Aug 29, 2012

shanghai

I'm back in Korea and have already taught one class, writing, and it looks like I'm going to be spending a decent amount of time on prep, so I won't be going to Japan. Plus the typhoon that's been hanging out has made me feel less adventurous.

On my first trip ever to China, my destination city was Shanghai. A friend met me at the airport and we took the subway into downtown. So it was nice to have someone there take out the initial shock of visiting a new place and figuring out what to do.

The first meal in China was sweet and sour cabbage, mapa tofu, and some greenery. My friend did the ordering and this was our third restaurant after the first two weren't vegetarian friendly. My first thought was that it was a bad food omen for the rest of my trip... but this was a great meal, even though the server seemed extremely nervous about serving a foreigner and spilled tea all over the table and then ran off. Quite the introduction to China.

Some of the things I noticed:
 A family sleeping on the street. They took off their shoes and went to sleep on a busy street corner.
 Cabbies have protective shields, smart idea.
 People treat the streets like a part of their home. And with the lack of space and sheer number of people, I can't say I'm surprised.
And after visiting other Asian countries, Shanghai felt pretty similar and things didn't seem all that strange. or different.

Aug 19, 2012

flying and landing

I set off by bus on Saturday for ICN and once on the bus, pretty quickly nodded off. Only to be nudged awake half way through the trip by the guy sitting beside me who looked to be aged somewhere between 17 and 22. He showed me a note: "Where are you from? ;)" Nice way to leave Chungju. And then at the airport, my flight was naturally delayed, but at least only for about an hour.

I flew China East airlines, which was kinda weird. They did give us a meal, surprisingly since the flight was so short. But it was pretty unappetizing anyway. I guess it's the thought that counts.
The orange juice and brownie cake thing were nice, but that was about all I was interested in touching. The guy next to me took about 2 minutes to hoover it all down, so some people enjoyed it a whole lot.


Then, for some reason, they decided that the in flight entertainment would be an episode of Shaun the sheep (which I showed all the time in middle school so I can't complain), but the weird part was the following celebrity entertainment/gossip show from about 10 years ago. It was all about Jessica Simpson, Nick whoever she was married to, Paul McCartney, Heather Mills and all kinds of people that have since disappeared from the headlines. No idea why it was decided that was relevant to show on a flight between Korea and China by a Chinese airline. Maybe it was a foreshadowing of things to come.

 And since blogspot, along with facebook, youtube, etc is blocked in China, I'm pushing my luck with this vpn and should leave it at that.


Aug 17, 2012

hello vacation

and goodbye Korea. I'm looking forward to getting to trade in all of the corn and barley iced tea for something a little tastier, but only for a little while.
And I'm also looking forward to a wider variety of soy milk. Because this is what I think about when I'm about to visit another country...

Aug 15, 2012

random collection

The schedule has been set for the next semester at my uni and shockingly it's not horrible, it's actually fantastic, thanks to my stressed out intervention. Which apparently was immediately obvious to my students (who like to comment on my face on a regular basis) because I was told "your face look happy" at the start of class the next day. Which is a whole lot better to hear than, "your face look tired" or "your face look better today" or any other random observations my students usually like to give me.

Some random shots:
 Kimbap, pumpkin salad and some tomatoes that a student made me for lunch one day. Which was all pretty fantastic, except I had to pop out the imitation crab and ham from the kimbap. I'm going to miss my summer students a whole lot. First semester was incredibly stressful and summer was the complete opposite.
 석종 temple, my favourite temple in Chungju and a place I like to go to think and just relax. I don't 
know what it is, but I always feel a little bit happier visiting a temple than I did before going.
 Abby boss catting it out on some pillows.
 The guy to the left is totally wearing hospital clothes and sporting an iv, which is normal practice in Korea. Even after two years, it's still weird to see hospital patients roaming the streets.
 A trip to the beach that was mostly rained out. Someone got a little ocd with everyone's bags and shoes and decided to line them all up. Whatever makes you happy.
The bus lighting, always ready for a spontaneous norae (singing) bus party. The microphone even comes with an automatic echo, just to balance out the various singing levels. An essential Korean experience.

As for me, I have one class left of my summer semester and then I'm officially on vacation and off to China! So more non posting in the immediate future!

songgye valley from long ago

Due to craziness, I haven't really posted much. So bringing back events from the past while, is a trip to Songgye valley.
Since it's summertime, it's super busy and we had to pay an entrance fee :/ This is a prime camping spot, and if you can tell from the picture, Koreans like to camp a whole lot differently than I'm used to. As in, side by side, everyone together. No space left unused, you pretty much walk through everyone's campsite to get around. And everyone brings a whole lot of supplies along with them to make sure their experience is as comfortable as possible. No roughing it here, or making bonfires, everyone brings a grill. But if you've spent your whole life in an apartment, I can see how it makes sense. But if you're a small town Canadian like me and grew up with a whole lot of space... it's a bit different.
 It almost felt like we were in a refugee camp because it was so packed.
 And even though it's monsoon season, the rain really dropped off, so the river had more rocks to offer than water, but there were still some spots to splash around in.
We also brought our own food to snack on down by the river. Not exactly camping food, but kimbap, japchae, beer and wine. And the people we were camping/squatting with were incredibly generous, as most Koreans in my experience are, and offered to share a whole lot of food with us. Which included a plate of dried squid, to the right. I've never eaten squid so I can't understand its appeal, but its ridiculously popular here...

Aug 4, 2012

bike failure

I don't know, if you've got a brace around your torso and are in hospital wear, I don't think you should really be riding a scooter around. Maybe there aren't any other options?

This is the weekend of bike failure. The clutch decided to give out on my motorcycle, while I was naturally in the middle of nowhere and now it's in the shop. And yesterday I took my bicycle to the shop to get a flat fixed, which resulted in a new inner tube. Today, from the disgustingly humid heat that has engulfed Chungju, the new inner tube expanded to the point that it stretched and pushed my tire up and out of the rim. So now I need to take it back to the shop for repairs. Or maybe I should just buy a couple more tools and become self sufficient. Either way, it's too hot to be going around without some form of transportation and losing both forms in one day is a pretty horrible way to end an otherwise awesome weekend.

Aug 3, 2012

napping in public

Is something I can't do, but it seems like most people here have no problem with it. When it comes to really public places, like streets, parks, etc. it seems like it's just men, but subways and schools are fair game for all.
 It must be nice being able to just rest anywhere, but I'm too paranoid to be able to actually rest or get any sleep.
 And that's probably because I know there are people out there like me that will take pictures of the people that do.

lake festival

This weekend is the lake festival, it started on Thursday and ends this Sunday. There's a bunch of events, concerts and sports... for free! So if you don't mind the excessive heat and humidity it's pretty awesome. Which I kinda do since my skin still feels pretty crispy from last weekend's sunburn that has now just started to peel.

Lake festivus is out at Jungangtap park, so like everything a bit outside of the city and not the easiest to get to if you rely on public transportation. But it's hard to miss once you get there.

 "Famous" makguksu restaurant, the most popular food out there.
 The prettiest makguksu I've ever had.
 And one thing that I still find fascinating about Korea, summer fashion. Back home, it gets hot most people wear less and soak up the sun. In Korea, it gets hot most people cover everything up and avoid the sun like the plague.
 Unless you are a guy, then you just hike your shorts right on up.
But for the most part, guys cover up and avoid the sun just as much as women.