Two Kooks in Love

Fall in the East & Other Pics

2006-11-05T12:26:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

Here are some photos of the fall season in the East and some other pics...

Enjoy,

Martin & Chantal

Chantal and Dad on bridge

A park near my work

Moni in Ottawa!

Killer fall sunset

Tree

River

Chantal on a bike trip

Me and Chantal in Mont-Laurier, Quebec

A farm in Quebec

Pascale and Chris in Quebec

Me and the beast chillin'

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-24T23:54:00.000-04:00

Living in Ottawa

2006-10-07T12:33:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone in Korea, Mexico, Czech, Canada and wherever you are,

Annyong Haseo, Hola, Salut, Dobry Den, Hello,

Long time no writing, eh?

We're both doing well and now living in Ottawa. I am working as a communications agent for a travel association and Chantal is working as a junior project manager for an association management company. We came to Ottawa to see our families more often (Chantal's family is mostly living here while mine is just across the border in Montreal and Quebec City in Quebec. We miss everyone so much. Anyone volunteering to come live here for a year or so?

For a map of Canada with Ottawa, Quebec City and Montreal, click here:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/north_america/canada/canada.htm

Ottawa is a weird city. The two main groups here are the industry tech nerds (there are over 700 high tech companies in this town, including Adobe, Corel) and the other group are functionaries, government workers. The town shuts down at 5:30. Seriously, everything is dead downtown after 5:30 on weekdays. Soon we're going to have our first winter in years. It's going to be mighty cold, like -20 Celsius. We'll still go out and do stuff though. This town has a canal that's frozen int he winter and that you can skate on. Click here for a virtual tour of the canal: http://www.canadascapital.gc.ca/bins/ncc_web_content_page.asp?cid=16297-16299-10080-10082〈=1

There are also lots of parks where you can bike and rollerblade in the summer and cross-country ski in the winter. We'll also keep busy volunteering and doing fun stuff, like the ol' eastern tradition of drinking beer and going to the maple sugar shack (http://www.tremblant-sugar-shack.com/en-saison-a.html).

On the volunteer side, I'll keep busy as a newsletter editor for the United Nations association in Canada and Chantal is taking singing lessons and volunteering for a group called the Greenspace Alliance.

If we get real bored of this town Montreal is only 2 hours away (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal), with lots of cultural events, good beer and ambiance and adventures and French-speaking crazy people!

We're going to stay in Ottawa for a year (maybe two) or so, to get some work experience. After that we might go travel again, go back to Vancouver, go on an internship, buy a house, who knows...

Here are some pictures of our summer, fall, our cat bisou and Ottawa. Enjoy. We'll post again soon with some beautiful fall foliage pictures that we'll take tommorow (October 8, 2006) in this park called Gatineau Park. Stay tuned.

Bisou the brat, who flew from Vancouver to Ottawa,
a six hour flight, by himself, lounging in the yard, playing with rope

Don't mess with me, eh?

Me and Chantal's Dad pondering something, or
adrift in thought on an Ottawa river beach

Martin goofing off at fishing camp with my dad...

Martin's dad.

Chantal and friend Nyree at Ottawa Blues Fest,
where Spearhead, Etta James and Slick Ballinger
(check out this guy, 22 years old and a blues master:
http://www.slicksblues.com/), Ani di Franco and more

My mom in her garden

Ottawa Canal at night

Stormy day near the parliament. This
place gets wicked storms!

An insane sunset on a lake while camping near Ottawa

Me and Chantal by the fire

Morning fog by the lake

Chantal getting ready for the Green Party
Leadership Convention in Ottawa this august

Chantal on our 2-day 120km bike trip up the Gatineau River

Stay tuned for beautiful fall foliage pictures coming up!

Miss you all! Please do write us:

Martin: mwf@sfu.ca, Chantal: cvicha@alumni.sfu.ca

Jazz, Christmas, taxi and Dac Dori Dong

2006-01-17T07:47:00.000-05:00

Martin and two dancers from my Jazz dance school. The guy with the glasses is a very famous puppet dancer is Korea. Puppet dancing is a new form of dancing where you actually dance like you are being pulled by the strings of a puppeteer. I forget his name right now, but everyone calls him playboy. In a couple of weeks he will join the two year mandatory military service. The girl on the right is another dancer from my jazz school--she is very shy.
This is Dae Hong and I at a pub. Dae Hong is the owner of the Jazz school that I attend. His english is very good and he is verrrry kind! When I told him I was leaving Korea early, he insisted that my next two months of Jazz classes are free. He runs the Jazz school with his sister (my instructor), and his parents. Dae Hong is saving his money to come to Canada or USA to live permanently because he has a skin condition created by air pollution. Because Dae Hong is "Opa" (older brother) he paid for all the food and beer that night! I really want to pay him back for his kindness. The kindness from the Korean people I have met so far has been unbelievable! Below: From the look on my face, I apparently have no idea what Dae Hong is talking about. I think we're talking politics and business. Dae Hong and I both share a dislike for George Bush so its all good.

This is Chu Giong (Judy)--my best Friend in Korea. I LOVE YOU JUDY. Its so funny because for some reason I couldn't remember her korean name for the longest time--its kind of a special name. Actually, her name translates into President of Seoul. In Korea, your Grandmother (on your fathers side) names you. I think Judy's grandmother has high aspirations for her. Good luck Judy!

The next four pictures are of Martin and I in a Taxi. We were bored so we decided to take some pictures of ourselves:

Martin: the contemplative and mysterious writer face

Isn't he sooo dreamy? :)

A rare glimpse of me smiling in front of the camera

This is the "Okay, Martin. I've had enough of these pictures" face

Chu Giung (judy) and Martin on Christmas Night. We got kicked out of the Jimjilbang for trying to bring a cake in. So, we had to eat it on the llth floor of a building. They let us back into the Jimjilbang after we finished eating. Its very strange. On christmas and new years EVERYBODY buys cake. Imagine walking downtown and everybody carrying a cake--that's what it looks like. But I guess that that isn't so strange considering that in North America we are all walking around with Turkeys and boxes of presents that cost well beyond any of our means.

Me, leaning back after WAY too much cake.

The food that Martin is eating is called "Dac Dori dong" and it is AMAZING. Its stewed chicken, potatoes and vegetables with Gochujang (hot pepper paste). We are eating at a place called Halmony's. Halmony means grandmother in Korean and this place is in fact run by an 85 year old halmony. Its just a two room place. Halmony sleeps in one room and the restaurant is in the other room. When you eat there, she cooks it all herself in her kitchen while you munch away on a wide array of FREE side dishes (as you can see in the picture)

Coming home early

2006-01-05T00:17:00.000-05:00

For most of you who don't know, Martin and I are coming home early. We are flying to Ottawa and will most probably stay there for a while. Why? Well, I have been sick for six months straight and have spent over 2000 dollars in hospital bills. Other reasons? Yes, there are other reasons. Some philisophical, some practical.

So, if anyone knows anyone who can offer me a job in the environmental sector in Ottawa or Montreal--drop me a line. i.e. project management or assistance, communications/education, fundraising, event coordination etc...

The plan is to come back to Canada, put in a few more grad school applications, look for work in my field, volunteer in my field, dance and network, network, network. oh ya.... and eat yummy food!

What do I really want to do? Go to Mexico for six months to live with my mexican friend Paloma in some remote community all the while drinking good beer and learning spanish. (and perhaps getting an internship or job as I would absolutely get bored after a while).

Reality? Ottawa and job search.

But what about Vancouver? I love vancouver but most of my friends are scattered all around the world now, my baby sister is having a baby, Martin misses french culture, I think that there might be more jobs in Ottawa, Vancouver is just so expensive now, and why not a change?

Anyways, maybe if i get enough e-mails and complaints (or a job offer) from Vancouver we'll fly to Vancouver first before going to Ottawa. But have no fear: we have to go back to Van to collect our belongings and our cat. So, we'll probably head back to Van after we know what's going on with our finances and stuff (i.e. when we find jobs) Don't worry J.P. and Robert, it'll be before July.

Anyways, here are some more pictures for your pleasure

love,
Chantal
xxoo

My beautiful friend and nurse--Sangmi and her boyfriend at Donga-hospital. Sangmi brought me cake, tapogi, kimpbap, and would spend hours with me after her shift at the hospital. Right now, she just finished a university course in english and her english has improved tremendously. In Korea, many people actually understand english--they just can't speak it.

Me in the hospital with pneumonia. As you can see, I'm hooked up to IV all the while smoking a huge bong. (actually, I'm inhaling a steroid vapour to treat chronic asthma) As you can see, I am not very happy as Martin is getting his 'kicks' by taking very bad photographs of me.

Martin and I at the Jimjilbang. As you can see, Martin has a beautiful towel headpiece created by one of the many young Korean teenagers who spend their time at the Jimjilbang to hang out with their boyfriends and girlfriends. As you can see, the internet is a very popular place to hang out at at the jimjilbang. It cost 500 won for 25 minutes (about 60 cents canadian).

This is the TV 'steam room. You can watch tv while sweating.

This is one of the mains area outside of the hot rooms. If you look closely, you can see many doors in the background leading to various hot rooms.

The picture with the red lights is a sleeping area. Many young people can go there with their boyfriends and girlfriends to cuddle--but watch out for the 'cuddle' police! If you are caught cuddling or kissing you can be fined and asked to leave.

Art, Absurdio, Mountains, and Winter in S.KO.

2005-12-14T20:06:00.000-05:00

This is one of many sculptures downtown

World-cup themed flowerpots

Front window display at a shoes store...

A little cream with that?

I present to you "The Cock" brush line

Did you know that 25% of Koreans are Christians?

And some like other contemplative practices...

Lunch on the (l)edge... (click to enlarge)

A view of Gwangju from a summit at Mudeung Mountain

Umbrellas in a snow storm?

World cup stadium from top of local hill

Apartment towers in the hood

Photo essay in snow storm

Did I tell you older Koreans are fanatical about exercise?

On the way up the mountain

Jagged rock face in winter...

View of the local hill, no these arent UFOs, just light reflecting through window

Cheerleading is a form of commercial promotion here, even in a snow storm...

Photo essay after big snow dump

Snow storm right ouside our door

We are doing well. Missing you guys and gals like crazy though. Have good holidays and keep in touch.

Coming soon, exclusive pics from inside the Jimjilbang, those amazing sauna-bathhouses...

Take care and peace everyone,

Big hugs,

Martin and Chantal

Mountains

2005-11-27T20:28:00.000-05:00

These are mountain photos from our local mountain (Mudeung-San). This is where everyday, thousands of people, mostly over 50 years old, hike Mudeung-San vigorously, taking in fresh air, scenery and going to the many Buddhist temples hidden in its numerous valleys.

Me walking up a trail

A park with sitting benches and trees near the trail

This a Korean traditional dish. Click on this picture and magnify it. Yes that's what it looks like, some kind of larvae...yuck

This is an outdoor restaurant where all the hardcore hikers meet up after or before the hike for some soju (korean liquor) and food.

Fall tree

Fall river scenery

Taking a rest near the summit

A bird's eye view of a Buddhist temple nestled in a valley from the summit

Buddhist art. Korean Buddhism mixed with local shamanism when it took root, hence the strange animal head shown here.

Temple and pagoda

River scenery

A cute little dog in our hood

His girlfriend...no really... these two cuties are always together...

Here are some of my kids! (chantal)

2005-11-25T23:11:00.001-05:00

Picasso Class

Minnie Class (my 'special' class--little smarty pants). I speak normal english to them and most of the time they understand what I'm saying. They are soooo cute. I will send you close-ups soon. I am very close with these kids cause I spend almost two hours with them everyday. The little girl sitting on me is Meryl. She is the youngest and the teachers pet. She is a little loving machine! In reality, I love them all. They really grow on you when you get to know their personalities. Just like adults, they have bad days and good days!

NEMO CLASS

These kids cannot speak english! But they are really cute! They also drive me crazy. The boy below in the blue and white shirt is Frank. (I named him Frank). He is really smart but loves to get me going.

The Neighbourhood and "The Princess"

2005-11-25T20:37:00.000-05:00

Hey kooks,

Here's some pics of our neighbourhood and of the princess.

"Supermodel" Chantal

Wooden sculpture in front of a traditional restaurant

The infamous Brighton kindergarten playground

The tower of Brighton, the building on the left is elementary and kinder, six floors of it and the building on the right has more kinder and preschool classes.

The neighbourhood slut

This is a school that's right across our apartment

A classroom in the tower of Brighton

The world cup stadium of Gwangju, one of 10 mega soccer stadiums built for the 2002 world cup.

This one is of a restaurant that's right across our street. Its some weird postmodern restaurant bar with a terrace and a video screens where they always play Justin Timberlake videos.

More pics about the hood comin' soon,

Cheers,

Take care everyone,

Martin and Chantal

We have a digital camera!! Yippee!!

2005-11-20T09:40:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

just to let know that we just bought a digital camera and we will post a lot more from now on. Here is us with our Korean friend Judy and here is us waiting for pizza in Gwangju.

Talk to you all soon!

Martin and Chantal

Hello! Its Been Awhile

2005-10-13T06:13:00.000-04:00

So, I've passed the three month breaking point and I am getting paid tomorrow!

Sorry I haven't written in a while but I've been sick. Actually, I've been sick the whole time I've been here. First stomach problems, then tonsillitis, then flu, then throat infection, then flu, then bronchitis, then flu---you get the picture. I've been on drugs for so long! But I'm still alive and that is all that matters, right! I personally think that its the dirty, snotty little children that keep getting me sick and the air pollution.

But life is good. I've developed a bit of a routine. I write for the Gwangju International Magazine once a month a feature and a restaurant review), I do choir every Saturday (and we are going to perform around the city), and I bought a guitar and am trying to improve my theory cause its sucks. Martin and I eat out almost every night because its cheaper than making food--that's if you eat Korean food. I've actually come to like Korean food quite a bit. I eat Kimchi with every meal.

My school schedule is pretty good. I only work 25 hours a week but get paid for a full time schedule. I start work at 9:40 and I'm off at 4:30 Pm. My kids are also getting better. My 3 and 4 year olds, who couldn't even say bathroom before are now showing and telling: "Its is a book. Its a blue book....Its a pen. Its a red pen." They are quite cute but way cuter in pictures! (I have pictures but they are on a co-workers camera).

Oh ya! My boss has also showed me some sign that he knows I exist! Yes, he was drunk but that still counts, right? We had an English Festival last Saturday, where all the parents come with their children to participate in activities. After the festival, (actually, after any event or meeting) it is tradition for the employer to take the entire staff out for dinner. We have had many of these dinners and it always ends up with everybody entirely trashed---my employer especially. Well, this particular dinner, my employer got up from his chair and poured only me and one other girl a shot of soju to drink with him while about 30 other people were staring. God knows what I did 'right' that day--and I'll never find out! It was really wierd. My boss probably does not remember doing this and he still continues to treat me and his other foreign staff with indifference. Trust me, I am happy about that!

In addition to all the above, I have finally made a Korean friend. Her english name is Judy and she is super cool. She wants to be a diplomat so she studies english and chinese. She is very open minded and showing me and Martin around town.

check out the pics

chantal

p.s. this is an old post that I forgot to post so I'm posting it now!

Jjimjilbang Heaven

2005-09-20T23:10:00.000-04:00

Picture this. You're sitting in a circular room with a high ceiling, a sort of hobbit hole. The ceiling is adorned with intricate colored quartz patterns that form stars, waves and animals. Interspersed among the quartz stones are geodes and polished rock circles. On the ceiling and the walls there are also round pieces of charcoal wood. You're lying on your back a straw mat with a little leather pillow under your head. There is not a sound in there, just you and a friend or loved one. You can hear each other breathing. You just lie there, relaxing and sweating. That's right, sweating. The room temperature is 64 degrees celsius. Welcome to the jjimjilbang experience.

When you get here they give you a set of shorts and a t-shirt and send you on your way to the men's or women's change room. In each change room there are lockers, lounging areas and TVs. Behind a glass wall there are showers and thermal baths of various temperatures. Before bathing you have to shower, to cleanse yourself so the bath water stays clean. The water in the baths is laden with green tea. You can dip in water at 37 Celsius, 39C, 42C, or polar temperature if you prefer. Behind the baths there are two saunas, one's at 50 somewhat degrees and the other reads a whopping 82. Everybody here walks around completely naked, with no shame or ego. It's pretty amazing considering Koreans are quite competitive and judgmental of body figure when everyone has clothes on.

I remember hearing somewhere that bathing in very hot and then very cold water is good for circulation and to build constitution. Because I like new and crazy, random experiences I try this. I start in the 39 degree water then to the 42, and then to the polar water. What a rush! I can feel the blood and electricity travelling through my arms and legs for a good five minutes afterwards. I also feel very alert and clear.

We both head upstairs to try the co-ed hobbit houses. We try one that reads 58C. 10 minutes of sweating is enough at once. When we come back out on the main lounging wooden floor we can choose to eat in a Korean restaurant, check our email or play computer games, get a massage or simply watch TV lying on the floor on one of those leather cushions. We're in heaven. We choose to lie down watching TV cause we already ate and it's 9:30pm.

After 10 minutes of cooling off and watching some American movie on the tube, we head back to another hobbit house that reads 62C. We stay in there 10 minutes or so, lying down, sweating beads and relaxing. On my way out I notice a room that reads 20C. Inside it's really cold. There is ice in little alcoves on the walls. The walls are decorated with quartz polar bears and beautiful winter scenes made with quartz and polished rocks. I didnt stay in this room very long because I was getting real cold real fast.

So we did this sweating/cooling routine another 4 or 5 times, feeling more and more relaxed each time. Koreans believe that sweating in little hobbit sweat rooms adorned with charcoal, ocher and other materials is good to release bad toxins from the body. Thermo-therapy they call it.

We head back upstairs, have a shower and take a few more baths. We both meet outside feeling totally relaxed, floating on a cloud as we walk home. Did we mention this only costs 10 dollars for both of us and that it's open 24 hours?

Chantal and Martin,

Relaxed and sleepy and missing you guys and gals.

Is Bush racist in his handling of New Orleans?

2005-09-03T08:03:00.000-04:00

Top: Bush visiting Biloxi, a wealthy enclave in Mississippi. Bottom: A black family awaiting help in New Orleans.

(Photos borrowed from the "In Pictures" feature on BBC, September3, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4210646.stm)

Hello everyone,

We're tracking the New Orleans crisis and we've come across some media gems that you must see. The question being, "Is George Bush being racist in his handling of New Orleans?" Read and post your comments and other links.

67% of people living in New Orleans are black, out of which 30% live below the poverty line (CNN 2005).

New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin tells Bush “to get off his ass,” accuses him of neglecting New Orleans in light of slow response to Hurricane Katrina

http://www.cnn.com/video/partners/clickability/index.html?url=/video/us/2005/09/02/wwl.nagin.intv.affl

Kanye West, a well known rapper, tells it like it is at Hurrican Relief Concert

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,168387,00.html

Kanye West, uncensored by the media

http://buttlands.net/kanye.avi

Keep it real,

Martin and Chantal

Chantal's discipline technique

2005-08-20T00:42:00.000-04:00

Discipline Techniques:

1. remove the objects that are distracting them. i.e action figures, origami, food, pencil case, entire backpack, pencils, and even their books.

2. individually smack each kid in the classroom across the head or shoulder with your hand or book while screaming "hey you! Wake up! What's the answer? (pointing to a picture or a word). Sometimes I have to continuously walk up to each individual student for the entire 40 minute class all the while smacking them. Going round and round in a circle. They think this is funny. They especially like to see their fellow students being smacked up across the head. The spectacle I am creating keeps them focused on me instead of each other and they hear the answers that each kid HAS to give me. They also know that they will be smacked soon so they pay attention. Ever since I have used this one technique in the one class I have gotten more respect. It wierd---yesterday some of the girls came up to me before class and were playing with my hair and talking to me, even though I was really mean to them the day before.

3. If there are two or three demons disturbing the class---seperate them. When you get to know them better, sit them next to a kid that they dislike or that never talks.

4. Make the child/children hold a chair up over their heads for an extended time period

5. Put a grown child in the "Baby" chair. Usually the other children will call them baby and laugh at them. This shaming process works sometimes.

6. Threaten to bring them to a teacher that they are scared of or the teachers room. Usually they will drop to their knees,, start crying all the while making an X shape with their arms indicating NOOOOO! The way they react makes it seem like you have been torturing them with a whip or something. Nevertheless, I must say that I take pleasure in seeing these children in this state--especially if they have been particularly evil. The fucked up thing about this is that if you do not follow through with the threat they will 'bounce back" as though nothing had happened and even laugh or smirk at you.

7. Threaten to phone their parents.

8. Bribe. Bribe. Bribe. "If you do this.....You will get this....."

9. Become their friend.

There are many more discipline techniques. Some work, some don't. Some work on some children and not on others. Some kids you simply can't discipline and want to strangle. (but of course, you can't)

ummm......ya.....that's all.

chantal
xo

The Gwangju Chronicle: Crime and Punishment

2005-08-19T23:47:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody, (et bonjour ma petite maman),

Hope life finds you well. Life is good here in Gwangju. If you guys and gals were here it would be better of course.

School is going better now. I'm starting to get mean because I'm tired of being pushed around by these kids. Korean kids are very unruly and they'll push your limits. Apparently, according to my kindergarten manager they don't respect you if you're too nice.

So yesterday there was this class called the Mickey class and I was teaching phonics, or rather rambling by myself, while the 6 boys fought and goofed off. There was also one girl who was attempting to sleep as usual, but she was listening, at least. This affront by the six boys got my blood boiling. Normally I would scream at them to be quiet every minute or so and battle it out for the next 40 minutes. But this something snapped and I followed my kindergarten manager's advice: make them cry and shame them, its the only thing that works.

So I stopped teaching and looked at everyone, giving them one last chance to smarten up. Nothing happened, they just kept on ignoring me and speaking in Korean and screwing around.

"Everybody on the wall!" I yelled real loud, "C'mon, lets go, no talking, move it!"

I got them to do squats for a bit, with hands held straight out. And then I told them to lift up their books above their heads and to keep quiet.

"The next one who speaks is going to the teacher's room" I said.

Sure enough Charlie decided to test me. I dragged him to the teachers' room and told him to put his hand up facing the wall. The kids really hate the teachers' room because usually there are other teachers watching. It's the ultimate shaming exercise. So I left that kid there for 15 minutes. I came back to class. Nobody was talking and they all had their books up for another 5 minutes. The girl student was laughing at them the whole time, unknowingly helping to shame them further. Can you imagine, being 8 years old with five of your guy buddies and being laughed at by a girl! Eventually I let them get back to their seat and they were angels for the rest of class. It's amazing what a little iron-fisted discipline can do to them. They even seemed to enjoy it in a twisted way.

I gained their respect.

The morale of the story: when you say want a class of bratty kids to shut it, back up your request with a good ol' follow-through discipline...

Tommorow's story

"10 foreigners going to a Korean Dance Bar" to celebrate two teachers' B-days.

Talk to you then,

peace,

Martin

Jeju vacation

2005-08-16T21:38:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all,

So, we didn't end up going diving like we thought we would. The night before we left, we had a poker game with some other foreigners and one of the foreigners friends (who was just visiting Korea) just happened to be a certified diver. When I told him that I was going to be doing a first dive in open ocean, he advised us that it would be a bad idea. Apparently, first dives should always be in a swimming pool because once your underwater in the ocean and something goes wrong, you could end up in a very bad situation---even death. (he mentioned something about pressure and you lung exploding...) This foreigner dude also said that the certification of the instructor and the school was a subpar certification. So, in light of this conversation Martin and i decided to just check it out the school once we got to Sigwipo, Jeju Island and then make a decision. Sigwipo is on the other side of the island.

To get to Jeju Island we took a bus and ferry. You can look up Gwangu city and Jeju island (jeju-do) on the map to the right. The ferry was the strangest thing I have ever seen--as far as ferries go. We had an upper second class reservation, which meant that we would get a bunker in a room with other people. The bunker looked like the kind you would imagine in a 1940's film. (you know, the cast away in his bunker on the train). On the upper second class floor there was a room that appeared to be a bathroom but when I opened it there was a huge marble pool that was about the length of a one bedroom apartment. The pool had hot water in it. It looked real ghetto! There was no way i was going to go in there! The real bathrooms were fucking disgusting. In Korea, they have those toilets that are in the floor so you just have to squat over them. Its disgusting because, as you know, women do not have penises nor the agility to aim correctly into these narrow porcelain bowls in the ground. As a result, there is urine on the ground that gets sticky and stinky over a period of a few hours. There is also fece sprays in some of the stalls. People also tend to put there used toilet paper in a wastebasket rather than dispose of them into the toilet. To add to the scent of this bathroom is the usage of cleaners that seem to come from the 1980's. (think aerosol and perfumy--think grandmas bathroom in the 1980's or even grandmas perfume). On the ferry, they serve green tea, instant coffee (there is no real coffee in Korea) and of course Ramen noodles and other things that I dare not try being a non pork/beef eater.

So, once we get to Jeju City we take a cab to the bus terminal. We share a taxi with another Korean fellow who speaks very good english. The woman at the tourist centre ensured us that the taxi should not cost us more than 4000 won. When we get to the bus terminal in Jeju city, the taxi driver takes 4000 won from the korean fellow. I give the taxi driver 10 0000 won for change. The taxi driver gives me 6000 won back. I tell him that I wanted only change and that I want my 10 0000 won back. The english speaking korean tells me and martin that the driver wants 4000 from us and 4000 from him---even though the meter said 4000. I started to make a fuss about it but the korean guy tells me that the driver never goes such a short distance during the tourist season so we must pay. I think this is a load of shit so I make more of a fuss, which is bad since I am making the taxi driver lose "Face." He starts spitting on the ground and yelling at me. Eventually, I just gave up and walked away all awhile giving him a nasty glare. Its wierd because even though the young korean guy new it was wrong, he still paid. This is his culture and in Korean culture you do not argue or challenge with people who are older than you--even if they are dead wrong!

So, once we got to the busterminal we paid the 6000 won for the busride across the island to Sigwipo. Sigwipo is the second largest city aside from Jeju city. We book into the motel advised to us from the Diving school, pay our 30 000 won, and set off for the diving school to check it out. The school is only 2 blocks away and is still open. we walk in and the owner, Ralph (from Germany), greets us--kinda. We were like "Hi, how are you?!" He said hi but looked kind of suspicious and wierd. He looked at his coworker who in my opinion looked kind of nervous about something. To say the least, the vibe was kind of wierd. We wanted to give the guy the benefit of the doubt (maybe we walked in while he and his coworker were arguing?? Who knows?) So, we asked him if we could ask him some questions. He seemed kind of freaked out when we asked him that. "What kind of questions?" he asks. Okay!! If you were the owner of a diving shop would you or would you not at least have an FA Q sheet ready for new first time divers who may or may not be terrified? After the questions he attempted to rush us into "getting the paperwork out of the way" and "fitting us with suits." Martin and I were like "Um, we're kind of hungry right now. Can we come back later?" He said that they would be closed later but that we could come early in the morning. We asked him if he could recommend a place to eat but even that question kind of seemed wierd to him. You would think that the man would know where to eat in this town. He lives here. But noooooooo. So, we left the dive shop to fend for ourselves and our hungry bellies. After, walking around for two hours we kind of understood why he could not recommend anything. Hmmmm. Human feces fed pig or raw sushi? Your choice. (check out the human feces fed pigs, yum!) Actually, I think that this practice of feeding pigs feces is going out of fashion but I am not sure.

Anyways, we finally settled on Korean made pizza which was expensive but at least satisfying.
During dinner, Martin and I decided that we would get the hell out of Sigwipo in the morning--which we did. We took the bus all along the south west coast in search of a beach. The buses are very cheap and this only cost us 6000 won or $6 bucks for a 2 hour busride.

We finally found our beach---hyeopjae beach.

We found a minbak for 30 000 a night right by the ocean. A minbak is usually a room in someones home but this one was self contained with a stove, refrigerator, air conditioning, cable tv, fan, private toilet, dishes and a traditional style bed which is just a mat on the floor to sleep on. It was awesome. We just woke up in the morning, drank tea, ate breakfast (which was conveniently located downstairs from our minbak), read, and went swimming and snorkeling. We were the only non-Korean people on the beach amongst the hundreds of people. We were stared at the entire time. I had to wear a tank top on top of my bathing suit as most Koreans feel that it is inappropriate for girls to be showing off her breasts--especially white girls. My breasts are kind of a ongoing circus for the people of korea. Everywhere I go people stare at them, point at them, laugh at them, make actions demonstrating that I have big breasts, and some people shake their heads at me like I should be ashamed. Recently, I have gotten great pleasure from pissing off slimy Korean men's wives/girlfriends by sticking my tits out even more when they stare. You might think: so what if they stare? But this is not normal, subtle staring. This is "turn right around, point and laugh kind of staring." Sometimes its downright racist rather than simple curiousity. It doesn't really bother me any more but some days I want revenge. For example, sometimes I will bulge my eyes out really big and make and action like "what ?" Most of the time I act polite and respectful--as I should, since foreigners have a label of being the the misfits of north american society. When you do something stupid you kind of represent ALL foreigners.

Anyways, back to the beach and enough of my breasts. I will tell you right now, Koreans take their beaching SERIOUSLY. Their are floating devices EVERYWHERE: tubes, rafts. You name it, they have it. Korean beach goers are also very smart. They do not expose much of their skin to the sun. They swim in their pants, t-shirts, shorts hats. Of course, the younger, more western koreans wear bikinis and speedos. In ten years, their will be more skin cancer as they adopt our stupid ways when it comes to frying ourselves in the sun.

About 5 blocks from the beach is Hallim Park. It is the strangest tourist attraction ever. You should read about it on the net: palm trees, lava tube caves, ostriches in cages. Its kind of a mishmash of strange and exotic things.

So, anyways, I've been typing for a while and am getting attention dedicit disorder (ADD) just sitting here writing to you. There is tons more I want to say but to sum it up, our vacation was INTERESTING and yes, FUN (at times). I am sure Martin will fill you in where I missed out.

See ya guys later.

chantal xxxx

Chantal's trip from hell to the hospital

2005-08-03T09:37:00.000-04:00

Well, I'll admit it up front. I am sick. Without getting into the gory details, I have to run to the bathroom toooo many times in one day for it to be healthy by any means. For those of you who know (or think) that I am a hypocondriac, I do not think that in this instance that I am dying of cancer. (well, maybe the thought crossed my mind a few times).

Ahhh. Korean hospitals. wait time? 10 minutes.

So, I show up to the hospital with my korean co-worker (a man who now knows every disgusting and intimate detail of my condition), expecting to wait three hours to be seen by a doctor. I take a number ticket, and within 5 minutes I am taken to the second floor of the hospital to be sitted outside the doctors office. I am so happy to not be in a Canadian hospital waiting three hours to be seen! The nurse checks my blood pressure and in I go to see the doctor.

The first time I went to the hospital, three weeks ago, the nurse confirmed that i had high blood pressure. You could imagine what I was thinking--hypocondria and all. (on a later visit the nurse confirmed that my blood pressure was normal and after an internet search I found out that stress and caffeine can in fact increase your blood pressure!) At this visit, the doctor gave me a weeks worth of medicine. The medicine? Three tiny plastic bags containing five pills in each which I must take three times daily. I attempted to get an answer from the doctor as to what they were but to no avail. All I know is that they are not antibiotics or penecilin. Anyways, they kind of worked but the doctor still did not know what was wrong with me.

THE TRIP FROM HELL!

So, after several visits to the hospital and many pills later I demanded to get ALL the tests done. No more fucking around! Okay, in Korea they do not fuck around. Five minutes after proclaiming that I wanted tests, the doctor produced a list of tests in korean which I could not read while at the same time my korean interpreter is like "uh, I gotta go now. Sorry, you're on your own." I think to myself, no problem. I can handle this. My korean interpreter leads me to this room to start off my test check-list. First test? Blood work. The nurse pulls out my arm and with no gloves on stuffs a syringe into my arm. I'm thinking, oh my god, I am going to get some kind of freak disease here. They do not even use plastic gloves to perform blood work? Once the blood work was done, I was off to test number 2: x-ray. Within ten minutes of waiting, I am in a room stripping off all my clothing (of course I am wearing hospital clothes) and standing in front of an x-ray machine but with no protection. You know the protective blanket that they usually put on you during an x-ray? NADA. After test number 2, I thought all my tests were over. They directed me to pay $80 dollars. I thought, for 2 tests? They gotta be kidding me. After playing stupid that I did not understand, and realizing that I didn't even have $80, Martin volunteered to take a taxi home to get more money. (by the way, Martin is an angel from heaven and I am a spoiled little princess that came from the depths of hell.) As Martin runs out the door, the nurse directs me up another set of stairs but I do not understand what is going on. I soon find out that I am in for more tests. Test 3? Ultrasound. (ya, you heard me. Three tests all in the same day. This would never happen in Canada.) So, in I go to the ultrasound room all by myself with no Martin. The nurse rips my shirt off--as she cannot speak english and cannot direct me to do so--and applies this gel on my entire chest. She proceeds to attach these suction cups to me chest to monitor my heart rate. After that is completed, she removes the suction cups and another doctor comes in. He puts gel on my stomach and begins the ultasound. (of course, at this point I begin to tell him that I am terrified of cancer. He laughs at me and tells me that I do not have cancer. Instead, I have an irritated gastrointestinal tract.)

Test four? Endoscopy. To perform an endoscopy, you have to drink this blue liquid and wait ten minutes. Well, I will tell you right now, if I would have know what I was getting myself into I would have ran away. The first thing they do to you in that room is stick a needle in your ass. Next, they put a spray in your mouth to numb it. The third thing they do is get moral support for you. My doctor (not the endoscopy doctor but my real doctor) comes running in the room with martin and gets Martin to hold my hand. The next thing they do is show you this long mother fucking black tube and do sign language that they are going to stick this thing down your throat. They put a mouth guard in my mouth and the next thing I know this black tube is being inserted into my mouth, down my esophogus, down my small and large intestines and right into my bowel. As they move this foreign object into my body, I am puking my brains out as my body is rejecting it. I am puking so much that I can't breathe yet they are still taking their sweet ass time as they remove it. Poor Martin had to watch me in this state and he could also see the video camera at the end of this tube broadcast my 'internals' onto a large screen television screen. This process lasted two minutes but it felt like an eternity. After the two minutes, they wipe the puke from your face and quickly kick you out of the room for the next patient. Traumatized, they lead me to see my doctor (the guy who ordered the tests). As a I am waiting to see my doctor and I am stoned on the drugs they gave me and traumatized about the experience. There is still so much blood in my mouth and the black tube scratched all of my insides, including my gums, so I keep spitting up blood for the next hour. So, after waiting 20 minutes and after much fuss made over me that I have an english interpreter, I am hushed into the doctors office to get my results. Yes! You heard me right. Three hours and four tests later, they have all my results. They sit me down and proceed to show me on a computer my x-rays, my internal organs for the the ultrasound and the live video cam of my intestines. The result? I have IBS. Not a disease but a syndrome that will likely effect me for the rest of my life if I am not careful about what I eat. The doctor gives me more pills to try for one more week (which I am trying now) and if they don't work I am going to have to undergo a minor procedure.

Anyways, I hope that I didn't gross you out. And if I did--too bad.

love chantal

signing off from Jeju do--the vacation gone bad! we'll get back to you soon on this. We are in the midst of trying to make it better.

xxxx

Adventures "Jeungsimsa Temple"

2005-07-24T06:30:00.000-04:00

Adventures: "Jeungsimsa Temple" & "High altitude Gazebos and Gyms"

2005-07-24T04:22:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

I am well. School is going better now that I've become a bit more mean, enforcing discipline more stringently. We have one more week before our 10 day summer vacation. We'll have future posts about our trip to Jeju Island and our diving/ beachcombing vacation.

Jeungsimsa Temple and Korean Hikers

Yesterday (Saturday July 23) I went to Muddeung Park, to visit a Buddhist temple and to check out the hiking area. Koreans are soooo all over hiking it's not even funny. It's 30 degrees outside with high humidity and everyone is wearing long sleeve lycra shirts and lycra pants, complete with huge sun visors and gloves for some. Oh, I forgot to mention the wool hiking socks and the portable AM/FM radios everyone carries around. You can also buy bandanas, hiking hats and hiking paraphernalia at numerous stands. Health and fitness is a big cultural movement in Korea.

On the road leading to Muddeung park, and to Jeunsimsa temple which is located at its entrance there are many traditional Korean restaurants with Kimchi, soju, and all the pork, beef, and chicken dishes you can imagine. Most of these restaurants are beside a river that follows the road and they all dump their waste into the river. Behind the river there are numerous vegetable plots, growing corn, zucchini, sesame, peppers, you name it. Makes for a strange harmony, between the restaurants, organic farming, and the families splashing each other IN the river or having a picnic beside it.

So me and Chantal walked this road for about an hour in the sweltering heat and we finally reached the temple. It's one the oldest in Gwangju. It has 5-6 meditation halls, one which has an iron Buddha dating from 9AD; another hall has 500 warrior statues behind a Buddha (not the original scupltures). Outside there is also a stone statue that dates to 900AD of an enlightened Boddhisatva. So me and Chantal were so hot that we decided to go in the iron Buddha meditation hall, lean back against the wall on cushions and we turned on a fan and rested for 20 mins enjoying the serenity of the place. Nobody hassled us, I guess you can come in one of the halls and meditate to your hearts' content as long as there is no official ceremony.

So now that we know about this temple we are planning on coming back to Muddeung Park, hiking for a few hours (we didnt explore the trails yet), having a free meal at the temple (they serve free food!) and then meditating for a bit. Sounds like a real sweet deal.

Hiking for High Altitude Gazebos and Gyms

Today (Sunday) I went with another teacher to explore trails on these green hills right behind my house. We hiked for about 30 mins, zigzagging up a steep trail amongst Korean cedars and pines, and those insanely loud crickets they have here. They're either crickets or cicadas but they emit this electrical sound, a loud and vibratory pitch that sounds like power lines. After much sweat and panting, wereached a wooden gazebo, built to accomodate hot and sweaty hikers I'm guessing, but you have to take your shoes off to sit in it.

Around the gazebo there was a few vendors selling water, juices, chips, and other Korean goodies, all this at 700 meters. Makes you wonder how they lugged all this up there. After a nice rest we hiked to another hill. We passed obstacle gym equipment, like chin-up bars, sit up benches, and weight-lifting machines! I kid you not, all this stuff is here for health nuts who like to sweat in black clothes, then bench press some pounds and do situps and chin-ups before attacking the next hill. Oh, and there was also a weird metal half-moon gizmo, with round wooden balls attached to its metal rods, a sort of a giant back massage toy that you climb on and roll off from. Hilarious stuff.

So we hiked some more and found another gazebo where a woman offered us some sweet baked rice paddies . Koreans are very friendly and hospitable. We took in the view and much water and rested for a while.

From up here you can see how Gwangju is made up of a central core surrounded by green hills, which are interspersed with high density neighbourhoods. Out of necessity, because there is 45 million people living in land the size of a third of BC, Koreans build apartment towers that are around 25 stories hight and built on the long and narrow. In a span of probably 5 blocks they can stack 5 or 6 of these towers, which is probably at least 5000 people.

This country is a land of paradoxes. They still have a lot of their environment but most of it is used for agriculture if it's not too high on hills, but at the same time their water supply is contaminated by industry and bad planning practices, all this while there is a huge health and fitness movement burgeoning.

So these were my little adventures for this weekend.

Take care everyone,

Gamsahamnida (may peace be with you)

Martin

The Snoopy kinder class (a portrait)

2005-07-15T09:04:00.000-04:00

well, we're starting to settle in over here...most of my classes are becoming more docile, except those d... kinder kids (the Snoopy class). You see in the Snoopy class there are 9 little 5 year olds...

Can you see me with five year olds, trying to keep them engaged and teach them English at the same time??!! These kids all have ADD disorder and are spoiled rotten by their rich parents, they're high maintenance I tell you...

You see, in the Snoopy class there's Jenny with her pig tails and her attitude, "I don't like you teacher, you're ugly," she told me the other day or "I don't want to do..." (kidspeak for I won't listen to anything you say), but hey the other she gave me a big hug because we were going to the playground for the first time.

Then there's Sally, the cutest little girl with glasses and the best attitude, really caring of others, to the point that when her best friend Sarah abandons her to play with the other girls, she puts on a sad little face and keeps clamoring for teacher's attention by doing everything to the letter.
Sarah is a spoiled crybaby with pretty little dresses and kindie dress shoes, mommy's little princess, she'll cry and scream if she can't get what she wants, like today she made a construction paper paper and she wanted a string for it...big crocodiles tears and tantrums....I ended going to the office after class to give her string...

Star is the smartest boy, doesn't really do the activities, only to get some teacher attention and pats on the head. Star constantly writes cryptic, medieval-like coloured Korean letters on his equally cryptic origami and construction paper diamonds and square patterns. Real smart, but not liked by the other boys because he doesn't like to play fight or throw paper airplanes around. Star always wants more Origami paper and things that I don't have or carry around with me.

Next we have Antonio, a little bully who wears his fluorescent-coloured sandals around his wrist, looking like a little kung fu or cartoon warrior, always ready to yell at the top of his lungs and to pounce on Andrew and Shawn. I had to put him on his knees in the corner or to pick him up and drag him away many times, often taking him off balance, picking him up off the chair he's standing on....Antonio has made a few boys and girls cry because he doesn't know his strenght yet I guess... hasn't cried because of me yet...

Shawn is a sweet little guy who is shy and quiet and listens well if not being taunted by Antonio or Andrew. He likes to do Origami and to try new things like colouring or games.

Andrew is Antonio's buddy and partner in crime. He likes to spar with Antonio but gets hurt once in a while. He doesnt usually participate much in anything, preferring instead to throw airplanes, tape things together and running around the tables endlessly with Shawn and Andrew. Occasionally Andrew will come upstairs to get teacher's things before class, carrying them downstairs for me....

Jennifer is another little girl of the Jenny kind but instead of mouthing off, she prefers to nonchalantly refuse activities and to draw little dolls and to lie atop the shelves where the kids' schoolbags are kept. Another spoiled little brat with princess clothes and sandals that light up with different coloured LEDs when she walks.

Lastly there's Nicole, a complicated, beautiful, and almost bipolar kid, up one day, friends with Sally and the next with Jenny, throwing temper tantrums, crying and hugging me in the same lessons. Easy to engage and wanting to please and sometimes she is rough with the boys, getting smacked back and forcing me to go and see the Korean teacher to settle a grudge with Antonio.

So imagine this little marm of complex personalities, spoilt attitudes, and mean like only kids can, now imagine me trying to have them play a game of "Memory" in two groups for 50 min...you get the picture...

Vacation to Jeju island

2005-07-14T22:14:00.000-04:00

Hey,

Off to Jeju Island we go! Well, I'll only have been working for one month and will be getting a 9 day vacation in early august (5 of which are paid!). Jeju island is like the Hawaii of Korea. We are going for 5 days. The price tag? $500 each--everything included. Fortunately, the school will give us an advance as our first pay cheque isn't until august 14th. (pay is once a month). We are taking a bus to Mokpo from Gwangju (6500 won or $7.00 canadian) and then a ferry to Jeju island from mokpo. The bus ride to mokpo is only 2 hours, and the ferry is 4 hours. (the ferry will cost us about $40.00). Travel is very cheap in Korea.

Once we are in Jeju we will be doing two days of one-on-one ratio scuba diving instruction with a professional scuba school, and spending the other two days touring the south eastern section of the island. Like I said everthing is included in the $500 price tag: transportation, motel, food.

We should enjoy this, as this will probably be our last vacation for while.

By the way...I've become a meannnnnn english teacher. (at least the little punk asses think so.) I've laid down the law for those who think they can throw things, scream till my ears pierce, laugh at me and speak in Korean. I think its beginning to work. Don't get me wrong, I have some real angels in some of my classes and some of the kids are so intelligent---not only intellectually but emotionally. I think that for the most part, the kids really like me.

anyways, got to go as martin in giving me a lecture about having to take a shower, and getting ready for school, and respecting his time schedule. blah....blah...blah....

chow,

chantal xo

Say NO to Soju!

2005-07-10T06:44:00.000-04:00

well, i have finally been baptised into my new life as a foreigner in korea. you wouldn't think, but Koreans LOVE to drink. In fact, if you don't drink you are viewed as being antisocial. I'm going to make this short as I am still super hung over--on you guessed it--soju. This is the short version.: went to a party, drank too many soju shots, got pissed, went to naribong i.e. kareoke, and sang my little heart out till 4 am. Yes, everything is ALWAYS open in korea.

Woke up this morning--thought everything was fine and dandy. Made home fries. My mistake? drank water. My body rejected water like oil rejects water. I puked my brains out for two hours. Went back to bed. My friends phoned: "Hi, Chantal. Do you want to go to the market?" Chantal says yes. I go to the market. Never go to an asian market with a hangover--NEVER! Think Vancouver's China town smell but 10 times worse. The worst part? Seeing dead dog for sale. Don't worry, if your sick and twisted (as I know some of you are), Martin and his friend Rob took pictures for you all to see.

YOu must be asking. What else happened to you today? Can it get any wierder? My answer: yes, it can. I was just standing there with my friend Terry, and this old Korean woman comes up to my friend and asks her if she can try some of her food. (it was chocolate filled biscuit). My friend offers her some. She takes it and that makes a sign to my friend that she is fat. She then proceeds to lift up her top (no bra) and pinches her own nipples. She is laughing histerically at us and gets the other vendors to point and laugh at us. All I can say is: wierd.

anyways, to hung over. movie time. signing off 8pm my time---4am yesterday your time.

chantal *~~~~~~~~xo

the journey to the movie theatre

2005-07-08T22:25:00.000-04:00

ok. let me tell you how it is in korea. EVERYTHING is built upwards. We wanted to go to the movies to see War of the Worlds...so in english sign language and a few broken words of korean we instructed to people that we wanted to go to the movies. One man pointed to what looked like a department store. So we walked up and up and up. After the department store there was a bathhouse (this was on the 4th floor). On the fifth, there was a billiards hall. As we climbed "mount massive building complex," there was entirely different universes. The movie theatre? The tenth floor.

once we got to the tenth floor we attempted to order our tickets. The movie sign was written in english for war of the worlds but the ticket price was written in korean characters. So....we had to match the korean characters with another sign that said the ticket price.. This is 20 minutes later.

War of the worlds was dandy on special efffects but sucked ass on content. Still a good way to kill time. I am becoming convinced that Korean society is more civilized than Canadian society is many respects. For example, you are allowed to drink beer in the movie theatre and there is space at the front of the theatre for people in wheel chairs. What kind of barbaric country is Canada might I ask?

I forgot to mention that the movie theatre is downtown. Downtown is like an organism. Once you walk into the downtown you feel like you are walking into another place where nothing is what is seems. Kind of like being in Alice in Wonderland. There is some wierd shit in there. I wish that I could explain the feeling of being there. When you enter downtown it is almost like being sucked into a vaccuum, into another dimension.

We will get a camera soon, and show you around korea. It will blow your mind.

anyways, got to go eat bipimpap and do some some grocercies and Home plus.

chantal

Bizarros and Kids a week later... (Martin)

2005-07-08T21:12:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

Last night we watched War of the Worlds. What a grim, content-less movie. They sure didnt spare on the gore. Weird movie with no real hero, in a way its a good meditation on war. Talking about war and terror... I'm in shock at the horror that unfolded in London, but paradoxically at the same time I am numb to it, partly because I expected something like this to happen, and partly because the world is so fucked up right now that anything is possible.

I still believe the same thing even though these attacks were done indiscriminately and for no good reason: the West has to do more to alleviate poverty and environmental degradation, both which breed deep resentment, hatred and extremism of this kind, whether its from Americans, Muslims, Africans, Indonesians, people on the Eastside of Van or whomever. The sociocultural products of resource capitalism, beyond the glitz and the "free life," are antipathy, envy, greed and ultimately terror and war.

Is there a way out of this crisis that we are in? The whole system has to shift its thinking, in its fundamental views.

Here is a draft version of something I am working on for a paper I want to publish for grad school...The capitalist ethos (The disposition, character, or fundamental values peculiar to a specific person, people, culture, or movement) has to shift from a culture of resource consumption to a culture of human potential development and ecological restoration, if not at least ecological preservation or maintenance; Otherwise the amplified despair and meaninglessness engendered at Ground Zero, in the realization that materialist culture is empty of meaning at its core (in terms of fulfilling human yearnings, for eg, the need for communication, community, compassion, love, acceptance, identity, belonging, creativity, etc) because its consumptive excesses have resulted in resource depletion, environmental degradation, toxicity, inequality, community disintegration, competition, greed, agressivity, depression, etc, which if endured lead to extremism and war.

As an aside here some more philosophical ramblings (skip to the next paragraph if you had enough philo-babble for today)... Maybe war is a mechanism whereby a society that has become bereft of meaning becomes angry in the face of the meaningless void it now faces; staring at its own bare soul, it is unable to handle the agony of the silence and emptiness it is confronted with, thus it becomes momentarily insane, freed from its social contruct, society returns to a primal thanatos, a primal state of creative destruction, acting out the mad dance of life and death, returning to a state of nature, that is, until a new cultural meaning is forged out of immense suffering and countless lives, a new meaning arises out of necessity to stop the madness and rein in a new spirit of compromise and compassion. Or maybe as Chris Edges argues in his book "War is a Force that Gives us Meaning," war is just something states engineer, usually exploiting a void of meaning such as one that we are in now, to increase their power and wealth (for what though?). Anyway enough rambling...

hope you had a good week studying, working and lazing around (maybe at the beach, you know you who are hehehe...). I just finished a rough week teaching my kids 's classes. My classes names are Bambi, Aladin, Snoopy, Bill Gates, KIng Sejong, Curie (the inventor of penicillin), Einstein, and so on. I found this cold water green tea to help me through my day, it's a regular green tea but the bag also works in cold water. Need lots of energy to deal with those brats...Enough about the kids, I'll go back monday and continue their military...err...I mean English training.

Last night (friday) we went walking downtown and saw a nabung room place, basically its a business with private rooms with a microphone and a TV with a few couches, rooms where you bring your friends, drink some beer or soju (Korean fermented rice alcool) and then sing to each to each using a Karaoke system. We might go to one of these tonight, with all the foreign teachers and korean teachers from our school.

Outside on the street I saw this amusement thing where you can try to be a karate (or taekwondo) master: there are two bricks laid out a foot apart and on top of them are double stacks of plastic sheets (1 inch thick) joined in the middle, so its like a stack of fake bricks. The goal is to "break" or split at least 3 sheets out of 15 or something to get a really small stuffed animal. I have yet to try or see somebody try it, but I'll get back to you on that and send you a picture once we get our digital camera.

Actually today might be shopping day because its been violently raining all night and it looks like it'll rain all weekend. Across the street from where we live I can see torrential water cascading down this green cement stairwell. There might be flooding in our region this weekend.

That's it for now, stay tuned for more tommorow or soon,

Take care all,

Martin

1 week in Korea

2005-07-08T06:58:00.000-04:00

well....its been one week in Korea. Got a new bank account, and a cell phone (all of which I don't know how to use). one of the korean teachers has to do everything for us like open up our bank account, set up our internet, etc....

My schedule is pretty hectic. I have two kindergarten classes in the morning. They are called Donald Duck and Peter Pan. At 1:20 i do my elementary schoold classes--which are a piece of cake compared to kindergarten. In kindergarten, there are several little demons who throw the entire class out of whack. I have started to ignore them--i think it is working. As I get to know my kids they will become more behaved.

Its unfortunate because in one month I will have to change my classes as I am only subing for a girl on vacation. There is a woman leaving in one month but she does ALL kindergarten!!! I made it clear today to the supervisor that I am NOT doing more than two kindergartens a day---let alone ALL kindergarten. I will kill myself if that happens.

on that happy note, i will sign off.

oh ya!!! its steaming hot here but its been raining for the past several hours. I live a five minute walk from the school, so the walk home was very nice (all cooled off and stuff)--until I opened the door to my apartment and found out that Martin left the heat on. grrrr. Its really cool though, the floors are heated. This is a luxury in Canada.

love ya 'all.

chantal

2005-07-06T10:18:00.000-04:00

hey kids this is actually a shot of a street in Seoul but it gives a good idea of what I saw in downtown gwangju tonight, a street closed to traffic with cell phone stores every three doors (literally) and with lots of vendors and clothing stores and lots of neon signs. What's really neat is that it is all chaotic but very calm at the same time, it doesnt feel like a north american market, which would be very loud and stressful.

http://www.blogography.com/photos5/SEOUL2night.jpg

Architecture in Gwangju

2005-07-05T09:20:00.000-04:00

A building in Gwangju...

Hello Everyone (Martin)

2005-07-05T08:19:00.000-04:00

Hope you are all doing well. I'm slowly adjusting to life here. Actually I've already gotten over the time difference (its 9:20 pm here on Tuesday night or 5:20am vancouver time on Tuesday morning), which is 16 hours ahead for us.

This town is amazing in its urban planning. Imagine neighbourhoods surrounded by medium-sized hills that are lush with vegetation and agricultural, little neighbourhoods that have really high density with building towers with 30 stories and measuring maybe 40 meters wide by 250 meters long.

Our neighbourhood has a whole bunch of Kimchi-serving restaurants and bars where they serve Korean whisky and coffee. Right next door to us there is a 7-Eleven and a little further down the street there is a Mini-Mart, a Korean counterpart. Right across our place is an elementary school that looks like a penitentiary, they dont mess around with education here, and across that school there is a nice lush green park with a kids' play area with a giant plastic mound that is adorned with climbing grips.

In the commercial area which is about 5min walk from our place, there is weird French bakeries that sell white bread for 12 dollars a loaf, a Big Mart (a sort of Korean Wal Mart that sells everything from weird fish and seafood, rice pasta, to white rice and imitation watches for 30 dollars). There is also lots of street vendors and mini restaurants. Thats just our neighbourhood, we'll go explore the cultural center of Gwangju on the weekend. Also, 2 minutes away from our place is the World Cup Soccer Stadium where Korea played in 2002. They have games bi-weekly, which we may go see soon.

Oh yeah, we got this crazy Daewoo washing machine, its called the Millenium washing machine (Ben you would love this), it's blue with weird lights and sounds and it whirls real fast.

My first two days at school were pretty hectic but I am learning to deal with preschoolers pretty quick. It's forcing to speak real loud, which is good practice for me. I am learning how to give my voice a mean tone because that is the only way to control the kids once they are running around the rooom in circles, trying to climb or hang on to your legs, taking the markers out of your teachers' box and throwing erasers and toys at each, while yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs for your attention. Just imagine me sweating and trying to prevent a kid from running away from the classroom while another is jumping on his friend or biting them. Some classes are real good, wioth obedient kids who actually do the activities and in some classes there is a few smart kids who have caught on to the fact that the foreign teachers dont speak korean or arent as harsh discipline wise as the Korean teachers. 6 to 7 hours a day of fun!

Well that's about it for now.

Check out these links if you want to find out more about where we are and stuff.

http://www.worldlive.cz/en/webcams-82-korea-south-1477-webcam-kwangju (live webcam)
http://www.gwangju.go.kr/gjcity/main.jsp (city site in Korean and english)

Take care everyone

Martin

We are wired!!!

2005-07-05T07:30:00.000-04:00

Hey guys,

We are finally on the internet, we finally have hot water, and we finally have a land land. I must say...we have it verrry good at this school. It used to be verrry bad (that is why i saw many bad posts about the school on the net) but i think that it has made some very positive changes. Our apartment is very beautiful and modern. It has hard wood floors, lots of light, and 6 windows. It came equiped with brand new blankets (funky asian style blankets), a tv, pots, utensils etc.... When we got to the apartment there was donuts, 100% orange juice, water, and cookies in the fridge. The school now has a foreign teacher looking after foreigners. I guess they figured that if they want to have a reputable school, they have to treat their teachers right. The school itself, is state of the art. We are talking hard wood floors, very modern buildings---they make our public schools look like a JOKE!!!!

I am teaching 2 kindergarten classes and 7 elementary school classes. Some of the classes are super cool, the kindergarten classes are a fucking nightmare!!!! Today, they all started running around the table like a herd of rabid animals and wouldn't stop. and then, they starting jumping on the tables and then one of them threw their water at me. Its very cute, though, they call me "chantal teacher."

anyways, i am very tired---probably because i am starving to death as there is literally nothing to eat here but kimchi, seaweed, rice, and a shitload of pork.(which i don't eat). I swear you won't recognize me when I get back. I'll be 100 pounds after living on a korean food diet. Everyday for breakfast we've been eating bimpap which is like a sushi roll with egg, pickled radish, cucumber and carrot. Bimpap is always served with 3 types of kimchi and a miso soup. The cost? $2.20 canadian.

hope all is going well in your lives. love each and every one of you in my own little special way.

chantal
xxx000

Going to Korea

2005-05-20T00:57:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone, this post just to let you know that we are heading to South Korea to teach ESL in July for a whole year.

Annyong!

The Simple Revolution

2005-02-14T02:47:00.000-05:00

The Simple Revolution: Shop less, eat better, socialize more, exercise, and enjoy your creative self!

Welcome to our blog

2005-02-03T16:07:00.000-05:00

Hello kids

Welcome to our little blog-nest... we are still furnishing it... photos and more to come...