Anjuli and Ian in Korea

Another weekend...

2006-09-24T06:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we just had another beautiful weekend. Friday night, Ian went to play basketball while I went out in the same neighborhood to see the 'best DJ in the world.' She is from Thailand and was pretty cute, but that kind of music is really hard to handle if you ask me. It was also exceptionally loud. The night ended with some fried chicken at 4am, oh the magic.
Saturday, we had to teach in the afternoon. After that we went to Haeundae with Jeremy and ate some deliciousness at Outback. We then decided to enjoy some fun and games, which included extremely ghetto bumper cars which nearly topple over and are very entertaining as well as some bowling at the Grand Hotel. Good times! We concluded the evening with beer on the beach and we were joined by a herd of 14 year old Korean boys who were at the beach to celebrate a birthday. They were quite drunk and very 14, in that the birthday boy got some beats. I mean BEATS. They were wailing on him and he was loving it, it was very strange and quite disturbing to say the least. They were really kicking him hard and he was smiling away, so odd. Then they tossed him into the ocean fully dressed, which is much more my idea of a good time. After about three of them got completely soaked they decided to remove their shirts, smoke cigarettes and pose for pictures together, flexing all the while.
Ian, being Ian, said "Are you gay?" more to us than to them. Instead of being met with the typical Western teenage response of rage, we were told "No, we are friends." very earnestly and honestly; to which we replied, "Ohhhh." It was hilarious and very silly.
Today, we went to Haeundae again and Ian played volleyball while I suntanned and swam. So nice. Hope you are all doing well, and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Seoul

2006-09-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

Its Sunday night, and I just got back from Seoul! It was a great trip. I have no voice right now, but that is the price you pay for a fun weekend. I arrived at around noon yesterday and Laura, our coworker from our first hogwon (english school in Korea) met me at the train station. We went to Gangnam, where I had an eye doctor appointment, for 3 months after my laser eye surgery. It turns out, I still have dry eyes, so nothing new there.
We had some really good pizza for lunch and then we began the hunt for a love motel. In Korea, a cheap hotel generally consists of a love motel. I have never had any trouble getting one before, but in Seoul, they do not seem to want to rent the hotel by the night, they would much prefer to rent the rooms by the hour. So we went from one area of Seoul to another trying to find a cheap and clean motel that would rent me a room. As I said, this was the first time I have ever run into difficulty with this! Perhaps this was due to the fact that I didn't head straight to Iteawon, which is a very foreigner friendly area in Seoul where there are a ton of non Korean restaurants and clothing that fits foreign bodies, and tons of cheap motels. Instead, Laura thought we should try in university areas, but they were not willing to take someone for the whole night. So ridiculous! Eventually, we found one sort of near her house which turned out to be fine.
After dumping by backpack, we headed out to Insadong, which is an amazing tourist area. It consists of tons of galleries and amazing souvenir stores (very few tacky ones) along with plenty of stores selling all sorts of goodies that are very unique and interesting. There was an outdoor mall which made me feel like I was in a funky part of Fukuoka. It was so great and I was surprised to see it in Korea!
Aftwards we headed to Iteawon where we checked out a Jazz bar and then met Ed, his sister visiting from the states, and Ed's girlfriend for a drink. It was bizarre being in a bar like that again in Korea. It was full of American G.I.'s and I'd already forgotten what thats like. There is no longer any American army bases anywhere in Korea except Seoul, and supposedly this will also soon become obselete. Last time we were in Korea, every time we would go to a foreigner bar here in Busan there was always a G.I. presence. I don't mean that in a negative or a positive way, it was just fact. Now there is none, and I noticed it immediately. They were part of my Korean experience and now they are gone. So, seeing so many G.I.'s at the bar in Seoul brought back all those memories and I found myself gawking at the women and men who put so much effort into their outfit for the evening to merely go to a pub in Iteawon. It was fun.
But my tonsilitis could only take so much of the smokiness, so we left early. I returned to my love motel (and was literally dropped off there by Laura, my dream) and as I tried to go to sleep, I realized how paper thin the walls were and how it being Saturday night, it was going to be a noisy one. Fortunately, I slept for poorly the night before that it wasn't long before I was fast asleep.
This morning, I got up and met Laura at the nearby subway station. Off we went to a palace in Northern Seoul. We didn't enter it, instead, we walked the perimeter. We passed by the president's 'area.' I say area instead of home because where he actually is is a secret. We were not allowed to cross the street for much of this walk. If you wanted to see his 'home' then you needed to sign up for a tour in advance on the internet. We told one of the hundreds of police men working this sentence in English, because he told us that he had such a hard time telling this to foreigners in English. Anyway, the palace was beautiful and we had a lovely walk. Afterwards, we headed to this amazingly huge bookstore with an enormouse English book section (for Korea, I was very impressed). We then meandered by a man-made river in the middle of the business district, which was beautiful and really fun.
I had a great trip and thank Laura for her endless hospitality and great tour guiding.

Now, I am back in Busan and we are off to Outback for an expensive dinner to celebrate our first full paycheck. Have a good Sunday!

September 7, 2006

2006-09-06T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,
So instead of emailing you all the happenings, I figured I would do a 'blog' and join in with all the cool kids. Supposedly, you can add photos and all sorts of fun. The reason I have the time to do this is because I am home sick. Yes, its true, I do have tonsilitis and it was so bad yesterday, that I had to come home halfway through my day. I went to the doctor and she told me I have viral tonsilitis and if I'm not better in a week then there is something wrong with my blood, so let's hope I get better soon.
I believe our air conditioning just began working again - thank goodness, its another hot one!
This weekend, I am going to Seoul. I know what you are thinking, 'You're sick!', I know, I know. But I have to go to see an eye doctor to reassure me that three months after laser eye surgery I'm still doing okay.
Ian and my friend, Laura lives in Seoul so I'm excited to see her. Hopefully, I am feeling a lot better by Saturday morning. Let me know what you think of our blog!
Miss you all!

September 3, 2006

2006-09-06T23:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
How is everyone doing? I spent friday night on a beach having a bonfire til 3am, at 7am supposedly there were still at least 50 people there - all foreigners too! Crazy. Its like we all automatically revert to 18 years old upon entering this country! Saturday, I went couch shopping! The school gave us a shitty little two seater, but Ian being over 6 feet and then gynormous me, we wanted more. So, I went to a neighborhood that is all furniture stores and sat on dozens of couches. Mostly pleather as the leather here is scarce (lack of cows), and hard as rocks. I finally found a really nice (by CAnadian standards even!) and bargained my brains out and got it! Its fantastic and huge and we love it. I then realized that this is the first couch I have ever bought! I am soo grown up. Its funny because its something I've never percieved myself as being rich enough to buy back home... not here though! So that was good. Last night we went to a bar where a band consisting of people we know was playing. It was fun and very smoky, which is gross, but alas, that is life here. Today, we spent the afternoon at the beach which was fantastic as all Koreans have vacated the area due to it being September aka fall aka NOT beach season. Its great, not busy and so much cleaner. So that was the weekend! I hope you are having a good long weekend .Have a great day off Monday,
Anjuli

August 23, 2006

2006-09-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

A quick note about my evening. Sometimes when these funny things happen I have to make an effort to be sure to tell ya'll about it before I forget. I was just at pilates. It was a good class, I'm tired and sweaty and content with this result. In the actual subway station, before going down to the platform, there are a couple of stores. I popped into a quasi makeup store, which sells shampoo, and all other bathroom products which mainly interest women. I went in for nail polish remover, so after finding some, I asked the girl who was on my heels (they love doing that here, literally following you with every step, on your back no matter where you go. I don't think its because they think I'll steal, I think they are told to be there at all times for the customer to this extent. It drives me mad, regardless.) Anyway, I asked her how much it was and was told 2,000 won ($2) so I agree to this price and move towards the cash register, area to pay.
Standing in front of the counter with here (she refuses to move behind it) I all of a sudden feel a hand on my rear. I glance down and see her hand on the upper right side of my right cheek, I immediately glance up to her face and see her grinning at me. What this means, I have no idea. She sort of touches the fabric and I assume maybe she thinks my exercise pants are nice. She then proceeds to gently pat and rub the upper right section of this cheek, smiling all the while.
What does one do in this situation? The last time I was molested by a woman was at my old gym in Jaesong-dong, Busan in 2003. Its been a while. I was at a loss for my next move, so I smiled politely and she removed her hand. I proceeded to pay another woman and none of the seven women working there seemed to think anything strange had happened. I thanked them for the molestation and ran out, all the while thinking I have to tell you all this.
So that was my day! I hope you all have a great wednesday, and please know I am thinking of all of you.
Take care,

Anjuli

August 17, 2006

2006-09-06T23:55:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
Ian and I are doing great. The weather is still ridiculously lovely. Its hot, but I'll take it!
As it turns out, our building is not inhabited by 'geishas' as my optimistic heart wished for, instead they are very well paid prostitutes, if you can believe it. Its really quite crazy, when you think about it. But fortunately, they don't receive the 'johns' here - thank God! Their business is done outside of this building, so its really not so bad.
Since my last email, I have befriended a few lovely women and am much happier as a result. Joan, who replaced me at Join English in 2004 when we got the boot, is still here and introduced me to some great girls. We also met a really nice couple who live one block away from us, so that's good.
Also, I have started pilates! I found a couple of places in the same university neighborhood where Ian plays basketball. I had a Korean co-worker call them for me to find out times and prices. I chose the cheaper off the two with more time flexibility. I go to this great place where they combine yoga and pilates together. I was initially very dismayed about this, but now find it great. It can be a really tough workout and I really enjoy it. I have to be in the front row at all times though since I can't understand a word said, so I have to watch what the teacher is doing at all times. Its okay. The teachers don't speak english, but they do come around and correct all of us. I have been thinking of you, Emma! Why didn't I go to your classes?! Oh well.
All in all, I am happy with this pilates school. I paid for 3 months, where I go three times a week, which is perfect. So, I'm dedicated to going Monday, Wednesday, Friday right now until we change into the 'normal' fall schedule.
Teaching is going well. The classes are all fine. I enjoy most of them. The day continues to be a long one, but its okay. We did get paid for July on the 10th, so so far, so good. Unfortunately, the Korean teachers don't really think so and a couple of them are leaving our school soon, which doesn't look good. Oh well. Hopefully, we'll find some great replacements. Doubtful, but you have got to be positive!
We start fall semester Friday, September 1st, so the Monday and Tuesday of that week we have more holidays! The Wednesday, Thursday we have 'workshops' which means nothing. Oh well. As long as we get paid. We also both now have full health coverage and bank accounts. Woohooo.
As for Korea, it continues to impress, surprise, startle and humour me. I witnessed a very hard rear ending this morning. Every time I ride the subway, I witness flirting, and touching, and grazing between 'straight' males that I would never do a girlfriend, much less a boyfriend. Oh Korea.
The Koreans are generally lovely and friendly. We had a crazy old lady crank caller the other day who just KEPT calling, and drove us mad. Let's hope we've heard the end of her.
I miss everyone very much. I hope all is well. Please forgive me for not responding sooner to individual emails, I will one day! Otherwise, in the meantime, this will have to do!
Take care and I wish you a lovely weekend!

August 8, 2006

2006-09-06T23:52:00.000-07:00

The weather is bloody hot still, but supposedly should cool off soonish as typhoon season is beginning - woohoo. Summer hours at school are very long and by 4pm we are very much over it (our day ends at 5:30). Ian went to the doctor yesterday and got some drugs which drug him up real good. He has had a cold or something for over a week and whatever the doctor gave him has been helping a lot. It also has been a source of entertainment for us at work as he is very whoozy and quite funny.
I am off to a pilates class on wednesday! I managed to find two options of where to go in the neighborhood where Ian plays basketball. So hopefully it'll be fun and I will happily sign up. We'll see. It was not easy to find this!
Ian is off to Seoul this weekend to watch some basketball games; the US and tons of other countries are having exhibition games before the world championship and so Ian and some friends he plays basketball with are all going up. The should have a good time.
I have been told/asked by our boss to join the Korean staff and 20 kids on a rafting expedition this saturday. It would be fun, but its 2.5 hours away, and we raft for 3 hours. All in all, I'll be 'working' for longer than 9-5 on a saturday! She offered to pay a measly $68 in overtime or some crap, but I feel I should get at least a hundred! Anyway, we'll see. I'll let you know.
We discovered a beautiful park that has a small waterfall and a river and a temple in it a walking distance from home! Its pretty nice, our neighborhood is so great, we are very lucky.