Repatriate Me!

Due to a perfect storm of multiple family emergencies in conjunction with being insanely busy teaching and my web business blogging will be light for the next while.

Oct 31, 2009 Comments(1) Share on:

family - emergency

On Friday, we had our mid-term staff meeting and following that a few teachers went out to an ice bar called “Wa Bar” Here are a couple of pictures.

Picture on the wall

Beers from around the world.

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Oct 25, 2009 Comments(0) Share on:

food - friends - korea - statue - photoblog

Today I ordered Jajjang Myon for dinner for my kids. This is thick noodles in a black sauce with bits of pork and vegetables. Despite not being Chinese food it is only available in Chinese restaurants and is a popular dish to order in. I know it’s not Chinese food because about 10 years ago I had a Chinese Korean student in my class who owned a Chinese restaurant and I asked her. She told me that it’s Korean food, but every Chinese restaurant has it because it’s expected.

One thing I like about ordering food in Korea is that everything you order comes in real dishes, not paper or alumnimum. Once you finish eating your meal, you put the dishes back outside your door and about an hour later the delivery guy comes back and picks it up.

Jajjang Myon (자짱면)

Oct 22, 2009 Comments(3) Share on:

food - korea

One of my friends, John M, sent me this link to a Dave’s ESL Cafe thread which has several links within it and lots of good information. I’ve bookmarked it to Delicious for future reference. Will be going through the various links in closer detail. I also know the user Captain Corea and will be calling him up to find out more about that special passport his wife got.

Oct 20, 2009 Comments(0) Share on:

canada - immigration - forums

My inaugural post in the 5 Things category was about 5 Things I will miss about Korea. Now it’s time to talk about 5 things I’m looking forward to about Canada. Just a reminder, this will be a regular style post around here where I talk about 5 things – either good or bad about Korea or Canada.

1. Grass not the kind you smoke, but rather the kind that you have on your front lawn and in parks. Grass, in Korea, is a protected and endangered plan or at least that’s how it seems. You can look at it, but not touch it. When you go to a park, you can see the grass, but it is all fenced off. Instead you are expected to bring a mat and lay it out on either the cement or packed dirt. There is only one park that I’ve found where you are allowed to use the grass to sit on, play on or whatever. – Next summer, I’ll be sure to take a picture of one of these signs
2. Snow It barely snows in Seoul – this is both a good and a bad thing. It’s good because I don’t really enjoy the cold too much, but it’s bad because my kids are missing out on building snow forts, tobogganing, snowball fights and building a snowman. Not too mention ice skating, skiing, ice hockey and street hockey. All things that I enjoyed as a kid.
3. Supermarkets Can you say selection, I knew you could. While the selection has improved a lot in the time I’ve been here in Korea it’s still pretty low and prices are much higher than in Canada. Additionally I“m looking forward to walking down supermarket aisles which are wide enough to fit one cart going in each direction and a little extra space. Many of the bigger marts here (e-mart, hyundai, grand-mart to name a few) have everything packed in so narrow you can barely fit two people in an aisle let alone 2 people with carts.
4. Driving I look forward to driving in a country where traffic laws are actually obeyed, enforced and respected (for the most part). Here driving makes me angry every single time I get behind the wheel. In the 5 minute drive to my daughters school I can guarantee to see 3 or more cars run red lights and be cut off at least twice a week. And the best part is that if a cop does see this, they ignore it unless that particular law is being enforced for that month. Yes in Korea laws are occaisionally publicized with a 1 month crackdown during which drivers will follow that particular rule, but as soon as it’s over everyone goes back to being asshats in a steel box. Driving in Canada will be peaceful and relaxing.
5. Anonymity In Canada I will be able to blend in wherever I go. Here I stick out like a sore thumb and on occasion get stares & glares just because I am a foreigner. Not a pleasant feeling. This has definitely reduced dramatically since I first came to Korea in 1997. In any case, I won’t have to think about it at all once I’m back in Canada.

Oct 19, 2009 Comments(4) Share on:

5 things - canada