their bark, and mashed into a porridge like substance before being flattened into paper." At which point the masochistic little logs shouted "Hooray! We want to be a paper!!" sick. really really sick. They didn't even tell kids that they shouldn't try it at home. Now all the little tots who frequent the paper museum are going to race home and try to mash each other into porridge.

A Night of Music and Culture...

Ahhh, our hotel. It's like Upper Canada Village goes to Asia. A small Korean Inn, built to emulate a Korean manor of 150 years ago. The rooms are small and cozy, with really really warm heated floors. The doors are twin sliding doors ... heavy paper on wooden frames. It was freezing cold outside, but so toasty warm inside. No beds, we slept on heavy mats on the floor. Mmmmm so toasty warm.

For an hour in the evening, the folks at the Inn put on a Traditional Korean music festival. First, some cool stringed instruments that look like benches sounded lovely.

Next, a guy playing a tin-whistle made out of bamboo-y stuff. His facial contortions were amusing to watch. First, he went red in the face, then he went puffy in the cheeks, then he went crossed in the eyes, then odd screeching sounds were brought forth from the instrument. That one was harder to listen to.

Third, a guy played a solo piece on the stringed bench.

Fourth, a woman 'sang' a screeching, shouting, grunting song - that sounded very difficult to do, and she got a loud ovation for it.

Finally, the group of Bench Players returned and played some really nice Christmas carols. It was awesome.

Afterwards, they served us boiled sweet potatoes and green tea.

nice.

Lord of the Rings...

We saw Return of the King, it was pretty good! The last LOTR movie I saw in the theatre was in the front row. All I remember seeing were giant hooves, and noses. This one was much better.

PLUS the seats in the theatre in JeonJu are big semi-recliners, that VIBRATE when massive armies are approaching. The seats are hooked into the bass / sound system. Awesome. ... slightly reminiscent of 'the feelies' in
Brave New World, but awesome nonetheless.

Hooray for Holidays!!!

Wahoo!!! Our boss just decided to give us Boxing Day off! So instead of 24 hours off for Christmas, we'll have 4 days. Sweet deal.

She's also added 2 extra days to the lunar New Year holiday, which will work out to be an unprecedented NINE DAY holiday in January. Yes, I know that doesn't mean much to those of you with vacation time in your jobs, but here I'm nearly beside myself with giddiness. Yes indeed - giddy giddy giddy.

To make the joy even greater, both Mike and Paula are planning to travel outside Korea during that time. I'll have the apartment to myself for DAYS!! oh sweet bliss. I love living by myself. Infact, I'm pretty sure that if I ever get married, I'm going to make my husband live next door with the neighbours.

Oh - also, this weekend Gina, Liam and I are heading to the cultural city of Jeon-ju and staying in a traditional inn. AND seeing Lord of the Rings in their new theatre. Good times all around.

Mittens, Change and Turkey...

I got new mittens. With idiot strings. They're striped ~ the 1st stripe matches my orange fleece, the 2nd matched my gray sweater, the next 3 match the great scarf Ken gave me for my birthday, and after that it's every colour for themselves. I miss my Grandmas mittens though. I didn't think it would be cold enough for them here.

Yesterday as I was biking to pottery class, I thought about change. Mostly because the path/road I usually take was all torn up, so I ended up splashing and sliding through the mud on my Mary Poppins bike. (I had a few really nice things to say about the guy who invente paved roads). That got me thinking about how they had waited until after the rice harvest to rip up the road...which got me thinking about how much i had enjoyed watching the rice during it's growing season...which got me thinking about how nice it would be to settle down sometime and have a piece of land that I could watch go through the seasons year after year. I think these thoughts also come from facing another move in the next few months. The only time I think about settling is when it's time to pack up my life again. That part sucks, but as long as I keep loving where I wind up, ( I always do) I can't see how I'll ever stop.

And finally - Turkey!!! (A rare bird indeed in this part of the world) We had a fabulous Christmas dinner after a candlelight service at church today. Turkey, stuffing, cranberries, and pumpkin pie...and of course, kimchi. I'm not a huge fan of turkey, but there are some times during the year that just aren't right without it. So now, it's a warm sunny Sunday afternoon, and I'm full of Turkey ~ there just isn't any other option but to have a nap...mmmmm.

Mike just cooked supper...and it actually looks edible!! I'm impressed. hey, wait, he's even going to share it with me......wait.....smell....taste.....oh my word!!! It IS edible. wow. Life is full of so many truly amazing things.

Okay, it's decided. Atticus Finch is my new literary hero, and I'm going to name all my children after him. .... hey that's not a bad plan! I get to 'name' children every few weeks. The next one is going to be Atticus.

I've decided to work my way through the BBC's top 100 books of all time...in no particular order. Of course, Catch-22 is still my personal favourite. I feel like I've gone back to highschool, since that's where I read many of the books for the first time. Right now I'm barreling through 'To Kill A Mockingbird' again. What a great book. I think everyone should be forced to take 10th grade English again in their 20's or 30's....they'd get so much more out of it!

Ironically enough, Oprah was on Larry King Live tonight (which I don't usually watch) and she was mentioning a conversation she had had with Harper Lee (author of To Kill a Mockingbird). Oprah asked why she never wrote another book, to which Harper Lee replied "Because, I said everything I wanted to say". It's true...she certainly packs a lot of life and wisdom into such a tiny novel.

Coming to you live from Seoul.....It's Saturday night. Liam is in the kitchen making Thai Green Chicken Curry for supper and Gina is next door having a nap. We've just returned from a jaunt down the bustling and colourful market street in our search for fresh produce and a can opener. (I'm told it's for the baby corn).

Yum, I just got to smell a fresh lime leaf that's about to go in the mix, and the smell of the long grain rice has already made the apartment smell cozy and warm. Later, after we all eat, we're going to crack open the cans of Strongbow that Liam brought back from the UK (mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm) and do Rock-Scissors-Paper to decide if we'll watch Indiana Jones, or Twin Towers. It's going to be a quiet evening, since we're all suffering from different ailments - mostly of the Cold&Sinus variety.

Afterwards, we might do some shopping in the super night-market (it closes around 3am , if it gets around to it.) I'm in search of some 'professional' clothes, and purple hair.

Okay, the smells coming from the kitchen are too good to resist. I'm going to go find out how he's doing it.

So what on earth do you tell your cellmates when they ask you what you're doing time for......

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas woman was sentenced to 10 years in jail for running over the manager of a McDonald's with her car because she wanted mayonnaise on her cheeseburger.

So here's what's really happening in my world....

As some of you may know, I've accepted a job offer from a University in a nearby city. I'm excited about it, and am getting mentally prepared to make the shift from being a kindergarden teacher to a University Instructor within the next 3 months.

Here's the problem...my current employers don't want me to leave. (To the point of calling another university that offered me a job, and 'requesting' that they don't hire me!!!!) My contract is finished at the end of February, but even though I've tried to tell them 3 times that I'm leaving when my contract is finished, they don't believe me!! They keep asking me to "think about it some more". I seriously don't know how to tell them that I'm really really going. So things are kind of touch-and-go to say the least.

But, on the bright side, I do have the memory of that Chicken sandwich , and all those socks to cheer me up.

Mmm. I just had the BEST chicken sandwich ever. I also bought 8 pairs of socks tonight...so I can postpone doing laundry for another week. There's a woman outside our school who sells socks every Wednesday and Thursday. Today, I couldn't resist.

yes, it's been a slow news day in my world........