Pho and Na together at last

So what I missed most about home was my mommy's wonderfully delicious pho noodle soup. So when I went to Hongdae, sweet sweet Jenniper and Ray took me to one of the pho places around. It wasn't that bad. It wasn't that good either, but it did the trick. I don't miss it much anymore.

Hopefully in the future, I can find all the better pho places to eat at.

Home, At Last

So when I brought Beatrice home, Keiko could smell her before I even took off my shoes. I was cradling her in one arm and fending Keiko off with the other. Then I tossed Beatrice on the bed in a heap of my jacket and things and grabbed my camera. I'm glad I got this footage of their first encounter, the beginning of their sisterly love.

The Dipper and Cassiopeia

Last night when I came home from shopping in Gumcheon, it was only about eight in the evening, but already it was really dark out, almost pitch black. I live in the country so there aren't many street lights to begin with. It was a cold night. Except for this morning when I woke up to such a harsh chill, yesterday was the coldest day to date. (But, I can still be grateful that I don't have to suffer through the bloody unforgivable winds in Ottawa, so I did not complain.)

I opened the door to my low-rise to meet Keiko's high pitched squeals of happiness, dropped my bags inside, said hi to Beatrice, and then took Keiko for a quick potty-run. I am surrounded by farmland, but there is this dirt road trail that takes you back to a barn where all the cows are. I normally take this trail on my morning walks with Keiko, passed the cows and around the nooks and crannies of the little village. Well, we were walking along this trail and I decided to look up. It being so dark out and a remarkably clear night, I saw the sky exploded with a million stars. I've never seen so many stars in one sky before. It was so beautiful! I could see the Dipper and Cassiopeia, and a bunch of other constellations that I don't know of. The longer I looked, the more stars came into focus and filled the night sky and I became dizzy, a little delirious. My fingers became numb and my neck got sore and Keiko did her business so I went back in.

I want to learn all the names of all the stars and lie down in my backyard come summertime and find them all.

The Stones of Peace

I'm take-out coffee too.

Behind me is North Korea. I don't understand how people surrounded by such beautiful mountains can focus so much energy on oppression and violence.
Two of the grade 11boys in my school told me their life in the next five years: Finish high school next year, spend one year at university, then spend two years in the military, and then three years finishing university. I think that's actually six years.

North Korea.

The train that got blown up.



"The stones of peace" is a monument of stones collected from war zones around the world.
"Together we pray that this country divided into North and South be reunified and its people divided into left and right be reunited."
DO NOT COME CLOSE OR TAKE PICTURES

So over the weekend, I went with a tour group to see the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone, since I live practically across the steet from it. There was a lot of barren land and areas we couldn't get too close to unless we wanted to get shot at or blown up by a land mine. The North Koreans actually dug these huge tunnels underground, like four of them, that were intended to go all the way to Seoul for a surprise attack. We got to walk in these tunnels but couldnt take pictures. It was pretty crazy.
The weather was beautiful. Sunny and blue skies.

Writer's Block

"I'm filled with confidence when I begin, but by the end of a writing night I'm left to wonder if other writers feel the way I do-- that with each letter, word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, I'm digging a toe-hold, gripping a rock, a fool on a mountainside, alone and ill-equipped, a disastrous fall more likely than a gloried ascent. Why did I start climbing? Where am I now? Who gives a shit if I reach the summit?" -The Girls

I'm trying my hand at fiction. I won't lie, it's the hardest thing to do. There are so many ways to say something, so many words to use, structures to consider, points of views to take, so many complexities, thought processes, character construction...
...but it is so much fun to create a different world.

I'm reading one of my favourite modern short story writers, Jhumpa Lahiri, she is a master at her craft, such subtleties.

***

This week has simply flown by. All week, I only had one day of full teaching (Wednesday). And today (Friday), I had only one class. I took a lesson plan from the workshop I went to and played to my class the song "If I had a million dollars" by The Barenaked Ladies. Then I got them into groups and told them to make a poster answering different questions: what if I were famous, what if I had a million dollars, what if I had super powers,etc. This one group of boys who had to answer the question "What if I had a million dollars" simply drew a picture of a massive house with a gigantic clock on the outside. There were big windows, nice landscaping, and a long walkway up the door. Two pretty girls are standing outside the door under a bright light, there is a limo out front with five male bodyguards, and the air is littered with paper money. It was by far my favourite depiction of a rich person so I stole it and now it hangs in my cubicle. It makes me smile :)

Samgwang Middle School

I love my school. It is not too big and not too small. It is quiet and quaint, surrounded by mountains and hills. Only one street goes by it with lots of Kia Motor trucks, convoys of troops, tractors and one bus, No 92. It is hidden and secluded and I love it. I also love my middle school students with their little round faces, high-pitched squeals of laughter, and mushroom cut hair. They are all so cute!

Hippos in swimsuits...

...Okay. okay. Perhaps calling the best weightlifting athletes in the world hippos isn't very nice, but these women were huge. They actually didn't much look like women to begin with. They had tree trunk legs and a cushion of fat underneath their chins. BUT, holy macaroni, can they lift weights!

I went to the International Weightlifting Championship in a city called Goyang over the weekend (about 1.5 hours from me home). It was lots of fun. I got to sit in the VIP section because I was with a white guy, so the organizers thought he was involved somehow with the other athletes, probably a family member or something. So as other Koreans, young and old, had to sit on the crowded steps, I was comfy in my chair. Lol.

The leading South Korean weightlifter won gold in the end, lifting 187 kilos over her pudgy head. The crowd went crazy. I got a little excited too and splashed my soju spiked green tea out of my hand onto an organizer's foot. I like alcohol and sports.
GO SPORTS!

This tiny Russian girl came in second, lifting like 140 kilos or something. She was like only 100 pounds heavier than me. Absolutely tiny. She was breaking world records left and right. And then China came third.

Then, me and some other English teachers and native Koreans went to Hongdae (Seoul, I believe) into a bar that had a military theme to it. They served pints in latrine type metal cups. It was odd. But I drank.

It was a good weekend.

Bottoms and Keiko sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

I guess it is inevitable that when you adopt a baby cat into a house with a dog, the cat is going to pick up on some canine-like behaviour. The other night after I had dinner, I retired to my bed to lay down, watch some Korean TV, and cuddle with my kitten. She climbed up onto my neck and commenced on licking my entire face with her rough, sandpaper-like tongue. It really started to hurt as she got to sensitive areas like my upper lip, but I didn't stop her because it was soooo cute and dog-like of her. Even Keiko doesn't lick faces anymore.

When she wants to be all energetic, she'll mount Keiko (the way Mimzy does) and bite her everywhere she can reach. She'll bite her bum and her back, but mostly she enjoys going after the paws and legs. She'll dig her claws into Keiko's fur, so even if Keiko stands up or re-adjusts positions, the cat is still clinging to her like some weird black growth. I don't think Keiko can feel anything because she just sits there looking at me in this sad pathetic dog-look way. It is ever so cute.

***
The animal situation here is one of the saddest things to see, making it one of the hardest things I had to adjust to. My first week here, I took Keiko for a walk and it was clear to me that I would be the only dog owner walking her dog. Dogs we met on the way really just shattered my heart. They were filthy, anorexic-ly thin, and chained up, tethered to a tree or a dog house. The chains are normally a meter long, some are shorter. The dogs have nowhere to move, except stand up, take two steps, shit, and lay back down. These dogs eat watery rice and its a rarity to find water for them anywhere in sight. These images were the only time when I thought I would hate it here and I missed home. But not to be dramatic, I'm pretty over it now. Well, I avoid going to see these animals for sure. Keiko also gets nervous around them, they don't give off the happy energy she is used to.

I guess I cant judge them. Koreans aren't used to having animals as pets to care for, especially out in the country where I am. Its a shame really. I should bring my kitten into class and show the students that they are harmless and can be domesticated with the right attention and nurturing. And the kids here just need the right knowledge. I do think things are looking up though, and hopefully progression will turn this into an animal loving country in the future.

The experience has also made me a lot less judgemental when I see video clips of babies hanging around tigers in Indian homes, or when the late Steve Irwin dangles his baby in front of an ancient crocodile.

People here react to tiny dogs that way, like they are hundred pound beasts, but its only because they don't know any better. Maybe education is the first step to changing animal rights.

Suwon, soju, and a US weapons inspector.

The real journey of discovery is not in seeing new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes. -Marcel Proust

This past weekend, I braved the three hour commute to Suwon city, the capital of Gyeonggi province and second largest city in S.Korea, to visit good ole Lil'Tween. I must say, I commend the transit system, it is actually quite reliable, with colour-coated Lines, numbered stops, comfy seats (except for the bare metal ones in some of the trains...makes me slippy and slidey). Most importantly, it does not use a silly token/ticket/monthly pass crap that the TTC still employs aimed to screw everyone over. I have been keeping up with my homegrown city news and it makes me laugh that the TTC is not only upping the fare, but trying to prevent everyone from hoarding tokens. I wish I had used a lot more counterfeit tickets back when I went to high school.

Anyway, got a little sidetracked.

The Seoul metropolitan transit system is very user oriented. It is very modern, very easy to use, and does the trick in transporting a friggin huge number of Koreans around on a daily basis. They use refillable chips, called T-Money. You can get these in many different forms: a card for your wallet, a cell phone charm-dangly thing, watches, or key chains. I have a key chain add-on, and its light pick and looks like a genetically modified bean. Its tiny, cute, and very Asian. You fill it up in the convenience store and presto! Scan when you board and scan when you leave the train. No mess. No service people. NO TOKENS! I don't know why Toronto is lagging behind, but it seems their current system sucks.

So, the three hour ride wasn't that horrible, but it got so crammed as I neared the centre of Seoul and Suwon that I had to stand for the last hour and a half going there and back. But, lucky and smart me, I got there safe. At Tween's, I learned a lot about Kpop (Korean Pop) and shocked my students the following class with my knowledge of all their beloved singers. I was throwing names down like 2.pm, 21, Brown Eyed Girls, Rainism, et. I think they were impressed. LOL

So My weekend events

First Soju Experience:
So I looked in the classifieds to find a pet sitter. Luckily, I found one not very far from my place, Tiffany and Whitney, who are also teachers and also Canadians and also have a cute little pooch named Sushi Roll. I dropped Keiko and Beatrice off and then went to the "rooftop", a cute bar where English teachers congregate. There I had my first sip of that clear water-like substance that gets everyone all drrrrrrrrrunk. I was trying to save My First Soju Experience for Suwon, but I'm glad I did not. Or else I would have been doubly pukey.
Anywho. Weeks previously, I inquired about it from teachers in my school, Korean friends back home, and I must say, everyone lied to me about how it tastes. It does not taste like a. vodka, b. sake, c. wine. It takes like water with a tiny hint of sweet something, like raw unprocessed maple syrup sap. Someone at the rooftop said it wasn't real alcohol but fake oil stuff. That comment just about made up my mind about soju...YUK-O.
It did give me a headache next morning when I woke up to miss my hiking trip. (GRRR)

Side note, pint of beer cost 2.50 :) :) :)

First Suwon Experience
Lil'Tween and her co-workers took me to a bar called Crazy Duck where foreigners go. Not before long, three white guys come in. One was tall and dark and claimed to teach adults English. Guy number 2 looked daft, but had arms the size of an elephant. Muscles. Guy number 3 was short, fat, ugly, rude, dumb, and a true, by the book redneck. Annoying as hell too. Anyways, he passed out at the end of the night and I poured Budweiser into his hat. It gave me great pleasure.
The tall dark guy pulls me over, "I don't want to lie to you. I'm not an English teacher. I work for the US government. I am a weapons inspector. If you've got time, I can take you inside to see the jet."
"Can you fly the jet?"
"Um, no, but I can give you a tour."
Just so you Mr. US Weapons Inspector Tour Guide Man, army men are not hot. Pilots are pretty hot.
I had lots of fun that night. We went to a club afterwards playing clubby English songs. I had fun sitting at the bar drinking water. The club owner's brother made me take a shot of Jagermeiser with him. 30 minutes later, PUKE, PUKE, PUKE.

All in all, I believe that was the gist of my weekend. I enjoyed it, although I wish I made it to the hike and I wish I didn't puke.

A new sister

I fell in love with a picture of little stray kitten, who was found lost and alone between buildings in the rich part of Seoul. She is all black with the cutest little white boots and a Hitler like birthmark on her nose. Keiko and I are both smitten.
Welcome to your our world Beatrice Tucumsy Hoang (or Bottoms).

When I brought her home on the train, it was so unbelievably cold that I had to unbutton my jacket and she climbed inside and clung to my chest. I closed the jacket and there she stayed, a little foreign hump, all the way home. When I brought her into the house, Keiko went mad crazy, wanting to play with her and sniff her and make her her's.
BUT, she fits into my left hand. She is so tiny, I cannot have Keiko roll on her. So I put her into my wardrobe where she sleeps now. Keiko stays at the bottom to overlook, tail wagging, and voice whining to let her play.

After the first couple hours, after Bottoms was fed, I took a piece of string from a shopping bag, and tied a loop in one end. We played with that on the bed. She could not get bored of it. Keiko watched from the other side of the bed in curiosity. Once, she snuck up real close to sniff Bottom's face. Bad idea. Kitty swiped at Keiko so fast, Keiko had no idea what happened. Now, Keiko waits until Beatrice is on her back or hind legs, distracted with her playing before she attempts to get close and smell.