so long sweet summer

so, tomorrow is the first day of september, and it can't help but stick in my mind as the end of summer and the arrival of the (at home) back to school season. here, it means ... not a whole lot, since school's been going strong through the hottest months of the year. it does mean our 5-month korea-versary is around the corner though, and again i marvel at how quickly the sand is passing through the hour glass. i live in this weird paradox of feeling like i just got here and feeling like i've been here forever. it's hard to wrap my mind around.

one thing i miss about being "new" to korea is the awe at all the weird different things this country considers normal. how quickly we've become accustomed to (and, mind you, have respectfully embraced, criticized, laughed at, and abhorred) things like everyday korean style, the ubiquitous sale and consumption of alcohol, drunk-in-public businessmen that accompany the ubiquitous sale and consumption of alcohol, lack of safety for pedestrians, lack of safety rules in general, cheap ice cream treats, cheap cigarettes, caramel popcorn at the movies, being objects of attention because we're caucasian ... etcetera, etcetera ... i really could go on and on (and on).

having mark's sister ali here was sort of a re-awakening to all these wonderful korean things. she left us copies of her pictures, and it was refreshing to see our stompin' grounds through someone else's new-to-asia eyes.

who needs a real-life employee when you can just have a volunteer mannequin direct traffic away from the construction zone? click to enlarge

mondo bugs are everywhere.

pizza school - pepperoni with cheesy crust in my personal fave, but you can get corn or pasta or potatoes on your pizza too ...

mark posing as a ... white guy ... for a random's photo

appealing (and again, life-like!) statues enticing you into a restaurant in myeongdong.

parent-less child going for a stroll, every day sighting.

frosted flakes!

snazzy umbrella bag machines, saves drips on indoor floors. excess waste not considered ...

why use the road for your motorbike, when this sidewalk is just that much handier? it's also common to see cars on pedestrian routes as well ...

so happy september to you all! i'm excited for less humidity and teaching my students a three-syllable month name.

i know complaining about the weather gets you nowhere, but ...

the view from our apartment on saturday

the rainy season is ruining my life. i use the word "ruining" in the loosest fashion possible, obviously. rather, it's inconveniencing my life. disrupting plans. causing us to stay in our apartment all weekend after a canceled white water rafting trip and avoid getting washed away by the intimidating torrential rain. being outside is like having a shower with your clothes on, and our clothes-line laundry won't ever dry because it's so damp outside! using my over-sized umbrella only prevents my head from getting wet, so our short jaunt to school requires packing a change of clothes (and thankfully i found room in my luggage for my rubber boots, as they're being put to very good use).

apparently, the rainy season used to last for about two and a half weeks."from july 4th or 5th, to about july 21" my korean friend informed me last week. very precise. however, global warming/climate change/what have you has extended the time period, and now it's length is unpredicatable. unnnnnnngggggggggggghhh. (that's my groan of disgust).

this season makes me cranky. but at least simon and martina have made this thorough video so you can get the jist of what i'm talking about ...



send sunshine thoughts our way!

the rainy season is upon us

and as much as i hate to say it, it put a disappointing damper on our weekend plans. pun intended?

originally, we were scheduled to head to ganghwa island for a mini-vaca: a little escape from the gsa (greater seoul area, so you're familiar) for some r n' r. i imagined us re-doing muskoka in korea: quaint log cabin with cozy bunks, lounging on the beach, swimming, sunning, boozing, eating lots of yummy food. and yes, this fantasy is likely a far cry from what would have been, and our "cottage" would've likely turned out to be something typically korean, like a crowded homestay with mats on the floor for sleeping, or a musty canvas tent. but, whatever.

regardless, any kind of cottage dream never materialized, as the torrential downpour massively hastened any getaway enthusiasm. seriously, there was new meaning brought to the term, "when it rains, it pours" - when we woke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:45am to begin our holiday trek, it was pouring. and the weather forecast called for... more pouring. needless to say, plans got nixed, and the only silver lining seemed to be returning to bed for some much needed naps.

the rainy season folks, will likely stick around until august. the air is sticky hot, and at least three typhoons are expected during the season. dear god.

happy happy MAY to you all (the best month of the year, really)

i promise (i promise, i promise ... ) the apartment tours/photos are coming soon! once we get around to putting them together, of course.

that being said, life in our new pad is great. we are sincerely enjoying the three bedrooms + two verandas + two tv (!!!) set up we've got going on. we've scheduled a much needed house-warming party for next monday, and invited our co-teachers and new friends over for celebratory drinking. monday is perfect, you see, because we've got tuesday off for "children's day". this makes me laugh, only because i remember asking as a kid, in relation to mother's day and father's day - "mom, when's kid's day?" to which the quickly quipped response was always: "children's day is everyday." welp, in korea, it's may 5th, and it means a holiday for us. wuhoo!

our weekdays have fallen into a routine of sleeping in until 11am, making bacon and eggs, getting ready for the day, and going into school for 1:30pm. can't complain! next week, we'll start teaching our newly added class of grade nines, which should be interesting. 6 classes back-to-back for me, in one day! let's see how it goes ... teaching in general is always interesting. the classes i like versus the classes i dislike are slowly becoming definitive. the grade 1/2 class i have first thing on alternating days is quickly starting to stand out as a least favourite! in a class of 10, seven of the children are well-behaved, likeable, and seemingly adorable. three, on the other hand, are nightmares, and overturn the entire class! seriously, what to do with a 6-year-old who doesn't speak english and swipes all of his notebooks all over the floor and doesn't listen to ANYTHING is say? i spent about 3 minutes playing tug-o-war with him over his pencil case that he continues to empty all over the table, and not clean up, and bang around all of its contents, and disrupt everything .... then i figured that leveling with a 6-year-old wasn't really on my agenda, and i gave up. time to shame him! (also known as, making him stand in the corner with his hands in the air for however long i please. i figure it's a much more humanitarian version of hitting them with the stick. which, as a reminder, is permitted).

this weekend it's supposed to rain - AGAIN. we were adventurous and headed into seoul last weekend despite the torrential downpour. we wandered around myongdong's shopping district with shanna and dave, where i had to do my best to be frugal in the home decoration stores (all i want to do is decorate our apartment!). i managed to get away with a fancy toothbrush holder that suctions to the wall, and a pack of 30 cat postcards (seriously, less lame than they sound, despite what my sister had to say). the cats are all posing in well-known pics! mona lisa, girl with a pearl earring, marilyn monroe ... kitschy-cute. there was a massive veto on mark's behalf for their original post above the tv on our living room wall. fine fine, they've been relocated instead to above the kitchen table, where they now decor with cat-pride. yes! after venturing to myongdong, we took the subway to hongdae around dinner time, with intentions of experiencing the much-heard-about ice bar and other night life. needless to say, after a day of wandering in the rain and umbrella-jammed streets and being soaked in general, an ICE BAR probably wasn't the best idea. we paid 15,000 won to get in (one drink included) and ended up being the only people in there! pretty sure the koreans who worked there were laughing at us ... regardless, we got some good photo ops, and shanna and i complained enough to the boys to depart after the one drink. that day, we also relished some delish home food - burgers from craze burger, and mexican from dos tacos! one wouldn't think the koreans could do mexican (and believe me, the mexicans can't do japanese, so go figure) but, oh, so, delicious! i suppose you can never really complain about a 6000 won (under $6 CDN) meal anyway.

speaking of mexican, my grade 5 class today was asking how many canadians have died from "pig inpluenza" - i was all, wtf?? swine flu!? how entertaining that not only are they up-to-date with international news, but also that it translates as such. the engrish just makes it that much more humourous. apparently, we've lost 4 koreans to it. yikes! not that i'm one to joke about international epidemics, or anything ... heh.

we were hoping to explore more of seoul this weekend, but the rainy spring weather is keeping us close to home. not really enthusiastic about a day of rain-wandering again, thankyouverymuch. we've convinced dave and shanna that uijeongbu noraebongs are more inclement-weather-friendly, so we're going to cruise around the downtown area tomorrow night.

last night, we experienced the korean movie theatre, and went to see wolverine. yay to english movies with korean subtitles! we were probably more smitten (or mark was) with the infinite arcade within the movie theatre. suddenly, the ubiquitous "crane game" is mark's new obsession. we've already accumulated two (ahem, useless) toys, and i'm sure there are many more to come as he insists on having a go at every machine he sees (which are conveniently located on every.single.corner.) i, on the other hand, was taken with the option of having both sweet AND salty popcorn at the movies. hello, caramel corn! it's also convenient that koreans have no idea about jacked-up movie concession prices. a huge tub of popcorn for less than $4.50 CDN! seriously, unheard of in the western world.

alright, time for bed for me; apartment pics to come in the next 48-72 hours, promise.
love you, MISS you! xoxo