A Moving Dinner

Tomatoman

In my absence, a new hero has risen. Plastered all over Won Dang (my old school's neighbourhood) are signs of the new Korean Saviour: Tomatoman.


It's definitely strange to be back; The athmosphere is a bit like going back to High School after all of your friends have graduated. Things are mostly the same, but feel slightly off.


The flight from Vancouver to Incheon was uneventful, though painfully long. Had time to watch four movies, five TV episodes, the entire new 25-Track Broken Social Scene album, as well as attempting to nap for three or four hours.


Will be spending the weekend on Jeju Island, which is off the south-western coast of Korea. Should be fun!

Vancouver!

Now awaiting: Vancouver - > Incheon.

Safe and sound so far. I severed three toes and four fingers, but a 5 hour flight was more than long enough to reattach them. Nothing else to report.

See you tomorrow.

The Toronto Surprise

Was off to a merry start this morning (Waking up at 4am to catch the Ottawa-Toronto flight at 6). Got to Toronto, and I didn't have a seat assigned for the following Toronto-Vancouver flight; As it turns out, Air Canada likes to overbook. Out of the 250ish people in that plane, I was one of only three turned away. Nevermind that I booked back in February.

The flight couldn't even be rebooked for today, so now I have a surprise day-long layover in Toronto. There is a compensation package, though: Free hotel, three meals, and a 500$ travel voucher valid for one year.

Not bad - but it still sucks; I'd rather be there on time.

C'est la vie.

22,464,000 Seconds Later

There's a website for everything.

Evidently, by the time I land back in Korea, I will have been gone for (roughly) 22.5 million seconds (thank you, timeanddate.com).

Between May 5-23rd, I shall be playing Tourist in my former country-of-employment. My old school has graciously accepted to allow me to stay in the school dorm during my stay, which will include visits to new-sites and re-visits of old ones.

FEATURING:

--Jeju Island ------- a Temple Stay--------Karaoke----













and, of course










One more month.

May

The Wrap-Up

As promised, I bring you one final blog entry, concerning the most Frequently Asked Questions I've gotten since I've been back in Canada. If you have any questions I haven't answered, ask away!

What will you miss most about Korea?
The food is exceptionally good, mostly healthy, and very cheap. So there's that. I'll also really miss all the friends I made while there, Foreign and Korean alike - and of course, my students (or most of them, anyway).



What was the best trip you took?
That's not an easy question, because there were ups and downs on all trips. My favorite attraction that I visited was very easily the decaying section of the Great Wall. It was historic, challenging to climb, beautiful, and slightly forbidden (Since that section was closed to the public). Great mix!

The best overall trip, though, I think was Japan. Even though we had some disappointments, such as not being able to see Mt. Fuji (while it stubbornly stayed in a cloud all day), it was a fascinating place to just walk around.

The Euro-trip was quite fun as well, but traveling alone gets a bit lonely.

An honorable mention to Hong Kong, which was also quite cool.

Inside Korea, my favorite attraction was the famous Penis Park, (pictured to the right) that I visited way back in October (near the town of Samcheok). It's something that's really out of character for the normally conservative-Koreans - You just wonder who decided to come up with the idea 'Lets carve some Penises to appease the gods'.

Favorite overall trip (Inside Korea) was Gongju, which had a multitude of things to see and learn.

Do you think you'll go back?
I'm sure I'll go back to Korea sometime. It might not necessarily be to teach, but at least to visit (there's a wedding or two I plan to attend).

If I end up going back to teach, that will be because my job search hasn't yielded anything I'm satisfied with. If things don't work out here in Ottawa, then I'm planning for a Korean return around January (which practically means I'd have to restart the application process sometime in late November).

How's the food?
Spicy. A lot of it is spicy, but there's something for every taste. Korean BBQ (Galbi) and Bulgogi are not to be missed!

Go try some. There's an excellent Korean restaurant on Rideau called Korea Garden.

How much Korean did you learn?
Enough to order food, give directions, and generally get by. One of my regrets is not learning how to read - a little more communication with Koreans in their native tongue would've given me, I think, a better understanding of the culture. Still, I knew enough to realize the challenge that they faced when learning English - a language that is structurally incredibly different.

Who did you teach?
Who didn't I teach?

The most common ones I taught were adults and elementary-level kids (4 times a week). Two or three times a month, on Fridays, Kindergarten-aged kids. Once a month, High School girls (no boys!), and occasionally, mixed groups of middle-school kids.

I can't say I had a favorite group to teach. With the adults, it was great to learn more about Korea as I was teaching them. With the kids, it was great to see them having fun while learning, in a way only kids can.

That's all, folks.

Writing this blog has been a great experience, and it's probably the best Souvenir I've gotten from this adventure. Again, a big thanks to those that took the time to read it and all of those who sent encouragement throughout the year.

See you out there.