The Rubber Apple

I think today was the first time in my thirteen months of teaching that I truly felt like one of the teachers I remember from my days as an elementary/junior high student. I was running around making copies, marking/making tests, "helping" confused students in my spare moments between classes, and all around had no time for myself at all. I felt for the first time like one of those ultra-kinetic, frazzled, and always-a-little-behind teachers I'm sure everyone has had. To top it all off, I had a student leave an apple on my desk for me, which I liked so much I've decided to share with you all. Granted, it's actually a balloon made to look like an apple, but it still highlighted a rather stereo-typically teacher-like day. The day has left me very tired and needing to relax, further reinforcing that teaching is not the job for me, at least not right now. Perhaps at another point in my life, in another part of the world, teaching a different subject to a different age group. We'll see.

Hurray for Canada!

We've done something good. Somehow, our corrupt and inept government, despite its bumbling and swindling, has managed to do something great. Equality for all, not just the religious few. Good job.

A cool wet sack

Actually, not so cool at all.

In fact, today I feel like a pair of pants that was pulled out of the dryer too soon. Kinda warm and uncomfortably damp. I'm not really complaining, though. The torrential rain today has been pretty nice after last week's overwhelming sun and humidity. Things are certainly better off with only one of the two.

Guy

Links for all!

I've decided that it is time to put the word out about some of my favourite blogs and other links. Most of these are also listed in my side-bar (look to the left), so they can be checked out from there at any time. Anyway, on to the show!

My Friends:

The Fabulous Laurms
This is Laura's blog. While it is infrequently updated, it does have a different perspective on life here and has some great pictures to highlight it (something my blog is sorely lacking). Laura rocks, so go look. Also look at her deviantART gallery. Coming soon is Laura's online art portfolio, which is currently a work in progress but is Laura's top project and likely will be ready within a few weeks.

Bogdan the Magnificent
Jon, aka Bogdan, is Laura's brother. He updates his blog rather regularly. He's usually got something to say every day, either about his own life or the outside world. Jon is an opinionated smart ass. Jon lives in Saskatchewan (at least for the time being). Jon does NOT have a kangaroo.

Tropical Pants
This is Dan. He only has one entry, but it is sheer brilliance. The slideshow is the most profound event you will ever experience. Prepare to be deeply moved.

Debb's deviantART Gallery
Debb's photography and other arty goodness. Also a blog of sorts, what with the journal and all. She has some great stuff up there and, though cryptic at times, keeps you updated on her goings-on.

Bryan's deviantART Gallery
Bryan is one of my heros. He probably doesn't know it, but he is. He mostly uses this as a persoanl blog now and really does an excellent job of keeping us all updated on his life. He also has some great photography and digital art here, though only sporadically posts anything (like I can talk, though...).

Andy and James vs. the Marathon
This is Andy and his brother James discussing their various preparations for a marathon they will be running in Monte Carlo. So far, so good, despite some well-documented setbacks.

Dave and Gunhye
This is the blog of my friend Dave and his wife, Gunhye. Dave had lived in Korea for about four years and just recently has headed back home to Canada. He hasn't updated in a little while, but his last entry has some pretty sweet pictures from a recent trip to China.

Mike
I have been friends with Mike for a looooong time. He is full of opinions and ideas and never shies away from expressing them. He is extremely prolific in his entries. Mike and I haven't always agreed on every topic, but he is always open to discussion. Read and comment. He loves it.

Kendra
Kendra has been in the Netherlands for about two years now and keeps you posted on life in the Low Countries and her travels around Europe.

Korea Stuff:
This section is for anyone seeking general information on life in Korea. This is hardly a comprehesive list, but there are some good sites here.

Footprints Recruiting
These are the people that got me here. The site is filled with information about Korea, among other countries and about how to go about setting yourself up before and after arriving, etc.

EFL Law
This site is extremely useful. It gives the lowdown on legal matters (i.e., taxes, immigration, contracts, etc.). This is a great site to check out periodically both before and after coming. I highly recommend it.

The following Korea links are foreigner guides to life in certain cities, some of them better than others:

Seoul
Pusan
Daegu
Daejeon
Ulsan
Gwangju

Random Fun Links:

Rick Mercer
You have no idea how excited I was to find out that Rick Mercer has a blog. It's brand new, as well (I think it's only been up for a week or so). It's chock-full of Mercer goodness.

Fark
Everyone's source for odd news.

Zolaman
Korean kids love it. I do, too, despite not understanding at all what is going on. In fact, I like it so much I bought a cheap knock-off bag featuring him and his misspelled name (Zolman).

Mashimaro
More Korean cartoony goodness. Pronounced similar to "marshmallow". Plungers have never been so entertaining. Laura has a Mashimaro bag matching my "Zolman" one, but on hers the name is spelled properly.

Shameless Self-Promotion:

The Great Korean Choose-Your-Own-Adventure
Many of you have already done this, but if you haven't, you should. And remember, I love to get comments on things, so please tell me what you think.

Money and Banking in Korea
The first of two articles written by me for the Footprints site. It is as advertised.

Money in Korea
A more specific article, the second of the two for Footprints. This one features some sensual photos of Korean cash, as taken by Laura.

My deviantART Gallery
A collection of my photos and poetry.


That's about all I can come up with right now. If anyone out there feels neglected and has a blog or link they think should be here, let me know.

Outside of that stuff, not much in the way of updates. I got the rest of my May/June pay and a solemn promise to be paid on time come July 7, which is relieving. I stilll have no plane ticket home, but I am assured that will be no problem. Laura and I spent the day in Pusan yesterday. It was a good time and Laura now has some great new clothes.

The rainy season has begun here, as well. It happpened pretty suddenly. Yesterday was hot and sunny, today is hot and rainy. The forecast calls for more of the smae (hot and rainy) for much of, if not all of, the foreseeable future. Good thing I like rain. Thunderstorms are supposed to be common, which kicks ass. I don't remember all that much actual rain last year, just a constant, heavy humidity, so rain this time around is extremely welcome.

And that about covers us. Home soon. Yay!

Guy

Comin' home...

... eventually.

In truth, I'm still not sure about the date. Laura will be back in Canada on July 26, though. We thought I would be coming with her, but my school was unable to get my plane ticket from the travel agent by the deadline, so it now appears we will be flying separately. But, not only did my school fail to purchase that particular plane ticket, they still haven't purchase a ticket of any kind, as yet. So, despite having booked and paid for plane tickets to take us from Saskatoon to Calgary on August 10 and then from Calgary to Vancouver on August 24, it is yet to be seen whether I will actually make it back to Canada at all. I'm rather frustrated by the whole deal, especially as my school has also neglected to pay me in full this month. I was barely able to get my student loan payment in on time due to my school's tardiness in getting me even a partial payment for my services. All in all, I'm getting kind of nervous about what is going to happen in the next month or so. They owe me quite a bit and don't seem to be able to (willing to?) get it to me. I can only hope it all comes together.

Outside of the above mentioned frustration, things are all right. The weather is getting increasingly hot and humid and apparently the rainy season begins this week. The days are hazy and thick with dampness. Aside from the weather, Korea is still as it has been for the whole time I've been here; an enigma of sorts. TV programming is still mostly incomprehensible and seemingly random. I think the randomness was highlighted nicely last night as Laura and I flipped through the channels. We paused on some game shows, disturbingly graphic bidet infomercials, a Korean comedy troupe, among other standard Korean fare. However, what stood out most was the Argos vs. the Ti-cats. Yes, the CFL has apparently come to Korea, and during prime-time, no less. This country never fails to surprise me.

Guy

Gettin' naked with the locals

I think I spent the last half of last week as clean as one could ever ask to be. As usual, I took my regular daily showers. However, on top of those, Han Tae brought me along to the public baths on Thursday and then, two days later during a trip to Gyeongju with a family (of whom I teach the woman), I again was brought to the baths. Public baths are hugely popular here. I'm told that people generally go every weekend. They are separated by gender and nothing whatsoever is hidden. By that, I mean that not only are you fully naked with a group of Koreans, but you scrub yourself down, washing every crevice on your body rather thoroughly without even a divider between shower stalls. After that, you go to the various tubs of water (hot, warm, cold, green tea (which is also hot)), soak for a while in each, perhaps visit the sauna, then scrub yourself down once again before drying off and getting dressed. While it is not an activity for someone who is leery of being naked around total strangers, once one gets past that fact, it's actually a rather invigorating experience. The thing I didn't like was the rough cloth you are supposed to use to basically scrape a layer of skin off. I really don't see how healthy that could be for you. Also, despite my assertion that it is invigorating, that really only lasts a short while and then a nap becomes a very nice idea. I suggest going on a day when a nap is a feasible option.

I should probably mention, though, that this wasn't my first experience with the public baths. Han Tae took me to one back in September or October, but for some reason I neglected to write about them at the time. Better late than never, I guess.

Anyway, enough about public nudity. The weekend was good time, for the most part. As I mentioned, Laura and I were invited to go to Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla dynasty, for a quick tour with a family I know. We saw the sites/sights, took some pictures, ate the food and had a good, if tiring, time. It was marred somewhat by one incident, as relayed here by Laura, but other than that was a pleasant trip. Gyeongju is a beautiful and very old place, dating back almost, or maybe even more than, 2000 years. We weren't there long enough to see it all, but we did go to the Gyeongju National Museum, Bulguksa temple, and even got to make our own piece of pottery, which we will hopefully retrieve in a few weeks when it's ready.

Other than that, my news revolves around the attempt to get home soon. So far, Laura and I have our flights booked (hers is paid for, mine... not yet). We'll be back in Canada on July 26, passing quickly through Vancouver and possibly Calgary to start our Western Canadian Tour in Saskatoon/Langham. As yet, we haven't confirmed the dates for stay there but it will be around a week and a half, followed by another week and a half in Calgary and then on to Vancouver. As for Vancouver, it seems we are making some good progress on the apartment hunt. In fact, we may be pretty close to confirming the acquisition of a rather sweet place. I'll let you know more once it's all settled.

And, yeah, that's about it. We're mostly just cruising through time here, trying to enjoy the weekends and get through the work days. I have recently developed a new skill, that of ordering food for delivery. We have managed to train the staff at a local chicken place to know basically what we want and where to send it just by calling and saying, "Hello." It has worked out rather well.

Guy