The Dumping Hole

All good things must come to an end

2007-04-19T15:44:00.001+09:00

And then it was over.

As shockingly fast as it started, our year in Korea is now over. It's hard to believe. So many experiences, so much fun, so much we've seen. We've met so many fantastic people that we hope to stay in touch with, and eaten so many things we never would have considered edible in the past. And to top it off, Steph and I still like each other! Who knew?

Looking back at our year, Steph and I would whole-heartedly recommend this experience to anyone who is finding themselves reading this post. All you need is a love for kids, a sense of adventure and an open mind, and you'll have a great time. It probably wouldn't hurt to have a strong stomach as well! So many things we have learned in this year...things we never though of, like; That you can exhausted and in bed at 8:30, that you can communicate solely through a hybridized set of charades, petting stray dogs is a good way to start the day, that even if something makes no sense, it may be the best way to do things, 15 hours of school isn't healthy and that you can the Korean people are amazingly kind and hardworking people.

As we head back to our family and friends in Toronto, we look back (as everyone who has been here does) at what we love and dislike about Korea:

Things we will miss:

$3 meals that are healthy for you.
Walking to work
Having no car
$5 cab rides
School lunches
Surprise days off
Yudal Mountain
Temples in the most unexpected places
Cheap buses everywhere, and are always leaving "right now"
Extra classes
Random kind acts from Koreans
Being called "beautiful" simply because you are tall
Getting "servisa" at every store you go to (free hemming at the dry cleaners, freebies at the corner store...)
The 9 puppies on our way to work
Celebrity status
Almost 3 months vacation
Naju Peaches
Nene chicken
The lady at Kimbap Nala
The folks at our gym
Random "Have a nice day!"s coming from someone biking past you
50" TVs in the classrooms
Random gifts from strangers
Great friends going through the same things
$5 bottles of Gin
Being sheltered by your obliviousness
Absolute freedom and endless possibilities

Things we probably won't miss:

Giggles (It's what Korean kids do when they are uncomfortable)
Camera phones and their gratuitous use (Always pointed at us)
Pointing
Skate (still not sure why people eat it raw)
Uncertainty
Being away from family and friends!
Almost being run down on the sidewalk
Mistreated dogs
Fame without the fortune
Not being able to "blend in"
Transientness of the foreigner population

In order to really close the book on this experience, Steph and I have agreed to finish "The Dumping Hole" once and for all... like a finished project. So this is the last entry.

If you want to follow any of our future experiences, check us out at "The Thought Pile". Stay happy and healthy!

Teachers

2007-04-19T13:19:00.001+09:00

Teaching is not something I ever thought I would do. My parents are both teachers, and I like kids, so I probably knew I had it in me. But this year in Korea teaching English at a Korean Elementary school has shown me a lot about teaching. It's a hell of a lot of work and is exhausting! This week, seeing some of the students cry and give me going away cards this week has made it all worth it.

It made me really think back to my favourite teachers growing up and how tough things were for them. Now don't get me wrong; being a bad teacher is easy. Just like being a crappy office worker. But being a great teacher, and putting yourself on the line so that the students can get the most you have to offer is a brave, selfless and incredibly difficult (not to mention physically and emotionally draining) endeavour.

The teachers who had the greatest influence on my life, were, far and away, Brian Svenningsen in Grade 7 and Mrs Maclin in Grade 12.

Brian was a passionate person who put everything he had into his students. I don't know a person who had him who didn't swear that he was the most influential teacher they've ever had. Looking back, I don't know how he did it without running himself dry.

Mrs Maclin was my homeroom teacher during one of the toughest years of my life. At the time I was a reasonably good basketball player, with all the hopes and dreams that go with it. In that year, I broke a finger, a wrist, blew out an ankle, a knee (ACL) and a shoulder (ugly dislocation).... all in separate occations. While those injuries earned me the nickname "cripple" at school, Mrs Maclin repeadedly gave me warm advice and support.

These two people had an immense impact on my life and helped make me the person I am today. Thanks guys.

Addiction

2007-04-14T10:15:00.001+09:00

Steph sent me a link to this game... and in 2 minutes, I was addicted.
Now you are too. Enjoy.

Winds of Change - Yellow Dust

2007-04-10T14:57:00.000+09:00

Reading the papers from back home and listening to CNN, one gets the impression that the concern about the environment has finally reached the general public. The fact that it is now the #1 election topic in Canada clearly states that. But is the Government ready to show some vision? Like Charter of Rights and Freedoms vision? Probably not, being the minority government that it is.

Lucky for most Canadians, environmental crisis is not obviously upon us yet.

When we arrived in Korea in April of 2006, we spent a week of orientation in Gwangju, a city of 1.8 million in the south western province. It was in the middle of the Yellow Dust Storms, and for two days, the afternoon sky was dark with sand. The entire month, cars were covered in yellow dust, and car washes were inundated with eager customers. Andrew Leonard at "How the world works" sums it up like so:

It's April in Korea, which means it is time to don surgical masks, seal windows tightly shut, and keep a weather eye out toward the Chinese border. April is yellow dust storm season, when a noxious brew of Gobi desert sand particles and assorted effluent from China's industrial development comes roaring out of the west and dumps down on Japan and Korea... (more)

And so Koreans have to debate staying home from work (which people in this hard working nation NEVER do), kids can't go outside during recess, and a large number of people now dawn those surgical masks to keep their lungs clear. Is it really that big a deal? Well yeah, yeah it is. One of my friends here was just admitted to the hospital this week with pneumonia. It's pretty serious stuff.

All this is not just a reminder that we in Canada should be doing more on an individual, Municipal and National level, but that we also need to be part of the global effort. We are much closer to a crisis that will irreversibly change the way we live - a crisis we can better relate to than the catastrophic ones discussed Al Gore's "An Incovenient Truth". Although, those may be coming too.

Templing about

2007-04-08T09:43:00.000+09:00

It is truly amazing the rich culture Korea has to offer. This weekend we decided to jump on a bus with our friends Heather and Glen, and head to Haenam to check out a Buddhist temple called Duryunsan. With 2 weeks to go, this was probably our last outing before we head home. I originally was hoping to use this weekend to visit the historic gem; The Gyeongju area. Problem was, it was a 5 hour bus ride away, and with 2 weeks left, we aren't up for that long a barf ride.

We reached the Duryunsan area after 2 bus rides and 1.5 hours. The streets to Duryunsan were lined with cherry blossoms in full bloom, and the weather was great. We arrived at the Temple after walking 30 minutes past some totems and a grave site of "Stupas". The site was amazingly uncrowded!

We toured the site, that seemed to be abuzz with construction (with timber, granite, cranes and a little monk firetruck!).

Pushing on, we made our way up the mountain's rocky, bouldery trail, haphazardly choosing the opposite direction the girls wanted to go at each fork. Lucky for the men, the monks were smart enough to build this particular temple at the point where ALL the trails eventually converged. Our only real issue was the pack of nursing dogs living at the Temple, but the resident Monk soon yelled them into silence. Each Monk we saw had this amazing calm to them... the kind that puts you at ease as soon as you see them.

Like it happens in Korea, we made our way up to a pagota sitting right at the tip of a cliff. As we walked by the pagota, a clearing opened up and there we were beside a small one person temple looking out on the entire valley. Breathtaking.

On our way back, we stumbled across another temple, still under construction, that was built to protect an 4.2 meter tall Budda figure that had been carved into the rock face. The carving was so amazing, none of us dared go into the room (which is good because we probably weren't supposed to be in there)... but all you could think about was, how did we not know about this, and why were we the only people there?
We made our way down the mountain and found our way into a steak barbecue restaurant for some well earned Calbi for $2.50 per person (plus beer of course!).

Just another example of the unexpected amazing that is Korea.

Wise words

2007-04-07T10:37:00.000+09:00

Richard just wrote a post that I think we all should read.
It's an issue we all need to be conscious of.

Simplicity

2007-04-03T11:15:00.000+09:00

Living in Korea for a year, and visiting neighbouring countries, not to mention being an ESL teacher, it dawns on you that something interesting is going on with language. Some people talk about English being the mother of all languages, the most dominant of the languages. Because of its broad adoption by the business community, it's use as primary language in many developed countries and it's blanketing broadcast by America's marketing machine, it has definitely become the language of choice. However, saying that English will devour all other languages is far fetched.

What is happening, is that countries throughout Asia (specifically) are using English as a common tongue, facilitating travel, business and cultural exchange. They are doing this on a general scale, through English as a second language, but more often than not, through a simplified version of English. Now, I'm not talking about the simplified English that John Kerry was told to use (which was highly publicized)throughout the 2004 Presidential elections. We call it Konglish or Chinglish or Engrish depending on what country you are in. I like to call it Englishy (and so does Virginia).

As I've posted about before, Englishy features phrases that get to the point or are more descriptive than what a native speaker would say; for example "Take away" instead of take out food, "Let's learning" where "Let's" is put in front of any word to denote group adoption, or "Coffee Story" where "story" is used around EVERY WORD you can think of to attach reputation or credibility to any product. It is interesting to see the core group of phrases that are emerging from this ESL region.

What does this mean for North America? Not much. Critical mass of native english speakers means we won't see any effect of Englishy unless immigration drastically increases (although Canada is looking to up their immigration levels from 100,000 to 400,000 people per year in the not too distant future). But in the east, this could mean the propagation of a "new" dialect of English. As the region becomes more integrated, and since they out number the total native speaker population, it may be this new dialect that becomes the prominent language.

So don't get cocky English speakers... you too may have to learn a new language... Englishy is on the rise and has an amazing number of adopters!

And then you remember again why you love Korea

2007-03-26T21:48:00.000+09:00

This country is an amazing place. As foreigners, we find some things we aren't too crazy about, but every once in a while, you are greeted by random acts of amazing kindness. One time, we were been given a half watermelon and 2 beers from complete strangers, while another, a family happily fed me a feast of grilled pork (sangyupsol) while Steph and Hugh's mother swam at Waedaldo.

This time, we were out hiking in Muan, a half an hour north of our home town, with Handsome Steve and Warren. We were on our way towards the start of the mountain when we ran into a group of about 25 Koreans sitting down beside the trail having a picnic. No sooner had we seen them, the group grabbed Steph and Warren and sat down them at their huge spread of food. Before we knew it, we were making small talk, drinking Makoli (a fermented rice wine), eating strawberries, pork and lots of Kimchi, while avoiding the Skate!!!

Every once in a while, the man closest to me would stand up and announce a fact that he had just learned about me. Everyone was fantastic. Somehow, during the meal, Stephanie was "awarded" a brand new pair of underwear (yes, underwear) that one man thought it was his duty to pull over his head before he handed them over to her. I guess he was trying them on for size!

In the end, after a number of photo ops, we scooted out to start our hike... The rest of the day, though, we could only talk about the amazing generosity of random Koreans.

Things start to become familiar

2007-03-25T09:43:00.000+09:00

We stepped outside the other day, and Steph turned to me and said "This really feels familiar... like it did when we got here."
It's so true. It's been almost a year, but the feel, the temperature, the fresh smells and the budding trees, brings back a wave of memories. A lot of good memories. It's amazing how much we have experienced in this past year... like 4 years of memories jammed into one.

Now, we find ourselves packing, sorting out who gets which of the possessions we aren't taking with us, tying up lose ends, and thinking about all the great things we have done and been through this past year. It has been an amazing run to say the least. And we officially have less than a month left.

Hard to believe.

The unrewarding world of Trust

2007-03-20T07:25:00.001+09:00

While our trip to China was fantastic, there were many chances for it to go horribly wrong. Well, maybe not horribly, because we did play it safe in staying in the big cities, but there were scams abound. Luckily, we had read up on a number of them.

Walking through People's park in Shanghai, a nice girl calling herself Lily, came up and started talking English to us. She was from inner Mongolia, going to University somewhere in China, but was in Shanghai on holiday, and was excited to practice her English with us.

Steph had just read a warning online about scams where a woman will come up and befriend you asking to practice English. The girl then asks (usually a single young virile man) if he wants to come to a small tea shop or bar with her. They order drinks (harmless?) and in some cases the girl's friends make an appearance. Before the foreigner knows it, their company has left, and the foreigner is charged for 6 "traditional" cups of tea costing $20 US each. Since they are at a "privately owned" establishment, they are stuck with the choice of paying the bill or being carted out in a stretcher. This couldn't happen to us though, could it?

After talking with "Lily" for a while, we decided to head to People Square... to which she was a little too eager to join us. Little alarm bells, or paranoia? As we settled onto a bench in People's park, we continued to have an easy conversation with Lily, learning about Mongolia and China's growth. We were tired from all the people, so we decided to say goodbye to Lily and head back to our hotel... And that was when she said "Oh, but I was hoping we could go to this nice little tea shop I know..."

Yeah.

Goodbye Lily.

And it's one experience like that that makes you paranoid (rightfully so) about everyone, even though we met some really nice people in both Shanghai and Beijing. But, from the street vendor selling cake who measured portions by weight using a bar, a sliding weight and his finger as the fulcrum (yes, I just used the word fulcrum), to the German lady who had to physically tear her suitcase out of a cab that had taken her "sightseeing" through Beijing, to the general joys of bartering at markets, you have to always be "aware" when you are travelling.

On a side note: The cake was worth double the price, our cabs were all awesome because we kept with Beijing taxi's orange cabs and the markets were great because we keep telling ourselves that we got great deals! (Like my $32 fake TAG!)

Beijing: 2008 Olympics bound! (China: Part 2)

2007-03-20T07:24:00.003+09:00

After a fantastic couple of days in Shanghai, we headed to Beijing, the capital of China. Steph, again in all her wisdom, booked us a sleeper room on a 12 hour overnight train to Beijing. Aside from being subject to some very aggressive begging in the train station, the whole experience was great and painless. One old man sat beside each person in the waiting room, grunted and yelled while banging on the metal chairs and poking people. I wasn't too pleased, when he pulled that routine on us, let me understate.

The 12 hour train ride seems to take only moments to get us to Beijing. Immediately upon arriving, we realized that Beijing is BIG. Our hotel, The Harmony, was located just a block from the train station, was supposed to be 3 blocks from Tiananmen Square... We soon realized that these blocks were the same as 4 conventional blocks by 4 blocks, and that Tiananmen was 40 minutes away!

Tiananmen is enormous. Even with the tens of thousands of people milling around (being Lunar New Year), the square and Forbidden city surprisingly did not seem all that rammed...well, it did, but it wasn't like a herd of cattle. Getting tickets was another story. Queuing is still in its infancy in China, and its enough to drive any Westerner absolutely mad. You really need to stake out your land and be bigger than everyone else (hehe)... and don't let it get to you. I say this, but on my last day, I was so fed up with people rushing onto the subway without letting people off, that I lowered my head and ploughed over 5 guys trying to beat each other onto the train before the doors had full opened. I digress.

The Forbidden city (39°54'59.94"N 116°23'25.82"E) is the center of the city where royalty spent centuries ruling. It now hosts a mind blowing number of Chinese treasures amongst the countless temples located within its protective walls. Unfortunately for us, many of the temples were covered with sheeting and scafolding as resoration efforts were underway for the upcoming Olympics. We even had a coffee at the "forbidden Starbucks" located inside city, which is still causing an uproar amongst traditionalists. It was delicious, but I think someone budded in front of Steph in that line too. Grr!

Over the next couple of days we visited the Pearl Market, where I bought a "real" TAG watch for $30, and Steph found numerous teasures, the Temple of Heaven, the Dirt Market (Antique and trinket market great for haggling), we watched an amazing acrobat show, and went on a 10 hour Great Wall tour, that only gave us 1/2 an hour at the Ming Tombs and less than 2 hours at the Great Wall at Juyongguan (the rest of the tour we were dragged through countless Jade and Pearl shops). We made trips to the breath taking Beihai Park and the White Pagota, with its amazing view, and the Summer Palace (39°59'48.98"N 116°16'3.51"E). Again, the size of all of Beijing's treasures are on such a huge scale, it's tough to put into words.

What was visible everywhere, is branding and work going on in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. Posters and volounteer programs go hand in hand with the enormous amount of construction. Mega-block upon mega-block of traditional Hutongs were being gutted to be replaced with new apartment complexes and comercial complexes. Our guide told us that those displaced were given modest compensation that wouldn't come close to covering a new apartment.

Two of the centerpieces for the Olympics are the main stadium and the aquatic center. The Bird's nest and the Water Cube are just two of the amazing buildings that Beijing is hoping to have done for their "Green Olympics". With all the work to be done, its hard to believe they will be ready... but then again, the Chinese have a record for amazing feats.

It's the little things...

2007-03-20T07:24:00.001+09:00

Another "blogworthy?" post about something I've been just shrugging off lately.
Everyday, I walk home from school, past the fields, across the "New 4 lane road to nowhere", and I pass a line of cars idling on the side of the road.

Beside the first car in line is a guy who is, in plain view, emptying a 10 gallon clear bladder of what I assume is gasoline, into the gas tank of the first car. Once filled, the next car pulls up and the "attendant" goes to the trunk of his car (parked around on the curb) and pulls out the next of his 15 bladders of gas, and starts filling up the next car! In plain view.

What's going on? Where is this guy syphoning the gas from? How is this happening every day? I have no clue, and I would take a picture, but I don't think that would be "Good for health".

March Madness!!!

2007-03-16T13:30:00.000+09:00

So here it is. I've been singing "It's the most wonderful time, of the year!" all day. It's the NCAA's single elimination tournament, and it is my favourite sporting event... so much so that I take 4-6 vacation days, this time, every year.

Dad and I plop down (This year he bought a brand new Plasma TV!!!!) and watch as much basketball as our eyes can manage. Of course, I'm in Korea... and the Koreans don't care for college basketball. Lucky for me, CBS has decided to put almost all the games, live online. Since there is a 13 hour time difference between home and Korea, CBS has even made it so that I can bring up the games, On Demand, after they are done.

I love you CBS... (You too Dad, for sending me the VOD link. You rock!)

Brent Rocks!

DASHAN!!!

2007-03-05T14:13:00.000+09:00

While we were in China, I was amazed at how many people wanted to take "sneaky" pictures of me. It's one thing to take the photo of someone tall, but totally another when people sneak up beside me, or stand 20 feet in front of me while someone else tries to frame a picture of them with ME in it. I mean, this happens in Korea, but not with as much effort as the Chinese were trying.

No, I'm not paranoid, because they definitely weren't subtle! Funny, but not subtle. 4 days into our trip in Shanghai, a girl (who happened to be the one who tried to take us to her "Special Tea cafe") told me I looked a lot like DASHAN. WHO?

Dashan is known in Canada as Mark Rowswell, where he is almost a complete unknown. What's his claim to fame? He came over to China in the mid 80's and learned how to speak Mandarin Chinese unbelievably well... as well or better than many Chinese. While this isn't so odd, a chance to perform comedy on a television show made him a national celebrity overnight. Apparently 550 million people were watching him the night he appeared TV. And he can still live the life of an unknown back home. Appropriately, he has been hired to be the Canadian Team Attaché for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, even though no Canadian has a clue who he is. Pretty sweet work there, Mark!

So if you hear a story with the title "Dashan sticks tongue out at picture takers!" or "Dashan mysteriously grows 1 foot taller overnight!", don't blame him!

Shanghai: Out with the old!

2007-02-28T21:25:00.000+09:00

Do I ever work? The answer is a resounding NO. And I love it.
After an amazing time in Australia, I came back to Korea, rested a bit, went to school for a week (not to teach, but just to sit and "attend") and then left for China.

I know everyone says "How did you get Steph?", and "You sure are lucky" and "You don't deserve her, you tall..." (Yeah, some people go a little overboard), but she outdid herself this time. Steph planned all the flights, hotels, the sleeper train and the sights to see in China! All I did was show up and pose for pictures. Sweet deal!

Shanghai is only 2 hours by plane, but it takes 5+ hours to get to the Seoul airport from our town, so no flight is a short one. Again, no one minds any inconvenience when they are heading off on vcation. We arrived in Shanghai, and immediately noticed what everyone told us: Everything looks new and everything is built on a massive scale. The city of 18 million is striving to be the financial center and the prime international destination in China, and all I can say is - Wow.

After a 150Y ($25)/40 minute cab ride from the biggest airport I have ever seen (and a equal sized addition almost completed to its side) we arrived at our Hotel; The Panorama (31°14'46.70"N 121°29'12.94"E). Located right in the Bund district, on the Huangpu River, we were in the middle of everything! To make matters even better, we were even upgraded to a suite, which was far better than my fears a week earlier when we heard the hotel had a recent "change in management" and was unable to confirm our reservations!

Every morning we ate breakfast at the top floor restaurant, overlooking the Bund and Pudong districts. It was unreal. We spent our 4 days walking the riverfront, shopping on Nanjing street (with every other person in China), sitting in People's Park and People's Square (31°13'52.69"N 121°28'11.17"E), braving the crowds at the "Old Shanghai" Yuyuan markets (31°13'47.33"N 121°29'11.54"E) (you begin to see that Markets were a focal point for one of us!!!), gazing at the Oriental Pearl(31°14'29.31"N 121°29'43.68"E) and taking riverboats up the Huangpu. Steph even took me up to the 56th floor of the Jin Mao Building (31°14'14.28"N 121°30'4.61"E) (The tallest hotel in the world) for my birthday dinner!

Shanghai is developing at a ridiculous pace. Blocks upon blocks of Hutongs (old traditional houses) lie in semi-gutted conditions, walls broken down and roofs removed to make them inhospitable, clearly in wait for another enormous apartment complex to take over the land. The progress of this can be seen clearly in pictures displayed in the center of the new financial district of Pudong(31°14'22.96"N 121°30'7.78"E). Pictures taken every year show the "Out with the old" process from 1993 and on... Amazing.

Visiting Shanghai on Lunar New Year is a wild experience to say the least. Lucky for us, being as tall as we are, the crowds practically parted as we walked through them. Unlike in Korea, the stares were usually followed with a smile, as well as a friendly "Nihow". It was an incredible place, but still exhausting.

Check out the rest of our pictures!

World class Sydney

2007-02-28T15:52:00.000+09:00

After the beautiful city of Melbourne, I flew to Sydney where I was picked up by my friends, Paul and Amanda. They have been living in Sydney for over 3 years, hanging out in the posh Bondi Beach (33°52'41.75"S 151°16'14.33"E), where a house that looks to be worth $200k run well over a million dollars, and were kind enough to put me up and feed me! So nice they are! (Well, at least Amanda is nice)

If you like gorgeous beaches, beautiful people and a fantastic walkable city, Sydney is the place for you. I walked the breathtaking Eastern Coast Trail (33°53'32.65"S 151°16'35.32"E), past 4 of the best beaches you are going to see, took the ferry downtown, walked through the incredible RBG that sits right next to the downtown area and the Sydney Opera House (33°51'24.85"S 151°12'54.33"E) and climbed the Harbour bridge (33°51'17.64"S 151°12'33.37"E)(opting for the $9 view rather than the $160 guided, tied off tour!)

Paul and Amanda were awesome! They took time to take me to the Blue Mountains to the west, into the Jenolan caves (33°49'8.92"S 150° 1'25.95"E) and to the 3 Sisters National Monument. As well, they took me out for Steak and Brontosaurus Ribs (which I ate with a bib!) for my 16th birthday. They even let me take a crapload of cash from them in a couple of poker games we played while I was there. Now that is the mark of true friends.

In the end, it was time for me to get on my way, but not without adding Sydney to my list of Great world cities... The service still sucks though. Ha!

Australia at Last!!!

2007-02-28T14:09:00.000+09:00

While I understand why I've been getting all the flack for the poor job of posting I've been doing, people gotta understand... I've been having too much fun! So here is my trip to Australia in a nutshell!

I started off in Melbourne (37°49'4.74"S 144°58'6.50"E) after nearly 24 hours of travel - 3.5 hours by train to Seoul, 2 9 hour flights to Singapore and finally Melbourne, 2 hours for the plane transfer and 2 hours to fix a "10 minute" mechanical issue. It really is funny, though, how amicable you are when you're on your way somewhere sunny. Vacations bring out the best in people... well, me anyways. One of my flights sat me next to the "disgruntled and this country" ex-ESL teacher, on his way home after 2 years abroad. While he looked a little like Russel Crowe, unbalanced in his own right, my new friend seriously believed that his staring out the window, directly at the wings, was somehow keeping the plane from plummeting to the ground. He left the job to me when he was forced to answer nature's call; an honour which I promptly scuttled by burying my head in a magazine and imagining dive bombing planes engulfed in flames. Take that Russel Crowe!

Melbourne is a sprawling city of 3.7 million people centered around the beautiful Yarra river. It boomed during the the gold rush of the late 1800's, and still maintains a awesome mix of old and new architecture that is well blended throughout the city - except for the new development in the Docklands to the west that is, which I don't much care for. The downtown hugs the Yarra with street cars dominating the roads and coffee shops with their own $10k cappuccino machines are slotted absolutely everywhere... making this a very walkable and compact downtown area.

Melbournes Botanical Gardens (37°49'44.53"S 144°58'50.52"E), War memorial and slew of nearly free museums were unbelievable. Federation Square is an great meeting spot at the core of the city. Unfortunately, the Aquarium was a stinker as was the entire restaurant experience; food, service and price... which really hurts because I was definitely indulging. Korea obviously doesn't offer the same eating options as you get back home, but the fact that servers give indifferent service for a high price and mediocre quality is pretty well documented.

Near the end of my stay in Melbourne, I took a tour along the Great Ocean Road to see an Australian rainforest and the 12 Apostles (38°38'56.17"S 143° 4'5.73"E) (there are only 9 left) on a day 20 degrees C colder than the day before (I froze my rear off). What an incredible place! On to Sydney!

Check out my pictures and movies.

Catastrophic Failure!

2007-02-13T11:35:00.000+09:00

It always happens... when you are at your most vulnerable, your computer will find a way to go down in flames.
And so it happened, after my glorious trip to Australia and tons of memories from around Korea, that the hand of doom would reach down and screw me. That hand, I will call you... "Norton Antivirus". Yep, in the process of upgrading to Norton Systemworks 2007, I had to uninstall my 2003 version. While doing this, Norton decided it would be nice to corrupt the boot sector of my laptop, rendering the laptop totally useless until I wiped the hard drive clean and started fresh.

Who needs memories anyway, right Norton?

In saying that, I am encouraging everyone to use PC-cillin or AVG for antivirus tools. They are just as good and won't destroy your life.

Thanks Norton!

Back to it!

2007-02-08T10:00:00.000+09:00

After a short hiatus, including a couple of weeks in Australia, I am back in the swing of things! Lucky for us, we have one week of school before Steph and I head off to Shanghai and Beijing for a week.

Things I have learned from Australia:

It is possible for some people to not own a jacket of any kind - the weather is that nice. I have 4.

Service in Australia (waiters, shop keepers) is amazingly bad. I guess if you pay servers $17/hour and don't use tipping, you get indifferent workers, and angry 6'7" Canadians.

Food and drink are expensive (compared to Canada)

The weather is unbelievably nice almost all the time(unless you get caught there in the rainy season) but the Australians still only call it "fine".

There are over 1,000 creatures in Australia that can kill you. They can get you anywhere at any time. Don't swim, walk, eat, breathe or go to the bathroom without watching your back!

More to come!

Kids are cool...sometimes!

2006-12-28T17:10:00.000+09:00

As I've said before, this blog is not only for keeping those back in Canada in the loop, it's also our diary of everything that has happened this year. I know that once Steph and I get home, we will want something to remind us of the year we spent in Korea.

In my classes, I try to get the kids in my extra class to do things other than just reading and writing. I also have to keep myself interested, right? So here are some of the masterpieces my students have come up with.

It's all GOLD kids!

PS - Richard Simmons is funny!!

And away I go!

2006-12-27T12:53:00.000+09:00

As many of you know, I am heading to Australia for a couple of weeks during January. I'm really looking forward to it. I will be forced to celebrate my birthday (January 11th) down there too... rough life.

Plans are to fly into Melbourne, up to Sydney and visit my buddy Paul, who lives in Sydney, a short walk from Bondai Beach (yeah, me spoiled) and then meet up with my other friend, Brett (yes, I have two friends...) before heading up the coast.

Not sure how far we will make it, so stay tuned and you might find out. I can't wait!

2006-12-24T09:07:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to Everyone!

Stereograms are cool!

2006-12-14T14:24:00.000+09:00

No real learning on this one. There was a craze years ago where Stereograms were popping up everywhere.

The concept is that the pictures have an image embedded in them that you can see if you relax your eyes. If you can't see them, that doesn't mean I'm better than you... just smarter.

Here are some more.

New family member!

2006-12-12T07:51:00.000+09:00

My sister just went out and picked up a puppy! I'm not sure I'm all that fussy on the collar, but the 3/4 pug, 1/4 Polmerania has a cute face, a seemingly calm disposition and likes long walks in the park. Her name was originally "Prada", but Ally changed it to "Molly-May". Maybe she'll now touch that cheap puppy food? I want a puppy!

School isn't everything, is it?

2006-12-06T16:37:00.000+09:00

We just had our Final examination day at my school, where each grade spends the entire day writing tests in all of their subjects; Korean, Math, Science, Social Science, History, Gym, Art and Music. Yeah, no typo here... no English test. Of course the kids were really stressed about it (in Grade 5 and 6 no less) and study all weekend and all night the day before. Even the bad kids study their brains out.

What really punctuated it for me, was what two of my extra class kids told me at the end of the day. (Of course only 3 kids showed up that day for the special class I teach)

One kid told me that her friend was kicked out of her parents house after her test results turned out poorly. She was now living at my student's house. She's 12.
The other kid told me she got the 2nd highest mark in the class. When I congratulated her, she said "Oh no teacher... that is bad. My parents won't be happy I wasn't first". And then she went to great lengths to explain to me that she had gotten more questions correct, but they were of lower value than those of the other child. And this girl is 11. Were we that crazed when we were that age? I don't think so.

Korea's education system is pretty unique in some aspects. The public school system is very similar, 32-36 students per class, but the elementary schools are the size of our highschools. My school has 1,200 kids. The biggest difference comes in the after school activities.

After school, most of the students head off to an academy, which is a private company that tutors children. Classes have anywhere from 3 to 15 kids and the curriculum is totally up to the manager of the academy. Students are picked up in a van each day, usually a service provided by the academy, and are shuttled to the academy where they study any combination of Music, Science, Math, English, Chinese, Korean, etc, everyday for an hour at a time. Many students will then go off to another academy, for another hour or so. Each class costs upwards of $120 a month, and with most kids taking one or two extra classes, you can see this puts a huge burden on most families. Many families are forced to "invest" heavily in their first child, since they can't afford the same education for their other offspring, with the hopes that child will be able to support the family once they become successful. Pressure? Oh yeah.

Where you really see the problem is back in the public schools. With many of the kids taking some sort of extra schooling, the disparity between the haves and the have-nots is huge. And in most cases, the schools are forced to teach to the middle of the pack; far too low a level to keep the performers interested, and a too high a level for the kids who can't afford academies. In the end, the parents don't seem to value the public schools very much and the teachers become a little disheartened by the situation.

All agree that the system needs to be reformed... at some point.
But these are the issues in a country driven to become an economic powerhouse.

Steph's kids swallowed a fly!

2006-12-01T20:33:00.000+09:00

On Friday, Steph, Mi Sung her co-teacher, and her crew of extra class students put on a play in their school festival. Now, I'm not the foremost expert on cute, but I gotta say, this is one solid performance.

I've never seen "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly" put on with so much wiggle! Of course, the lady didn't die in this version (she cried instead) but the costumes and the singing were second to none!

Great work kids!!!

Christmas comes early!!!

2006-11-30T22:32:00.000+09:00

When you are far from home, I find you become a lot more festive during those special times of the year. It just reminds you of home and all the good times you miss. This is why Steph and I have already bought 3 strings of lights and a Christmas tree. Yep, our apartment is "strung out" with strobing lights everywhere. It's awesome!

Christmas here is not as consumer-oriented as it is back home, so the trees and ornaments are scarce and are probably only in stock because the foreigner population in Mokpo can finally support it. We are planning to go all out this year, and we both already have presents under the tree! One from my parents and one for Steph from Santa Clause!

I love you Crimmas!!!
Now if we could only find some Egg Nog and a recording of a roaring fireplace!

Slandery is the highest form of Compliment

2006-11-24T14:17:00.000+09:00

Weird Al just came out with another song that makes little jabs at Canada. I personally love it. Take that and the infamous song "Blame Canada" from South Park, and you have some good mockery.

In my opinion, if you can't take some good jokes about your country, you need to get thicker skin. Canada is a phenominal place to live, but there will always be lots to improve on. And if our friends to the south don't know that you shouldn't bring your winter jacket when you come to Toronto in July, it really shouldn't concern us.

PS - My little two cents about Quebec. I think Quebec is a distinct society. If calling them a "Nation within Canada" makes them feel valued, then that is fine with me. I think that Quebec gives Canada more of that Multicultural + European flavour that makes us what we are. I hope they stick around. One worry though, is that soon, every "distinct society" within Canada, will step up and now want their own "Nation". Let's hope this doesn't get out of control.

The wallet story

2006-11-24T13:25:00.000+09:00

Sometimes, we have guest authors on our blog, sometimes they are group efforts, and other times no one really wants to take credit for what is written.

On Monday, Steph was handed a wallet by one of the trainers at our gym - Vitamin Gym. It belonged to our friend Richard. We figured that Richard left it at the gym and that they thought all us foreigners knew each other (which we do). We thought nothing of it.

The next day, the same trainer ask me (through hand gestures) if I had gotten MY wallet. Guess he thought I was Richard... not a big deal. Later that day, we dropped the wallet off with Richard, only to learn that he had lost the wallet in a Taxi on the weekend...

In the lost wallet was the following note:

Dear Mr. Bergen.

This is KP(Korean Police) substation in Sang-dong, Mokpo.
Yesterday, we recieved a statement about lost wallet from one citizen.
We searched your fitness membership card from your wallet.
Then we called Vitamin Fitness Club and found out that you are that club's member.
We also found out your cell-phone number(010-xxx-xxxx) by asking to that club's client.
We tried to call up many times, but there were no answers.
In our opinions, you maybe lost your cell-phone with wallet together.
So, we drop in your club and kept your wallet to client necessary.
Please, get back your wallet from client safely.
And if you any questions, contact us below telephone number.

Korean Police substation in Sang-dong, Mokpo

Another example of Korea's awesome side.

The Ragin' Grade 4

2006-11-24T13:04:00.000+09:00

The schooling system here is pretty similar to that at home in some ways, but in others, there are drastic differences. Most of my classes have 30-36 kids in them and there are 6 classes per grade, 42 classes in total in the school. Kids can't be failed or expelled, and don't you even think about calling the student's parents! But these are made up with other disciplining tricks, like excercises, making kids kneel or getting them to hold things above their heads for long periods of time.

Now, my school is a really good one (Ask Steph about hers...). The kids listen when they are in trouble and do what they are told... even though they may not listen all the time in class. Simple tricks usually work. Then again, maybe its because I'm 6'7".

In my grade 4 class this week (one of 6 that I teach on my own with kids who barely speak the language) one kid began the class punching the nerdy kid in front of him, in the back... smiling the whole time he was doing it. I told him to "stop" in Korean. He did for a minute and started again. At that point I told him that he had one more chance or I would put him in the baby chair (chair at the front of the class). Again, he stopped and started again.

I stared at him in disbelief for a second before I told him to stand up and bring his chair to the front. And that was when the little "thing" inside him, snapped. You could see, as he stood up, that his little face had gone completely red and that his eyes had turned to little fireballs, focused on burning through the nerdly kid in front of him. I had a hard time believing that the nerdly kid made him do it.

Despite my demands to bring his chair to the front, the "Raging kid" continued to stand at his desk and burn a hole through the nerdly kid's head with his enraged eyes. I walked over to him and picked up his chair and motioned for him to head to the front of the class. This was his breaking point. Raging kid, who is 9 years old remember, slides to the side of Nerdly, and gives him a vicious sucker punch to the face. He follows with 5 more rapid punches to the face and neck that reminded me of an Extreme Fighting match where one of the combatants has been knocked unconscious and the other has jumped on top and begins to pummel him. Not something you expect in Grade 4... just vicious.

In a reactionary move, with his chair already in my right hand, I grab "Ragin" buy the collar of his coat (there is no heat in the schools yet, so kids wear coats and blankets in class), and lift him off the ground, effectively disabling him. Kid in one hand, chair in the other, I swiftly move towards the door to deposit Ragin and chair outside my class. Adrenalin coursing in route, I accidentally conk the chair off Ragin's head. He, in turn, cools down a little. I sit him in the chair, outside the class, where he begins to cry. Nerdly has his head in his arms and is doing the same, but appears to be fine, inspite of a sound pummelling.

I scold "Ragin" for my own good, as he can't understand, and continue onto the rest of the class, with charades explaining "We don't fight in MY class" and "That is a bad student!" and "Teacher angry". The kids are less shocked by the event than I, but more interested in what MY reaction is.

The teacher waltzes by 10 minutes later on in the class, and I charade/reinact to her what happened. She is mildly upset, and yells a little at Ragin, before she heads back to her "Free time".

I just shake my head, realizing once again, that things are a little different here.

Blog-worthiness

2006-11-24T10:46:00.000+09:00

As you might have noticed (thanks Jeff), the frequency of my posting has dropped off a bit of late. It has been said that a good blog has both frequent postings as well as great content that will continue to bring the readers, YOU, back. Now, let's not touch that term, "a good blog. I'm just writing a journal of what happened has during our year in Korea, and things of late have been pretty routine. Don't get me wrong, time here is flying bye, but many of the teachers here have made the comment that after about 4 months here, you start to become "desensitized" to the things that you are seeing. Things aren't less crazy, but I personally find them less Blog-worthy than I would have in my first 4 months.

For instance;
Last week, there was a guy up a hydro pole. His friends/co-workers were mingling around him at the base. Was he from the Hydro company? I don't know. Were the wires live? I would think so, but who knows. Maybe some were. So there he was, cutting down (random) wires from this pole. Was the traffic re-routed? Of course not. Pedestrians warned? Do you need to ask. As cars would drive by, BAM, a wire would fall and land on the hood of the car. Any yelling or posturing by the driver of the car? Nope... he just slowed down, realized what had hit his car, and I guess figured that that was just ok by him. And crazy as it seems now, we didn't think much of it either.

From now on, I will try and keep you in mind when I'm thinking about "Blog-worthiness" and try to stay regular... if you know what I mean.

Rick tells it like it is...

2006-11-16T21:51:00.000+09:00

As all the Canadians know, Rick Mercer is a pretty funny guy. His political satire routine is second to none. Now, I am a huge fan of John Stewart, but Canada knows it's political satire. From the Canadian Air Farce, to This hour has 22 minutes to Rick Mercer and the Mercer Report, we know how to make fun of our politicians.

Rick is so good, he's already been granted the Order of Canada! (I really don't think a comedian should be given that prestigious of an award until he has a career under his belt, but what do I know?)

His rants are always a breath of fresh air as well as his skits including my favourites;
Minty Fresh, Hands in my pockets and his trip to Churchill.

Keep up the good work Rick!

Remembrance Day

2006-11-10T14:13:00.000+09:00

Just a small but important reminder to everyone that November 11th is Remembrance Day. Let us remember the sacrifices made by others, our Fathers, our Grandmothers and everyone who served in wartimes, so that we can live in the world we do today.

Take that moment and really reflect on what it means to you. Find a ceremony to sit in on (There's a nice one in Spencer Smith Park in Burlington). But please, just think. Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae captures the loss in the famous poem:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

We all must continue to work together, learn and understand each other to keep this world (or to make this world, depending on your outlook) a place we can all live happily in.

Lest We Forget

Pepero day!!!

2006-11-10T13:29:00.000+09:00

While most of world is spends November 11th remembering those killed in World War 1 and every war that follows, The Koreans, sparked by either smart marketing or amazing word of mouth Celebrate Pepero (빼빼로) day!

The unofficial holiday involves students giving a crapload of Pepero brand chocolate covered breadsticks to their friends. It is comparable to Valentines day back home, but would probably be closer to "Mars bar day" than anything. A piece of marketing genius by the Lotte corporation.

All that matters to me is that I got a truck load of candy today! Good thing too... my kids were REALLY bad today. All that damn suger I suppose.

Korean TV

2006-11-01T07:29:00.001+09:00

Where to start? Well, first thing to say is that I was surprised about the amount of English on cable TV. Of the 70 standard channels we get, maybe 6 of them are English. But hold on... at any time 5-6 of them could be showing an English movie with Korean subtitles... Sometimes all of them are hosting movies including (high rotation) Independance day, Jurassic Park 8, and Legally Blonde 2. Pulp Fiction was on the other day, but all the drug scenes were blacked out - literally the screen went black when John Travolta was getting into the heroin (Drugs are a huge no-no in Korea... I.e. Jail terms and fines are severe).

Also, there are numerous music channels with Korean "Ballads" which match a "tear-jerking" song with a 10 minute mini movie involving love and death with some crazy fight scenes mixed in for flavour. Other channels have wild comedy shows like "Heroine 6" (to the left) where the cast play ridiculous games that make you wonder; How can they play the same games EVERY DAY?".

Other than these miscellaneous movies, there are four types of channels that draw most of our attention;

1. OnStyle
Literally every woman's dream and every man's nightmare. Picture an English channel jammed with every entertainment news show and reality TV show ever conceived. Project runway, America's top model and American Idol keep Steph happy and keep me on the computer.

2. CNN International
Not as good as it first sounded, to me. 10 minutes of global news, 10 minutes of global weather and 10 minutes of soccer "highlights" (I've never used "soccer" and "highlights" in the same sentence before!) are repeated on the shortest rotation known to man. Larry King comes in once a day to interview a random American Politician every day to break the seemingly neverending repetition.

3. The Video Game channel
Literally some men's dream and every woman's nightmare. Picture a Korean channel jammed with every video game you can think of, running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The channel brings to light Korea's "e-athletes" (yes, they call professional video gamers "athletes"... cough, cough) and also is amazingly good at driving Steph out of the room. Starcraft is the largest game in the country and has its own league and teams with players on salary.

4. The 5 Korean Home shopping channels
Yes, 5... well maybe 3 or 4, but you would be amazed to see what they are selling! From kimchi refrigerators, to live seafood (complete with families devouring wriggling stews with crazy glee in their eyes), to fans and vitamins. Its really a sight to see... which you can if you check out GSeshop, WooriShop or NSEshop. There will a pop-up and it will ask you to install the "SeeLive viewer" which is totally safe and will let you watch Korean culture at its finest.

Finally, there are dozens of commercials that make use of 3 or 4 main actors/actresses and are laden with catchy jingles and wild flashy graphics. If you thought it was hard to get songs out of your head at home, you ain't seen nothin yet! My brain is melting!

2006-10-31T22:11:00.000+09:00

From the kids at Dong Elementary School...

Happy Halloween! We can't believe we didn't cut off a finger!!!

All good things...

2006-10-28T11:53:00.000+09:00

So the day finally came...

Anoushka and Hugh have finally finished their teaching terms in Korea and have left on an airplane. It's the end of a great chapter in our Korean adventure.

Anoushka is heading back to England for a spell, but is thinking hard about coming back to Korea to teach. Hugh is on his way to Orangeville, Ontario to marry his sweetie, Katherine, on December 18th (Wo!). Let's hope the boys back in Orangeville go easy on him!

Have a safe trip guys! We already miss you both dearly!

In other news... Doug and Kristin Petten, who you might remember from Kristin's beautiful drawing in an earlier post have given birth to a baby girl weighing 9lbs 1.5oz. Amazingly, they have decided to name the baby "Baby Petten". I guess nine months wasn't enough time to get the creative juices flowin! Congratulations guys!

Uncle Steve's Story Time - Episode 4

2006-10-25T16:32:00.000+09:00

Uncle Steve is back with another wild adventure! It's been a while, but this one is worth the wait! Read on to find out:

Out with the Teachers, Again!

It was not a dark and stormy night, the weather was not foreboding at all in fact. If you were to ask, some would say it was rather pleasant outside. It was the perfect setting for the carnival-like atmosphere of Dong Myeoung’s annual Festival Day Bonanza. (I added bonanza).

An exceptional amount of work from both the students and teachers (foreign English teacher excluded) went into the preparation and I must admit, it was a great show. In appreciation of such an effort, the principal invited the staff out for dinner. This is where MY show began.

I took my spot on the floor with my co-teacher and the grade 4 teachers. As the other teachers began to arrive, I soon realized that I would be asked to drink with the boys again. This was made quite obvious when the ‘drinking’ teachers decreed that the seats adjacent to mine be vacated immediately so that they could take them. To my amusement, the 3 in those spots got up and left. Within a minute, I was working the two-glass system again, one for beer, one for soju. I swear to you as I type this, I’m not sure why, but teachers from other tables were coming over to do a soju shot with me, in fact, the waitress ordered up a ‘one-shot’ with me too. Needless to say, my inhibitions were greatly decreased and my Korean started to flow. I told one of the teachers that she was very glamorous and looked like a model. When it was translated to her what that meant, she became quite embarrassed. I may have told her that I had a crush on her too, but I don’t quite remember.

I then found myself at another table sitting beside my female vice-principal. As most of you know, the teacher/administration relationship is fraught with respect. The practice of back-slapping your vice principal is not common in these parts, so I’m sure that she was taken aback when the drunk English teacher sat beside her and put his arm around her. If looking uncomfortable and changing seats is any indication, I’m not sure if she appreciated my friendliness. I may have tussled her hair too, but I don’t quite remember.

Off to the Norae Bang for more beer. I sang some Beatles for them and, as chance would have it, I brought along my camera and took about a dozen pictures with one of my drinking buddies Mr. Sa. After the Norae Bang, Mr. Sa and the Phys. Ed teacher, let’s call him Mr. PE, took me to the next stop.

Was it a brothel? A den of ill repute? Why did the police show up? What could have happened?

This stop was your average Rest Hof. The three of us took our seats at a table and ordered a jug of beer. Perhaps the only oddity was that I was the only one who spoke English. No worries, I would be able to ‘kombae’ my way through this one for sure. I think the conversation was light and fun, the company was delightful and the ambiance you ask? Inviting. Not a particularly busy place, there was one table of 2 sitting across from us and maybe 4-5 more people scattered about.

Now I can’t be sure what precipitated Mr. PE’s angst. He is a rather sturdy man, but Napoleonic in height. At any rate, out of the blue, Mr. PE stood up and delivered a solid kick to the chest of one of the men sitting at the table beside ours. The man reacted in a rather non-diplomatic way; he stood up and started swinging. Tables, chairs and glassware were the first victims and they lay smashed and overturned about the place. Not sure what my role in all of this should be, I took my place between the two to break it up. There was a lot of posturing between the two and for a few seconds peace seemed to be restored. Mr. Sa, who was behind me, pulled me away, not wanting me to be involved. One of the other men took this as a sign of aggression and grabbed a hold of Mr. Sa. My diplomacy ended right there. (author’s note: please understand that I am not an aggressive person, I’ve never punched a face or been in a fight). I grabbed Mr. Sa’s assailant by the lapels and gently helped him sit back down while calmly swearing at him in English and making it quite clear that Mr. Sa was not to be touched. My fist may have been cocked in a rather threatening manner, but I don’t quite remember.

The waitress was rather upset with this unruly behavior and had summoned the police. Upon their arrival, Mr. Sa, the ‘other guy’ and I ended up on the sidewalk leaving the two original combatants inside. Shoddy decision making I agree. The police took the other two away. Still unsure of my role in all of this, I went back inside to see what came of Mr. PE. I don’t understand Korean very well, but I’m pretty sure the waitress was not relieved to see me. Mr. PE however, saw me and then delivered yet another kick to his rival’s chest. Tensions mounted again, I managed to subdue any counter attack by pinning him again. Having restored some order, I saw the waitress with her hand on her head surveying what was once her tidy Rest Hof. The other patrons stood with open mouths, Planters were smashed, soil spilled everywhere. Three or four tables were overturned, jugs of beer lay smashed on the ground, soaking into the dirt.

Mr. PE looked my way and motioned for me to leave, and leave quickly. I complied and saw the next police cruiser pull up. I then ran to my ‘safe’ foreigner bar with a new story to tell...

Tensions

2006-10-24T16:31:00.000+09:00

I'm sure everyone back home knows about the shenanigans that North Korea has been pulling of late. Lots of people have been asking, "So, is everyone there freaking out?"

Amazingly, no. Aside from a couple of air-raid siren tests and some jets flying practice drills overhead last week, the mood is pretty much unchanged in the "Land of the rising sun".

Talking to teachers in Mokpo, they are realatively unphased by the test. They feel that the North is just stuck in a game of brinksmanship and that the South has really nothing to fear. The North will hope for a juicy aid package from the States (which the American's won't let happen) or they will just go on their merry way trying to get the bomb down from the size of a house to missile size. At this point, reports say the test was between 1/30th and 1/2 the size of the one dropped on Hiroshima so many years ago. Our teachers were shocked to hear that many of the ESL teachers had registered with the Canadian Embassy to be kept informed if things should escalate... obviously they didn't think it was that big a deal.

People do say that the elderly are more fearful, but that is because they are the of the few who still remember the atrocities of the war and the 2.5 million plus Koreans from both sides who were killed. Japan, it is felt, is the one most at risk, in this story, simply because their relationship in the region is still strained.

At the end of the day, the common feeling is that this test will only result in North Korea becoming more isolated (Sanctions/ship inspections will be more for show and probably won't be strictly enforced), will only serve to scare Japan and South Korea into further arming, and will drop the curtain on any hopes of a reunion between the South and North; something both have yearned for since the war.

Konglish and Korean "Story"

2006-10-15T22:31:00.000+09:00

On Monday, sitting in my grade 5 class, was this girl, who was wearing a T-shirt that said "I'm not mean, you're just a sissy!". Do you think she knows what it means? Of course not. But this is one of the beauties of Korea's love for anything english. The shirts go from 13 year old girls wearing shirts saying "I wish my boyfriend was as dirty as this dirtbike" (with dirtbike picture on it), to shirts that consist of a bunch of mispelled words jammed together forming no coherance at all ("Saw my back" was the most recent shirt I sent home to my sister). All the time, we foreigners are snatching them up and sending them home as gifts!

Korea also boasts the amazing art of "Story". This can be as simple as calling your store "Beauty Story" or "Book Story" or calling a video game "Maple Story", but it all seems to be an attempt to give personality, character, emotional appeal and reputation to whatever it is they are peddling. This "Story" theme then goes on coffee cups, billboards and placemats to convey this "pseudo reputation" to the users, who, for the most part, don't speak English.

For us who do, it's awesome!

Virginia, Mom and Mokpo

2006-10-15T22:03:00.000+09:00

On Friday, we were blessed with the presence of Virginia (from Suncheon) and her Mother (all the way from St Catherines!).
Virginia’s Mom had been on an amazingly jam-packed 2 week tour of Korea with Virginia, and they both came down to Mokpo to celebrate Virginia’s 23rd birthday (Happy Birthday Virginia!), to see the sights in Mokpo, and then to send Mom home to Canada on the KTX. Virginia is awesome... enough said. We met her in our orientation group with Canadian Connections, and went to Singapore and Malaysia with her. Good peoples!

The night started at “The Log House”, or Log-uh House-uh in Korean, for an all you can eat veggie buffet (does that mean I had all I could eat before I got there?) with Chad, Nicola, Maura and Max, and later by Steve O. The log house is supposed to be a replication of a Canadian log house, but is decorated with miscellaneous metal jungle animals. We then headed to Mokpo's newest attraction; the Waterfall. This Waterfall cut out of one of the hills is the new gateway to the city as well as the doorman for a new set of nearly 50 condo buildings that are being built simultaneously! We even shot a movie of it... looks like Canada's Wonderland right beside a 8 lane throughfare. The night concluded with a walk through Peace Square, some drinks, a spell in the Norae Bang (Karaoke room), and Steve stumbling off into the sunrise to find a motel to sleep in.

Saturday we were treated to an amazing breakfast at Chads apartment by the harbour before we hiked Yudal mountain, walked through downtown Mokpo and enjoyed a drink with some good people. Before we knew it, it was late and the two girls had to be up at the crack of dawn to head back to Suncheon, for Virginia and to Seoul for Mom to head back to the snow in Southern Ontario! (I can't believe its snowing in Canada!)

Great weekend that reminded us of how great our friends are and how solid a city Mokpo is!

Check out the Waterfall movie and the Yudal movie as well as pictures at the right! Also, check out Virginia's blog just because it's cool.

Busan for Chusok!

2006-10-08T17:49:00.000+09:00

So, I'm sure you are all getting a little tired of me going on about the amount of vacation we get here... If you said "Hell yeah!" to that, then you should stop reading right now.

Chusok is South Korea's Thanksgiving... the only difference is that it runs for almost an entire week! We, of course, took full advantage of this and took a 5 hour bus ride to Busan (35° 9'37.18"N 129° 9'34.64"E) with our awesome friends; Hugh and Anoushka. The Motel Hugh had so daftly chosen was in Haeundae beach, right across from the Busan Aquarium, and a block from a complex that housed all the western food you could think of. That guy is a lot smarter than he looks!

Unlike the concrete jungle that is Seoul, Busan definitely has an international, dare I say, "liveable" flavour to it. With 8 million people and a port that is vying to be the new hub for north Asia, Busan blends Western ammenities with parks, beaches, tourist attractions and comparably interesting architecture, all in a seemingly reasonably sized city. Many of these things aren't readily found in the vast barracks' that encompass Seoul's 21 million people. They do both have amazing shopping, though, because, like we've noticed in the rest of Asia, Koreans LOVE to shop.

In our 4 day trip (2 of those were travel days - 4.5 hour bus trips), we visited the Busan Aquarium, walked Haeundae beach 3 times, took pictures of the Gwangan Bridge from the 2005 APEC conference site, toured the Beomeosa Budist Temple, walked the fish market, moseyed the "40 steps" heritige site, and gorged every night at western style restaurants (The Outback!!!).

One of the highlights of the trip for Hugh and I, was an unexpected hibrid greeting from a middle-aged Korean: "Have a nice day-hamnida". The charm and unexpected warmth of his smooth blend of the two greetings made us both do a double take. Our excessive "Thank you"s and "Kamsamnida"s couldn't have done it justice... But I guess you have to be a foreigner in Korea to appreciate how rare this comment was.

We got home late Sunday night, again happy and tired! Here are our pictures from the fantastic week!

Happy Turkey-Day, Canada!!!

2006-10-08T17:34:00.000+09:00

We hope that everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving with family and friends! We miss you all and wish we could be home to enjoy a glass of wine, a drumstick and potatoes with mushroom gravy with our loved ones.

May you all be Happy and Healthy!

PS - Nice work Matthew!

I ate my first live baby octopus today!

2006-09-27T22:44:00.000+09:00

So it happened. After volleyball at my school today, a big blue truck pulled into the school yard and dropped off a styrofome container. In the magic white box was about 30 live baby (smallish) octopi. Of course, seeing this, I ran to my classroom to get my camera in hopes to catch it all on tape. Remembered the camera, forgot the batteries!

Imagine this if you will: 15 teachers simultneously jamming live squirming octopi into their mouths. Me, doing as I'm told, and slowly, first the head, then leg by leg, eating the whole octopus. I kindly declined a second helping.

What an experience! Another experience where you find yourself thinking; "Wholly crap, I'm in Korea". If only I had 2 double A batteries!

We conquered Wolchulsan!

2006-09-24T11:13:00.000+09:00

Well.. maybe not conquered, but we survived it! And that is a feat! As part of our ongoing push to see all we can of Korea before the winter shuts us down, we decided to hike the 809 meter Wolchulsan this weekend. Wolchulsan (Wolchul mountain 34°46'4.71"N 126°42'17.46"E) is a good 1 hour from Mokpo by bus, and after a solid Friday night at the bar, the 8am wake-up call was not a happy sound at all.

After losing a few of the wimpier memebers of our climb team (isn't fresh air good for hangovers?) to the festivities of the previous night, 15 of us started the trek around 10:30 It wouldn't be until just before 2pm that we would reach the summit and not until shortly after 5 until we would leave Wolchul National Park.

Now, coming from Southern Ontario, I hadn't expected a climb like this. I had heard rumours that the hill was tough to start with, but wasn't all that rough after that. This was wrong. From a gradual and steady dirt incline, to rocky "trails", to steps braced with logs, to rubble with strategically placed "handrails", the climb seemed to run straight up and besides the suspension bridge half way up, it never let up... for 3.5 hours.

The Koreans, for the most part, were decked out in full mountaineering gear and walking sticks, and pulled off the trail regularly to have little picnics. Every once in a while, you would find a 70-80 year old person resting on the side of the trail. All I could think was: "How did they get here? I barely made it this far! Am I that much of a pansie? Are those guys up ahead doing shots of Soju? You've got to be kidding me." One Korean, forever to be known as "The MAN", beat us up to the peak of Wolchulsan with a baby on his back, and his 4 year old at his side (special mention to the 4 year old, who walked the entire 7km on his own!)

The view at the top was incredible, and the weather couldn't have been better. Once to the top, everyone plopped down to enjoy the view and a snack. On dead legs, we all headed down the other side of the mountain, being sure to stop and soak our feet in a stream beside the trail. Unlike the way up, the opposing side of the mountain had a trickle of hikers (probably because the trail was too easy for the superhuman Koreans!) Exhausted and starving but buzzed from the accomplishment, we headed back to Mokpo for a well deserved lest (rest).

Here are the amazing pictures from our day!
Here is Virginia's story when she went up the mountain!

These guys rock!

2006-09-13T15:10:00.000+09:00

Jeff and Debbie are two of our awesome friends from back home.

What makes them our favourites is that they sent us an amazing package in the mail! It was even turned back by customs once!!! The box was jammed full of Canadian chocolate (We miss Reese Peanut butter cups!), candies and a bottle of wine!!! Needless to say we devoured the whole box of goodies in 2 days...

Ain't that cute!

2006-09-13T08:04:00.000+09:00

Yeah, I know what you are thinking. "Awe, one of Brent's students drew him a picture! Maybe it was that 6 year old in kindergarten, or that cute kid who was held back a year."

Actually, it was drawn by my friend Kristin. Kristin is 26, turning 27 October 17th (which reminds me I have to send her something), and she is 6 months pregnant with her first child. While she is a great person, she is no artist. Not at all.

I asked her for a picture of her in all her pregnant glory, and she thought it would be funny to send me this picture.

Well, you know what I think is funny Kristin? Putting your scribble on my blog! Ha!

KL and Home (sweet?), home. (Vacation part 4)

2006-09-09T11:49:00.000+09:00

We arrived in Kuala Lumpur in the middle of the afternoon. KL, like many Asian cities, is building at an amazing rate. The one thing they aren't building fast enough, is the regional bus terminal! The bus station, and the roads leading to it, were so clogged with traffic and so poorly laid out that every passenger from every bus was jumping off 3 blocks early, grabbing their bags and walking to the Puduraya terminal in order to sidestep the queue of 20 – 30 buses waiting admission to the terminal. Lucky for me, I was with Steph, and she had again pre-booked a hotel across the road from the terminal (I know… what is it that I bring to the relationship? I’m the bodyguard!)

The Katari (3° 8'46.04"N 101°42'3.84"E)was an oasis amidst the chaos, and I do mean chaos. People were everywhere, wandering aimlessly, looking for taxis, looking for tour buses and generally not too sure what they were doing. To KL's credit, there were an equal number of people trying to show the wanderers the way (out of their money).

Virginia wasn’t too fond of KL, and we could definitely see her point of view. KL has large pockets of chaos (normally around transportation hubs and its many markets), amazingly developed high quality zones (like the Petronas towers and Bukit Bintang) and large swaths of not-much in between. We quickly realized that as long as you stick to its amazing elevated light rail system, KL has a lot of amazing sights.

We spent our three days there shopping, shopping and shopping. Oh, did I mention the shopping? Besides the Chinatown market and the little India bazaar where I almost bought a $3500 Tag watch for $60 (how long would that watch run for?), we spent a huge part of our time at the amazing Kuala Lumpur City Center (3° 9'27.92"N 101°42'41.95"E. The two amazing towers were accented by a giant 5 story mall and a giant public park. We tried to visit the suspention bridge spanning the 55th floor of the towers and the Patronas theme park on the 5th floor of the mall, but were thwarted each time (too busy or too closed!). Instead, we visited the KL Aquarium (which was cheaper and better than Singaopre's), the KL Tower(3° 9'10.13"N 101°42'12.74"E), which gave us an amazing view of the city, and the Independence square, where we accidentally caught some fireworks as part Malaysia's independence week celebrations. Independence square sports the tallest flagpole in the world and Malaysia's supreme court, as well as a huge open field and some great water fountains (3° 8'51.88"N 101°41'35.88"E).

We spent the rest of our time gorging on as much India, Chinese, Malay, Thai and Western food as we possibly could. One night we dined in this amazing underground promenade of upscale restaurants (which were still dirt cheap by Canadian standards)in StarHill Gallery, at an Arabic place. The Hummus, Baba Ganoush, fatoush salad and pita bread left Steph and I waddling home. Another time we found a place that served Hummus and Indian food! It's amazing how much you yearn for that multicutured food selection when you can't get it.

Our last day came quickly and we had to leave for the airport at 5am. After a series of stupid moves on my part (I'm dumb in the morning, and Steph is grumpy - a bad combo), including convincing Steph to give her subway pass, and trying to take a cab to the airport, only to realize I didn't have nearly enough money, we finally make it to our plane. The trip back to Busan was an uneventful one, and we took the KTX train back to Mokpo as soon as we could. I realized, as soon as we got out of the airport, that my Korean cough was back. Awesome. Although we were a little happy to be home, we felt a little less charmed by the cool stares of the many Koreans we passed. Had the Singaporian and Malaysian hospitality and warmth spoiled us? Or was this a little "post trip depression" setting in. We will find out soon enough.

Paradise and Melaka (Vacation part 3)

2006-09-02T13:56:00.000+09:00

It took us around 3 hours to drive from Singapore, across the border to Merasing by taxi. It was clear that there were about 100 times more cars heading into Singapore than into Malaysia. Miles upon miles of Palm trees lined the windy road, part of Malaysia’s biggest export – Palm oil. After waiting 1 1/2 hours for our ferry to leave Mersing, we quickly arrived at our new favourite place in the world; Rawa. People always say that pictures never do justice, but here it has never been truer. Two brothers once ran a resort on the island, but after a dispute on how the resort should be run. They split the island and each brother took half to run, as they saw fit. Le Club Rawa is owned and run by Juan, and is the most laid back place in the world. The hammocks everywhere, white beaches, wide array of cheap food, great music, clear green water and a beautiful coral reef just meters away from the shore made us feel like we were dreaming. After being there for only a couple of hours, Steph turned to me to say; “Let’s stay a third night”. Done and done!
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Taking Virginia’s great advice, we abandoned our original plans to continue up the east coast and venture off to Melaka. Unfortunately, that meant ditching a trip to Taman Negara, Malaysia’s famous rainforest with tree-top tours and caving expiditions. It was a good choice though… if you like shopping! Melaka had been christened Malaysia’s cultural centre. Floating from Spanish to Dutch to British rule, finally obtaining independence in 1963, Melaka had plenty of food and shopping with a couple of touristy sites sprinkled in between.

St Paul’s Church in the Dutch area gave Steph some time to rub elbows with some kind (are there any other types) Netherlanders. We ate Indian food with our hands (a liberating experience), visited a long forgotten “Crocodile amusement park”, a city forest jam-packed with wild monkeys, night markets and a giant, brand new shopping mall. They must have known Steph was coming because they were having a month-long “MEGA SALE”! Before you could blink an eye, she had two new purses! (don’t they get jealous?). I did pretty well myself.

We even fit in a rickshaw ride with a 62 year old man who seemed extremely excited to get us into his cart, before he realized how big we were. It would have been a far more romantic ride if he didn’t almost die pushing us or tell us his incredibly sorrow-filled story. Thanks buddy!

After 3 days in Rawa and 3 days in Melaka, it was time to head for our final destination: Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia supposedly has the best infrastructure in South East Asia, so grabbing buses anywhere is a breeze. They are more luxurious than the ones in Canada and the 3-hour trip cost less that $3. Feeling that we “had done Melaka”, we took off.

The Lion city (Vacation part 2)

2006-08-30T12:00:00.000+09:00

After 12 hours of travel and stopovers in Hong Kong and Bangkok, we finally arrived in Singapore. Even from the taxi ride from the airport, you could tell Singapore was a city of World class. The 4 lane highway leading to the city was shielded with rows of majestic 50 foot tall trees. Past deforestation on the island state today means that each tree in Singapore has been transplated from elsewhere; an amazing thought when you see the degree of “greening” present in Singapore. It truly does make a difference in reducing the perceived temperature (Singapore is 1° north of the equator but feels considerably cooler than South Korea in summer).

We arrived at my friend Theresa’s late Tuesday night with the gracious invite to squat at her place until Saturday. “Tree” and I have been friends since our second year of university and have copied an assignment or two off of each other (at least I’ve copied from her!). We were amazed when we walked in, to see that Tree’s apartment complex has a beautiful outdoor pool, which we would use at every opportunity throughout our stay. She has done pretty damn well for herself!

Singapore is a phenomenal city. Founded and planned out by the now beloved Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819, it has transformed itself from a rugged port of trade into a financial powerhouse. Over the next 3 days we found ourselves traipsing through little India (and paying $5 for a meal for 4, and $2 for a pair of “Oakley’s”), Arab town, Chinatown, engaging in Singapore’s national pastime (shopping) and generally getting lost in the city. At night, Theresa took us to a catered, roof-top party, to a club on the 70th floor of the Swiss hotel, walking along the harbour edge near the downtown and pubbing at the high-end Clarke Quay (people watching the entire time).
On Friday we spent the day on Sentosa Island after a cable car ride from Mt Faber. Sentosa Island is Singapore’s version of the Toronto Islands, except that it has been developed as a getaway from the city, rather than Toronto’s airport/residential community/public space hodgepodge. The aquarium and Pink dolphin exhibits were fantastic (even though I thought the KL aquarium was better for a fifth the price!). Virginia screamed and hollered so much when the dolphin trainers asked for a volounteer, that they picked her only to stop her disgraceful behaviour. I think she even pushed a kid out of her way as she ran to the front! How embarrassing! We swam at Sentosa’s beach, unconscious of the half a dozen freighters in the background and obvious quality of the water… it was a beach and we were on vacation! The night ended with a trip to the night safari where we were treated to fire eating, a performance of otters showing the children how to recycle and a ride through the safari. The safari’s animals were “secured” in fence-less zones that used rocks and moats to contain them… I still think there must have been some sort of “zapping” device that helped reinforce the perimeter… especially after the Bull Elephant charged our tour bus, which we narrowly escaped!

Surprisingly, despite Singapore’s beautiful buildings and landscape, the diverse and warm people, the cheap public transit ($15 to get across the city and $1.20 to ride the fully automated subway system to anywhere in the state), and the great shopping, the thing Steph and I appreciated most was the food. Korean food is great, but lack of variety is something that is killing us. I also noticed that after being in Singapore for 2 days, my 8 week old Korean cough had vanished. Hmm!

The next morning we were bound for Malaysia and the small island of Rawa. What a blast!Follow Virginia's account of the trip.
Also check out Theresa's amazing pictures!!!

And it starts (Vacation Part 1)

2006-08-24T18:27:00.000+09:00

Even though our flight to Singapore wasn't until the 8th, we had decided to head to Seoul 3 days early to vacation before the vacation.

The 8:30 train to Seoul came SO early, but we were both excited to get going. In her incredible wisdom, Steph had pre-booked a Motel (The Jeon Poong Hotel - sweet name 37°33'36.68"N 127° 2'1.85"E) that sat right on two subway lines and kitty-corner to an Outback steakhouse and a Fat-Donalds!

The three days in Seoul were jammed with tons of subwaying and walking. We walked Itaewon, the "foreigner" section of Seoul, where you can find all the international amennities as well as clothing sizes thanks to the 24,000 member American army base located close by. There definitely was "dark" feel to the place, highlighted by the multitude of unfriendly faces and a gloomy walk up "Hooker hill". I don't think "seedy" is too strong a word. Shortly after arriving, we left Itaewon for Dongdaemun; the shopping district.

To our suprise, we found an amazing "urban river" path that ran from Dongdaemun back to our hotel (although it did take a couple of hours). Cheonggyecheon, in 1968, was completely covered by an elevated highway into the city. In 2003, the highway was removed in a uniquely responsible moveby the city of Seoul, and the river was rehabilitated into a social asset. It was extremely nice, with tons of people using it, not to mention the countless condo projects being built along its sides.

Day 2 found us at the biggest mall in Seoul; the COEX. I've never seen so many people... and such an example of consumerism. Go economy, Go! Close by, the Trade Tower and the Buddist temple - Bongeunsa took up most of the afternoon. It was an interesting sight to see the city's center of commerse and business sitting across the road from the most peaceful of temples. We finished the evening off with a picnic at Ttukseam resort on the Han river. Thousands of people were using the parkland on this, and most nights this summer. Since most people don't have air conditioning and the temperature was 30C with 85% humidity, many people come out at dusk to sit by the river. Some camped out all night, with or without a tent (Korea is still great for camping absolutely anywhere).

Day 3 proved to us that even though the subway system is great in Seoul, the urban sprawl makes everything tough to get to. We checked out the World cup stadium and adjacent parks, which were really nice, but super under-utilized probably because they were so remote, and because Koreans don't really care for the sun. We swung back to the Korean War museum as an after-thought, which turned out to be a great move!
On the monument seen below was this passage:

Monument in Remembrance of the Korean War
The tragedy of the Korean War, which began early in the morning of June 25, 1950 with North Korea's illegal invasion of the South, resulted in over 4 million casulties, 10 million dispersed family members, and US$23 billion in property damage across the nation.
The Republic of Korea, along with the UN forces from 21 different nations, fought at the risk of their lives in order to protect democracy and national peace. The war lasted 3 years, 1 month and 2 days, and the Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953. [...]
In this spirit, as we commemorate the tragedy of the war, we erect this war monument in order to pay tribute to those sacrificed their lives and to leave the eternal peace to our sons and daughters with the hope and promise of the unification of the nation.
The monuments were breathtaking. Around the War museum, was a slew of military equipment used in the war... perfect for two oversized children (us) to play in. We finished the night with dinner at the Yongsan station, knowing that in 8 hours we would be back there, catching a bus to Incheon airport, and our plane out of Korea.

We're Home!!!

2006-08-24T12:38:00.000+09:00

Updates of our awesome trip are still coming, but until then, we've posted pictures in the normal spot! Stay tuned!

Vacation pictures
Movie of Steph and Virginia petting Koi in Singapore
Movie of our resort in Rawa
Movie of the Singapore aquarium

Gone!!!

2006-08-02T19:53:00.000+09:00

We are gone!
August 5th we leave for Seoul for 3 days. On August 8th we catch a red eye to Singapore where we will be staying with my long time friend from home - Theresa! She's been working there for 3 years for Deloitte. We will be returning to Busan on the 22nd and back in Mokpo on the 25th.

Don't expect any updates until we get back!!

Jeju-do: Korea's Hawaii

2006-08-01T10:40:00.000+09:00

So there we were last Thursday, at 8am in the morning, standing in front of Mokpo's International Ferry terminal ( 34°46'48.36"N 126°22'55.39"E) with 30 of my teachers around us. The teachers had been gracious enough to envite Steph and I on their yearly outing... and this year it was all the way on Jeju Island, South Korea's "Honeymoon Island".

The ferry carried over 50 cars and nearly a thousand people, took 4 1/2 hours to get us to Jeju and left the two of us with some nice sunburns that really freaked out our Korean travel-mates. I don't tan... I just burn.

We arrived in Jeju (33°31'10.41"N 126°32'6.16"E) around 1:30 and were immediately ushered onto our tour bus, where we would spend the majority of our trip, in classic Korean style.

On the first day, a stop for lunch was followed by:

Ilchulland - an amazing garden created and donated to the island by one super wealthy man

Micheon Ilchulland Cave - a brilliantly chilly cave in the Ilchulland garden

A native Jeju village - They tried to sell us all some "berry medicine" - meh

An awesome Forest park where we got to walk and relax for way too little time.

Each stop we were only given the shortest amount of time to get out, wander around and take pictures... Steph and I were always the last ones back to the bus.

At a late dinner at the Hotel Hawaii and the revelation was made that our fellow teachers were told we were going home to Canada for our vacation, and not to Signapore. Trouble? I'm not sure. The group of us then headed to a really nice night club with a live band and singers. We had a great time drinking (Beer!) and dancing in the empty bar until a traditional dancer came out and we were all shooed back to our table. As the lady danced I joked to Steph that she was going to strip for us. Steph and I laugh aloud right up until the point that she stood practically naked in front of us... us and the 15 female and 15 male teachers from my school! The ladies didn't seem phased at all. Wow...you would probably never see this in Canada.

Although many in the group were hoping our next stop was the hotel, we made our way to the infamous Karaoke room where everyone pounded out famous Korean tunes into the wee hours of the night. It wasn't until Steph and I got up and belted out tunes of our own that the group headed home, tired but happy.

Day #2 started at 7:30 am after a mere 5 hours sleeping on the floor in our hotel rooms (There are no beds in normal Korean hotel rooms). Everyone was surprisingly chipper at breakfast before we headed out for round 2 of our whirlwind tour:

A "lava pottery" place (no other way to explain it) where one of our teacher took a donkey ride

An amazing show at the Jeju Magic World" which, for $15, was pretty comparable to a Cirque du Soleil show

A drive past the Convention center and World cup stadium

An amazing trek to the tallest and widest waterfall (33°14'48.68"N 126°33'16.67"E) in Korea

A trip to the lava tubes - seen in a movie on the "My Pictures" sidebar

Lunch followed by a trip to the famous "Dragon's Head lava formation"

More food and Soju

A trip to the tour gift shop before headed to the ferry

The trip home was pretty eventless, minus the onslaught of Soju and Skate once again. But an awesome sunset welcomed us back to Mokpo. It's so nice to be home!

Check all our pictures from Jeju on the sidebar dropdown menu!

The Misunderstood virtues of Skate

2006-07-26T19:22:00.000+09:00

Our hometown has two delicacies that it is famous for: Sabol Nokchi – live Octopus and Skate. I still haven’t eaten the live octopus, but probably will at some point. However, I have had the Skate (a type of manta ray) and still have to wonder why anyone would ever eat it by choice. Skate is an unbelievably cartilagey fish, pink to red in colour.

Manta rays in general are filled with Urea when alive, but once dead, that Urea converts to Ammonia.

Now, of course Rays or Skate is eaten all over the world, so that isn't so uncommon. It is cooked and blackened and is supposed to be quite palatable. In Korea, they eat it raw... so full on cartilage texture, full on Ammonia taste. And as the foreigner, it's your job to eat as much of it as possible.

Shivers run up my spine every time it shows up unexpectedly on the dinner table!

Life is a beach... at least it was supposed to be

2006-07-24T19:39:00.000+09:00

Before coming to Korea, we were told that Mokpo, our new home city, had a big glorious beach. This was all Steph needed, and her heart was set. Unfortunately, the beach fell dramatically short of its hoopla (damn you Mr. Shane) and has left us (well, Steph, with me in toe) looking for a beach near our hometown.

Last weekend we headed to Jindo, home of the Jindo breed of dog (The type you think about when people mention Korea) and our first beach attempt. The sky was black the whole day (the whole weekend) but the beach was nice (34°26'4.59"N 126°21'17.98"E) even though it turned too cool to sit out on it. At low tide, the sea parts and you can walk on the seabed, a mile out to an island off the coast. (34°25'21.20"N 126°20'56.17"E) Neatish. Not everything we (she) was hoping for!

This weekend we tried Wedaldo (34°46'52.49"N 126°17'37.25"E), a small island that is being developed 50 minutes from Mokpo by ferry. $7 was all the ferry cost for a return ticket. We were surprised by the number of Koreans at the Island (especially those that felt the need to bring their cars since the island was really too small to drive around) and were amazed by the good sized water playground area that was obviously just put in.

Our Brit contingent, Hugh and Anoushka, accompanied us, and we headed to the beach.
After picking up some Raman noodles for lunch, a couple of Korean groups stopped by and gave us half a watermelon and 4 cokes. Just another example of Korean kindness! We swam in the 3-foot deep "designated swimming area" for a while and basked a little longer before we were rocked by an unimaginable disaster! Out of the public bathrooms came Hugh, a gash over his eye from an apparent animal attack! Well... it wasn't really a gash, and.. the attack came from an unidentified large bug teamed with a strategically placed shelf... but it definitely was unimaginable! Poor Hugh!

The day ended shortly after that, and Hugh was taken to the ER where he was fixed up nicely. He miraculasly bounced back enough to join us for a drink later that night. What a trooper!

The clinic

2006-07-19T16:06:00.000+09:00

As some of you know, my back has been on the DL the past week. Throw in a cough that has been lingering for 3 weeks and I had to do something. So, Tuesday after school, I finally threw caution into the wind and went to a clinic on the way home. My co-teacher was happy to let me go on my own, but snuck in a scary "Good luck" as I left her sight.

Armed with my Korean national health card, I headed for the nearest local clinic. I walked in, and quite dramatically, made convincing gestures indicating some bad back spasms and a nasty cough – both were heavily embellished. The receptionists politely motioned over to the wall collage of dental surgeries, stood up and walked me across the hall to the clinic I was looking for.

Once in, I was hit with the warm breath of 90% humidity and no Air conditioning. In Korea, you are either greeted with businesses having huge AC units struggling to cool a store that has all its doors and windows open (most cases - clearly to save people from “fan-death") or a total lack of AC at all. I was quickly received and ushered into the doctor’s office.

The big, well-furnished office accommodated man in scrubs, seemingly in his early 40’s who spoke enough English to get an idea of what I wanted. He quickly wrote down the words “Back” and “Cough” (the latter would never be mentioned again or acted on). I asked for a massage for my back (because I heard you could get that here) and he quickly said “No massage”.

Ok then.

He reached over onto his desk and grabbed two small spears in plastic sheaths while calling for his assistant to bring some alcohol. He then casually pushed them into the meat of my left palm, and asked me if the pain in my upper right back area was “better”. I told him not really. He proceeded to push the pins further into my palm, all the time rotating them like a watch-smith winding a wristwatch and regularly looking up to see my reaction. Nothing but a gross feeling that the needles were touching bone.

I was then whisked away onto one of 20 marble examination tables. The treatment room was very clean, modern and professional looking. The assistant placed, what looked like electrical-stimulation (e-stim) pads on the stiff part of my back. The pads not only gave out a pretty solid shock, but also kneaded my back with invisible fingers, while the marble table melted me down with a ferocious heat. After 20 minutes of kneading and shocking, the assistant flipped me over, and the doctor returned to insert 4 new skewers into my leg and back. The ones in my hand were removed and an electric current was hooked up to the skewers in my back. All this time, I have an idea, but really don’t know what is going on.

The third stage had me get up, sit on the edge of the table, and remove the spears. Behind me, I could hear them adding glass suction devices onto my tight back, and quickly pump the air out of them to create a vacuum. Between “glass sucker” 2 and 3, I thought I felt some light cutting or slicing of an area of my back... and then a “sucker”was quickly placed right over that area. Who could be sure? Before I knew it, there were 7 suckers on my back and I was left for 20 more minutes.

It wasn’t until they started removing the suction vessels and whiping me down with alcohol that I could see that they had sliced and bled me! Nothing scaring, but a little unnerving none the less. The Suckers left me with a nice bit of bruising.

They finished me off (almost literally) on an automated massage table (they had a whole assortment of them) that massaged and heated you from inside the table. It felt like piano hammers firing in a wildly synchronous and relaxing pattern. An hour and a half later after I arrived, I was walking home; a little less innocent that earlier that day, and with the marks to prove it.
I was later told that this was a Naturopathy clinic... figures.

After all that... the back feels a little better... and the total bill came to $5.
Not bad, and it makes for a good story.

Uncle Steve's Story Time - Episode 3

2006-07-18T19:25:00.000+09:00

I've learned a few things during my stay in Korea, perhaps my favourite is how to accept your role as a local celebrity. I will try to outline a few of the responsibilities that local celebrities have and how you apply these responsibilities to your local community to ensure that their ongoing love affair with you rolls on for at least another weekend.

1. During local festivals, participate in any type of ribbon cutting ceremony. This can be accomplished very easily by standing in the way of a cameraman, getting the attention of a local dignitary and motioning to him that you should be a part of said ceremony. Everyone is happy with the outcome.

2. Conduct television interviews with the utmost sincerity. Sometimes this is more difficult than it should seem. Please learn from my experience and don't suggest that you thought Koreans were boring but a Mud Festival makes them seem fun. It's not a local celebrity's responsibility to criticize, we are there for positive P.R only. Also, make sure that you know the station that is interviewing you. Few things annoy television reporters more than a drunken local celebrity who seems intent on saying "OCN, Number One Channel", even though the microphone is clearly marked MBC.

3. Involve locals in your own activities and traditions. Koreans are very interested in what their local celebrity likes to do, they like it even more when we involve them in said activity. If you decide to borrow a young lady's umbrella, open it and dance around the street, a good local celebrity would invite the young lady to dance with them. After the giddy teen runs off with her hands covering her face with sheer excitement, it is the local celebrity's responsibility to show gratitude. An acceptable display of appreciation is to approach the nearest car, reach in and start honking the horn repeatedly, and shout kamsahamida (thank you) over and over.

This is a good start. In the interest of Brent's blog, I will add more at a later time. Until next time...

Le Tour

2006-07-16T22:31:00.000+09:00

Now, it may be over by the time this post reaches you, but one of the most amazing sporting events run today, is the Tour de France.

Unfortunately in recent weeks, like pretty much every professional sport, Cycling has experienced widespread allegations of doping, with sentencing yet to be laid down. Recently, as many as 32 active riders have been associated with a Spanish doping ring, including the would-be favourite of this year's Tour; Jan Ullrich. Lance Armstrong is still under suspicion.

This dog has been following the sport for many years now, and like the other professional sports; like Baseball, Football and Basketball, the governing body has done as little as possible to reign in this tarnishing issue to re-instill confidence in the purity of the sport. This is in part why the American government is forcing the big pro sports' hand... because they weren't smart enough to do it themselves.

Enough of that... the Tour itself is quite unbelievable, consisting of 20 stages throughout France. Many movies have been made, including "Hell on Wheels" which I have seen. Some of the falls are pretty bad, but each rider expects one of two bad falls during the race. Pretty gross if you ask me.
You can see the race route at Le Tour de France website or actually download the race route with Google Earth - a great way to really feel the altitudes and scale of the race. The Outdoor Life Network has some awesome coverage of the event. It's worth watching a stage or two!

In other news

My back is feeling a fair bit better.

After eating my way out of Canada, I'm back down to my proper weight (from 235lbs down to 225lbs).

We are taking it easy this long weekend (Korean Independance day from the Japanese in 1945)

My 15 minute walk...

2006-07-13T19:39:00.000+09:00

For a lack of news this week, I'm going to rant on about my awesome walk to school. Rather than the 12 minute drive to work I had back in Canada, now I walk 5 minutes with Steph to work before I turn right into a large group of farming plots that lie smack dab in the middle of old downtown. The old "agimas" farm the land and rotate through onions, carrots, lettuce and garlic, depending on the season.

For some reason, the city has decided to put a brand new 4 lane street through the farm land... and it goes absolutely nowhere. Nice planning boys!
I take a left off the 4 laner...

duck between some houses, and up this path...

... when I reach another 2 lane "Nowhere road" that curls around a separate neighbourhood and down the hill to my school. I dart down a side street and take a left. It's a nice morning walk, with a surprising number of regulars, and by the time I'm at school I'm nicely awake.
Not bad at all!

Typhooey!

2006-07-10T18:35:00.000+09:00

After warnings of 150-250mm of rain and a great deal of fanfare and anticipation, typhoon Ewiniar went out with a wimper. A couple of rattling windows, 5-20mm of rain and a taxi ride to school were the extent of the inconvenience that we faced during Ewiniar’s wrath!!!
Boo Mother Nature, boo!

In an update, the south eastern parts of South Korea weren't so lucky

Another awesome weekend!

2006-07-09T18:10:00.000+09:00

I'm not sure why, but every weekend, it seems we try to jam too much fun into 2 little days. This weekend was definitely no exception.

Our friend from Suncheon, Jen, came down with her puppy, Paddy! Jen and Paddy have only 3 weeks left in Korea before they head home to BC.

After showing Jen the regular stops on the Mokpo tour, we hooked up with Leah, Max and Warren to celebrate Leah's birthday. They introduced us to two awesome Brits they had met a couple of weeks back; Hugh and Anoushka.

After a celebratory "Beck seju" cheers, we headed out to a fine Italian restaurant in the heart of Mokpo.

The restaurant prices were ranged from $10 for a pasta dish or $14 for an authentic italian pizza (at least authentic by Canadian standards). Max had brought 2 birthday cakes (delicious) for Leah. What a guy! From there we headed to the Wabar and New York to continue celebrating birthdays and good people.

Typhoon Ewiniar is coming!!!!

2006-07-08T15:26:00.000+09:00

Since we got here, we've been amazed by the precautions Koreans take against typhoons. Steph has been telling the Koreans that she can't wait to experience her first storm... they all, in turn, look at her with some disbelief.

Looks like Steph may have her wish... As of Saturday morning, Typhoon Ewiniar is on a collision course with Mokpo on Monday! Batten down the hatches!!!

You can check out the path of our little baby here, and that of any other storms in the area at SuperTyphoon.com (cool name!)

Classic Korean!

2006-07-08T15:19:00.000+09:00

This is a student's workbook, one piece of a whole line of "Booby-ware".

The caption reads:
"Booby is a dog who has a warm heart and cares for others. He smiles all the time and makes his friends happy"

Classic!

Silly Japanese...

2006-07-06T17:51:00.000+09:00

And we thought Montreal's "Just for laughs" was funny.

Check out this skit.

Winner!

2006-07-05T20:41:00.000+09:00

In the same batch that I received the parcel below from my parents, I also got my first letter from a friend from home: The beautiful, the lovely, and now far and away my most favourite friend; Kate "I'm both smart and beautiful" Watson. What do we have for our winner? A lovely package will be greeting Kate at her door in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks Kate! You just made me feel super loved!

The Mail is here!

2006-07-04T17:52:00.000+09:00

I've just received an amazing parcel of wicked stuff from my Parents!!! It was nicely jammed and crammed into the mail slot! Thanks for the care Korea Post! The package included Tim Hortons coffee (delicious), stickers and charms for my rotten kids, handi wipes for "at school emergencies" and some new shoe laces because you can't find them here unless you buy a new pair of shoes.

You rock DAD!!! This stuff is worth it's weight in gold here!

Happy Canada day, eh!

2006-07-02T19:29:00.000+09:00

139 years old and she's still looking great!

Sometimes it does take a trip around the world to bring out a person's patriotism. This was never so evident this weekend when Canadian teachers (and Aussies and Brits) from all over Southern Korea converged on Suncheon to Celebrate July 1st and Canada Day.
Our solid core group from the Gwangju orientation including Virginia, Steve, Max, Stuart, Bryce, Lana, Steph and I were all present with a number of new friends including April and Jen to drink sing and party in honour of our beloved country.

We all truly miss the Great White North

Virginia and Jen have two great posts to commemorate the night too. They are the coolest!

A Sunday to remember (Seoul part 3)

2006-06-28T21:52:00.000+09:00

I’m not sure how, but we did finally roll out of bed and head to our favourite place in Seoul – “Holly’s Coffee”.
After filling up on our fuel of choice, we headed to the Ttukseom resort on the Han River (37°31'52.81"N 127° 3'59.01"E), the major river that cuts through Seoul. Steph and I took a leisurely walk through the water front park, watching a few Koreans sitting in shade, or biking down the riverside path. A group of 5 ladies were sitting, playing traditional drums, which added to the blissful summer feeling. Had it not been for the hangover I had from Mark and Mandy's sejo from the night before, it would have been even better. I'm pretty sure I scared off a couple of kids who were drawn to Steph's.

At 3 we met Mi Sung and Sung O and headed off again on Seoul's massive transit system. You really need a short course to ride this system. 3 transfers and 12 stops later, we found ourselves in the heart and soul (pardon my pun) of Seoul... Geongbokgung (37°34'41.88"N 126°58'37.18"E). Listed as "Historic site #117", this palace complex is central to Korea's culture and is situated right downtown.
Built in 1395, it was burned down in 1592 by the Japanese. Restored in 1868, it was again dismantled in 1910 by, you guessed it, the Japanese. Of the original 200 buildings that were restored in 1868, only about a dozen were left after 1910. We spent over 2 hours walking the grounds of the palace, and with an admission cost of $3, we will surely go back next time we are back in Seoul. What a place!!!
The trip home to Mokpo took 3 hours, but Steph and I were unconcious for most of it. Hopefully we will have recovered for Canada Day!!!

A nation in Mourning (Seoul day 2)

2006-06-27T19:03:00.000+09:00

We had intended on getting up early in the morning and taking the subway to the main square in Seoul, to join the 170,000 screaming Koreans soccer fans. Intended. Of course we ended up watching a highly dissappointing game between Korea and Switzerland from the comfort of our rock hard bed. There were some highly questionable calls in the game – so much so that the boys in my Monday class were asking me how to say “bribe” – but, in the end, you can’t win if you don’t score, right?

We finally rose at 10am, grabbed some delicious coffee and headed off with MiSung and Sung O for lunch. The table we ate off of, was brought out, already fully dressed with egg, seafood dishes, chicken, salads and other classic Korean fare, after we sat down. Shortly after eating, a traditional Korean dance, concert and vocal set were performed… all as part of the lunch. It was really entertaining. Check the link to Flickr on the right.

From there, we took the subway and headed to the “Foreigners quadrant” – Itaewan (37°32'4.00"N 126°59'30.82"E) for some shopping, but after realizing that the prices were inflated to gouge foreigners, we quickly jumped back on the subway and headed to Dongdamun (37°34'6.45"N 127°0'30.44"E) – aka Stephanie’s heaven on earth. There were already piles of “Red devil” shirts on sale – 2 for $3, and only a fraction of the previous week’s visible fans were out and about. I bargained my way to two short sleeve dress shirts and a money clip using the golden phrase: “Gaka Jeusayo” or “I want a deal!”

14 hours of shopping later, Steph allowed us all to have some dinner before MiSung and Sung O headed home. It seems like we fought over who paid at each meal! Those sweet Koreans!

Later that night, we met up with our good friend Mark Freeman and his charming friend Mandy for a night of drinks and laughs. Mandy introduced us to this mean drink called Beck-sejo (translated to 100 seju?) which means that if you drink it for 100 years, you will have the health of a 50 year old... or something like that. To make the drink, you mix normal soju with a wine that is made with "medicinal herbs". I’m still not sure how we got home…

I've got Seoul, but I'm not a soldier (Seoul part 1)

2006-06-26T07:02:00.000+09:00

Our weekend trip to Seoul actually started before school ended. Steph and I bolted out of school early to catch the 4:40 highspeed train from Mokpo to Seoul - of course I was a tad late, and made things are little close (exciting). The entire trip took just over 3.5 hours and the train reached speeds nearing 300 km/hr, costing $36 each way.

All roads leading into Rome were jammed as we entered the city at 8:30. Steph, Steph’s co-teacher; MiSung, who came with us, and I, hooked up with MiSung’s husband, Sung O, before we found ourselves the best hotel money could buy. Unfortunately, I only had $45 on me, so we checked into the “All in Motel” - $85 for 2 nights accomodation. Delightful! Check it out at 37°31'1.42"N 127° 2'33.66"E.

Korean “love motels” are quaint family run motels that people can reserve a room for hours at a time without fear of persecution. Well they aren’t family run, but they are reasonably clean (we hope) and are perfect for travellers who are looking for a solid rate.

After dropping off our luggage, we headed out for some kimchi soup (delicious) and then walked through the upscale Gangnam-gu district.
The hundreds of Koreans in “Red devil” gear walking the streets, were already getting ready for the do-or-die soccer game later the next morning. We decided to head to bed so that we could wake up at 4 am to watch the game.

Projects

2006-06-20T21:38:00.000+09:00

One thing that interests me is large scale urban development. Yeah, I hear the yawns... but I'm talking huge, monstrous projects with unfathomable budgets.

One of them is the four man made island "communities" off the coast of Dubai, UAE.
Take a look using Google Earth @ 25° 9'57.82"N 55°11'53.47"E. Pretty crazy!

Now, supposedly, the rings around these sets of islands are for security. People must be cleared to enter… talk about privacy! Some of the islands host resorts, others can be purchased or rented. I think the whole project cost somewhere in the area of 6 bajillion dollars! I could be wrong though.

Another similar project is being started in Saudi Arabia. It's called “King Abdullah city”.I think you can see the start of it @ 21°56'36.99"N 38°57'20.17"E. Either that or someone is building a golf course in the middle of nowhere.

The final project that we’ve all heard about, but probably haven’t been following lately is the Lower Manhatten Redevelopment project - The world trade center plot.

The final 5 concepts were pretty amazing, but they’ve made the final selection and constuction is underway. The original design looks great, but let's see if they cheap out during construction. Here is a webcam view of the site as well as the planned memorial site.

We'll see if it ever gets built, or if it stalls like the Toronto Waterfront redevelopment has, causing everyone to lose interest. So far though, Toronto's plans look pretty nice (Warning - this link is to a .PDF that is 77 Meg in size, so it will take a year or so to download).

How old are you?

2006-06-19T20:36:00.000+09:00

If you are ever asked by a Korean how old you are, don't be so quick to respond.

Each Korean (at least according to the ones we talked to) increments their age every year, on New Year's day. So, if you were born in December, you would be one year old in less than one month. But if your birthday was in January, you would need 11 months before you reached "1 year old". When it comes down to it, Koreans have birthdays like the rest of us (duh) but they all go up in age at the exact same time - January 1st!

This took a lot longer to figure out than you might think. Mystery solved!

In other news, our weekend was pretty quiet as we prepare for our upcoming weekend in Seoul - population 21 million. Saturday night we went to watch some of our buddies play at the P-club. They sound a little better live...

Virginia heads to Naju!

2006-06-17T22:54:00.000+09:00

Stuart has posted some new amazing pictures from his hike up Wolchusan with Max and Virginia. They are totally worth a look (link in sidebar on the right).

Dae Ha Min Guk!

2006-06-16T19:24:00.000+09:00

The World Cup has started with a bang and despite the fact that Korea is ranked 29th of 32 in the tournament, only a fool would bet against them. The Koreans are a proud people, to say the least. This might be in part to a history of conflict with their neighbours that has forced them to make a concerted effort to maintain their culture and identity, and not have it erased by their warring advisaries. That being said, this passion comes out in every man woman and child when the Korean Soccer team takes the field. When they co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with Japan, Koreans everywhere got the day off to watch the games. Unfortunately, this year we get the shaft, and have to watch the games at ungodly hours, and then limp in to work the next day. At least everyone else is in the same boat.

The Koreans have a Soccer chant – “Dae Ha Min Guk” to which I don’t know the meaning, but it probably borders on “Our team kicks ass”. They also have this catchy song that was written for the 2002 World Cup that I personally love: “Reds Go Together”. You would be hard pressed to go 5 minutes without seeing a red shirt with those words on it.

The Korean soccer mascot is this cute little devil. This devils image was built into the roofs of traditional Korean houses and was used to ward off evil. They now use it to ward off evil teams from foreign countries. Git evil countries!

Each city is holding outdoor parties with giant screens for each game, and a pretty solid line-up of pre-game entertainment. The problem is that the games are at 10pm and 4 am during the group round… but we will still get up early enough to watch the games… just like everyone else in the country. For another Canadians objective view of the tournament, check Virginia’s entry… it’s enlightening!

I don’t think you would see this type of support in Canada.
Go Korea Go!

More cool things in Korea

2006-06-16T18:48:00.000+09:00

Here are some things you probably wouldn’t see back home:

A tube slide at a childrens daycare that goes out the 2rd floor window onto a busy street. Have fun kids!!!

Today, in the morning, I took my first poo at school. This is notable because there is no soap at my school. No soap in any of the bathrooms at all. No soap. Think about it.

There are no stop signs in our city of 250,000. Stop lights at major intersections, yes. But for every other intersection in the city, cars either honk (“I’m coming through”) or creep up to the intersection before they go through. Even at lights, if there isn’t anyone coming through, cabs and police will slowly ease through the red… after a warning honk. The exception, of course, is the scooters and mopeds who don't abide by any rules.

Because of the above point, drivers are FAR more attentive and way more skilled in Korea than back home.

If you don’t have your stuff on the conveyor belt in the grocery store, you are not officially “in line”. Someone will slide in front of you. Cueing doesn’t exist – therefore British people go crazy in Korea.

When signing contracts (which we have to do a lot of here) you are supposed to use a stamp to endorse it, rather than using your signature, like we do back home. In most cases, our signatures were fine, but when I agreed to teach an extra class, I was required to leave my mark in another way. They asked me to leave my thumb print on each page of the contract. Kind of neat in theory, however, the colourful character than I am, I was a little paranoid of leaving my full thumb print on the pages... so I only pressed down with the tip! I even told my co-teacher that thumb prints are only for when you go to jail! I'm such a loser!

Now, don't get the wrong idea. Those who know me, understand that I'm pretty easy going, so I love seeing stuff like this. This is what learning a new culture is all about, and what makes even going to the bathroom an adventure.

Uncle Steve's Story Time - Episode 2

2006-06-12T19:09:00.000+09:00

Uncle Steve is back with another wild adventure! What zany troubles will he get himself into this week? Read on to find out:

You don't really know your co-workers until they get you drunk an offer you a prostitute. This is my story.

It all started out so innocently, I went to work and played volleyball after school. I didn't realize that there was some sort of PTA meeting so there were a lot of people watching this game. For accuracy's sake, let's say there were 3000 people there, all cheering madly, waving pompoms, chanting etc etc....okay, forget that last part. There were about 150 people there, which is a lot considering what they were about to watch, but I can't really say how much attention they were paying. I won't go into details, but my team fought a good battle, showed a lot of heart yet somehow lost, our herculean effort notwithstanding. I was informed after the match that there would be a staff dinner that evening.

There I was, the only white person in a sum gip sa (forgive my Konglish) restaurant, sitting uncomfortably on the floor, trying to ignore the numbness that had taken over the lower half of my body. Bottles of beer and soju were placed on the table and my glass was quickly filled. Being thirsty and polite, I quickly downed the first glass. Then another, and another. It seemed that some of the parents who played and attended wanted to meet me and, in turn, offer me a soju or refill my beer. Again, being the polite type, I tried to oblige them all. Towards the end of the meal, I heard the following conversation "Bla bla bla bla bla bla Stephen bla bla bla noray bang". Noray bang is literaly translated as 'singing room'. A loose translation is 'drunk and bad singing room'. A teacher asked me if I wanted to noray bang, I think you know what my answer was.

I found myself in a car with my principal and 2 other teachers. One of the teachers really wants to talk to me but knows very little English. Most of his sentences start 'Ahhhh, Steeban....' and usually end there as well. We were outside the noray bang, but confusion still reigned. My teacher friend thought of a 2 prong method to solve the problem. "Ah, Steeban....you want girl?" There is a limit to my politeness, so I turned down his offer to visit a brothel. Unfazed, he then asked 'Ah, Steeban...you want coffee?' I didn't see the connection but accepted anyway. As we headed off, he grabbed my hand and held it, even interlocked the fingers. If I can handle old men coming up to me in the shower at the gym and gawk because I have not chosen the 'hair explosion' style for my pubic region, I can walk hand in hand with a man down the street in broad daylight. Dai Hamingook!!

Once we got into the noray bang and toasted each other with shots of scotch, the singing took over. I sang English songs to people who couldn't understand English, and listened to Korean songs sung by drunk Koreans. The more I drank, the more I understood. I got the feeling that one of the songs was about a guy and his donkey and how they set out to find a lost love, but I can't be sure.

At the end of the night, they stuffed me in a cab and sent me home, leaving me to think, this is a Wednesday?

Steve tells joke, bombs miserably!

2006-06-11T18:49:00.000+09:00

We were lucky little campers to have the pleasure of having April come and visit us from Suncheon on Saturday... The problem is that she brought Steve along with her! Damn!

As everyone who reads the blog regularly knows, Steve is the author of the wildly popular series - "Uncle Steve's Story Time". Have no worries, fans... Steve has a new piece coming soon!

After shooting the breeze, we took April and Steve to our default visitor destination - Yudal Mountain. It really is an amazing sight, and gives a great view of the entire city. Korean hikers were out in droves, and were snoffling back silk worm grubs and miniature sea creatures on their way up. Stephanie, was accompanied by her new purse (an odd sight for a hike) and was seen gazing lovingly at it for long periods of time. Get a room Steph!

Leaving the mountain, we quickly made our way to the old downtown to pick up a few of the outrageous t-shirts you definitely can't find in Canada! Most either are splattered with lobotomized sentences which make no sense or they have rude/inappropriate sayings on them (which the Koreans don't understand). I purchased one for my sister to be sent in the mail. We made it home just as the afternoon storm hit. One of the taxi drivers called it either a Hurricane or a "Burger King" according to April.

Our night started at 8:30 with the addition of Max and Warren and saw us watch the England soccer game on a 13 inch TV at a great pub; the Wa-bar. The Wa-bar has foreign beers for a small fortune (Hoegaarten was $5.50 for a bottle) or draft ($3.50 for a 640CC tall glass). The night continued at the P-club, the local foreigner bar, and before we knew it, it was 5am. Ouch.

We were surprisingly limber the next morning... make that afternoon, when we headed down to the Raw seafood market. It was clear that a couple of the vendors knew that we were a little hungover, as they repeatedly offered us live octopus. One lady even ripped a leg off one of her "little ones" and offered it to us, before she downed the leg herself and dumped the disabled "nokchi" back into its tank. The next vendor took 3 live prize fish out of a tank and expertly gutted them while they struggled.

Probably not the best place to ride out a hangover...but all in all, another great weekend. Thanks for coming down, April... you too Steve!

New pictures in the pictures dumping hole to the right.

It's the small things that amuse me

2006-06-09T22:24:00.000+09:00

Of course few people would notice this, but I'm a little odd to say the least!All I can think of whenever I pass by this chain of gas stations is hearing the attendant ask a driver:

Would you like a full service SOIL?

Or can you SOIL yourself?

...Discuss

Just added: New pictures on Flickr and link to Stuart's amazing photos.

Hyuil! (Holiday!)

2006-06-07T20:51:00.000+09:00

Tuesday was another surprise holiday in Korea for us. Where do they all come from? So sweet.

Memorial Day is celebrated on June 6th and is intended to pay respect to the millions of Koreans who have died fighting to preserve Korean sovereignty; specifically during the Korean war and the Japanese occupation of WWII. Learning about Korean history, its no wonder their relationship with Japan is still strained.

We were rudely awakened at the crack of noon by our local gang of kids. This pack of 3 kids come visit us every 3-4 days to ask us to come and play with them. The nerve!!! We decided to take our entourage up to the hill across from our apartment.
We spent the afternoon reading and waiting for our little friends to melt and run back home. (Actually they are great kids, unlike the little crapface that tried to run Steph down with his push scooter - When he ran into her it was the closest I've come to killing a Korean kid)

After walking around a deserted city (where are all the people?), we were picked up by Mr. Choi for a picnic with his family. Mr. Choi lived in San Diego for 15 years where he started his own business. Since then, he has come back with his family, and his youngest daughter is now one of Steph's students. We hit the "Excercise park" near our apartment where Mr. Choi cooked up feast of kalbi (beef ribs) fit for an army. I luckily was that army and had the pleasure of eating enough for 4 people... My poor belly...the victim of Korean hospitality!

Funny shirt of the day: Mr Choi's 14 year old daughter was wearing a shirt that read "I wish my boyfriend was as dirty as my dirtbike". She didn't know what it meant, but she liked the shirt. Priceless.

Lots of Bangs and 'Splosions!

2006-06-04T21:01:00.000+09:00

We saw Poseidon on Sunday, with the help of Handsome Steve from Muan. Pretty entertaining movie, but definitely one in which you should leave your brain under your seat. At the end of it, you really weren't too concerned about the safety of the main characters... Some live, some die. In the end, the real winner was .... the 'Splosions!!!

Kaboom!!!

The rest of the weekend saw us find a phenominal Sushi place (which we went to twice!), bought some Learning English books, hang out with the Mokpo gang all day Saturday, with a big lakeside potluck and finished Sunday with a good amount of shopping. Hard to believe its the end of the weekend, but in classic Korean form, for some reason we have Tuesday off as well.

I love these people...

Uncle Steve's Story Time - Episode 1

2006-06-02T08:56:00.000+09:00

Today at the dumping hole, we start a new series of "Korean stories" from our good friend, Steve Oprendek. Steve is a handsome chap from Niagara Falls who enjoys sitting by the fire and long walks on the beach. He currently resides in Suncheon, South Korea.

Steve has given us the opportunity to post some of his Korean tales on the site. We hope he will continue to feed us many of his Tales, because they are so DAMN FUNNY.
Here is his first:

Hey guys,Remember in training when we were told to expect the unexpected with some aspects of living in Korea? I have a story.... Monday afternoon was a typical day, I was coming home from my country school and heading toward my building. As I approached the front foyer, I heard a female voice shouting in an angry tone. Curious, I looked across the parking lot and saw and older woman (let's call her Agima) getting in the face of a younger woman who was holding a small child. The agima started pushing the lady and tried to take the child from her. The younger woman gave the child to her friend who was sitting nearby. Apparently, this only enraged the Agima further. She proceeded to give the woman a couple shots to the face and some solid shoves.

Sensing injustice, I headed over for a closer look (actually, I was hoping to see a Korean catfight). Another bystander, grabbed my arm and suggested that I help. The Agima saw us heading over and approached us. I can't be sure what she yelled at us, but she yelled it about 100 times before pulling her pants off and exposing, quite simply, the largest pair of leopard print underwear I've ever seen. If this was an intimidation tactic, it certainly worked.

I retreated a step or two. Agima then decided my retreat wasn't fast enough or that it was too hot. She took her top off. Without getting too graphic, I will say that I would rather not have seen this particular Agima in her underwear. She made it quite clear that my presence in the busy parking lot was not required nor appreciated. I was happy to comply with her wishes.

Satisfied that I was not going to interfere any further, she ran back to the source of her anger and started to throw some more shots. Oh yeah, by this point, the other woman was naked from the waist up. The child was gone, I was confused.

Hope everyone else is having an interesting time.

Steve

Erection results!

2006-06-01T09:01:00.000+09:00

May 31st was election day in Korea. Korea has a fixed election day every 4 years for locale electorate and presidential elections every 5 years. The system, as far as I can see, is pretty close to the American system, with a president and a house of representatives, both elected in separate elections. Things were pretty quiet across town as most businesses were close, observing this pseudo-national holiday.
I played basketball on a 9 1/2 foot net, and blocked some Korean kid with my armpit. I showed him!!!

Final voter turnout was at 51.3% of eligible voters. Early last week, a mad man slashed a female opposition electoral candidate of the Grand National Party (GNP) in the face (11 stitches). A tight race was quickly swung to the opposition, as the Korean people were clearly spooked. The ruling Uri party was a little shocked.

In other news, the government continues to crack down on the big Korean Chaebols for bribery of politicians and accounting iregularities. Ever since the collapse and barkrupcy of Daewoo in 1999 with $80 Billion US in outstanding debts (Largest in business history, who knew?), the crackdown has intensified to make these Korean giants sound business entities. Since the big four chaebols do pretty much everything in Korea, from manufacture cars to build apartment complexes, the economy can ill afford another giant to falter.

Footnote - I know this post was boring for most, so I released it with one about the puppy. Learning is cool too!??

Surprise!!!

2006-05-31T18:07:00.000+09:00

So, it's Election day, and I'm called off for an emergency pickup basketball game. Steph has plans to go to a movie in the afternoon, so when I come back, I'm not expecting anyone to be home.
To my huge surprise, Steph has left a note on the table that says "Brent, Surprise! Look in the laundry room!"

Lo and behold, I open the door, expecting to see the drain backed up, or some dead pile of garbage... and I see this:

After playing with the little monster for about an hour, and realizing we now have a new dog, two of our friends showed up; Leah and Warren. Supposedly, it was their "New" baby that they are going to share. Steph was just house-sitting! The new parents have given us an open invitation to "borrow" the cute little girl "Star" whenever we need a puppy fix. I love puppies, but in Korea, she might tie us down from our adventurous tendancies!

What a relief!

It works! AVerKey100 Pro!

2006-05-31T17:23:00.000+09:00

For all you laptop users in Korea, this may come in handy for you! In each classroom, we have this little Digital/Analogue converter that allows us to play lessons from our computers on the 50" flat screen TVs. My co-teacher told me that they retail for $150! - Korean electronics are not cheap. Looking through the Korean Ebay - Auction.com, I found this wicked little converter for $50.

My hopes were that this would let me avoid buying a DVD player (cheapest here was $120, and then I would have to somehow modify it to play North American style Region 1 DVDs) as well as let me play my many downloaded goods on our huge TV.

2 weeks after buying it, the converter showed up and does a pretty solid job! No audio, but we can listen through the computer speakers until I find an audio cable at one of the electronics stores!

I win!

Dinner of Kings... It's NeNe chicken!

2006-05-29T13:26:00.000+09:00

Yes, you heard me right!
The ultimate in Korean fast food cuisine is the one, the only, NeNe Checken.
Translated into Korean, reads, "Yes Yes Chicken"... and is quite fitting.

The delicious and high quality breaded chicken strips contain NO chicken feet, no chicken heads, no chicken innerds, and not even a trace amount of dog! The meal retails for about $15 (which is a little pricey) but it feeds 2 with enough leftovers for another dinner for two.
The service is great and the people love us. What more could you ask for???

Say it with me now
YES YES CHICKEN!!!

I think this last entry is proof that I have too much time on my hands...

Contest for my canadian slackers

2006-05-29T09:47:00.000+09:00

Ok, here it is.
A contest for my Canadian slacker friends.

First person to send me something in the mail, anything, will get a disproportionately better return gift in the mail. I know you are all busy, and I am not... so all you have to send, this time, is a postcard. The better the message, the better the return gift.

The first one here, wins. Sorry Family, you're excluded.
I reserve the right to disqualify your letter if it REALLY sucks.

Let the game begin.

Election Mayhem

2006-05-29T09:34:00.000+09:00

As anyone from Korea can tell you, we are in the heat of election time here. The brilliance of it is that we actually get a day off (March 31st) to vote... well, I don't think foreigners can vote, so we just get the day off. Sweet!
The campaigns here don't really exude the same "respectability" as they do back home. Wait, did I just call politicians in Canada respectible? I've been away for too long. In Mokpo, the past week has been a blur of candidates 1-8 (that's how they are known) with coloured sashes with their numbers on them, being driven around the city in small floats on flatbed trucks, with miscellaneous "fighting!" songs bellowing in the background. One of the candidates has "Puff the magic dragon" as his song... Buddy, come on! One of the floats was made up to look like an ocean liner and candidate 2(?) was standing on the top barking out whatever to everyone on the block.

Every morning, one of the busy street corners I walk past on my way to school is manned by one of the candidates and an army of supporters - all bowing to the oncomming traffic and waving as their song blares in the background. Not surprisingly today, I watched in amazement as a driver barrelled into the back of another car that was distracted by the mob of waving people. This started a 3 car chain reaction.
Funny part was, the car that barrelled into the first car had enough time to hammer his/her horn! Next time, try the brakes!

Naju in the House!!! / We found Mark Freeman!

2006-05-28T16:25:00.000+09:00

Another solid weekend that will take us a week to recover from. Bless this place! Our friends from orientation, Stuart and Max, came down from Naju (1 hour north by bus) on Friday night.
Of course the best part of going out on a Friday is that you feel like you've added another day to your weekend! One drawback is that a night out in Mokpo doesn't usually start until midnight, and runs well into Saturday. 2 bars, a billion beers and a pitcher of long island ice tea later, we were leaving a bar called "New York" for home.

Lesson of the night: Getting Leah Nebucett into a cab is like catching the wind... You never really have a chance because once you take your eye off her, she's off talking/dancing/handstanding with some stranger on the street. Total time to take Leah from the bar, 15 feet to street to catch a cab: 1.5 hours.

Saturday afternoon was capped off by the arrival of the legendary Mark "I'm really as amazing a person as Brent's mother says" Freeman. Mark took the KTX train in from just outside of Seoul (37°20'0.22"N, 127°15'42.93"E). We spent the afternoon catching up with Mark, checking out the HIGHLY over-rated Peace Square, "Eye shopping" at Lotte Mart, eating Samgyopsal (thick bacon strips you fry yourself at your table, cut into small bites and wrap in onion, red pepper sauce and romaine lettuce leaves) and then mosying over to P-club - the foreigner bar for some drinks... until 3am.

On Sunday, Mark, Max, Stuart, Steph and I headed to Mt. Yudal (for our 4th time - yeah, it's worth it) for a hike to the peak and then a march around old downtown, before we sent the boys home for the weekend. Now, all I want is a little sleep! Thanks for the awesome weekend guys!

Map it up!

2006-05-24T13:13:00.000+09:00

Steph thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of a tourist map and mark out Mokpo for our Canadian hommies. Sounded like a good idear, so here it is! All kinds of important points of interest!

Zoom in for greater details! If you click the picture, it will open a little bigger, but if you hold your cursor over the picture, an icon will appear in the bottom right corner. Click it to zoom in!

It must be cool to be a redneck.

2006-05-24T11:13:00.000+09:00

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4626696113827168327

Purple and White baby!!!

2006-05-24T10:36:00.000+09:00

Anyone who has suffered through the last couple of years with the Toronto Raptors has shared in my misery. While things have been turned up in a big way over the last 6 months, they were still the 5th worst team in the league this year, with the possibilty for some improvement next year. Chris Bosh makes the games worth watching, as well as solid improvement from Charlie Villanueva.

Personally, all the hype about Bryan Colangelo is nothing but until I see him do something… BUT NOW HE’LL HAVE SOMETHING TO WORK WITH! God bless lady luck for shining her pretty face on Toronto this year and granting us the #1 lottery pick for the upcoming draft, when we should have gotten the #5 pick in the draft. We will see if Mr. Colangelo trades this pick – since it is a pretty homogeneous field, or if he picks up a big man.

And, for those who don’t know...yes, this is a big deal.
Yippooo!!!!!

Here are some links to simulations of the upcoming draft (Thanks Pops):
http://www.insidehoops.com/nba-mock-draft.shtml
http://www.hoopshype.com/draft.htm
http://www.nbadraft.net/

Recovery Weekend

2006-05-22T18:35:00.000+09:00

After a week spent recovering from our trip to Suncheon last weekend, we were hoping to take it a little easier this one. The 2.5 hour bus ride each way to and from Suncheon felt like a month on the high seas; very barf-a-rific. The driver rode the brake and gas the whole way. We spent the night partying with Virginia, Steve and Nicola (superstars from our orientation) and came back on the Sunday. Unfortunately, we brought back with us, some nasty hacks and have been trying to nurse ourselves back to health ever since.

So this weekend, our buddy “Handsome Steve”, from Qualcum Beach, Vancouver came to visit us from his post in Muan. After weathering some pretty demanding requests from his school, Steve was starting to get on top of things, and was looking for some “waygook” interaction, since he was the only foreigner in Muan.

Saturday consisted of some shopping at Lottemart (They have un-hemmed dress pants there!!!), a big pizza lunch and a hike up Yudal Mountain at dusk (see Mokpo pictures on the sidebar) . The mountain is a solid climb, about 45 minutes, and after dark, they light up the peaks, making for a breath-taking sight. Of course, we waited for the lights to come on, but got tired… and as predicted, as we reached the bottom of the mountain, all the lights came on.

Boo!!! Shame on you, lights!

Still making me laugh

2006-05-21T23:06:00.000+09:00

Don't ask me why he crossed my mind, but I just wanted to remind everyone that "Trogdor, The Burninator" is one of the funniest bits you are going to see on the internet.

Thank god for Home Star Runner!

Why all the yelling?

2006-05-20T12:47:00.000+09:00

It’s no secret that the Korean kids are screaming monsters… cute, don’t get me wrong, but yelling machines. But that’s kids, right? That’s what they do.

What sometimes catches me off guard is the other places that you hear some good yelling. Grocery store... I’m looking at you. We do a lot of shopping at the “Big Mart” the “E-mart” (the e is probably for Extra delicious) and the “Lotte Mart”, all multi-level Walmart-like stores, to meet our daily need of coffee, pineapple and chocolate. Unlike Canadian grocery stores, where people generally don’t say a word to each other, Korean supermarkets usually have plenty of chanting, singing and greeting. E-mart even has "Toki" or rabbits in cages outside for the kids to play with... those things wouldn't last long in Canada.

Friday night at E-mart seems to take this trend to the next level. Upon arrival, you are greeted by two greeters with the regular “service bow” – full body bow to you. Once inside you are bombarded by a greeter at the end of pretty much each aisle. Some ladies were giving out food samplers, some were dressed in cheerleader outfits, chanting the virtues of their product of the day. Some greeters are roamers, responsible for asking you if you need any help should you show the remotest interest in something on the shelves.

As you can tell by my tone, the experience was a draining one, requiring a bucketfull of “Annyong Haseyo’s” and “Anio’s”, mixed with some “Moulayo’s” to get us out of confusing conversations. But the shopping choices are great, and we go back on a weekly basis for the 50 cent sushi…unbeatable deal.

I’ve put on a new round of pictures for show. There is also a video of our apartment, although Brett has told me that it is dreadfully boring. Sorry Bread, it’s a documentary, not a comedy. Comedy is your job. So is being smelly and jerky! Ha!

Finally, leaving comments is difficult on Korean computers (because the text is in Korean!) so here is a screen shot of a comment screen. As for the Canadian folk not leaving comments… you guys just suck!

:P

Back door

2006-05-16T15:54:00.000+09:00

Today, my co-teacher had a headache, so she took me in the back door to the cafeteria. Her comment was: "Too loud today". My thoughts exactly.

As I've said before, the food here is awesome. I haven't lost a pound. But sometimes you get caught a little off guard by something you would never see in Canada.
Case and point:

Delicious Chicken?

OR

Scare of your life!

You really have to double check what you are eating sometimes!

Interesting things so far:

Most classrooms have 50" flat screen TVs in them.

The fruit trucks drive around like the Ice cream trucks in Canada, except instead of that crazy little song we all know, they have a megaphone with a short recorded message that repeats over and over and over. These guys are my personal nemesis'.

Many dogs in Korea (only those bread at farms are for eating) roam pretty much free and enjoy barking the loudest at 4:21 in the morning. They are Steph's personal Nemesis'.

The word "Hi" can be said in 24,000,000 different ways.

New Address!

2006-05-15T11:16:00.000+09:00

We finally got someone to write down our address in something other than Hangul characters. Feel free to write us!

501 Ho, Soo Jeong officetel
San-Jeong Dong 1739 (27/1)
Mokpo JeonNam 530-820
South Korea

It isn't guarded and is in a big common area, so be warned, things may get snatched!

Happy Mother's Day!

2006-05-14T21:50:00.000+09:00

Just a special word to the most wonderful woman in my life... My Mom!
Thank you for everything, Mom!

Volleyball is everything.

2006-05-13T13:44:00.000+09:00

After 2 weeks of solid practice, the day has finally arrived! May 11th was Mokpo's annual Elementary school teachers volleyball tournament. In this tournament, every school puts together a men's and women's team, 9 players per team play at once, and everyone seems to serve underhand (how polite).
Now, if this were in Canada, with all due resepct to elementary school teachers everywhere, the games would probably suck pretty bad (again, sorry teachers).
These teachers are good. I guess when you play your entire life, and your principal forces you to practice once a week, all year for this one day, you are going to be marginally good, eh?

We arrive at 9:30 at the Mokpo sport arena (picture large arena, seats 6000 with plenty of room for 2 basketball or valleyball courts) and sit down for the opening ceremony. My principal gets me to sit next to him. As luck would have it, our team draws the first game.

Considering my SUPER DUPER inconsistent history in volleyball, I understandably started off a little nervous... but that quickly blew away as landed a couple of solid spikes on the 7 foot nets. (yes, 7 foot nets, and my flat foot reach is about 7'3") But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. With 9 players per side, there really isn't much room that isn't covered. On one play I landed 5 consecutive, hard spikes that were all dug up and returned to the delight of the crowd.

It was plays like that by the other team that eventually led to our defeat and an early end to our day. Each team seemed to have 9 guys who could dig up anything and one or two hitters (not to mention a blocker or two).

On the other hand, Steph and her school continued to win all day. Steph was under extreme pressure by her team all day, to "kill" the ball, and "hit down". They were making reference to another "waygook" on another team. "Karen", who clearly had been playing competitively for a long time, and was hammering balls down in each of her games and stirring up lots of "I love you"'s from her coach. (Karen's team went on to win the women's tournament... Congrats Karen!).

Steph was unphased by the pressure and took her team to the semifinals with a truckload of blocks, solid kills and some super tricky "placements" and redirections. She was a destroyer!
After the women's teams were eliminated (from my school and Steph's) we headed to watch Steph's men's team play in the final, which they won in a varsity calibre battle. A 10pm dinner celebration ensued.

All in all, what I thought was going to be a day off, ended up being a marathon of a day.

The Gauntlet

2006-05-12T15:59:00.000+09:00

Needless to say, at 6'7", I am more an attention draw here than back home. Every day, I wonder if the good I do here offsets the total and absolute disruptive chaos I seem to create every time I walk down the halls at school. This is never so obvious than everyday at 12:30 when my co-teacher and I march to the school cafeteria, where they serve us some seriously delicious food for next to nothing.

The ridiculous part is that, on our way to the cafeteria, we have to walk across a 200 foot glas bridge that connects the north and south schools and leads directly into the cafeteria. As things are laid out, the kids line up along the length of the "bridge", on either side, waiting to be served at the cafeteria. As teachers, we are allowed to jump the line, by-passing the kids... but of course, as we walk by, the kids see me and go absolutely crazy! They see me, the freakishly tall "waygook", and one by one, the 1200 kids start screaming "Hi" and "hello!", waving their hands, desperately trying to get my attention, grabbing at my hands, pointing and yes, even some of this little girls screem with glee. 1200 kids... ages 6 to 12... imagine.

Never thought I would live to see this.