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.

Home

After a 7 hour flight from Ireland, and an hour and a half flight from Newark, I finally arrived home on Saturday. To my surprise, even flights that are only connecting to the US have to go through their customs (meaning you have to pick up your baggage, pass it through customs, then drop it off again).

Of all places I've been to, it's the only one that operates like this. Kind of makes you want to avoid the States altogether.

It feels terrific to be home. Many subtle things have changed (Metro? Where's Loeb?), but most appears to be the same. It's really home - finally.

As for this blog, I'm afraid its run its course. I'm planning on keeping my ears open in the next few days for the most common questions about Korea, and post up a wrap-up Q&A sometime soon.

Many thanks to everyone that kept themselves updated, and sent me encouraging comments throughout the year - it really meant alot. If anyone from Korea still reads this, thanks for contributing to an awesome year.

See you soon.
Thanks for reading.

The Dublin Report

Having only two full-days to explore Dublin was not nearly enough to see all it had to offer, but I tried to make the most of my time. My hotel was about 40 minutes away from the city-center, so I had to access it with a tram (Dublin has no Subway system - the first time in a year I didn't have access to one).

The center is really where the bulk of the action happens, with countless museums, galleries, cultural centers, and general entertainment. I spent yesterday just waking around it, enjoying several museums. They are free, but most don't allow cameras.

The weather is pretty cold, hovering between 9 and 15 degrees, with a constantly strong wind. There's also sparkles of rain every few hours - nothing big, just enough to make those cold, underdressed, uninformed tourists pop-out from the locals (Yep - I popped out).

Today, I visited Dublin Castle, which was somewhat unimpressive; it houses a few exhibits, but is largely used as a government complex. There didn't appear to be much left from the original structure, which dates back to the 13th century.

The day was redeemed, though, when I visited the Guinness Storehouse - a 7-floor exhibition very near the Guinness breweries. It talks of the history of Guinness, the brewing process, advertising, and so on. This year, it's celebrating the 250th anniversary of the beer - which started in 1759. At the time of the creation of the complex, Arthur Guinness signed a 9000 year lease with the city - costing him a whopping £45 a year.

The place offered free 'tasting samples', as well as a free Pint at the end of the visit, while sitting in a bar that gives a panoramic view of Dublin. Needless to say, it was a terrific visit.




















Well, that's it.

Tomorrow I finally head home - I leave at 9:00am from here, and land in Ottawa (after a short stopover in Newark) at 2:40pm. Lets hope storm Danny doesn't give me too rough a ride.

Being able to say 'I'll be home tomorrow' feels incredible - I'm very excited, and will see all of you very very soon.

Happy Friday!

Ireland

Landed in Ireland safe and sound. Here's the view from my hotel.

I'll start the exploration tomorrow.

Cheers.

Juno Beach and Parisian Catacombs

Reaching Juno Beach was not very easy. The part of Normandy where one finds the allied beaches is a two hour train ride from Paris, followed by an hour and a half bus ride from the city of Caen (pronounced the same as - in french - Camp ou Quand).

Juno beach itself is located in a small town called Courseulles-sur-mer, which also houses the Juno Beach Centre. Surprisingly, I was the only tourist from Paris that seemed to make the trek - most other visitors were with a tour, or were just the local French people... though if I didn't speak French, I would've had a hell of a time finding anything.

The Centre was quite informative, and helped give perspective on the Canadian view-point during the Second World War. Since it's located in France, though, a substantial amount of it is used to teach basic facts about Canada - according to a guide, only 30% of the visitors are Canadians.

The beach itself was not really what I had pictured. I'd always had the movies-perspective of having to run up over a hundred-meters to reach the mainland. While that may have been the case at the time, it certainly wasn't yesterday (although I was told that the Allies attacked when the tide was low).

The few remaining Nazi bunkers have been mostly dismantled, and no longer have a good vantage point of the ocean, as giant banks of sand have been moved in front of them.

I walked for a few kilometers Southwards, to try to reach Omaha beach (One of two American landing points), but since I didn't see it after walking for an hour, I decided to turn back so I wouldn't miss the last bus back to Caen.

Trying to imagine the Canadian assault on Juno was difficult - It's a very peaceful region. But the few leftover signs of the War (including limited amounts of barbwire) gave clues as to what transpired on the beach. It was definitely a unique experience, and I'm glad I took the time to visit it.







Today, I went somewhere a bit closer (only a 20-minute walk from my Hotel), the Paris Catacombs (Thanks for the suggestion, Lis!). Due to overpopulation of cemeteries in the 1700s, causing disease, many of them were destroyed, resulting in having to exhume the (apparently indifferent) skeleton population.

They were placed in abandoned mines, under the city. There are just thousands upon thousands of bones and skulls to be found. It's a little creepy, but begged the question of whether or not one of them could be my ancestor.

I spent the rest of the day walking around the city a bit, and finally relaxing a little.

Tomorrow I leave Paris, and head to Dublin, for the final leg of my year-long adventure.
Four more days 'til home.

Whee. Take care.

Paris: Eiffel Etc

I spent the weekend continuing my exporation of Paris, first starting with the Eiffel Tower. I was lucky enough to snap a very cool picture of a rainbow-cloud hovering right above it, early in the morning.

I had decided earlier that I wanted to take the stairs up the tower - Hey, after climbing the Great Wall, how lazy would I seem if I took the elevator, right?

As it turns out, that was a pretty sharp idea. Taking the stairs is half as expensive, and take a look at the line-ups -->

On the left: Elevator. On the right: Stairs. Best of all, there were two elevator line-ups.

I snapped this one from the first-floor of the tower. As you can see, there's a truth that's valid anywhere you are: People are lazy. Using the stairs was a bit tiring, but I definitely climbed faster than anyone who decided to use the elevators.

Afterwards, I headed to the Musée de l'Armée - a place that's pretty much the equivalent of the Canadian War Museum. There were excellent exhibits about the two World Wars, Charles DeGaule, medieval weapons, and most impressively, a cathedral that houses the tomb of Napoleon.

On Sunday, I headed for a few more notable landmarks - the Notre Dame cathedral as well as the Père Lachaise cemetary, which houses the remains of different ranges of important figures - from Molière to Jim Morrison.

I've really enjoyed the sight-seeing thus far, but the one I'm most excited about lies ahead - Juno Beach, where Canadian troops stormed the German front during World War II. I'll be heading to Normandy early tomorrow morning, to spend the day there. I'm planning on visiting the Juno Beach Centre, a museum that presents the Canadian point-of-view to the Second World War.

Have a good week!

6 more days 'til I land in Ottawa.

La France

After a long, long day, I arrived at my hotel, last night. I woke up at 7am (Korean time), due to slight nervousness on my part. Shortly after 10, I bid GEC goodbye for the last time, and headed off in the rain.

I took off from Incheon at 2pm. This was an 11 hour flight. By the time I arrived in Frankfurt, it was 1am (Korean time again). After a two hour stopover, I reached Paris at around 4:30am. By the time I got to my hotel, it was right around 7am again.

Thankfully, unlike in Japan, there were no screwups when it came to the public transportation. It actually feels quite incredible to be able to speak to people and understand signs again.

I really missed it.

This morning, I got up early and headed off to my first sight-of-choice: Le musée du Louvre. It's ridiculously large, and holds an impressive amount of things that are actually historic. You might already know that the Mona Lisa (La Joconde) is there, but I was surprised to find the Venus De Milo as well.

There's an incredible amount of history in that place. The Louvre was a former palace, used by French Royalty, and the architecture strongly reflects it.









Comparing the numerous Asian palaces and temples I've seen in the past year, they are not even close to the sheer beauty of what's found in the Louvre (which is definitely not to say that those places weren't beautiful).

With my first full-day winding down, I snapped a picture of my goal for Day 2:

















Cheers