Drag Queen

I went to the club last Thursday and even though it was an incredibly slow night, it was still a ton of fun.  I learned some more Korean, chitchatted with the staff who now absolutely adore me, and met the most adorable Korean guy who works there as a bartender.  He likes to dress up for fun and he decided to wear a lion costume that night. Upon sharing our costume stories, he disclosed that he likes to dress up as a woman, particularily as famous Kpop singers.  I was amazed.  There is apparently a drag community in Korea!  So that conversation quickly turned into an English lesson as I explained to him the meaning of the word Drag Queen.  I'm telling you, there are all sorts of crazy and fun people in this city.  Whoever said that Koreans are super conservative and stuffy might have been right about the general population but I'm always able to find the wild ones that like to have a good time!

Cafe Arista

Another fantastic little coffee shop.  I know that you folks are probably getting tired of me posting about them but here in Korea, the woman go out to coffee shops in droves.  This particular one is along "Bar Street" and is usually quiet and fairly unoccupied.  The cozy couches and english music creates the perfect atmosphere for writing and quiet contemplation.  It isn't quite as artsy inside as one would think but rather more old lady-style but it is still a nice place to check out.

Fat Korea!!!

Breads in all shapes and sizes!!!

Hot Dogs on Everything!!!

It is my personal opinion that globalization is going to be the end of good health in Asia, at least from what I’ve observed in Korea.  A trip to the market leaves me yearning for a good salad.  Back in Canada I went through phases of being a health nut and then I would fall into bad habits but I haven’t eaten like this in a very long time.  Even my month of noshing on taco chips (it was my plan to beat my crippling taco chip craving while in Korea: eat them until I never want to see them again) wasn’t as bad as how some people eat here. 

The stereotype of healthy Koreans no longer holds as much truth as it once did.  While some meals do include many veggies, many of them are lacking anything green whatsoever and are a combination of carbs, meat, and oil.  Still not that bad though.  What is going to kill the next Korean generation is their obsession over sweets.  Donut shops are rampant in this city. There is a Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins right across the street from one another.  You only have to walk a mere five minutes in almost any direction to find a Paris Baguette or Tous les Jours to get your crème puff, pizza bun, or cinnamon bun fix.  Oh wait, what about the weird tendency to slap hot dogs on anything from bread, pizza bread, and...donuts??? Chocolate sticks and chocolate bars (actually anything chocolate) causes these children to lose all rational. I could pour chocolate syrup on a piece of bread and they’d all be climbing on top of one another in their attempt to get the first bite as I wave it in front of them.  Now I know that I’m often an enthusiastic story teller but this is not an exaggeration.  Maybe I’ll test out this theory and tape it for you. 

I haven’t eaten so many sweets and breads in a year as I have in the past month.  They also have a weird love for hot dogs here.  There’s a huge section in the market for hot dogs and each bakery has its share of hot dog sandwiches smeared with gobs of mayo.  Mayo is another favourite of this culture.  You can buy tubs of it at the Costco and oftentimes the “salad” at a restaurant is a half cup of mayo with a sprinkling of cabbage.  Ramen noodles and chip sticks are common snacks for children here and my students never seem to be without a good supply. 

America has come to Korea and it’s going to take its toll in the next decade.  After witnessing the effect of bad diet in the western world, I would have hoped that Korea would be more careful with what is on the daily menu.  Right now Korea has public health care and from what I hear it is a good system.  Just wait until all the children from this generation grow up, get fat, and become diabetic and have high blood pressure.  I’m pretty sure that it will drain the healthcare system.  To the people of Korea!  Stop eating cake, and donuts, and chips!!!!  You are making yourselves fat and now that I’m living in Korea…I’ve already started packing on the pounds…L

Uhhh....We Lost Him, Mack

Not exactly the words that I wanted to hear when inquiring about the whereabouts of my dinner partner who had yet to call me today.  I'm surprised that USA hasn't started tagging their military boys (and women, I suppose) with GPS tracking devices.  If I had a dollar for everytime I've heard that a story about one of the boys being MIA, I'd have enough money to buy a ticket someplace cool so that I could have the opportunity to be MIA too.  It's not fair that everyone else is having all the crazy fun in this country.  But seriously, what happened to the mantra of "never leave a man behind"?  How do all these military boys end up waking up in different cities than where they began or showing up looking dishevelled almost 24 hours later. Well, it should be interesting to hear the story this time around when A-Rod finally shows up.  I wonder what trouble he got himself into...

Like a Pro

As almost all of you know (or should know) Canada does have chopsticks.  Due to my fondness for Chinese takeout and sushi, I've become quite adept at using them over the years.  In fact, I can even use them fairly well ambidextrously.  Being the "chopsticks pro" that I am, I thought that it would be extremely easy to eat in Korea.  Hells no!  First of all, we have wood or plastic chopsticks back home.  This makes them lightweight and easy to maneuver.  Koreans have stainless steel chopsticks and they only use these and a long-handled spoon as table utensils.  You would think that transferring my skills over would be an easy task but these babies are slippery, awkward, and heavier to use.  In fact, my friend Kelly had to feed me ramen because I was having some difficulty picking up those slippery noodles. Thankfully (although it was annoying at first), all I had for eating utensils in my apartment (and all that I could find to buy) were pairs of metal chopsticks and spoons.  Well, I practiced and practiced and now I'm a complete pro at handling these bad boys!  My Korean students and friends always drop a jaw when we go out to eat and I'm not stumbling over how to hold them or continuously dropping food like other foreigners.  And now that I do have a set of western utensils in my house (all thanks to the American airbase shopping trip), I choose the chopsticks.  It's not until I'm washing my dishes that I look up and see my forks staring at me that I am weirded out by the fact that I've chosen the Korean way instead of the western way...is this the first step to becoming Korean...oh no!!!!!!

Fall Beauty

A long walk during a beautiful fall day!  

I feel a little more at home when I look at the Korean rendition of the maple leaf...

My Mini Korean Coffee Adventure

Well I'm back to writing and the only way to do that is by having as few distractions around myself as possible. My solution is to find a warm corner in a coffee shop and add the clattering sound of my keyboard to the chattering of the korean coffee-goers.  Unfortunately, my favourite internet-cafes are a bit of a distance from my apartment and I've been searching for a closer coffee shop.  In a country where coffee shops are scattered about like their competing with the Seattle Startbucks population, I hadn't found one on my street until the other night.  And wouldn't you know it, there was a cute little coffee shop lit up with twinkling Christmas lights on a sidestreet by my hagwon.  I've walked that street every single day for almost two months and had failed to see it until just now.  This seems to be the norm in Korea.  I'm always stumbling upon hidden restaurants and shops wherever I go.  It's like the "I Spy" kids books but the Korean version.  You're looking for something in particular but you see the strangest things on the page that you didn't notice the first 20 times that you read the book.  Anyways, back to my story...

So I pack up all of my supplies and take an inventory (very important for little ms. forgetful).  And so, laptop...check...cord...check...power converter...check...wallet...check...okay, good to go.  Well I walked in and greeted the very surprised and excited owner. And mustering up my courage, I manage to ask her where I can plug in my computer by showing her my converter plug and throwing out a few hopeful Korean phrases while apologizing to her and trying to explain that my Korean is not very good.  Well our lines of communication were not exactly on par but I managed to express my need for a place to plug in my computer and to connect to the internet.  Or so I thought...

One of the ladies told me to follow the ahjuma (older lady) so that she could show me an alternative location.  Did I mention that they are super nice in Korea and always want to help me out!?! Such awesome and hospitable people.  Well we walked for a few blocks and she brings me to a Samsung store and marches me right up to the counter to tell them that I am need of sending an email via computer.  Not quite what I had in mind.  Once again, I attempted to ask where I could find an internet CAFE with wireless such as OLLEH (the internet supplier in Korea) and drink coffee at the same time but in my neighbourhood.  I then provided a few examples such as Tom 'n Toms and Cafe Bene.  Ping went the lightbulb as the store employees all started chattering away and pointing in different directions and off we went once again.  This woman was having such a ball with me as she escorted me to a Cafe Bene location.  I just didn't have the heart to tell her that I already knew where it was located.  I figured that it gave me a chance to practice my Korean and she'd have an awesome story to tell at the end of the day.  I felt like I was being led through a maze and when I inquired about it my ahjuma responded, "Bali Igeot," which I figured out (yay for me!) mean "this fast" or rather, a shortcut.

Well we finally made it to my location at which point I bowed respectfully and thanked her profusely for helping me.  And now here I am!  At Cafe Bene, one of my favourite coffee houses that has a warm interior, cute little wicker chairs, spacious booths with pillows, and they even have stuffed animals to cuddle with if you're drinking solo and are in need of a friend...

My Little Hiatus

Hello to all of my lovely readers!  I'm so sorry that I've fallen behind on my blogging duties!  This past month (December) flew by so fast that I barely even registered that I've been here for almost two months!!!  It's been a wonderfully busy yet draining month and I've had to deal with technological problems in Korea, not the easiest thing to do.

December was a great month.  I met some new acquaintances and one person that I feel confident in calling a friend.  I've been spending most of my spare time with this  new friend whom I shall call Clemintine and have been living life in a high speed manner that has left very little time to sit and share my stories with you.

My best friend once told me that I'm addicting to meeting people and I can now admit that this is one hundred percent true.  I go wild in social situations and fly from person to person like a social butterfly on crack.  My korean coworkers have discovered that it's impossible to keep track of me even in a small bar setting (stories of that to come later) but my pursuit of friendships has finally caught up to me.  My energy level  took a drastic dive after reaching its peak during my early December social binging.  And so, I've spent the past week or so acting like a grumpy walking zombie whose only desire is to sleep whenever the opportunity presents itself (I actually almost fell asleep in a taxi).

The technological factor is that my ancient computer is not only dying on the inside despite its many visits to the computer tech hospital, but it is starting to show signs of its old age and is losing keys at an alarming rate.  This makes typing rather difficult and I had to get really creative with trying to piece it back together.  I've finally given up and will soon dish out the money to buy a new mini notebook!  That being said, I'm baaaaaacccckk!

Please tell your friends about my blog!  Please make a follower's account!  And please send me questions and lots of comments!  I'm counting on you to keep me accountable for updating all of you folks about life in Korea!  I feel like time moves a little differently and that a week easily flashes by in a mere three days.   I'm afraid that if I don't write on a regular basis that you'll never hear about all of my adventures and that I'll forget about them!  So push me, prod me, and demand more of me!  Lots of love to all of my readers!