So yeah...

...keeping an updated blog is much harder than I thought...The only thing I will say about the tardy entries is that in Korea, I am spending more time living and socializing than I did in Toronto, which is quite nice. I am learning to be more balanced in work and play and learning to be less of a workaholic.

Anyhoo.


Since my last entry, there have been many new ventures to new part of Seoul. I should really post them right now because if I put it off any longer, it will not make it.

I don't have the pictures from my birthday party...so I will upload those later...but here are some photos from the best part of my day. To my surprise, they are with the preschoolers!

My new kids (from back to front): Shina, Alfred (with the bowl cut), Daniel, Louie (in his favourite referee shirt), Sunny and Thomas with the peace signs around his eyes

Daniel and Louie

SUNNY: you know how kids run up to you with their arms wide open?
Sunny does this while calling, "HEIDIII TEEEEACHAAAA!!!" and jumps into my arms.
You can't help but love love love him.

Another reason why I love Sunny is because he remembered my birthday...
We did the date routine and he had said, "Your birthday is in four days!"
I was thoroughly impressed by his memory and number sense.

I lobe you, Sunny!

When I first saw this birthday party setup, the first thing that ran through my mind was that I ALSO HAD THIS IN HONG KONG!!!
The only thing that was different was that I did not recall getting a candy necklace to put around my neck.

Olivia, Emily and Jason blow out their candles.
I now understand why mums are so obsessed with their children's birthday photos.

Our class sang three songs--one for each birthday girl/boy.
We sang, "Oobie Oobie, Follow Me and ride ride the bus"

Heidi Teacher with her Penguins

My birthday girls!
I was very proud of Emily...she wore high heels with dignity and did not complain once

Jason: He is one of the smartest boys in the Penguins class.
He is also one of the nicest as he let Emily have the red necklace. I told him that the green matched the green polo design on his otherwise orange shirt...he is a sweetie pie.

Alfred and Sunny ignores me as they watch the birthday party video online.
They love Tom and Jerry...

Daniel: He says, "Fire extinguisher" like a pro.

Louie and Shina enjoy their birthday party snacks.
Louie has a stack of Pringles in his left hand and tried to grab more with the other...all preschoolers love to hog. It doesn't matter where you go haha

More photos of my weekend to Mokpo and Jindo will be posted soon. My camera ran out of batteries and our photos are on different cameras...gotta track down people and post soon.

More comments on my work/school schedule shall follow...stay tuned :)

The Dark Knight...

...was awesomer than The Mummy the Tomb whatever blah blah blah...Heath Ledger was so great as The Joker and he played it with such consistency...it was amazing just to watch him do that thing with his face.

Two-Face's face was also AWESOME!!! I did not expect it to be so gross because the animated series people downplayed the darkness of these characters by keeping the faces simple and less-gross detailed driven (if that did not make sure, whateverrrr).

There's nothing else to this entry other than the fact that I saw the movie and it was much better that my last movie experience...

A friend at work also introduced us to congee near the kinex. It had small clams in it. I love everything with the clams in it...it's very delicious. It was such a large meal, I had it for breakfast this morning and for tomorrow...hmmmmm gukkkkk or congeeeee...


OH! This next weekend is a long weekend! It's Independence Day...we will celebrate Korea's independence by going to the beach, I think. If Angela has her way and everything works out as planned, we will travel to Jeju Island...woooooooohoooo

The Mummy III

We saw this on Thursday...Let's just say it's a rental, if that at all...my advice is to wait for it to come on television and watch it then.

There were several things that I disliked about the movie but the most transparent and superficial one is that this new Evelyn sucks. It's not that I don't like Maria Bello, she was awesome on ER or whatever but Rachel Weiss IS EVELYN!!! I can't believe they did the movie without her. That was stupid. Other things that bothered me included the amount of English spoken by Chinese people...I don't understand how that makes historical sense. I am just going to pretend they never made a third one and watch the first and second Mummy online...

I did not intend for this entry to be a movie review but that movie just hit a nerve...it sucked and I'll never get those two hours of my life back!

Other than the movie sucking...the whole movie watching experience is quite different. You have to line up to line up to buy a ticket!? That was new. I couldn't get over the fact that we had to line up to line up...that's just ludicrous...

In terms of the price, the cost of one ticket was 4,000 wons so it's relatively cheaper. Dean ordered this dried squid snack that's baked with peanut butter...it was quite good but all the peanut butter taste evaporated.



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NEWS: Work begins again on Monday, which means traveling will be restricted to weekends

Hanagae Beach

Going to Hanagae Beach with Angela was quite the adventure but more than anything, the two day/one night venture took my comfort level and run with it. My point will be quite evident when you see the pictures.

This was our new friend trying to explain to Angela where we were...or where he was going...it was difficult communicating with others.

This was a man we met back at the Incheon Airport. He saw the two of us flustered and in need of our bus. He approached us and offered to help. At first, I was bit nervous talking with him...he asked about our ages and where we were going so Angela did most of the talking. Later I discovered from Angela that asking about age and things was just customary. He asked to establish rank or hierarchy so that he could show respect accordingly. Lesson learned!

When I learned that he was a nice man, I took a picture of him so I could remember his kindness. Here, he is carrying his fishing rods, cooler and pack for a four day/three night fishing trip. We learned this information about him when our bus broke down.

View from the ferry

Photo of the bus driver radioing for help from another bus.



While we were waiting for the another bus to pick us up, the man we met offered us his cooler drinks! He was so kind so I told him we would only share a coke (his water was frozen, Mom). We took one only so we wouldn't put a dent into his food supply for his trip...so kind and generous! Later, he helped Angela with her pack, too.

While we were waiting, he also tried to communicate with us by writing in the sand. He told us that the tide would lower more than usual at 23.25 on Saturday. We had to tell him we were leaving that Saturday and he look sad because we would miss it :(

Regardless, the tide was low the entire time we were there. You will see for yourself.

Here, we go again...on a better bus!




A rice field


A farm house: Can you believe somebody lives in that?! CRAZY!

Vacation apartments under construction.


This summer vacation house reminded me of Janine's cottage. It has a similar colour and size even though the deck is on the wrong side and it isn't on a lake...but on the side of a mountain...yeah...


Arriving at Hanagae Beach: you have to pay 1,000 won to enter the beach gates. We later had to pay 50,000 wons for our accommodations.


This was our accommodation.
It's called a hut.
I thought I stretched my comfort level by coming to Seoul...let's just say my comfort level went
KABLAMO!!!!!!!
at Hanage Beach.

Heidi in her hut.
I must add though, that Angela and I were lucky.
There were groups of 5 or more staying in these huts.
(And yes...people can see into your huts if you don't close the window. But if you do close them, you will suffocate and die. So we chose to change in the cover of darkness with the lights off haha)

Sunset at Hanagae Beach.
Family and friends come to the beach at dawn to set up their tents. At sunset, most people pack up and go home for the night.

On our way to see what everyone else is looking at...

Low tide at sunset

A view of the huts from the shoreline.

Heidi is waving to you.

Heidi looks for crabs.

I can see why people would think that I am Korean in THIS picture...but I also know why they would think I look weird hahaha

The sunset, the breeze and the company were amazing!

The thing about Hanagae Beach is that it's a tourist trap. Everything is expensive and none of the locals were stupid enough to be caught in these restaurants. We were not as clever and were forced to eat in one of them. The lady must have thought we left our brains in Canada because she pointed to one of the most expensive meals on the menu. We did not leave our brains in Canada and ordered the famous clam udon meal. When the woman told the chef our orders, she looked thoroughly disappointed. It's not our fault we don't have money. It's sad really, because you can tell that it's a family restaurant and they depend on tourist for income...

Heidi: in the hut.

After our venture out to Hanagae Beach, we picked up the guide book and decided to pamper ourselves at the sauna. We traveled back to Itaewon for three hours only to discover that the sauna place no longer exists...you can imagine the rage that ensued, but by then I was too tired to have a normal conversation. We went home and swore to never go back to Itaewon ever again. More on why in another entry...just thinking about it gives me the chills...


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ON THE WEATHER: It's been raining consistently throughout the day. Considering how I've been out most of the week, I decided to stay in and catch up on my sleep. Work starts again this Monday and a good night sleep is unlikely to occur...

APARTMENT HEADACHE: My air-conditioning machine is dripping!!! It dripped so much that it soaked my covers, my sheets and the mattress! I opened the cover to find that the filters were clogged with dust and disgusting whatevers...I will have to look for new filters to line the machine. Maybe that will stop the dripping. For now, I've had to move my bed toward the centre of my room and use a plastic bowl to catch the drips...it's a very ghetto way to fix leaks...

My Apartment

A view of the side of the room. Those are guest chairs...but we usually sit on the floor around the round table now. It's more comfortable on the floor now.

My gas stove

The corner of my room with my huge wardrobe.
There's a drawer near the bottom for extra storage...

This is my new bed for the year. Justin got me new pillows and sheets for the year. They look great...he kept the tags on to show that they were new haha

My computer desk is next to the bed.

The bathroom is probably the most different room in the apartment. The shower does not have its own section so the water goes everywhere when I shower. Practically, it can be inconvenient sometimes because you may have to pee after you just wet the whole room...but in terms of cleanliness, which I am a big fan of...this system works well because you can just through your shampoo everything and rinse it down.

One disgusting issue that has come up is flies. Apparently, they like to mate and spawn under neath the sink area. One time when I sprayed the bottom, entire family fall down and into the drain. I make sure the spray there with LOTS of bathroom product now haha

The apartment has been extremely kind to me...nothing breaking or falling apart...I definitely like being able to clean and sweep everything more efficiently due to the limited space. It works out well in the end.

PLANS: beach with Angela

NEWS: Hannah set to arrive for this Friday...FINALLY!!!