Bloomin' Ulsan

April showers brought on some April flowers this year in Ulsan. With the winter months in Korea offering nothing but drab concrete scenery, April's blooms have been a welcomed change.
The most "famous" of these blooms are the cherry tree blossoms. The light pink and soft scent that lasted only about 10 days in Ulsan turned our barren winter into a beautiful spring scene again. We're now hitting temperatures in the high 20's, and Ulsan has once again become the more welcoming, colourful place we remember when we arrived last July.

The return of summer is all too reminding of the fact that soon enough, we'll be out of here (check out the fancy-dancy high-tech countdown feature of our blog). We've been in the midst of settling up our affairs, such as plans for next year, our teaching replacements, and our post-Korea travels.

Firstly, we've both somehow managed to get accepted into more university. I'll be plugging away at King's in Halifax for a one-year Journalism degree, and Colleen will be working on her Master of Marine Management at Dalhousie. We're both more than excited about this news. They were our first choices, and when the acceptance packages landed in Ulsan (after miraculously surviving the Asian mail system), we both jumped for joy. We're currently hunting for an apartment in Halifax, which can be tricky when you live on the other side of the world. The internet listings are helpful, and mom and pop MacDonald are good allies in Nova Scotia. Anybody have a room for rent?

Next, we secured our replacements for next year. The newest teachers at Sang Jin English Academy will be a lovely couple from Buffalo, New York; the first Americans to grace Mrs. An's establishment. We told her they're on the border, and that's close enough to satisfy her love for the Canadian accent. Eh?

Currently, we're diving into our South East Asia plans. We finish our contract on June 30th, and the next morning (Canada Day, no less), we'll be on a plane to Hong Kong. We wanted to get one more taste of China, and we're interested to see the blend with the British influences from the colonial day. Cheap electronics and Bruce Lee's star on the Chinese walk-of-fame are also on the itinerary.

A few days later, on July 4th (Independence Day... hmm... weird), we'll be off to Bangkok. We've heard so much about Thailand from our co-worker, Simon (a Brit by way of Bangkok), that we decided we had to check it out. We'll have a spot to stay with his gracious Thai fiancee Pbla, who grew up a few hours outside of the capital. She'll give us the dime tour of Bangkok, which will hopefully include some shopping, bar hopping, Muai Thai kick-boxing, the Thai Beatles, and the coup de grace of all travel -- a Bangkok dentist. I recently discovered that I need some fillings, and apparently the dental clinics in Bangkok are amazing and cheap. Beautiful dental assistants greet you at the door with a wheel chair. Ah, to be "wealthy" in a developing nation. If I return with a gold-plated smile, you'll know why.

After this point, our itinerary gets a bit foggy. We've got vague ideas of bumming around South East Asia, with Cambodia, Vietnam, and perhaps Laos in our sites. Simon's been filling our heads with all kinds of destinations, as he is somewhat of a S.E.A. guru. For more info on the area, you can check out his Cycling in South East Asia website. After seeing the sights, some idealistic beach time in Phuket will be necessary, of course. We'll also be interested in putting our new PADI Scuba licenses to use. We'll then return back to Bangkok, the major air hub of the area, and fly home. We haven't quite decided which path to take -- back across the Pacific, or maybe around the opposite way, with a potential stop in London UK to meet up with our pal Kate.

I plan on being back in Nova Scotia just in time for the St. Andrew's Big Top... if you're in the area, get on your drinking boots.

In other unrelated news, Colleen and I have become involved in the local ex-pat magazine, which is sort of a monthly lifestyle/travel mag. I've been writing articles and Colleen has been taking photos. Romantic, eh? It could be the beginning of something huge... maybe some day we'll take it underwater like Steve and Eleanor Zissou. Anyway, the magazine is called the Korea Sun, and you can click here to access the website. There are plans to soon expand it into neighbouring cities like Daegu and Busan. It's run by a fellow MacDonald, Sarah, from Saskatchewan. We've discovered that we may or may not be related... she's got roots in Antigonish. We think.

That's all for now... take care, one and all, we'll see you before you know it. For something really random, I'll leave you with a picture of a rooftop performance by Colleen and I at our last house party. The fun don't stop.


Jake

Photos from Facebook:
Colleen - March pt.1

Colleen - More March

Colleen - April

And The Visitors Begin Rolling In

Coinciding with the coldest temperatures of the year, January and February have been host to our first Canadian visitor's in Korea!

January 24th - February 3rd was Irme time.
February 8th - February 19th was Daddy Roman time!

Having visitors was exciting and strange, as we haven't hung out with anyone that we've known longer than 7 months really since we've been here! So having people that are parts of our past was a totally different and neat experience! Especially being able to show them around Korea for their first visit here!

Irme came with gifts of packaged pasta sauce, parmesan cheese, English magazines, chocolate and her witty banter!
We showed her around town, discussed our school politics, played Jenga with 10 year olds, and drank until we could not drink any more. Seriously.

We typically went out until 7 or 8 am, minus a stint we had in Busan (one city over), when we got in at 10 am after a crazy night in meeting up with a fellow x-ringer/Antigonisher, having dinner, hitting up a few bars, and then the casino... If grad week and Irme week didn't kill me, than I don't know what will! It did take about a week to recover though!

Great company the whole way through, whether "drunken" or sober, I think Irme enjoyed her time in crazy So Ko.

After recovering for approx. 4 days, my dad came over for a visit! It was the lunar (or Chinese) New Year, so we had a five day weekend! We took the opportunity to go up to Seoul for the first time, and meet up with my dad who flew in on a Friday night. Jake and I found a reasonable hotel, that was in transition from being a love motel, into a regular motel. The area was a little deserted, but the floors were heated, we had a water cooler in the room, fresh towels and instant coffee and tea every morning, two double beds and free VHS rentals all for $30/night! The stripper club next door was boarded up, and looked like it went bankrupt, hence why our hotel was no longer catering to the hourly customers, but transitioning into a regular hotel. The hallways were still adorned with red and blue lights though.

We picked up an exhausted and almost luggage-less papa Friday night around 10. After recovering the lost luggage at the airline office, we had missed the last bus into Seoul and cabbed it. The next few days we did some Seoul sightseeing. We went to Itaewon, which is a VERY western part of Seoul, where it was actually rare to see Koreans, which was mind boggling for us, but no big deal for my dad. We found some great pub food, bought some Toronto and Montreal Hockey jersey's, and explored for a while.

On Sunday we went to the DMZ on a half day tour. The DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) is the 4 km that separates the North and South Korean border. It is apparently the most heavily guarded border in the world, as the two countries are still technically at war, just at a ceasefire. The border is guarded with both Korean and American soldiers, who stare at the North, and make sure that the North doesn't cause any trouble. The soldiers on the North side are watching the South 24/7 to ensure the same. We got to check out some of the recently discovered tunnels that the North Koreans tried to dig in order to infiltrate Seoul... seriously strange stuff. It's one of the most bizarre situations in the world.

On our last night in Seoul, at Jake's insistence, we checked out a WWE show, who were conveniently on tour. We actually had excellent seats, and being one of the few english speakers out of 20,000 people, our chants and slogans stood well out and were actually acknowledged by some of the wrestlers. Jake yelled an extremely dated "LET'S GO SPARKY" at low-level wrestler Bob Holly, and we think only he and Jake got the joke.

Roman spent the rest of his stay bumbling around Ulsan, photographing many a Monk and school girl. Our boss, Mrs. An, graciously carted him around, showing him the sights. We took him out on an exceptionally dull night at the bar, leaving him to wonder if we actually had any friends at all. We do, folks. They were just... busy that night.

For those who wish to come over and take part in the Colleen and Jake reality camp, we suggest checking out Kayak.com, one of the best travel sights we've come across. We're already knee deep in it, trying to chart our course back to Canada in the summer.

All the best,

Colleen and Jake

**PHOTOS from FACEBOOK:

• Irme visits pt. 1
• Irme visits pt.2
• Seoul and Roman
• Roman and Seoul, with guest appearances by Ulsan
• Jake -- WWE pics (taken by an uninterested Colleen)
• Colleen's oldies from January **

The Beauty That is Boracay, Philippines.

Hello Hello,
So, the little 9 km long island of Boracay in the Philippines was sooo paradise, that Jake and I are considering purchasing real estate on it's fabulous beach. That will perhaps happen once we get some more degree's / credentials and land wicked jobs, so that we can afford to fly across the world during dry season, and then fly back to Canada in rainy season. The flights would really be the only expense though, as a cabin on the beach goes for about $1,500/year. Yes, that's right. One month Toronto rent in some dingy, basement apartment covered in mold, or a year in paradise.... Hmm. tough call, it really is.
Here, let me convince you more with a picture.

So, yes. Jake and I made the 6 hour trek via Korean Air to the Philippines landing December 29th in Manila. Early the next morning we took another flight, and a catamaran to get to Boracay Island for a 9 day 8 night stay. Boracay is nestled south of Manila, and north of Cebu, and is a tourist paradise, with abundant mango's, sprawling white sand beaches, clear turquoise water and where the rum is the cheapest ingredient in your rum and coke. And of course, it goes without mentioning the tasty local beer San Miguel, sold ice cold at 40 cents a pop. Sound too good to be true? Well, it isn't, but it didn't come without some preceding sketchy experiences...

Our quick and limited view of Manila was all we could take. Somewhere between the cockroach ridden hostel, the coked-out cab driver that refused to put his meter on as he continuously swerved in and out of oncoming traffic, the prostitutes at the convenience stores, the either homeless or drunks passed out in make-shift hammocks strung between two telephone poles on the highway, and the numerous locks, gates, and barbed wire surrounding our hostel, we lost interest in discovering Manila in greater detail and made a beeline for the islands that we had heard were world famous. We stayed in Manila for little more that 10 hours ( 5 of which were spent trying to sleep amid the cockroaches), and then got on a tiny Asian Spirit plane to Caticlan. From Caticlan, we took a weathered but friendly catamaran to Boracay. And then the sand, sunsets, scuba, and mango daiquiris began to sink in.

We stayed at a resort (note that the term "resort" is used very loosely in the Philippines) called Nikko's Resort. It was basic and clean, and we only encountered one cockroach, which (after a brief yelp) we accordingly sprayed with sunblock and kicked him out onto the porch to cook in the hot island sun. He only came back once. We called him Gary. He was an island cockroach for sure though, because he was so slow and lazy we could keep track of him at all times. He'd only move a centimeter or so an evening.

We befriended the awkward front desk employees, and spent the next 9 days in a luxurious environment we will always remember.

While in Boracay we got our PADI Open Water Scuba Diver certifications from French instructor Nadine at Aqua Life Divers Academy. We had four dives, up to a maximum of 17.5 meters. The coral and marine life that we saw, at such relatively shallow depths were breathtaking. All of the marine organisms and species that I have been fascinated with via text books, dissection labs and educational videos over the past years were swimming up to my scuba mask, and curiously peering at my fingers. We are now certified world-wide to dive up to 18 meters on our own. Hopefully, we will be able to use this certification sooner than later, and in more amazing tropical climates like Thailand and Malaysia!

We also celebrated New Years in Boracay, on a beach still warm from the past days sun. We rang in the new year at a Reggae bar, sitting in sand-sprayed bean bags and sipping mango daiquiris (which, yes, Jake and I spruced up with the 20 cent pint/mickey of rum that we purchased at the convenience store-- talk about convenience eh!? haha). It was an amazing night of warmth, sand, tropical senses, loud music, good food, bare feet and fireworks.

This is us after a fabulous New Years buffet dinner for a simple 200 pesos (php), or, approx. $5 Canadian. On our way to our New Years drinking spot.


Our trip was fabulous and usually included searching through the markets for cool shell jewelery, cheap and unique clothes, good happy hour specials (most bars it ran from 3pm - 8pm!), amazing ethnic cuisine from Italian and Greek to Mexican and Indian, a few dips into the sea, sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, taking pictures, meeting new friends and bartenders and listening to great music well into the night.

So, pictures really can say more than words for this unforgettable trip, so take a look at our metric tonnes of pictures!! They are well worth a peek!

**Colleen's Pictures: One , Two , Three , Four ** **Jake's Pictures: One **

Xoxox

December and Christmas

Hey there all!

It's been a while, we know, but hey.... that's us.

We've been real busy, and are both in the middle of applying to grad schools! Jake is applying for a one year B J, starting mid-August. Yes, thats right. Jake is going to spend all his earnings from this year on a year long BJ..... Bachelor of Journalism that is!... at the University of King's College. On their website they advertise all over the place things like "What a one year B J can do for you!" "Come to Kings, we offer the best B J in the country!" haha. It's awesome. But seriously, Jake's mind did a huge 'click' and a compact fluorescent light bulb appeared atop his head. He's real excited, and so am I! His resume is so stacked with relevant experience he's basically a shoo-in.

I've applied for 2 programs, but am not going to get into it that much for fear of rejection, and then everyone who had read this being like... "Colleen, it's October....weren't you supposed to have started school in that blablabla program yet?" and then the pang of rejection would replay itself over and over as I explained my shortcomings.... so... I'm applying to Dal for two programs. And my fingers are crossed. Please cross yours in the appropriate manner as well.

Needless to say, we are rather busy and behind in many ways, with many things, so please let this brief December and Christmas post rest your weary souls until we post about or fantastic, fabulous, wonderfully stupendous trip to the Philippines! Boracay was more than what I've envisioned paradise to be like. But, that story will come, along with millions upon millions of my fabulous photos... oh, and some of Jake's. haha. Actually I'm pretty sure that every picture ever taken on the island is an award winner though, as it's sooo naturally beautiful, even a shitty camera paired with a shitty photographer couldn't screw it up.

December:

The month was warm -- snow, sleet and rain free -- and rather quick! We participated in the usual: drinking, dinner guests, Karaoke with randomers, another English camp, casinos, drinking, food, a visit to the Busan Aquarium and ..... teaching? It was a nice month of looking forward to Christmas and then, on December 29th, the Philippines (Boracay) and New Years on the beach!

Christmas:

Christmas was great! We had lots of presents to and from each other, and a few from home.... well, Jake's home. Jake had a few from home. Or rather an entire Keith's 2-4 box filled with many individually wrapped presents, including some rum, an Antigonish shot glass, some Canadian maple syrup, socks, lots of Canadian paraphernalia compliments of the Antigonish Dollarama (god I miss that place), and many other things.

We had planned a giant feast between Jake, Simon, Byoung Chul, Min He and I, but the plans were ruined when Jake caught the flu after our 2 day 1 night camp-out in the Ulsan mountains, and then passed it on to me in the Christmas spirit on Christmas Eve. We had originally thought it was a wicked hangover, but then it lasted two days, and then I caught it for two more days... so the hangover theory was a miss. This flu was not a nice, gentle one, and was obviously contagious, so the festivities and food had to be canceled.

We had gone (Korean) camping (a.k.a. a hotel, but surrounded by nature) with a bunch of other foreigners living in Ulsan for the weekend before Christmas (the 22nd-23rd). There were 3 Canadian St.FX'ers (Jake, Darren and I), one American, an English bloke, a Kiwi, an Aussie, a few Irish and Scottish, some Korean, and a partridge in a pear tree. After arriving at 2pm, it began. Jake immediately convinced us all that "there's nothing wrong with a few drinks around Christmas time".... and the motto stuck, keeping the beer flowing (and when that was gone, the rum, and when that was gone, other people's beer) until 5am when we all decided enough shenanigans had ensued to call it a good Christmas drink. We laughed and ate mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, beer-can chicken and all the other good Christmas eats that we could manage to cook. We ate outside, and some complained that it was too cold, but us Canadians assured everyone that, no, it was not actually cold at all, but more like a Nova Scotian summer night. Hilarity ensued, Trailer Park Boys was watched, I made some 2am spaghetti for all interested parties, and we had a great time. It was a lot of fun and soo relieving to be able to speak English to people again, and have the same sense of humor, and to be able to use sarcasm and put subtle things into conversation that were understood and reciprocated. Talking to our Korean friends can sometimes be challenging and many jokes, sarcasm or subtle inuendos are lost in translation. So, despite the flu, our December and Christmas was fun and most certainly memorable!

That's it for now... back to applications. Stay tuned for a Boracay post!

Photos of:
November - *Jake's* & *Colleen's*
** December **
** Christmas **

4 Months In: Time Flies When You're Teaching English

Hello again,
First off, an apology for the lacking posts. It's a mixture of our laziness, the annoying sticky keyboard we have to type on (because we are too lazy and forgetful to buy a new one), our computer once again being swarmed with a strange virus that turns off our monitor every few minutes and then we are forced to restart the computer (well, now it's actually in the computer graveyard and we are in a stinky, smoky PC room or internet cafe), the daunting task of uploading and explaining my millions of pictures and not all that much going on in our lives!

I'm sure we've mentioned it a million times over, but times has just flown since we've got here! We are already 1/3 finished our contract, and we now know all the students at the academy by name (we're guessing around 200 of the little buggers). Most of the Korean names are a combination of two of these in no particular order: Young, Min, Cha, Dong, Bin, Yay, Hye, Un, Hee, Jung, Da, Ji. None of the names are gender specific either. For example, I've had a male Jung Wee, and a female Wee Jung, and both a male and female Da Oon. We know our students all by their Korean names, even though in Korean English Academy's it is regular practice to give the students an "English" name, and always go by that name in the academy, and when the students meet english speakers.

As our computer, and hence all our pictures and files, are currently unaccessible, I will just post the pictures that I uploaded to Facebook before our beastly and emo computer took it's own life, and include a short update.

Our first experience at English Camp was a ... ... hmm... strange but not too painful one. We hopped into our bosses Hyundai Mini-van at 5pm on Saturday with 10 students (that's right, plus, Jake, me and our boss!) , and headed to (one of) our bosses "beach appartments" about 45 minutes outside of the city.

Jake taught and sang the classic BNL (Barenaked Ladies for those of you that aren't the die hards) "If I had a Million Dollars", we made some curry for dinner (the students peeled the potatoes and carrots), and then slept on the floor. Well, everyone except me and the tiny little Cindy you will see in the pics slept on the floor. We got a queen sized bed to share, and though I was in a separate sleeping bag, I feared in the night I was going to roll over and crush her like the 10 pound bug that she is. Fortunately for me Cindy fell off the bed in the middle of the night on her own, eliminating that possibility... haha. She climbed right back on though, still completely asleep and unaware. Her mom told us that she hadn't slept the night before because she was too excited for English Camp, so she was pretty exhausted that night. My thoughtful students woke me at 5am, and the day had some more games, and then ended at the local fish market. We got back into Ulsan around 2pm with 150,00 won.

I was able to witness my first Korean concert on a soccer field at the local Ulsan University campus. It was pretty elaborate and interesting, though I didn't quite care for most of the music.. except of course, the latest boy band sensation Big Bang with their latest (and only) single "Lies". I'm going to try to get it on my Ipod and perhaps post it here. I have a video of it that I will post later as well!

Have a good one, we have to head to bed now. We'll write more when our new computer we ordered today gets in on Thursday. Until then, call us!

**Pictures 1, 2 , 3 **

Cheerios,

콜린 (Colleen) and 제이크(Jake)

Everything is bigger in Beijing

Thanksgiving is certainly a different holiday in Korea. While everyone is spending this weekend back in Canada enjoying gravy, turkey, and an extra day off, we in Korea have celebrated thanksgiving a long time ago, by eating chewy and strange rice cake treats called "Song Pyun" (I think). Chusok is the name for Thanksgiving, and it lasts 5 days -- the weekend plus three days off. The Koreans themselves returned to their hometowns and bowed to their grandparents, or at least that's what I could gather from the assignment I gave them called "How I Spent Chusok." Colleen and I took the opportunity to visit our giant neighbour to the west, China.

We booked a travel package with an agency based out of Busan (Korea's 2nd biggest city, 45 minutes from us) to Beijing. It was a full tourist deal -- pay a lump sum and be treated to airfare, hotel, meals, and even a Chinese local tour guide who spoke English and told cheesy jokes. His name was Duncan, and he was the man. There's a lot to be said about 'roughing it' and backpacking through the real parts of a country, but time was limited for this trip and we had no regrets choosing this option. Beijing was huge. Halifax is big, Toronto is much bigger, but Beijing is freakishly large. Without a set itinerary and an old pro like Duncan, we would have spent our 4 days running around in circles. Big, smoggy circles.

Our trip started with an early morning bus ride to the Busan airport. Our boss, Mrs. An, graciously drove us to the bus terminal at 8:30am. I'm sure it was no big thing for her, as she regularly gets up at 5am to hike mountains, but we were very appreciative. She gave us $10 each too, just like grandma. I didn't tell her, but it bought me a lot of 40 cent Chinese beers. We soon arrived in Busan, met up with our friends Jake and Alison (see previous posts about them... yes, I realize Jake and I have the same name), and hoped aboard a Chinese Air vessel bound for Beijing. The first thing we noticed was the white people. For the first time in 3 months, we were part of a big white group, primarily made up of English teachers like us. The second thing I noticed was the hysterical Chinese newspaper they gave me on the plane. Reading their state-controlled press certainly informed me that I wasn't in Kansas anymore. The big protest controversy in Burma (which was headline news on CNN International) wasn't covered until the 5th or 6th page, and they never actually mentioned what the protests were actually about.

As soon as we landed, we were whisked on our tour bus (which would become our second home for the next 4 days) and introduced to tour guide Duncan (who would become our second father for the next 4 days). Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. This was where the emperors of China would come to pray for good harvests and lucky lottery numbers. We hadn't previously heard of the Temple of Heaven, but we soon recognized it's famous Hall of Prayer, which is often used as a symbol for Beijing. The temple, situated on about three square kilometers of Beijing park land, was beautiful, and was an excellent appetizer for the grandeur we were to view on the rest of our trip. Back in the day, what the emperor wanted, the emperor got; the Temple of Heaven was on the smaller end of the imperial temples and palaces we were to visit. It was littered with guys selling everything from Beijing 2008 Olympic t-shirts to Rolex watches (of the $1.50 variety). Actually, I'm fairly certain these guys followed our bus around Beijing. Afterwards, we were treated to Beijing Duck (formerly known as Peking Duck). This famous meal, synonymous with the city, was brought out whole from the kitchen and then thinly sliced by the chef at our table.

The next day, after an early morning wake up call and delicious Western-style breakfast (a rare treat for ESL teachers in Korea... perhaps worth the entire price of the travel package), we were off to the Summer Palace. This place was absolutely stunning. Basically, the emperor wanted a place to hang out in the summer, with a lake, in Beijing. And a mountain too. So, they built a vast man-made lake, and used the excavated soil to build a small mountain. What the emperor wanted, the emperor got. It also featured the world's longest corridor. We're not sure the Asian obsession with corridors, but yeah, it certainly was long. Next, we were bound for the city centre, home of Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. This was another instance which reaffirmed that we weren't in Kansas anymore. Our tour guide Duncan described Tienanmen Square as the world's largest city square, home to many festivals and such... and... was where... "those students and the tanks and things happened." It certainly struck home when we came into view of the front gate of the Forbidden City, with the massive painting of Chairman Mao, that we were square in the middle of where a lot of wild shit had gone down. The square was packed, with tourists of all nationalities, and salesmen of all levels of dignity. One was so persistent that I eventually caved and bought a Mao wristwatch (which now, only works if I flick my finger against it). The Square was also well endowed with a vast Olympic display. The city is certainly pulling out all the stops for the games. We soon entered the Forbidden City, the place where the emperors of old would live. The place was inhabited by the Emperor, his 3,000 concubines, and government officials, all eunuchs. What the Emperor wanted, the Emperor got. The place was well guarded, too. The cobblestone paths upon which we walked were 15 layers deep, in case assassins got the balls to tunnel under the walls. The rest of the palace was an array of buildings and gardens, laid out much like a maze (which was why myself, Colleen, Alison, and Jake got separated from the group -- or lost -- for a period of time). Afterwards, we enjoyed Mongolian BBQ and made our way to a Chinese acrobat show, which was simultaneously the most amazing and horrifying thing I've ever seen (and I've been to a few live pro wrestling events).

The next morning, Duncan (who lovingly became known as "Dirty D," due to his bringing us to the most random convenience stores -- all owned by his "cousins" -- to "buy the beer and the pepsi") informed us that Chairman Mao once said that a man is not a hero until he climbs the Great Wall of China. That morning, we were to become heros. When we arrived at the Great Wall, I was struck with a real sense of an authentic "holy crap we're in China" feeling. We had visited Tokyo, which was fantastic but was well endowed with Western comforts. We live in Korea, but the shock has settled down and it's starting to feel like home. But the Great Wall slapped me in the face and made me wake up and smell the Chinese ginseng tea. We were to climb one of the Wonders of the World. 3,000 steps and one hour later, we made it to the top, and to our surprise, we ran into a couple of X-Rings. Even more surprising, was the fact that I had gone to elementary school with one of the X-Rings. Small world, no? We were sure to snap a few pictures for our friends at the Alumni Office. The coolest part of the Great Wall, aside from the magnificent view, was that is was sort of a converging point of world travelers. We heard more languages than we could count, including some Russian guys singing old army marching songs, to a Mexican Soccer team galloping up the Wall shouting "Arriba!" Colleen and I, being Colleen and I, ended up spending too much time at the top, and realized we were late for the bus. We soared down the Wall, shaving about 50 minutes off our climbing time, and dooming our thighs and calves for the next few days.

The next day was a 'free day,' ie - we were left on our own to tackle the giant, and we took in some shops, which meant some intense bargaining. There is no such thing as a sticker price in Beijing, and you have to usually talk the shop keepers down about 700% before you make your final deal. I'm pictured to the right with a woman who tried to sell me what she called a "C-U-B-A" bag, before I educated her on the country of Cuba. Our other stops included the Beijing Hard Rock Cafe, Tienanmen at night, and a cool lakeside restaurant/bar area. Beijing was mind-blowing. The architecture was huge and innovative. The people were fun and full of life. And the beer was dirt cheap... there's nothing wrong with a few drinks around Thanksgiving. We had an opportunity to drive past the Beijing National Stadium -- best known as "The Birds Nest" -- which was still under construction. The building was too immense to describe (largely built on the backs of Chinese guys getting paid next to nothing). They do everything big in Beijing; always have and always will. My one concern about the Olympics in particular is the terrible air quality. The sky was hazier than I've ever seen. At many points, you couldn't actually see the sun, more just a big bright yellow smudge of a circle. I sure wouldn't want to run a marathon in that stuff.

On the whole, the trip was absolutely magical. You truly felt a certain uniquely intangible sensation in Beijing, where its mystical history and culture is beginning to mash with western world foundations, but still holding strong. It satisfied our travel bug for a while now (or perhaps ignited it further).

Hope all is well back in the true north, strong and free!

-Jake

PS: Click the following links for our pictures!
Jake's Facebook album (1 of 2)
Jake's Facebook album (2 of 2)
Colleen's Picasa album (the big one)

September Adventures

So, September has come and almost gone!
We've switched classes, which will happen every two months, so we have a new batch of kids to get to know and learn. That's 5 - 8 classes of new names! It's thrown a much needed change of pace into the work schedule though.
September has been somewhat quieter than the past few wild months, but not a lot quieter! We went to a dance club one night to satisfy Bla's (Simon's gf) unquenchable desire to go dancing since her broken foot had finally healed. So, she got the names of a few clubs, and we went to the one that was supposed to be a 20-25 year old crowd, what we thought would be a fun night. We all got on our dancing shoes and headed to New Concert dance club in New Downtown. There were some serious looking but scrawny Korean bouncers at the door in suits and headsets. We were nervous there was a dress code, but in the end it seems there wasn't. (Though I was later informed that there was an "age code"... any Korean older than 25 is rejected. Good thing Simon is British and intimidating, otherwise he could have been kicked out because he is 35) The place was HUGE! Absolutely large. The ceiling was a few stories high, and there were tables and booths everywhere, and then a huge dance floor at the front with a giant stage, and a d.j in center stage that rotated every song set (as shown in picture!).

So, the dance floor was rocking, we got some beers, and then Bla and I went to dance. We started grooving to some really cool remixes, all of western hip hop and pop songs. It was nice to hear songs we knew.... even though I hate those Much Music songs in Canada, they were a rare comfort here on the dance floor. Dancing to random Korean songs just wouldn't have been the same. So, we are just getting into it, 3 or 4 songs in, and the music stops, moves into a slow tune, and everyone leaves the dance floor. Bla and I are confused. We go back to our seat and drink. In Korea, a lot of things are organized or pre-decided for the youth by elders. Opening a dance club must have come with its rules by the older generation, because a dance club this big and popular and hot, and with such great sound and music is probably too taboo and Western for the average Korean parent. So the Korean flair is that the music stops/slows every 5 songs exactly, so that no one get too tired, exhausted or too close and sexy with a member of the opposite sex that they would get the chance to hook up. Then you go back to your table with your friends, and wait for the next 10 min dance set. It was tooo weird. The second you get into your groove, the music stops and everyone leaves. It was definately a way mostly to deter close dancing and mingling of opposite sexes, as the groups of friends were all single sex. Actually, the majority of people on the dance floor were groups of guys dancing together in a circle, breaking out intense dance moves. It was strange to have a mainly guy dance floor, as girls are usually the overwhelming majority in Toronto clubs. The age limit also probably ensures that if people do hook up, they are within 5 years of one another in age.

We also went on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Busan, Korea's 2nd largest city (Seoul = 1st). I needed to shop, and Jake needed to go to a casino! Casino's in Korea are only for foreigners (another example of controlling citizens behaviour), so they are obviously rare, as the clientelle pool isn't very large. We had some nice dinner, chicken galbi, went to the mall where I got a few unique articles of clothing, and then we played Black Jack and Roulette at the Busan Lotte Seven Luck Casino!

Jake and I are heading to Beijing for the Chusok, or Thanksgiving, holiday for 5 days and 4 nights Sept 22nd-26th. We just got our finalized travel itinerary and take a look at our 5 star hotel!! The Loong Palace Hotel has 9 restaurants (2 clubs) and anything else you need for sports, spa, cinema, bowling or anything else really. We are very excited. Here's our travel itinerary!
Only one more week of work 'till we hit up China!! Yaaay! I am super stoked for the Beijing duck, acrobat show, Forbidden City, Great Wall and Tian'an Men square!!
That's it for now, here are my pics!

** Colleen's Pics**