Back in Canada!

Hey folks! Haven’t posted in a LONG while because we’ve been super duper busy the past few weeks. Between packing up our stuff in Arkansas, driving to Canada, showing Ross’s parents around, and getting everything set up here, it’s been crazy. Here’s an update on everything that’s been going on:

• Got a car thanks to my aunt! It’s not a new car, but it’s new to us so it’s special. A beautiful ’99 Camry.
• I also got a full time job working at a child care centre north of Ajax in a place called Brooklin. My kids are soooo cute!
• Ross has a couple of potential job prospects, including a printing place and a design company downtown. Still waiting on news from both, but we have our fingers crossed.
• I’ve gotten to spend SO much time with Jaxon, its so amazing. Because I work in the toddler room next to his at the same daycare, I get to go out on the playground with him. I love watching him play!
• We’ve been having fun taking pictures and exploring Ajax even more, and even went Geo-caching today!

So, yeah. That’s what’s been going on. I will hopefully post more next weekend!

xo nicole

Aquatic Fountain Show in Busan

I thought I’d seen it all in Busan, especially in Nampo-dong. I had shopped, gone up Busan Tower, been to Lotte Department Store. I was WRONG. A couple of weeks before Ross and I left Korea, we went to Busan and Nampo-dong to look for a suitcase. We met up with our friend Adam in the Aqua Mall section of Lotte Dept Store, and lo and behold was the world’s largest indoor fountain display. We had to wait for about 10 minutes before it started, but it goes every hour during the day on the hour. It was  beautiful! Set to music, the water comes up from the ground and from above, 4 floors up. I was mesmerized the whole time! Ross took a video of the fountain, but apparently deleted it. I’m going to make him find it. But in the meantime, I have a couple of pictures – one with the info, and one of the fountain itself.

I don’t know what was cooler, the timing with the music, or the water falling from the ceiling. At one point, near the end, they manage to make the falling water spell out “Lotte” and “Welcome”. It’s crazy! It’s definitely worth checking out.

HOW TO GET THERE – From the visitkorea site -

Subway
Nampodong Station (Busan Subway Line1), Exit 10

Bus
Take Bus 135, 15, 41, 70, 88A, 88B, 1004, 1000, or 1003. Get off at ‘Busan Depateu.’
You will see the Lotte Gangbok store 200m straight ahead.

Take Bus 103, 17, 26, 520, 70, 8, 87, 9-1, 1004, 1000, or 1003.
Get off at ‘Nampodong.’
Lotte Gangbok is 200m straight ahead.
(Follow Gudeokro Street northwest)

Once you get to the department store, follow the map to the Aqua Mall.The fountain is on the main floor.

Lomography Loves Seoul!

I apologize for the lack of posts this month, as I have been getting packed and ready to move. But something caught my eye this morning that I just HAD to share. (It’s good that I got up early!)

I love Lomography. For those who don’t know, Lomography is a camera company that specializes in analogue, old-timey cameras and film. They have a multitude of cameras, including my favourites the Fish-eye, the Action Sampler (it takes 4 pictures on one frame!), the Diana Mini (you can take square shots, or half pictures), or the La Sardina, or the Lomo LC, the list really goes on and on. It’s a great alternative to digital – you get the excitement back about ‘Oh, my, I can’t remember what’s on this roll of film, I wonder how these pictures will turn out!’ Plus, the pictures come out with a unique, fun, retro look about them.

Some pictures I took in Korea with my Action Sampler. They look so cool!

I got an email from Lomography today about Lomography and Seoul. I knew that Lomography had a store in Hongdae, but I had no idea that they had been having a competition around the city! I wish I could have entered, I have SO many pictures taken with my Action Sampler that I could have used! But, even more exciting news, Lomography has introduced a new camera dedicated to the city of Seoul – the La Sardina Seoul! If you go to the Lomography home page right now, they have a huge picture of it, hangul spelling of Seoul and all! The La Sardina is a camera with lots of style – Lomography has been redesigning the La Sardina with lots of cool patterns, and now the Seoul camera is customizable! They give you 8 colourful patterns based on the colours of Seoul, and you get to pick which one you want to put on the camera. It’s awesome!

PHOTO OF THE LA SARDINA SEOUL FROM THE LOMOGRAPHY WEBSITE

Not only that, because of the release of the La Sardina Seoul, many Lomography Gallery stores around the world are focusing on Korea and Seoul right now, like this Seoul workshop in Amsterdam. It is neat to see everyone get excited about Korea and Seoul as much as I do.

I wish I would have more time to go to the Seoul Gallery store, but as soon as I get to Toronto I’m proudly purchasing my La Sardina Seoul for my Lomography collection. Then I’ll come back to Seoul and take pictures with it! It will be perfect.

(This is by no means a sponsored post about Lomography, but just a fan expressing her extreme interest in the camera and wanting to share it with the world.)

Expat Expectations in Korea

I came across this post on The Hedonista about living in Dubai and what expats can expect when they live there, I thought I’d give a two-year view of what expats can expect in Korea. I think I’ve been here long enough to offer a succinct opinion. If there’s anything I’ve missed or something you disagree with, add it in the comments.

What you’ll miss when you move to Korea:

• Your favourite food from home – Everyone has one or two foods they miss terribly from home, because it’s just not available in Korea. There are ways of obtaining these foods (sometimes you can order them online, sometimes they can be found in the foreigner food market in Seoul, sometimes someone from home mails it to you) but for the most part, there are things you have to just do without. For me, these are ketchup potato chips, Fuzzy Peaches candy (and Twizzlers! And Reese’s cups!), Swiss Chalet chicken, and canned salmon. And even if you can find many things in Korea that you would get at home, a lot of the time you’re going to have to hunt for it. For example, my favourite tea is orange pekoe. Last year my mom sent me a tin full of Tetley tea bags, which was amazing. It was because I couldn’t find orange pekoe anywhere. This year, I decided to let her save the money on shipping and just find some black tea. Tastes almost the same, right? So I’ve gone almost an entire year drinking black tea, which has been okay. FINALLY, however, I was looking in the new E-Mart at the Daejeon bus terminal, and found Twinnings Ceylon Orange Pekoe tea in the International food section. I could almost swear I heard angels sing. Sometimes it just takes a while before you find the food you’re looking for.
• A proper bath tub – While there are benefits to a Korean bathroom (easy cleaning is one that comes to mind), girls especially will miss having an actual bathtub. Korean bathrooms and showers are just that – a shower head attached to the sink in your bathroom. No shower curtain or door, just the shower head. EVERYTHING gets wet, so be sure to leave your towel outside the bathroom. The only hope of actually getting a bath is by heading to the jjimjilbang (public bathhouse).
• Clothes shopping – Unless you’re a size 2, 5’4″ and under, with no bum and no hips to speak of, finding clothing in Korea is going to be hard as anything. Yes, there are a few random stores that will have clothing for a bigger person (I’ve been able to find shirts I like in the mens dept of Home Plus, and on trips to Seoul to Myeongdong and Itaewon), but the majority of the expats living in Korea are going to be stuck with the wardrobe that they brought with them in the first place. This goes for shoes too – a girl can only dream of walking into a regular shoe store and finding sizes bigger then a US 7.
• English TV – There are a few channels that have English shows on them, but if you don’t like CSI/NCIS or the Transformers movie, you might be out of luck. It is getting better (I’ve seen new shows like Suits, and Modern Family, and they even showed The X Factor, albeit a few weeks late), but for a TVholic like me, I miss being able to flip through channels mindlessly and be able to understand everything that’s being said on every channel. Oh, and I have never been able to find a regular TV schedule, so your guess is as good as mine as to when the TV shows you want to watch will be on.
• A clothes dryer – Every once in a while a kind-hearted boss will purchase a washing machine/dryer combo (same machine, just different cycles) for their foreign employee, but this is very rare. Most Korean households, and subsequently waygookin apartments, will only have a washing machine. (Most of the time, it’ll be in your bathroom.) You’ll have to hang your clothes to dry. Be prepared to plan out your outfit days in advance in the spring and summer (and fall too) because it will take your clothes a couple of days to dry. (The winter isn’t so bad, with the ondol heating your clothes should dry overnight.) What I wouldn’t give to be able to wash my clothes and take them out of a warm dryer 2 hours later.

What you WON’T miss when you move to Korea:

• Slow internet – Korean internet is the fastest in the world. No other country beats it. Simple as that. And the beauty of it all – it’s cheap and unlimited. You’ll never get a call from your internet provider saying you’ve gone over your bandwidth limit (I had that done to me COUNTLESS times in Canada). Downloading stuff from home gets done in a few minutes instead of a few days. It’s amazing.
• Vices – Depending on your vice, you’ll find it here. Cheap. Cigarettes cost 2,500 won a pack (approx $2 USD), alcohol is cheap (especially if you develop a taste for soju), and there are girls a-plenty (from what I understand – something about double barber poles).
• Exercise options – There are gyms all across the country, ready and waiting for waygookin to join. There is at least one in every neighbourhood. If you can’t find one, ask a Korean friend to help you. They can look it up on Naver. There are also yoga studios, taekwondo/hapkido schools, and more mountains to climb then I can count. If you want to stay fit while you’re in Korea, it can be done.
• Sweet things – I’m talking candy, pop, chips – all the treats you can wish for. You might have to settle for the Korean alternative (I was addicted to shrimp flavoured chips last year for a while, to help with the ketchup chip cravings), but if you have a sweet tooth, you won’t starve. Things to try – hoddeok, the sweet pancake you’ll find at the street vendors, and the multitude of donuts found at Dunkin’ Donuts. There are some interesting kinds!

There are so many more things to add to this list, I’ll edit it when I think about it… but for now, if you think of anything, add it to the comments!

xo nicole

Korea tip #14 – Learn to Read Korean!

This seems kind of self explanatory, but in my opinion, surviving in Korea is extremely hard if you don’t know how to read Korean (the written language is called Hangul). There are many people who will tell you this fact, I am just reiterating the point.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying ‘Learn Korean’. There’s a HUGE difference between learning how to read Hangul and learning the entire Korean language. I’ve been in Korea for two years and still can’t speak in a full sentence. I can direct a taxi, and order food, but those are just phrases I’ve picked up over time. (Mind you, I’ve never actually made a real effort to learn how to create sentences, so don’t think that I’ve tried and failed. I just haven’t really tried.) Reading, however, has saved my waygookin butt a few times. Many times, if you’re reading environmental print (bus stops, store signs, menus, etc) the words that are written are actually English words, just written in Hangul. If I didn’t know how to read, I would have just figured that they were Korean words and not understood them at all.

Learning how to read Korean is actually fairly simple because Hangul is phonetic. There are a few weird rules here and there, but for the most part when you see a symbol like ᄇ or ᄒ, they’re going to have the same sound no matter where they are in the word. There are only 24 consonant and vowel symbols in Hangul, and once you can recognize them and figure out how to read syllables, it becomes a breeze from there.

If you’re going to live in Korea (or visit for any decent length of time), make the effort to at least learn how to read the language. It will help you in the long run, I promise.

Here are some websites that will help you on your way:

Learn Korean.net – A free site with the first few lessons being on how to read.

A great flash exercise to help you to pair the symbols with the English sounds.

KoreanClass 101 youtube video – Great to hear the sounds if you’re an auditory learner.

재미봐! (Have fun!)

xo nicole

2012 – The Year of The Dragon

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012, the year of the Dragon. (I know that traditionally they switch in the Lunar New Year, but oh well.) In the Chinese Zodiac, the Dragon is strong, self-assured, proud and passionate. I hope that this year will bring those same characteristics to me, as I try to embark on a year that will challenge me and push me to my limits. 2012 will turn out to be a very interesting year, I am sure of this.

Speaking of 2012, I have been picked as a Worldwide Korea Blogger for 2012 by www.korea.net – the official website of South Korea! It is run by KOCIS – the Korean Culture and Information Service. You can read the official blog by going to blog.korea.net. I am so very proud to be a part of this exciting group of people who are passionate about Korea and love to write about it.

As a WKB, I hope to contribute tips on visiting and living in Korea, as well as share my personal experiences so that I can help educate people who want to know about Korea. Even though I am leaving Korea in 2 months, that doesn’t mean I can’t write about it after I’ve gone! My goal is to write a post a week about Korea, with Korea tips (K-tips) spread out along the way. Living here for two years has helped me to understand the culture and the Korean way of life. Some expats living in Korea will say “Hey, 2 years isn’t that long, I’ve lived here for 5/10/15 years! That’s long!” Yes, that’s long. I believe, though, that 2 years is plenty long enough to get a good grasp on the people and the culture of a country.

Anyways, all I wanted to do was make that big announcement, and wish everyone a very Happy New Year. May the Dragon help you to be as self-assured and passionate as I hope to be.

xo nicole

Korea Tip #12 – Daiso!

Haven’t done one of these in a while… guess now is as good a time as any to start again!

When you first arrive in Korea as a newbie teacher, many times your apartment will be sparse and have only the bare necessities. (Unless you were fortunate enough to have a teacher living before you who didn’t sell all their stuff off and/or kept a full supply of living requirements.) I’ve heard of new teachers arriving and there only being one place setting in the whole apartment – one plate, one cup, one fork, one knife, etc. This is a sad situation, and one that a newbie teacher should not have to endure, especially if they’re feeling homesick.

One of the downfalls about being a new teacher is that most of the time you arrive in Korea with a less then stellar bank account. This poses a problem if you want to set up your kitchen or make your house livable. Some people will head to the department stores, or even Home Plus or E-Mart in order to furnish their kitchen. Here’s a secret – head to Daiso.

Daiso is the Korean equivalent to the dollar store. They have so many household goods – everything you need for the kitchen, the laundry, cleaning, they even have pots for plants. Beauty stuff, school stuff, random little things that no one really needs but they buy anyways… it’s all at Daiso.

You can find a Daiso by walking around your neighbourhood. The sign is red and white, with dots.

 

 

 

The Daiso in our neighbourhood.

 

 

If you can’t find one in your neighbourhood, check your grocery store. Lotte Mart has their own Daiso section, and Home Plus and E-Mart both have dollar store-type sections to them. A first time teacher should not get sucked into buying 10,000 won plates and kitchen utensils.

A long overdue post

I always have the intention every weekend to write about something new and cool that we’ve been doing. Something interesting, something awesome. And while Korea is a great place, we’ve hit a rut. I think mainly because we’re saving so much money and not doing anything, there’s nothing really to write about. We do the same things all the time – hang out with Alice, go eat food, and do a lot of prep work for school.

Ross and I have been kicking around an idea to write a book, however, about teaching and living in Korea. I’ve also tried to start a new blog ‘Tips for Waygooks’ – I just can’t remember the tips I think of when it comes time to actually write. I need to start carrying around a notebook so I can remember what to write.

I will tell you that we only have 85 days left in our contract here in Masan. The time has flown by, and I’m glad to be going home. It will be the second time that we’ve left this beautiful country, and while I’m excited about going home, I know I will feel a deep longing for this place. People keep asking me if we’re coming back, and I say no, but in all honesty I can see us doing another year or two here. I just need to spend time with my family, specifically my grandparents and my nephew. I miss everyone at home dearly, but I miss them the most.

So, on this note, I PROMISE I will write about something cool this week, seeing as how I won’t have extra school work to do. Maybe I’ll write about our awesome Christmas tree, or about our random afternoon in Busan. I’ll figure something out. In the meantime, I’m going to go read Harry Potter and go to bed. Yes, I know it’s a Saturday night, but it’s getting so cold outside….

xoxo nicole

My apologies.

Hey people. Lately I’ve been SO busy, I haven’t had enough time to write. It seems as though that’s the story of my life in Korea – super busy on the weekends, during the week I’m too tired to do anything. We seriously haven’t had a free weekend to do nothing since JUNE. And it’s almost the end of August. So, sit back and relax, and soon enough I’ll have lots of blog posts. I’ll be writing about Namhae Island and my Adventure Korea trip, Ross’s art show in Daejeon, and commenting on our 6 month anniversary in Masan. And I’ll also be writing about our Cheusok adventures in Seoul, after they’ve happened. (That’s in Sept.)

I’m sorry that I haven’t been keeping up with things, but once my life dies down, I’ll be sure to report in on whats been going on. Hey, at least my life is busy and exciting, right?

xo nicole

3 weeks in – has it already been this long?

I know that 3 weeks doesn’t sound like a long time for people, but when you think about it, that’s almost a month. And then we only have 11 more to go. Sometimes it feels like we’ve only been here a couple days, really. Then sometimes it feels like we’ve been here AGES. But just as an update – everything is going well – the school took some getting used to, it’s so different from our last one. I’m taking it all in stride though. My expectations are different, and I’ve had to adjust my outlook on things. But really, you have to do that with any new job, right?

We’ve met a few people here in Masan who have been wonderful to us. We’re really excited to get to know them – we might even go out to the bar tonight to hang out. It all depends on how tired we are though. And we should probably save money. But we really don’t need to go there to drink, it’s just to socialize.

This weekend we’re headed back to up to Daejeon for a Man Wons performance at Yellow Taxi – can’t wait to see everyone together in one place! It’s gonna be crazy! We’re also bringing along Laura, the girl we met at the consulate, and two of her friends from Busan. It’ll be nice to play tour guide!

On a sad note, Ross’s uncle TJ passed away at 5:00am on the 15th. We expected this coming, but it’s still very, very sad nonetheless. I wanted Ross to go home for the funeral – we even booked a flight – but the funeral will be Thursday and Ross can’t get there in time. So maybe this weekend we’ll head to the mountain in Daejeon or something and have a little memorial service for him.

I got my camera working finally, so hopefully soon I’ll have some pictures for you. But right now I should be getting ready for work! If I don’t have time to blog on the weekend, I’ll blog next Wednesday morning. It’s a time where I can be alone with my thoughts, and I have about 45 minutes to write.

Until then, peace love and kimchi!

xo nicole