Lost in Korea

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Vancouver: The trip before the journey

Said my good-byes to Mom and Dad (and Lily the dog too). Packed all things needed for a year in Korea (I hope). Then it was off to Vancouver to say good-bye to my sisters and friends. But first.... lets get this pesky chipped tooth fixed.

Now, I don't mind the dentist at all. My dentist in Vancouver even brings his dog in to work with him and he helps comfort everybody. (Besides being his cute doggy self) Unfortunately he was getting a walk on the beach when I went in. Lets get to the teeth. Some people may find drill like sounds and grinding frightening. Now picture a dentist just starting up a tool at the same moment as 'O Fortuna' from Carmina Burana begins to play on the radio. I enjoy that song, so it made the procedure go smoothly, but I kept picturing a moment like this in a movie. A crazy dentist drilling into someones teeth while he/she has a theme song playing in the background accentuating their madness and the pain they wish to inflict on someone. Note: My dentist is NOT crazy, and was very gentle with me 😊 Now I have perfect teeth. Thanks Dr. Bethel.

After many meetings with friends and my sisters, I was off to the airport for my final destination. Everything was going just fine until I got to the check in counter. After a failed printer in the morning I was unable to print the itinerary for my e-ticket. One call to the airline, and them telling me it was fine as long as I brought in the numbers. Check. One problem. They wanted the print out once I got there. I never thought much of it, but they sure gave me the third degree. Finally they found my seat. PROBLEM. I only had a one way ticket, and no Visa. Thus, they needed to see an onward ticket. No problem. My school sent me the itinerary for just that. PROBLEM. The airline couldn't find my reservation anywhere, but I don't think they knew what to look for because I had the ticket. I then had to wait way too long, and buy an actual ticket out of Korea. Luckily they said I can refund it once I clear immigration. I sure hope they are right. (They were)

The plane ride was normal. As normal as an 11 hour plane trip could be. I sat next to a very helpful Korean woman now living in Vancouver. She helped me with my Korean lunch. (Bin bin bap) She was just like a mother the way she scooped out all my rice and then told me how to eat and mix the spicy paste and oil with the rice and veggies. There was an inflight Korean movie with an American-Korean leading man (who only spoke in English) and his Korean female costar (who only spoke in Korean... mostly) She reminded me of an Asian Amelie. It was a cute/sappy romantic comedy set in the Korean buisness world. Can't remember the name.

Arrival: Surprisingly no culture shock here. Thanks India 😊 Cleared customs in no time, switched money, ate a sandwich, and got shocked repeatedly by all the metalic objects in the Incheon airport. (I'm electric!) An hour long shuttle bus (luxury cruiser) and I was in Seoul. Not for long. After seeing many nice buildings my pick-up for my school stuffed me into a taxi and told me I am off on a 1.5 - 2 hour ride. (I'm exhausted at this point, and already fell asleep in the bus) My taxi picked up Rebecca (one of my trainers) and 2 hours later we were in the middle of nowhere. (I still have no idea the name of the nearest village) The training is taking place in a mountain resort, a 15 minute drive to the nearest town (Goesan). They supply everything here, so thats cool. Even if we are held up in here like a bunch of recovering addicts. The only thing keeping me sane is the other teachers. They are a hoot. Holly (from Halifax) is one of the funniest. She reminds me of an East Coast version of my friend from Vancouver, Melissa. Then theres Wayne from Perth, Oz. (Fabulous dresser) As I write this Holly nearly peed herself during a laughing fit with Wayne. The rest of the gang includes Tom (Iowa), May (Maryland), Jen (Ireland.... top o the morning to her), Kim (Chicago ... vegetarian in one of the worst vegetarian countries), and Hoang (Habs fan from the T.O.). The midwest US is well represented, as there are a few more in the other training group here from the US, and a couple girls from Ireland. Our trainers are Jae (Korean-American) and Rebecca (Chicago). We are all held up in here until the 17th.

Departure: All exams and evaluations finished, everyone cleaned out the alcohol fridge in the mini store here. Result... one drunken evening off Soju and Hite beer. (After a couple previous evenings of Soju and beer) The night started off early with a "power hour" of drinks. A bon fire soon followed, and my clothes smelled like camping the next morning. One highlight was the many readings of Holly's "Book of Judgement". (Especially the uncensored versions) All in all it was a fun night. Que the departure for Seoul.

Seoul: The only information given to me and most others was that we were going to Seoul, then being transfered immedietly to our locations. After signing our contracts however I was informed that I'd be spending 3 nights in Seoul. They gave me a hotel room. And what a hotel!! First of all, it was a "Love" hotel. One that charges by the hour (occasionally), and has an underground parkade which hides the cars from street view and they cover up license plates. Many "John's" take their ladies, or business men take their mistresses, etc. Now, many people may think that this would be a sleezy place from my description. Not so. It was a very classy place. I had a room all to myslef. (First time since landing in Korea..... no more bunk beds) Also, in the room was all sorts of "goodies" to clean oneself after a night with a lady of the night. Mood lighting. Robes that wouldn't come past my waist. Lotions. Condoms. Television, complete with Korean Spice channel. (Korean porn is very tame compared to N. American) There were other channels too. (One played a 24 hour marathon of Prison Break) The only downside to staying in Seoul was that it was over the Lunar New Year long weekend, which is a (if not the) major holiday in Korea. So I now know what a city of 10+ million looks like as a ghost town. Hardly anything was open. All the good restaurants were closed. Most shops too. One thing we did get to do was check out Itaewan, the "American" district. We went out the night we arrived. I don't know how to describe the place, but the fact that a guy got a bottle smashed over his head and started a brawl just as we arrived to our bar, which was a short walk up "hooker hill". I found out how it worked when I stumbled out of the bar to get some street meat just before going home and all these ladies kept popping their heads out of small doorways and propositioning me. I got a nice chuckle out of that. I also don't know how best to describe Polly's Kettle House. The bar. Cheap alcohol, and lots of military men, Africans and Egyptians trying to pick up drunk girls. Lets just say everbody needed a day to recover after staying out past 4 or 5.... I can't remember the time. It was late. The rest of the time was spent wandering the empty streets of Seoul looking for food and open shops. Found many Starbucks, a few Aveda Salons, and Kim even found Chicago style deep dish pizza at the COEX mall.

Daegu: Finally! I got up too early to catch my train, and realized that I was slowly running out of money. I also noticed a few "subtle" differences about trains in India to here in Korea. Mainly the cleanliness. The terminal was also similar to that of an airport, and easy to navigate and plenty of helpful signs. The most noticable difference was the fact that only one person came and begged for money. Even that was after he did everyone else. As opposed to India, where 100 people would hit me up for dough. This man was even nicely kept. Actually, come to think of it, I get hit up more and by dirtier bums in Vancouver. Anyways, I finally got settled in and realized just how spoiled I was all other days in Korea. My first night in my apartment (which was very empty) was an adventure. everything I took for granted hit me hard. Namely, that I now had nothing. Nothing to prepare food with. No food to prepare. No understanding of how to read a menu in Korean (or someone to help me translate) and no clue about my area! And on top of that, I had to get up at 4:30 the next morning to catch a train to Busan to then catch a ferry to Fukuoka, Japan for a Visa run. Lets just say I slept well on the train and ferry. Which Anne and Ruth from training were on too. We met up with Kim, who was on the next ferry and had a jolly old time in Japan. Made even easier by the fact that my new coworkers Matt and Rob were with me, and spoke fluent Japanese.

Anyways, I made it back to Daegu. I saw Holly from training last night downtown and she showed me all the good places. She even showed me a bar that serves amaretto. Now I'm hooked again. I am also settling in more and more. I start work for real on monday. Wish me luck!!

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Photos

View from just outside my moms house
This is a winter shot of the Alberta prairie. Notice the Rocky mountains and Chinook arch in the background.

My dog Lily
This is my dog just chilling out and being very upset at me because she knows I am about to leave her.

Lily
I think shes mad because I A) just woke her up for this photo, or B) am leaving for Korea. (Or both)

Training location
Somewhere in central Korea. I still have no idea where we were to this day.

Training area
The little mound is a grave.

Training area
Grave

Training area
Korean puppies

Training area
Wayne and Jen walkin the bridge

Cafeteria
Korean BBQ

Cafeteria
Korean BBQ

May (from Maryland)
May studying ever so hard. She was the best of our 'loser' class. ALL THE WAY MAY!

Memory english class
Wayne, Jen, myself and Holly study ever so hard for Rebecca's class.

Memory english class
Holly shows Hoang that she can look goofy in any picture that he looks cool in.

St. Valentines Day drunken masacre
Rebecca glares as Holly shows us all how classy she can be with an embarassing storey from her past. We were all playing a drinking game that invloved us telling the others something about ourselves.

St. Valentines Day drunken masacre
Kim and Hoang. He was the first one drunk this evening. Drank that Soju like it was water.

Comments

[Gillian]

So where are you now??
Hey Bro! Just thought I'd check in to see how things are going. Started Canada Post this week and got to walk from Georgia Street all the way to Waterfront station 100m below the city, pretty cool, eh!!! You pics are great and it is good to see you standing above the group, helps us to figure out which one you are..... luv ya... G

[Diana]

Nice!
I think I admire your life occupation and election of free time activities. After being here in Chile, I´ve decided on a life that highly resembles yours... teaching and traveling. Im excited to see your blog because you´re a good example of what I want to do. Looks like you´re making the best of it!!

[Waderlusting]

From one teacher to another
Hey I just stumbled upon your blog.. I'm sort of like the reverse version of you, where I taught in Korea and am now traveling. I will be back to Korea in the fall to teach again so maybe I'll see you then! Good luck in your teaching, and I must say, what a bummer that you're not in Seoul! I've never been to Daegu but I think it's pretty tame and country compared to Seoul. Have fun and watch out for the soju.. it creeps up on you!