And so begins the last two days of work. I'm sitting at the school office, the world's largest fan pointed at me (I swear is actually an airplane propeller), attempting to cool off. The air is thick with sun and moisture. Summer in Korea is easily the least pleasant time to be here. We've actually only had about one week of it now. The rainy season ended last week at about this time. It was great! Basically three weeks of non-stop water. The air was cool and fresh, the streets were washed clean, the clouds scudded across the mountains beautifully. Now it is all sun and humidity-induced haze. It wouldn't be so bad if one could lounge about in it on a beach, beer in hand. But no, Laura and I have been packing and carting boxes to the post office and getting apartments ready for departure. Also, there is work to deal with, still. Luckily, the schools have air conditioning.

So, I think this may be my last blog typed while in Korea. I may not have time after this. That's a bit sad. I think I'll probably have to open a new blog once I get home as I can no longer rightfully consider anything done in Canada a part of "The Great Korean Adventure," can I? I'll let you know if and when I switch over.

Well, that's about it for right now. My teaching day must start. I'll do my best to get another post up before I go, but there are no guarantees.

I leave you with this picture of kimchi. Enjoy!

Korean hospitality...

... kicks ass.

It was Laura's school's treat tonight. Korean BBQ and norae-bang (karaoke room) all the way. I've been plied with beer and soju and meat this evening. Actually, it's no longer evening at all. It's 1:47 am. I think we may actually have another similar night to look forward to with my school. I don't know for sure, as my school has no money, but I would imagine they will take me out for something before the week is out. It's all good stuff, despite the high potential of debilitating hangovers.

Anyway... Pohang was great. Had a good time with Mark his buddies. The bus ride into Pohang left quite a bit to be desired. In fact, we decided to take the train home simply because the bus ride in was so awful.

Well, by this time next week, we'll be in Saskatchewan. Yay!

I've registered for classes at SFU. Latin American Studies, Spanish, Latin American Colonial History, and Intro Sociology. Fun stuff, indeed.

Um, yeah. That's it.

Guy

Going back to Japan...

... for a couple of hours as a lay-over on MY FLIGHT HOME! Yes, you read that right, I'm officially coming home. Laura and I, as expected, were not able to get ourselves on the same plane, but we will at least both leave and arrive on the same day (July 26), leave and arrive from/at the same places (Busan/Saskatoon). Here's my itinerary, for anyone who may be interested:

Busan to Osaka (Korean Air KE 731) 11:00-12:20
Osaka to Vancouver (Air Canada AC 36) 16:30-10:00
Vancouver to Saskatoon (Air Canada AC 8576) 13:05-16:07

So, I actually arrive in Saskatoon a good 23 minutes before I leave Osaka. Hurray for the International date Line! I also arrive there a good 2.5 hours before Laura. However, we may be able to meet up in Vancouver and get her ticket changed to the same direct flight I have instead of the one that stops in Calgary for no reason.

We'll stay in Saskatoon/Langham for two weeks then fly to Calgary on August 10. Calgary will also be a two week stay and we fly out to Vancouver on August 24.


Anyway, that's my news for now. Laura and I are off to Pohang to meet up with Mark. This will be our final new city on our Korean adventure. It will also be the first time we've taken a bus to another city in Korea. Here's a random bus picture for you to accompany that news. I'll let you know how it went whence we return.

Guy

Why Koreans hate cats: a poorly researched theory

Ok, Koreans, as a general rule, hate cats. Also, they tend to hate the Japanese. I believe the two are connected.

I have been told by a number of my students that cats are considered to be thieves. They raid garbages and stored food, etc. This is main reason given for the Korean dislike of cats.

Koreans dislike the Japanese for more tangible and historically recorded reasons (repeated invasions, a brutal period of occupation and forced assimilation in the early 1900's, a recent and ongoing attempt to claim a couple of rocky islands between the two countries, etc.).

Now to connect the two:

In Japanese Shinto religion, there is a god that is sacred to shop-owners because it brings in customers and their money. This god, Maneki Neko, is depicted as a cat whose left paw raises and descends repeatedly, drawing in people. Almost every Japanese store or restaurant has a small figurine of Maneki Neko, with moving left paw, in a conspicuous place in their place of business.

The Korean mistrust of Japan, bred from centuries of invasions, has transfered itself into a distrust of cats through this god. The god takes money from customers to the profit of Japanese businesses. The left paw can, if you are in the proper mind-set to see it, the appearance of pick-pocketing hand.

Thus, the Japanese have always been trying to steal from the Koreans. The Japanese cat god, Maneki Neko, is known for taking the money of the unwary shopper and takes the form of a cat. So, to Koreans, the Japanese are epitomized by their thieving cat-god. Cats in general are disliked for being thieves by association.

That's my theory and I'm sticking to it (unless someone gives me some evidence to prove otherwise).

Chantal and Martin

Here's another blog link!

A couple who, at one point, were going to come to Miryang, have just recently landed in Gwangju. Laura and I had been exchanging emails with them for a while and it's nice to know they have arrived and appear to be in a good school, aside from the scary kindergarten kids.

Chantal and Martin

Whitening Sauce

Well, in truth, it's "Whitening Source," but the word for "sauce" and "source" in Korean characters is apparently the same (소스). "Whitening Sauce" is funnier to me, so that's what I call it. Anyway, the stuff bothers me, as do the commercials for it. It's this goo that Koreans, both men and women, spread over their faces to make themselves whiter. The commercials, and there are quite a few of them, are awful. They generally consist of a younger woman staring at herself in the mirror with a look of vapid self-satisfaction or an older women in luxurious surroundings babbling on about how great her life is because she makes herself whiter (ok, I actually have no clue what she is saying, but that's the feeling I get from her tone and body language). The commercials for men are fewer, but they are just as bad. Usually it's just some overly pretty guy wandering around through a sanitized and heavily manicured "wilderness."

At this point you may say to yourself (or to me), "You are watching too much TV. Get a life." That is beside the point. Try to focus on the blog, please.

As irritating as the commercials are, the thing that bothers me most is this obsession with being white. Now, I know this is just TV advertising and not necessarily an example of the thinking of the average Korean person, but there is something to this and it's not just in Korea. I saw the same thing while in Mexico where ads were filled with people that looked more American than Mexican. I just don't understand the lust to be pale and pasty. Likely it's just due to that disease of affectation that everyone gets now and then; the desire to have/be what you have/are not. Ask almost anyone with naturally curly hair and they'll tell you they wish their hair were straight. So maybe this wanting to be white is just that, seeing the greener (whiter?) side of the hill. It's true in Canada and the U.S., as well (tanning salon, anyone?).

At times here, though, it appears that this desire to be more like America is, pardon the horrible pun, more than skin deep. For example, this is a country of extremely narrow roads, high gasoline prices, and no real deep wilderness to speak of, yet the sheer number of SUV's on the road is astounding. As well, this is a country with an interesting musical tradition and history, yet all one hears on the radio is American-style pop crap. It bothers me that a country with such national pride appears to be selling themselves so eagerly into the "American Dream."

I realize this isn't the case for the entire population. In fact, it seems to be restricted to people under 40, but that's a huge demographic. Again, though, not everyone is buying into it. Korea has its share of environmentalists, anti-Americans, recluses, minimalists, etc. That said, I defy you to find a Korean between the ages of 16 and 35 who doesn't have a cell phone.

In truth, I'm not really sure where this rant is going. I don't feel any anger or bitterness towards Korea. I just sometimes wonder whether the country has any sort of direction. I think Korea needs to start concentrating on just being Korea and stop looking at other countries and attempting to emulate them. Maybe I'm reading this all wrong and this desire to be something else isn't really there, but it's certainly the impression I will come away from here with.

Guy

One step closer

We've now completed the final "deep cleaning" of our time in Korea. We spent all of yesterday discussing it and half of today doing it, but Laura's apartment has now been stripped of all but the essentials for our last three weeks here. Yup, only three more weeks. 15 work days. I generally don't like countdowns, but I'm finding it unavoidable. As much fun as I've had here, coming home will be awesome. Still no plane ticket, though...

On the topic of home, a group of us went out for drinks on Friday and ended up at the Norae-bang (pronounced no-ray-bahng, means "song room," and is basically a private karaoke room for you and your friends). This one played the typical pastoral and dramatic natural vistas on its screens for the most part but threw in, for good measure, some cityscapes. Surprisingly enough, at one point we found ourselves watching the C-train go by followed by a portion of the Stampede rodeo. This was followed by the Lion's Gate Bridge and Stanley Park. Yup, Vancouver and Calgary were amply featured on the video screen of a karaoke room in Miryang, South Korea.

Other than that, the past few days have been fairly laid back. We did witness a rather odd scene (which may still be going on as I type this). We were crossing the bridge into my school's part of town and couldn't help but notice that the river was a good 2-3 feet lower than usual. This, in itself, was odd seeeing as it has been raining rather heavily over the last week, but was made all the more odd by the people who had ventured across the newly formed beaches and into the water to dig for/collect things out of the river. We have no idea what it was they were searching for and, apparently, finding in copious amounts. We only know that they have been doing it all day and there are at least 20-25 people out there at any given time. I'm guessing they're digging up some sort of freshwater shellfish. Either that or the change they accidentally dropped into the river over the past year or so.

Guy