Clock Boy

Daniel. Remember him? My clock-loving kindergarten? I don't have Daniel for homeroom anymore - but I still have his class for science and show and tell. Normally show and tell is boring with the girls bringing in one of their numerous stuffed animals, while the boys bring in the latest "yu-gi-yo" cards and toys. But Daniel... Oh Daniel .... First, he brought in a calender. Then an alarm clock. Then a stop watch. Then a cooking timer. I thought by this week he would have run out of clock/time things to bring in. How could I have doubted? - this week he brought in a sand clock, in addition to telling me exactly how long he's owned it and how old he was when he received it and how old the clock will be in the year 2010. I have about 15 show and tells left with that class (um... I'm not counting); I'm looking forward to seeing if Daniel can continue bringing in time-themed objects.

Gyeongbukgung Palace

Went to Gyeongbukgung Palace in Seoul on the weekend.
(My pictures/Craig's pictures)

Cultural Festival

Saturday night, Craig and I went to the outskirts of Goyang to see the Cultural Festival, which is open every night from now til June. It turned out to be a Niagara-Festival-of-Lights-like display. They were pretty impressive.

There was an art gallery in the park showing art that uses light. The left photo is a 3D image using light and the right photo is a light tree using x-ray photos.

Tight-rope walkers, unicyclists, and dancers performed on a huge stage.
(Craig's Pictures)

Jolly Jumping Jelly Bean

At the outdoor mall in Ilsan, there was a bungy display set up for kids to jump and have fun (click to enlarge).

Bibbed

Craig and I stirred up some tak kalbi after searching for backpacks. The ajumma gave each an apron while cooking it, but, as you can see, no one else was given an apron. She probably thought us two foreigners would make a mess of ourselves.

Tak Kalbi: chicken, cabbage, dok, sweet potato, green onions and hot sauce.

Books

Tagged by Clara:

Q: You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Does that mean a book I would burn? If that's the case, I would bring The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. Reading a Newfoundland accent is harder to understand than listening to it.

Q: Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
I was 10. His name was Gilbert....... I fell for Gilbert Blythe from Anne of Green Gables.

Q: The last book you bought is:
Trans Siberian Handbook by Bryn Thomas. Not a novel, but it's thick like one.

Q: The last book you read:
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides (now like to see how Sofia Coppola did the movie). And Skinny by Ibi Kaslik

Q: What are you currently reading?
Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. Makes me feel like I'm at home.

Q: Five books you would take to a desert island.
Now, is it a desert island so that no one can see what I'm reading - or is it so they are the longest books I can find to occupy the time? Hmmm.....
1)Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood - I could read that book over and over
2)Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - an excellent 'lost in a book' book
3)The Lord of the Rings - I've never read it - probably should
4)Little Girls in Pretty Boxes by Joan Ryan
5)The Meaning of Wife by Anne Kingston

Q: Who are you going to pass this stick to and why?
Clara, you're the only person I know who has a blog - Wait, unless Matt wants to - I'm sure he's read more books that I ever will.

War Memorial of Korea

Last Sunday, Craig and I checked out the War Memorial in Seoul. There's a ton to look at outside the museum, and the museum itself is huge (I guess with being one of the biggest war museums in the world, it'd have to be). Inside it had displays on every recorded war Korea has been involved in, with a whole floor dedicated to the Korean War. It was quite interesting. They really went all out on the displays, giving every detail. Didn't realize that it would take us almost 3 hours to walk through, but it was definitely worth going to. Here are Craig's pictures.

Laptop

Problems arose with my laptop lately. The piece in the computer that connects to the power supply became loose. It was working on and off for awhile; but since last weekend, I'd been offically without a computer (which, by the way, made me very productive).

Even though it was under warranty, I didn't bring the all-important receipt to Korea to prove that.

So Craig and I took it to Yongsan this morning (electronics part of Seoul) to see if someone could fix it for a decent price. Without English, we managed to find someone to look at it. They had to replace it with a new piece - with the price coming to....1,760W (a whopping $1.75). The labour in Canada alone would have cost me $50.

So there's my lesson to be learned. If I ever start complaining about Korea, I will think about the $1.75 which gave me access to 4 more months of emails, eat my dolsot bibimbap and hold my tongue.

Warm Weather and Spring Flowers

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I can try out my newish camera (Panasonic FZ3) a little more. Here are some spring pics I took during my break between kindy and elementary. You can tell I'd make a pathetic botanist from the titles. Click the pictures for a larger view or go straight to my flickr page.

blooming

feeding bee

white

purple

purple grey

buds

Happy Birthday Brett!!

Three birthdays in the month of April (Craig, Mrs Jang, Brett). We celebrated by going out for tak kalbi (chicken) and for drinks with the staff.

Brett, Erin, Jei, Mrs Jang, Laura

Ellie, Mimi, Julie, me

Signs of Spring

Craig took some pictures to prove that winter is officially over.

Blossoms outside our apartment

The path by our apartment

COEX

It rained yesterday, so Craig and I did what 3 million other Koreans did - go to the COEX mall.

I may have lied, Clara. I thought I wasn't familiar with Lush products, but after seeing this stand, I do recall checking it out when I was in Vancouver - but look! Lush has found South Korea - or the other way around..... I didn't indulge though; I need a proper non-Korean shower (and a tub) to enjoy these products.

The Attack of the Flying Pig

Koreans, Koreans everywhere!!

Huh?

As we rode the subway, we tried not to stare ....but how can you not?

S-E-O-U-L

Brett's really into football (soccer) and knows when all the games are here. We travelled into Seoul yesterday to see Seoul's football team go against Bucheon (a neighbouring city). Half the fun was seeing the World Cup Stadium, which was built for the 2002 World Cup. The stadium holds about 40,000 people, so the 5,000 who attended yesterday didn't look like a lot. I've never been to a soccer match before and as the weather gets even better, I'm looking forward to attending a few more games while I'm here.

If you have the time, download a clip from the game - the crowds chanting one of their many songs.

This just in....

I was talking to my brother today. He works as a marine mammal trainer at Marineland now. He always has great stories - but this one beats them all. I would tell you myself, but Glen is so much better at telling stories. I didn't believe him at first. We've made fun of Jean Chretien's strangle incident for years - and for this to happen - unbelieveable!

Stress Balls

On the way home from Suwon, there was a man selling stress balls on the subway for a buck. A bunch of people bought one, including Craig. We were both pulling on it, making shapes - and no sooner did we question what was inside the ball, the balloon burst open, sending flour flying all over us. And it just so happened we were on a busy subway car, so everyone stopped and stared at the foreigners who had flour all over themselves. Everyone who bought one of those stress balls soon stopped pulling on it like we were - and laughed at us instead.

Korean Kindness and Toilets

After the Fortress and kalbi, the 4 of us went to the Miller Bar down the street. We had drank a few rounds already when a Korean speaking excellent English came over with the biggest bottle of Miller I've seen and said that they were celebrating a wedding and the beer was for us in celebration. Days, sometimes weeks go by when you wonder if anyone is friendly in Korea, but days like these remind you of the generousity most Koreans do have.

In the meantime, Laura was telling me about the 'special' toilets in the ladies room at the bar. They had heated seats with buttons on the side. Laura said she has never pressed them, but supposedly they are air fresheners or for making sounds to cover up any "unwomanly" noises going on in the stall. So on my Miller buzz I decided it was a good idea to test out all the buttons on the seat. I quickly learned that one button was for squirting water as high as my standing height. It wouldn't shut off, so I pressed all the rest of the buttons, which set off the "cover up" noise that sounded like a lawn mower (why that sound? is that going to make people less suspicious?). Eventually everything stopped, but it taught me never to play with toilet buttons ever again.

Hwaseong Fortress

Fortress Pictures

Yesterday Brett and Laura invited us to Suwon, where they used to live. They took us to see the Hwaseong Fortress, a wall that was built around the city over 200 years ago. It's a walk and a half, but we ended it with famous Suwon kalbi......

Happy Birthday Craig

March Field Trip

Yesterday was our March field trip with the kindergartens. We took them to see the Wizard of Oz at a theatre in La Festa (the main shopping area in Ilsan). It was all in Korean, so Ellie let us four foreigners shop around while the play was going on. I think the play was a little too scary - when we met the kids as they were exiting the play, there were a few that were crying - probably from the witch?

We then bused the kids to a nearby Folk House in the middle of Ilsan that's 140 years old. That was quite interesting. It's amazing that there's this historic building hidden in amongst all the apartments and businesses.

The day didn't go without the odd kid puking or a few tears, but what's a kindergarten field trip without it, right?


Up the stairs at the Folk House

Little doors for little people

Kimchi pots

Having a snack

Brandon