Seoul Weekend

So I take the subway to Busan station, where I get on the KTX (Korea Train Express maybe?)which takes 3 hrs to reach Seoul. but wait. the lady who helped me on the train put me in the completely wrong compartement. So when a man comes on and explains to me Im in the wrong seat (perfect english) I explain what happened, and the man in front of me overheard the first man telling the woman he was with (in Korean) what was happening, and he said he was getting off soon so I could just take his seat. this is good because I was on compartement 12 and I was supposed to be on 7. Nice. Anyways. So I get a call from Seung Han saying he will be 1/2 hr late to meet me. This isnt so bad, I have time to make myself feel awake again. Train is tiring. So then we have a game of Where's Waldo on our cell phones when he tries to find me. lol. I say I am hungry and want to drop my bag off at Windflower (where I was staying), but instead we go for a bit of a walk and then go up in a cable car to Seoul/Namsan Tower. The tower has a 360 view of Seoul, very nice.

So then we go back down and meet up with my other friend, Sehyoung, and had dinner. They ordered something way to spicy for me, oh dad you would soooooo love the food here... But it took them forever to figure out somewhere to go, like they were tourists, hehe. So anyways, finally go to Windflower after midnight. Got settled in, watched a bit of a movie and the such.

So slept in Saturday and then went to Insadong which is an older part of the city, lots of traditional things. We just walked down this one street and saw a traditional wedding march/parade (play-acted, not real) and then watched/listened to traditional Korean music, all drums, loved it. Then there was this ceremony, which apparently only happens once a year and we just happened to stumble upon it. So there is this pig head. yes pig head. and its some kind of ceremony for good luck/fortune, etc (Seung Han, please elaborate, ie: leave a comment!!!). During this they asked people from the audience to go up and participate. This one American girl had no clue what it was and they brought her up and she did the whole thing. Afterwards she asked us (Seung Han and I) what she just did b/c we were speaking english. A bit later I talked with her some more and invited her to come along with us for the rest of the day and evening. And she did. (She is Liz and she is from NY) So then we went and met up with Seung Han's friend Seung Jin (from now on, just Han and Jin, too much extra typing over and over). SO they tried to figure out what we could do and we ended up going to Starbucks (I KNOW!) and having Cheesecake and coffe (iced caramel machiato for me) -

we were up on the 3rd floor for something and so Han & Jin (btw, Han is in the white shirt, Jin is in the Eagle 77 sweater) went to get our things, awww how sweet. This was great fun. Seung Jin doesnt speak alot of english, but far more english than I know Korean. lol. But he was joking along with us and seemed to understand everything that was going on (plus I kept telling Han to explain things when we were just talking and there wasnt any expressions or anything). So much for a language barrier. So then we go to drink. And the two guys just cannot figure out where to go. We wanted to eat and drink. Anyways, Jin saves the evening (oh this is the second or third time he knows which way to go, and another certain Korean doesnt...hehe) and we find a great place and order peach soju. Which is only the best drink ever. You'd never know there was alcohol in it til you tried to walk. Then we had a kiwi flavor which wasnt that great and so after Liz and I each finished a glass, we ordered another of strawberry soju (these are all made with real fruit, there are even chunks in it). We had oh deng, which I love, but it was in soup. I dont know how to describe it. The books say its precessed seafood, but that doesnt sound too appealing. Oh deng is really good. its like a cross between a pasta and dough firm like al dente pasta, but bigger in triangles of 2"x2" or in a tube sliced up. I'll take a pic sometime we have it again). So we go to another place and Jin abandons us -yes Jin I said abandon!!- and so Liz, Han, and I drink cafri beer which is yucky and then we had Hite beer which is much better. And chicken salad, which isnt chicken salad but lettuce on the bottom of a plate which you dont eat, and tempura style chicken in a honey mustard sauce. Very good. Then we walk Liz back to where she is staying. And back at Windflower, watched another bit of a movie and the such.

Early November

ok ok I know I havent posted in a while. SORRY!!!

Saturday the 11th was bbeh-bbae-roe day (not really spelled like this but its easier to say). This is where people (usually just school kids, teens, and people my age) give each other chocolate sticks. These are the same as the Japanese pocky, if you know what that is. Anyways, they are thin breadsticks, skinnier than a pencil, and they are dipped in chocolate. As with anything chocolate there are many varieties, and there are jumbo ones. Before anyone asks, yes I did explain Rememberance Day and the poppy poem, and I did my minute of silence.

On Sunday, we went to "Fantasia", an amusement park. it was interesting. There were sky bikes (I have pics so I wont explain), and the world's stupidest ferris wheel. It goes so slow, and you cant rock it, and its surrounded in glass so its hard to take pics. Decent views when you can see through the glass tho.

The previous weekend, Nov 4th I think, we went out for dinner with Sung Chul's friends and their families, (total 14 ppl) which was great, had Hite beer, which I like better than beer back home... (sorry!!!) One woman majored in English Literature in university so she could speak very well, but she didnt say much. We had galbi, which is a BBQ at your table basically. There are large holes cut into the tables, in which a basin of hot coals is put. On top of that is a grill. then pieces of thinly sliced beef are put on the grill and left to cook (yes there is a vent for the BBQ thingy, a long tube comes all the way down from the ceiling and sucks up the smoke). This was very good. Then everyone came back to the house where the parents (fathers, the mums drove) had whiskey & scotch, ton's of rice cakes (not the styrofoam ones like home, these are regular rice grains, stuck to gether with a mixture of... anything. peanuts, fruit, etc. like a rice krispy square but the rice isnt puffed and this is healthy for you. Everyone stayed pretty late.

This was also the weekend that we got the NEW HOUSEKEEPER Mrs. Cho. The evil one's husband was in a bad car accident, breaking both legs so she left one night early in the am the previous week and never came back. Mrs Cho is great. She cooks amazing, doesnt have a problem with foreigners, wants to help me learn Korean, tho she knows as much english as I know korean right now.

RUSH!

yes!!! Georges St. Pierre of Montreal, Canada, is the welter-weight champion of the world in MMA (mixed martial arts)

in his fight on Nov 18th, in the UFC (ultimate fighting championship), Georges "Rush" St. Pierre knocked out matt hughes

One step forward...

This is what happens when little kids dont have any discipline...
Hoyeon is in the kitchen, eating frosted flakes (see blog entry below). For some reason he has 2 chairs lined up by the cupboards, blocking the freezer, and making it difficult to get into the pantry (and only Hoyeon has a chair at the table). I chat with Hoyeon for awhile, while he is eating. And I decide I want some cereal so I can eat with him. so I move the broken chair, which was about to fall apart again, (one leg falls off, but they haven't done anything about it, I fell off the other day, nearly took Cherry and our supper with me, couple bruises and the evil one laughed) as it shouldnt be out, esp for Hoyeon to climb on. I go to get the next chair and Hoyeon starts screaming and runs to get the other chair. He puts the chair back and the housekeeper appears. Hoyeon calms down. I tell him that I want to eat some cereal with him, but I need to take one of the chairs to sit on. He says ok, and starts back for the table. Housekeeper says something to Hoyeon at which point Hoyeon is screaming again and pushing the chair back. So I went and sat in his chair. Hoyeon was screaming and crying but he didnt want his seat back. He would start to calm down, and then every time the phone rang and she went to answer it, Hoyeon screamed louder. When she walked 5 feet away to hang the phone up... He screams again. Finally they bring another chair from Cherry's room and Hoyeon sits at the table but isn't eating and the second the housekeeper steps away, Hoyeon is screaming. All I could think was omg, this kid needs a smack! I never would obviously, but its frustrating when you make progress and someone/thing pulls you back, always one step forward, two steps back. So housekeeper takes Hoyeon outside, presumably to the grandmother...
GGGRRRRRRRRRRRRR.... and still 2 more days without Eunice....

On a side note, the nail glue I bought is amazing, only thing is, when the glue is wet it reacts with the acetone in nailpolish remover... Causing a sizzling, and smoke. Which means that instead of using polish remover to get rid of excess glue on the skin, you have to peel it off or scrub it off... I have never seen this before... the ingredients are Korean so I can't narrow down what is making the reaction occur. Luckily I accidently learned this lesson on a peice of cotton, rather than my skin.

A very fun and laid-back day

Thanks for leaving comments :) it lets me know people are actually reading this :)

So I went out Saturday night with a friend after watching Cherry rollerblade (which was funny and I will post pix/vid b/c she was playing hockey!!!). Went for supper, finally got around to having soju (Korean vodka), not much tho. And soju is scary. Not because it tastes bad, b/c it tastes like nothing, but b/c it is very easy to drink and is stronger than our vodka at home...

Anyways, wandered around Busan Nat. U. which I always love doing. The streets around the university are lined with shops and stands, restaurants and salons. The streets are usually pretty packed, esp at night. The stores dont close til 10 or midnight depending on the store and day. Its like being in an outdoor mall. I already have a favorite store... I can't remember what it is called but it sells accessories. TWO FLOORS! Accessories meaning, hair stuff, stationary, notebooks, markers, crayons, pens,lamps, clocks, pillows, stickers, sticker tape, stuffed animals etc. Basically just "stuff". And we all know how much I like stuff. Esp when there is hello kitty on everything or other really really cute characters (I HAD to buy a set of markers, they are hello kitty, I also picked up 2 rolls of hello kitty and cherry sticker tape, a "Marie? spoon for Hoyeon, & something else I cant remember, and this came to about 12,000 won Which is about 13CAD) oh yeah, earlier in the day I took Cherry for lunch and we went shopping, thats when I bought this stuff, then we met my friend.

So after wandering, we went and played pool, which I dont really like or dislike... But I won 3-1 :) hehe. AND its not cheating if the other person lets you (although one of those games I didnt cheat, and thats when I won by finishing the game w/ the 8 ball, the other games, we just sunk the 8 ball accidently).

oh somehow I managed to bring home 10$ worth of Korean Icecream. He picked it, I had no idea what it was other than icecream and fruit. So I get home and open the two containers and Korean icecream turns out to be a bowl, 1/2 filled with crushed ice, a la snowcone, topped with a small serving of vanilla soft serve. Then the fruit toppings. Well the main topping is sweet beans, yes beam and icecream. The sweet beans go in all sorts of desserts and pastries. I dont really like them, maybe just b/c I know its beans :P. The other toppings were pineapple, kiwi, banana, and something else, maybe Korean pear (Which I completely love). Then you just mash all of it together, so that it looks like, well, vomit. Sung Chul loved it, as did Eunice and Cherry. It was not what I was expecting. Anyways, I tried some of it and left then the other 9/10s of the icecream. But I had been given Ferrero Rochers earlier in the day by my friend, so it wasn't so bad. Yay hazelnuts.

Anyways, I had a really great time, as I dont speak Korean, so he pretty much ordered everything, which was nice because I didnt have to choose and he chose things I like (this was after he asked what kind of food I wanted etc... I just said I'll try anything, so dont think Im just going along with Korean traditional behavior b/c Im supposed to... I just don't know all of the food and things to do here). I had a great time, and sometime I will go up to Seoul to visit...

Words of Kim Chae-Yeon

So today Cherry and I were discussing my friend from Seoul is coming down (Seung Han)and that Cherry and I are also going for lunch before that. So...
I say jokingly:
"I'm scared. Boys are scary to meet"
Cherry says matter-of-factly, like she explains this all of the time:
"Boys are not scary, you just have to show them who's boss."
I could not stop laughing.... REMEMBER, she's 9!!!

Then we were moving her bugs around. (She had a beetle it laid 14 eggs and died, now there are 10ish beetles, in the worm phase of growing. They are gross. I can't look at them.) They keep growing so we have to keep moving them into bigger containers. (They all have to be separated, because they eat each other, that is why there is only 10, they crawled into their neighbors cups and ate them -cannibalism-!!!) So Cherry is leaning over the container where her mum is pouring the bugs and dirt from their old cups, and at this point there are 5 or 6 in the container, Cherry goes "This is fantastic" going higher on the 'antas' part of fantastic and like this was the most interesting and best thing she's ever seen. We laughed, it may not seem funny, but picture her saying if if you have seen the pictures of her, pig tails and all. 'Fantastic' and bugs should never go together.

Just some little tidbits.

Taking Cherry to lunch tomorrow. Meeting Seung Han. Rollerblading.

Piano recital and the evil one (no capitals for her!)

Okay, and now for this Sunday just passed (22nd).
So I go along with Cherry and her mum all day starting from 2pm, until when we get home after the recital at 1030. All the girls had dresses on, half of them were tacky. There were amazing dances, singing ( which after a few song all started sounding the same) piano pieces, violin, flute, cello, and one girl played a traditional Korean instrument (will try to find a picture). Then there was a group of 5 guys playing brass instruments. They actually played a piece of mixed American melodies (When the saints come marching in, Jingle bells, etc) that I remember playing in highschool. There's not much else to say about it. The day was mostly boring, other than Cherry playing and some of the girls dresses and singing/dancing.

Oh yeah, before I left Canada I had a new pair of dress pants taken in and hemmed. Well, I put the pants on and guess what! I have to get them taken in. I dunno what's happening, because I think I look the same. The yoga teacher says my tummy is flatter and there is some definition in my arms. If Im hot now, I dunno what's gonna happen when Im all toned!!! lol

So now for some stories about the evil one. (the evil one is the housekeeper)
Today for example, Hoyeon was crying again, while Cherry and I were studying. He wanted cereal. I had just purchased a box of cornflakes and had 2 bowls and gave a bowl to Hoyeon this morning. Anyways, I put the cereal up high where Hoyeon couldnt see it. After studying (a long time after crying) I walk out into the kitchen to see the cornflake box on its side on the counter... empty. Cherry came out and asked about the cereal because she had wanted some. Cherry went to ask the evil one and the evil one said Hoyeon saw the box of cereal and wanted it. Cherry asked her, why didn't you ask Cecilia first. The evil one just said, of you know, when Hoyeon cries there's just no time. She had poured 2/3 of a box of cereal into a container which was sitting on the bed. I was mad. Not because Hoyeon ate some cereal, because I bought it to let them have American sugar cereal, but because the evil one was stupid. Heaven forbid giving the kid a small bowl ( Hoyeon only ever eats small bowls of things, otherwise the rest of the food just sits there) or, *GASP* say no to him. I told Eunice that it was sad that Cherry knew it was wrong but the evil adult didn't. She said she understands and doesnt know why she poured out the whole box. Later that day, Cherry and I had gone to get a treat (the evil one always buys Hoyeon treats) at the store. Cherry's mum showed up to pick us up because Cherry was on her way to the doctor. I wanted icecream. Cherry picked brownies, to which her mother said get 2 boxes, Hoyeon is in the car and Cecilia you might want to go home because when Hoyeon sees your icecream he will get upset. I told her, he has to learn and that I just bought an extra box of brownies because Hoyeon was in the car. So we get in the car. Hoyeon starts saying he wants my icecream. I told him no, I bought the icecream for myself (just after the cereal thing, so it was to destress) and that I bought him brownies. At first he wouldnt take the brownie, but he didnt cry and a few minutes later I offered again and he wanted it. VICTORY!!!
In the evening, same day. Hoyeon runs in my room and grabs the box of brownies. I followed him and he grabbed a brownie. I took the box and told Hoyeon thats not how we act, if you want something you have to ask. He ran to the evil one. At this point the grandmother is yelling (oh, the grandmother was in the car with us earlier) in Korean as she only speaks Korean. I ask Hoyeon for the brownie and he starts hiding even more. So, as childish as it might sound, I took it from him. Cherry informed me right after that her grandmother had actually been telling Hoyeon to stop it. ANOTHER VICTORY. Normally I'd let the kid have the candy, but when he's so spoiled by the evil one, I have to use EVERY chance I have to teach/train him.

There are a few other ones, but I'll write them later...

Spas vs. Jjimjilbang

Ok so this starts for last Sunday the 15th.
We went to a jjimjilbang. Now first, Korean spas are different than ours... Korean spas = nakedness. anyways, back to jjimjilbang ('bang' means room). So you take off your shoes and store them in a locker in the main lobby. Then you go up the elevator to the change rooms and change. Everyone is running around naked. But no one minds or cares (obviously men and women are separated). I was not quite up for this so we all decided to just do the main part of jjimjilbang, the saunas (Koreans just call them hot/cold rooms). Anyways. EVERYONE changes into the exact same clothes, roomy shorts and t-shirt. If you are planning to go in the baths (read: public bath) you have to go shower, and shower good (this is more important if you are going in hot spring baths). Anyways. The jjimjilbang that we went to is considered small. But it has 9 floors I think (#9 was being remodeled). So we go in the elevator (which had a really wooden floor while the rest of the elevator was metal and mirror), to the floor where the hot and cold rooms are. There are over a dozen rooms. Temperatures fun from 5 - 92 C, if I remember correctly. Cherry, Hoyeon and I went in everyroom, picking which we liked best. Cherry would not sit still at all. Every room was dome shaped and each room was made differently. My favorite one the outside was covered with amethyst and geodes. The inside was similar. There were rooms made of mud, ice, bricks made from quartz, obsidian, some had TVs built into the walls. So the rooms are on either side of a large common area, and rather than cushions and such there are long wooden logs, cut in half, lengthwise, and some hard foam pillows. It was very comfortable to lay on the floor against the logs. The rooms and common area make up 1/2 of this floor. There is also a drink/smoothie/icrecream bar, a cafe/restaurant, we had really really good egg drop noodle soup. And then gelato on a stick, like a popsicle but bigger and fatter.
Cherry showed me around the other floors. The floor under the jjimjilbang was like how we in North America think of spas. Massage, esthetics, hair, dark rooms with big comfy chairs that are actually beds, like the seat part is extended so your whole body is all on the same level. Then there was another room with many of these chairs and a large tv so people would read, or write, or quietly chatter, or nap.
Other floors that really didn't concern me included, a full regular (meaning wear a swimsuit) pool, the floor with the baths, a bunch of large gym rooms for various sports, inc golf.

So this was fun, definately relaxing - until Cherry and Hoyeon were playing and Hoyeon fell and started bawling loudly in the quite room. Maybe next time, or more likely the time after that, I will try the baths. We definatly need the jjimjilbang in Canada.

And later on Sunday I went and had my hair cut, conditioned, colored, washed and styled for 37000 won, which is about 40$CAD. Isn't that amazing! And the salon people were very nice

PLEASE SEND YOUR THOUGHTS TO THESE FAMILIES

For you Curtis, and your friends, I am so sorry. Your life was far too short with us but I know you managed to get yourself in trouble and had fun doing it, along with the old fun I remember when we first moved to Ravenwood. You were a great friend. I wish I could be there with you to say goodbye. In my mind this is not the end, you will be with us again. I am truly sorry for the loss your families must be feeling, I can't imagine anything like it and there are no words.

Sean... There is a reason for everything... I know it doesnt help but it is true... I hope you are taking care of yourself. I love you so much baby bro... Im here to talk when you need to...

Email from my mum telling me of the news...
"I have some sad news to report. Early Sunday morning, Curtis Martin, Time Marshall, and Chris El all died. It was a tragic accident. All three boys were found inside a car, inside a garage. They had parked in the garage waiting for one of the boys mothers to come home and let them inside the house. While they were in the garage they had the car running to keep warm. All three boys succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning. The boys didn’t realize that the carbon monoxide from the exhaust would kill them. We are so sad! Dad (S.Dornan) actually was called to the scene that was originally reported as a suicide."

So people BIG NEWS... We have a murderer in out house. Yes, that's right, murderer! So I didnt hear the chicks today at all (yes they are dead) but figured because the housekeeper decided to wash out the tub they were in that they were somewhere else. So when Cherry finally comes home I ask her if she knows. She tells me that the housekeeper said they were all dead this morning... Conveniently at the same time... So the funny (or not-so-funny) thing is that I couldnt sleep last night... and I was in with the chicks around 330-400... AND they were perfectly fine. They were running around jumping on things and chirping. And somehow 6 hours later they are all dead? I dont think so. I didnt tell Cherry this but Cherry told me that the story the housekeeper told her seemed not quite right. So I dont have any pictures and the chick are in the garbage... MURDERED!!! At least the housekeeper is getting axed (for various reasons inc. that she complains too much and gives into Hoyeon). Yes... Eunice has placed an advert and today people start calling to set up interviews. She says there should be lots of response because she does pay well and people are looking for jobs right now because the economy is in recession. YAY! I said she should ask them if they have problems with foreigners, she laughed and said she'd check. I said it doesnt matter to me but it might be easier for the new housekeeper if they didnt already have a prejudice.

Anyways... Will update on this....... MURDERER! MURDERER!

Holiday and Dong Dong Ju with Seung-Jeong

What to write about... well... this is the holiday weekend (thanksgiving) and its a pretty big deal here. People visit their families, give presents, and pay hommage to their deceased family and ancestors. So my family in Daejeon I think... And so I've been alone... which means when I sleep, I actually make it through a whole night and morning without waking up... And they always have dishes of food in the fridge AND Eunice's mother came over today and made a fresh pot of rice as I dont know how to use the rice cooker... I did however figure out the washer! yay.
So I've been totally relaxing, added another album on the sony page if you want to see it tell me... its of the place where I am living. The other album was from Oct 7th Sports Day... Which also happened to be a national holiday, of which Eunice was surprised I knew what it was about. This holiday (kaechonjol) was about the founding of Korea back in 2333 BC. Korea's "mythical" (mythical is in quotes because there aren't any myths. A myth is false, a belief of a people is not false) first king, Tan-gun, was a semi-god with a bear for a mother. Tan-gun came to Earth on this day and founded the Old Choson dynasty. A good bit of trivia for you there.

Newsflash: well not really... just got back from being out with Seung-Jeong (I hope I spelled that right) walking around Busan Nat. University (from here on known as BNU). We went to some traditional bar and drank Dong Dong Ju and ate kimchi pizza. Dong Dong Ju is made from barley so it has a bit of a beer taste but is sweet. It was pretty good. Now when I go out I can at least know one thing thats good to drink. Seung-Jeong says that it has a lower alcohol percentage than beer, but she says it gives foreigners headaches... We shall see... Didn't have too much as you may be able to tell by my typing (or maybe not?)... Anyways, we talked about differences and similarities between Korea and North America as Seung-Jeong spent a year studying english in Irvine, Cali (sp?)...

Next time we're going for soju and maybe a later night (buses stop around 1130pm) so we'd have to take a cab... its not too far tho. Will post on that when it comes up...

Ciao

Sunday Sept 24

Did you know chestnuts are pricklier than cactus?
Well... We went harvesting chestnuts. I thought this was weird but hey, its Korea. So first of all chestnuts actually hang off trees in softball size prickly shells. The shells aren't hard unless they've dried out. So Green prickly balls. Then you step on them (MUST wear sneakers). You put one foot on either half of the ball and then kind of let your feet (with lots of pressure) slide towards the ground so you are in effect opening the ball... Like when you use your hands to pull an orange apart from the center. Then get the prickly ball out of the way pick up the chestnuts, usually 2-3 in a ball, and inspect them. White ones arent ripe, soft ones are bad, and anything with a hole has a bug in it. All in all it was great fun. Then you take your bag of chestnuts and get it weighed. You are charged by weight. 4kg is the lowest. Well we had less than 1kg (after a couple hours of all 5 of us... well Hoyeon didnt do much, and Cherry kept getting prickles in her feet somehow... So less than 1kg they GAVE us more nuts and didn't charge anything, even gave back the entry fee... It was great fun tho. We have yet to roast the nuts.

We then went to a traditional Korean house, which really was a small village of houses. Most of the houses were like a restaurant dining area. Some showed Korean crafts, there was a shop, big cages with birds, chickens, bunnies, and a greenhouse with asian plants. So there are these little paths between houses and around the area with tons of old Korean items laying around (not in a messy way, but in a display way). All above the houses were strings like a net, which held up vines and Korean pumpkins, gourds, and cucumbers. Anyways, it was so busy. We had many small dishes of traditional Korean food. There was a mushroom dish, the mushrooms were kind of battered and fried I think and had a sweet yellow sauce. My favorite thing so far.

We finally came home and Cherry decided that she wanted to make pancakes from the night before (shubu shubu). So we went and got the ingredients and made regular and chocolate pancakes with whipped cream.

Good long day.

Still dont have a digital camera but have been taking pix with my old 35mm cam. Will TRY to scan them when they get developed.

Ciao

Saturday Sept 23

I had very simple kimbob today. Thin sheets of slightly salted seaweed (check out those s's) and rice. You take the seaweed sheet and put rice on it and fold or wrap it up. I absolutely LOVE this.

We went to a traditional Korean restaurant and had shabu shabu (I think thats right). Which is kind of like doing a reclette and a fondu. In the centre of the table is an element deep in the table. Then a large frying pan/pot is put on top of the element. A broth is poured into the pot and left to boil. Once boiling, a plate of very thinly sliced beef is brought out along with a dish of vegetables. You toss these items in as you go and the beef cooks super fast (5 seconds).After all of that is eaten there is little broth left. In goes a few more chopped veggies and lots of rice. This is left to thicken until, yup looks like someone got sick and is thick as porridge. Reluctant to try, I did and loved it!

I also visited the hospital Eunice's husband works at. This is more of a cosmetic surgery clinic than a hospital. Eunice does the finances and other paperwork for the hospital. And oh yeah, the Kim's own it!!! So not only do they have money, they have a fair bit of it. Next year they are sending Cherry and Hoyeon to a private school in New Jersey where the family will be moving. $20,000 USD per kid per year to go to this school. I told Eunice that $20,000 would likely pay for 2 years of university for me. They want Cherry to go to an Ivy League University. Holy crap. And yeah, Cherry is very smart, definately not the grade 2 level she is currently at. I'd say at least grade 5, at least.

Ciao

Food

Sept 17th
Last night we went out for dinner to a traditional Korean restaurant. We sat on the floor and each person got a dish of pumpkin soup and water kimchi. Then many dishes kept coming out and I tried almost everything. Lots of it was very spicy. I liked the mushroom dishes the best. There were many kinds of sauce, each dish had a different flavor. Then there was Korean rice which was purple!!! Very purple and it tasted just like white sticky rice. Cherry and I watched Charlie and the chocolate factory the new version and ate mango cakes, which arenÂ’t mango and arenÂ’t cakes. They were balls of bread with weird yellow stuff in the middleÂ… the b read was great but I wasnÂ’t a fan of the sort of sweet yellow part. Cherry wasnÂ’t sure what it was. We also had grapes but their grapes have a thick skin that you peel off first. When you pinch the bottom of the grape the skin slides right off. I slept well. My mattress is very firm which is perfect. For breakfast I had seaweed soup ( the broth tasted like miso soup) it was good but the seaweed was slimey :p. Also white rice and another kind of soup, a spinach dish (I like the spinach) and two other dishes that looked spicey. I spoke with Eunice about the schedule and she told me Hoyeonoyeun gets home between 2 and 3 depending if he wants to play outside and Cherry is home at 3. Cherry plays piano and cello!!! I will spend about 1.20 h with Cherry reading and such and before Cherry I will be with Hoyeon for anywhere between 30 mins and 2 h. Depending on his behavior, he is very disobedient. Supper is at about 520 and at 6pm Im going to yoga with Eunice (Cherry doesn't go on Mondays because she has her science tutor in). I think tomorrow Eunice and I are going to the bank so I can get money exchanged and maybe to look at cameras and pick up a few things. One thing I found weird was that Eunice and Cherry's father don't share a room. Eunice sleeps with Cherry and Hoyeun shares a room with the housekeeper (who often acts as a babysitter). Eunice does the finances at a hospital and she and her husband both leave at azbout 930 am. I definitely have to learn Korean. This will take up much of my free time until I have a decent grasp. Hopefully, we all know how I procrastinate.
Ciao for now.

Getting there

September 15th 2006
Woke up 230am. Ugh. Had some rice krispies and off to the airport. Had a chocolate icecap, buttercaramel flavor shot. Met Melissa at the e airport. All good. Went through the carry on check thing and I was chosen for a random search! They went through everything and messed up my bags, barely got them closed. Anyways the airplane was tiny. Melissa and I joked that it was Fisher Price or “made in china”. Switched her seat and the lady who was supposed to sit next to me come on looking a bit confused and Melissa offers the seat back but the lady was more than happy to take the single window/aisle seat. (side note: just noticed that my clock on my laptop says 347am. Hehe its 347 pm here) Here comes the fun part. We first got on the air bus/train going in the opposite direction, not so bad, only took an extra 10 mins. Got to the right terminal. All good. I go to check in. Now they cant find my bags on the computer and there’s something wrong with my ticket… Something about the people in Hali entered it in a weird format. All fixed in 10 minutes. No problem. Say bye to Melissa and head to customs. Get my seat on the airplane. Plane starts to taxi off to the runway. Oh wait, nope… we go around in circles with a bunch of other planes for an hour and a half…. Boy was I fascinated!!! There are these TVs in the seats ahead of you and headphones. Now the TVS don’t just play a movie, they had a whole list Xmen3, The sentinel, DaVinci Code, a special about the movie/book, Lucky number Slevin, and about a half dozen others. Also cartoons (lilo & stitc h)… Anyways, you can play games like solitaire, mahjongg, shanghai, Othello and a few other arcade style games. That kept me entertained. Then there’s this thing where not only can you keep track of the flight, where you are, altitude, temp, kms left etc. there are 2 cameras, one from the piolets view, straight ahead and the other is from the bottom of the plane, looking straight down. Wicked, except it was mostly white and clouds. OK food. Well there were these “crackers and nuts” which was like what you get on any plane that crunchy bits etc. that was the snack. Then lunch was a choice of teriyaki chicken with sticky rice, salad, “Japanese delicacies” which smelled real weird and I couldn’t stand the smell, and then a maple cake which was more like a mousse or sugary blob. Very yummy lunch. Oh and really cute little tiny soy sauce bottle. Lots to drink, I had coke and green tea, oh and then this lemonade but it wasn’t bitter or sweet like ours, very light and yummy. For supper they served penne pasta with salmon cream sauce, salad, roll, fruit, DANONE la crème yogurt peach flavor. Very nice. And cookies. So that’s all great. VERY LONG FLIGHT. So because the plane left so late from JFK I ( and a bunch of other passengers) missed the connection by a few minutes (plane boarded at 2 left at 225, we arrived at 237) so then after having people send me up down left right etc. I finally got to the terminal for my new flight. Which doesn’t leave until 540pm. Nice. An hour and a half left now. I am roasting. The plane was just above comfortable. And while its perfect temp outside but overcast, its still toasty in here!!! Couldn’t nsleep much at all on the plane, maybe 2 hrs. and now Im dead tired. Ciao

These are a few pictures of my family in Korea.

pictures

Family Information:
Father: Sungchul- Kim
Mother: Eunjeong- Gu

Address : Lotte Castle Apartment Guseodong, KumJung-Gu,Busan city, South Korea

This is an email from the Kim family:

Hi Cecilia,
I'm Eunice. During summer vacation I am very busy organizing my children's activities and extra studies, so I am sorry I couldn't answer your email before. I hope you are enjoying your summer. We are having a heat wave in Korea now so its very hot.
You wanted to know about my family. There are five people in my family. My husband, my daughter Chae-yeon, my son Ho-yeon, our live-in housekeeper, and myself.
Chae-yeon's English name is Cherry. When we go to the USA we will change Cherry's English name because we feel it is too childish. Anyway, Cherry can speak English fluently so she can help you when you stay with us.
My husband is a plastic surgeon. In Korea being a plastic surgeon is the best job but it is very stressful.
Our housekeeper lives together with us and helps me take care of Ho-yeon. Child-rearing and household duties are very hard work so sometimes we have to share it. One of the rules in our house is to keep your room neat and tidy. Our housekeeper may get annoyed if your room isn't clean, so we would appreciate it if you did your best to keep it tidy.
We have a high-speed Internet connection in our house. Korean technology is vey advanced. Also, nearby there are many inexpensive Internet cafes.
The school year will start again in September so at that time the children will be gone most of the day. This will be your free time. I would like you to teach or play with the children for four hours a day in the late afternoon when they return from school.
I know you asked if I could send some pictures to you of the area where we live but unfortunately I don't know how to do this. We live in a new apartment complex close (about 5 minute taxi or bus/20 minute walk) to the Pusan National University area. In this area there are many foreigners (Canadian, American, Australian, etc teachers) so there are many conveniences for you such as fast food places, bookstores, coffee shops and shopping there. Our apartment complex is the newest in the city so it is very large and modern. There are tennis courts and an in-line skating area in our aprtment complex. It is located next to Kumgang mountain so the air is fresh and there are hiking trails.
If you have any questions about Busan there is an English website called pusanweb.com that may give you more information about the city.
I hoped I answered most of your questions.

Eunice

P.S. This was wriiten with the help of my Canadian English teacher...psssst...I think Eunice's English is very good and Cherry's is excellent so you won't have any problems. They really are a lovely family.

Flight Out

Looks like Im flying out September 8th. yay. I will fly to New York (Kennedy airport) and then to Tokyo!!! for 14 hours. There are so many amazing stores and restaurants in the airport, but it looks like it wont be to hard to find anything. http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/this is the website for the Tokyo airport.

The Catch-up

So here's a little timeline to get everyone up to speed... Sorry its so long, the rest shouldn't be this long!!!

March 17 - I get 'all' of the application package

-~- during this time Korea is being researched etc.

May 4 - 'all' forms are sent to me

-~- during this time communication with Scotia Personel (recruiting in NS) is over the phone

July 10 - Scotia now wants my application in word format rather than just hard copy SENT

July 11 - Scotia wants my 'dear family' letter emailed rather than hard copy SENT

July 19 - family to review - Kim

July 20 - I accept the family - Leslie at Scotia advises she will have the family call me to chat and that the process will take 4-6wks

July 25 - Leslie asks how things are going

July 26 - I reply that the family has yet to call me

July 27 - Leslie speaks with the office in Korea and advises the Kim family will be calling

July 31 - the Kim family finally calls me. the mother sounds quite organized

Aug 1 - "the family accepts you" email from Leslie
- say what? I thought that already happened
- oh and by the way, here's your contract to sign and an invoice for $400!!!
- I reply saying that I should have known about this earlier as they've placed people with the Korea recruiters
- I've finally been given the family's correct email addy
- oh wait... it's still wrong

Aug 3 - Leslie sends me the correct email for the family

Aug 8 - forms please? I already sent them. my 400$ is wired over and you have my police check and signed contract

Aug 9 - Eunice (my host family's mother) sends me a long and detailed (exactly what I wanted) email with the help of her english teacher in response to my email of questions

Aug 14 - oh lets work on your "working holiday visa" now
- application filled out
Aug 15 - don't use the word "tutor" the Korean Embassy doesnt like it. wha? also you need a letter showing that you have access to funds in the case that you are injured and have to go home. relatively informal

Aug 16 - oh no you need to have a bank statement showing you have $3000 in your bank. just put the $ in and print the statement and then take it back out.
Aug 17 - I call the Korean Embassy in Montreal (from my computer using skype) and I am informed I have to have
1) a passport stamped photo, and
2) not $3000 but $6000. I call Leslie and she says that she never rec'd notice of any increase. I ask her to double check the info, she does and yup, they changed it, you now have to show $6000. WTF???
- calculating what I have available from my credit cards (yes 2 cards, kinda long story) Im still short $1000

And Im like W T F?????

mini-update : my brother fresh from graduating Basic Miltary Qualifications gave me the $1000, so I printed my papers and now he gets his $ back! Thanks Peachy!!!