Bathroom Business

I reek like bleach, my hands feel like they have been exposed to an acid peel and my eyes are stinging a bit haha oops. I went a little nuts cleaning my bathroom tonight. Everything smells like public pool. For those of you who have experienced my anal nature first hand this next part may not to come as a surprise to you- for the rest well, welcome to Dom land.
I will have to supplement this explanation with some photos because it would be nearly impossible for someone who isn't a plumber to understand. Plumbers out there- you can disregard the photos. lol.

Anyway... this is the top of my toilet. It is in front of the counter. This wasn't always the case. The idiots who installed the toilet seat installed the toilet first and then the counter lapped over the lid and could not be put down. I had no bathroom seat and I had lost 2 toothbrushes and a handful of elastics to the toilet dungeon. This was unacceptable. I took the lid off thinking that it would be an easy matter to take it off the toilet and put it back on so it would sit in front of the counter as seen in exhibit one above and the photo below.

Well as you can see (sort of) in the third toilet photo there are pegs that you have to hook the toilet seat into. They are hidden obviously but they're there. it was easy enough yanking the lid off but putting it back on was a whole other matter because I couldn't get the pegs far apart enough to slide the seat back in. SO lol, I had to saw down one of the pegs so I could get the seat back on. Well sawing didn't work with a paring knife. I had to use a lighter to melt the plastic down. Now for those of you who have been to the odd party or two with me back in Waterloo you might be familiar with my pyro side- who knew it would actually come to practical use.

At any rate it worked and I was able to slide the lid back into the pegs and now I can save some toothbrushes and maybe skip a flush once in awhile! Just thought I might share. I thought it was pretty hilarious. It's totally an unrelated Korea thing. I would have done it back home but I would have had better tools at least lol.

Did my immigration office trip today. Get my my Alien registration card and my passport back with a multiple entrance VISA. Japan here I come!! Until next time...

Hajjjiimmaaaa!

As much as I am hesitant to admit it I'm slightly hungover but I am awake and alive in Madison's apartment. We got to her apartment around 3am and I stayed as she went back out. I woke up to her pounding on her apartment door at 7am which was hilarious. I though maybe it was oneof her friends looking for her. She didn't have her key for some reason. She mumbled something literally incoherent and then passed out on her couch. I have never seen anything funnier in my life. I am currently updating my blog on her mac book waiting for her to wake up so we can eat and I can go back to Gwangju.
Getting to Seoul was another hilarious matter (disclaimer: sorry mom and dad and al the authority figures I respect-I love you and dont get mad but the next bit is about me being pretty irresponsible but there's a happy ending!!)
My training (well certification course) was planned for friday and saturday morning. I was supposed to wake up and go with my co worker, Paris, on Friday morning... early. Like 5:40am early. I decided o have a sushi dinner with the girls and a few drinks because I definitely did not have to work on Friday. We let's just say we all got carried away and I didn't get in until late. Bad decision number one. Bad decision number two was trying to pull an all-nighter after that. I made it until 4:30am and just closed my eyes for a second and woke up to sun and 7am. I panicked like no other! I put on clothes and ran to the post office where I was supposed to meet my co worker and there was no one there. I got myself to the bus station. Everything was fine after that. I got to Seoul, my co worker met me and I passed my training! I have my endeavor recorder and will post it on FB. If anything, I've learned my lesson and I have a pretty funny story. Korea really brings out the best and worst of a person!
The actual training wasn't too bad. The instructor Ben, gave some really good teaching tips and ideas that I am pretty excited to put into practice. I am not sure how long he had been in Korea for, but he had some really strong opinions on certain things which was a bit off-putting but all-in-all he was a nice guy.
Here is a little update on things in Korea
-they have little Styrofoam bumpers on car doors so that when they park close to people their car doors don't scratch other people's cars
- koran's are obsessed with image OBSESSED
- very fashion forward men will try to look 'prettier' than their female counter parts and I have seen some very good looking and well put together korean men
- it's the style here for guy to wear purses
- girls will have at least 3 facial reconstruction surgeries in their life time!
- middle school graduates (10 year old girls) usually get their eyes done to look more 'western' for a gift.
- a face surgery usually involves cheek bone implants, whitening of the skin and can cost upwards of 40,000 dollars
- korean's use beepers you'd get a a keg to wait on fastfood
- there subways are the epitome of subway. clean fast efficient. they even have floor to ceiling glass partition between riders and the 4 foot fall onto the tracks and when the train comes into the station t syncs with the partition and the doors open. no one call fall, no one can push anyone and no one can commit suicide
-suicide doesn't exist in Korea - they're called fan deaths. people die from their fans exploding in their apartments
I have pictures and other such things that I am going to put on Facebook. Madison is finally up and probably still drunk. We're going to McDonalds for breakfast! I am soooo excited I will post more soon. I just have been way too busy. I am loving life here. I am safe in a country with no guns and no drugs. Seriously if you're even caught with a joint (or a marijuana cigarette for the older audience) they would fine your school huge and then deport you. It is a crazy serious offence over here but there bars are open till 7am and old men get drunk and pass out on the sidewalk. I little crazy but everyday I walk to work with a smile on my face. This is life and it is amazing!
I love you all!!
Dominique

The Weekend Begins

I figured I would be pretty busy this weekend so I may not be able to get one in until Monday so let me give you a run down now.
I start my laundry... this is what I had to deal with.
- i forgot to ask Kerri to tell me how to order a taxi, so i carried a 15lbs bag of detergent home from the mall- about a 20 minute walk
- i have no idea what the measurement is... everything is in korean!
- and of course the washing machine is in korean as well
- and there is no such thing as a drier in korea- that is the airs job.
- two day jean dry cycle commence

There is an upside however. When the wash is done the washing machine plays a little tune! No joke it sings to you. Way better than the north american Bzzzz! I bet you're pretty jealous. Ok, back to the point. This weekend. Tomorrow morning (sat morning) going with my husbands director for a health check, did my passport photos today. When I get back I am going to workout and then meet Molly downtown to hang out and do girl stuffs until we go to dinner at 7! On sunday I am meeting Kerri at my apartment to help her with her english! Books up pretty quickly. Let's be real though, what else am I going to do? lol

A lot to update... another big blog post! Everyone have a good weekend

LOVE

Hangul for Dummies

Hard to believe but it was a week from today I flew from Pearson to get here. Weird. Part of me feels like I just got here and part of me feels like I have been here forever, probably because the Koreans that I work with, have been extremely kind and inviting.
My favorite thing about Korea so far is that it is totally acceptable, if not encouraged to eat garlic cloves. They pickle em' up, roast them or whatever, and devour! My breath is constantly laced with garlic. Mmmm, yea!
My least favorite thing about Korea is that I am finding as i become more comfortable with my surroundings i want to adventure more and the language barrier is really holding me back. I am going to put an honest effort into learning some hangul, korean phrases and some popular and common characters so that i can get around on my own. I also didn't enjoy one of my monsters biting me today. Jacob, the youngest, latched on today and I have a nice red bump with some purple to prove it. I was unimpressed. Then the director told me to not get upset and if I should choose to tell Jacob's mother that i should be nonchalant about it. Pfft.

Anyway, I have also tried to venture out early in the mornings to get a little exercise. Today's adventure was to the top of a site-seeing tower. (the video is on fb)
This is a definite go for a run to-the-top-of-the-hill-and-kill-your-quads-spot! Korean's don't exercise. There version of a trip to the gym, from what I am told (haven't witnessed first hand... yet) is make up and new gym outfits, posing in front of the mirrors. I haven't seen anyone run outside either. To them a 5 minute walk is drivable. One friend even saw two Koreans cuddling on a bike. Too much. I go to class looking like poop already and tomorrow will be day five. I dont bother with any make-up and my hair is well my hair. Why would I, /i chase after kids all day. Of course today a photographer comes in to shoot me with the kids in various classes, doing different activities. I was worse than usual. lol. I'll make sure to post the link when the pictures go up. Should be a disaster. Can print them out and put them beside my degree hanging on the wall, anything more to embarrass me and single me out as the whitey. Oh well.
plh

il, ee, sum... 1,2,3

I am happy to report that late nights and work the next day is tolerable. I do however believe that kids can sense sleep depravity. My younger kids today were horrible. International day, where I was supposed to tach some St. Patty's pride was a disaster. But I did see all of them take their 4-leaf clover name tags home! I spent my entire morning chasing after them. On the upside we got a new 3 year old and he is the CUTEST thing I have ever seen and I was asked to give him his english name! I named my first boy Jacob. Kind of special. His father is a doctor in Gwangju and his mother invited me to dinner. I didn't realize until after that all doctors pretty much speak english. I think I will probably decline the offer but if it's incredibly rude I will go. Couldn't be that bad. This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one. I have foreigners dinner, grocery shopping, I have to go to the hospital to be health screened and I have to go get another set of passport photos. The health check costs about W50,000 ($50) but my director is paying for it! I think she feels bad because she was trying to weasel another english class into my schedule. As it is I have 7 hours of class and an hour for prep. I take an unpaid hour for lunch so I am there 9 hours minimum. I put my foot down and said if there were special circumstances I would work and take overtime but I am not working until 8 or 9. It was actually the stupidest thing. If that gives off the impression that Canadians are lazy- I do not care. I am also very frustrated with the office equipment. It, along with the version of windows on their computers are all in Korean. I can't even fix a paper jam. Eff. So I am slowly learning some Korean phrases! I was mostly inspired by a new friend, Molly who has taken up the language and really enjoys it. I figure if they are putting me up in there country the least I can do it learn a little of Hangul.

Pretty pumped for this weekend and my introduction to soju (rice liquor). Maybe I can get some sight-seeing in. I am going to make some dumplings for dinner.
PLH

I'm not sure what I'm eating that is making my pee neon yellow but it is pretty funny none-the-less. Downtown was amazing last night and I only stayed for a couple of pints. Really looking forward to Saturday night. There is a foreigners dinner (haha) and then everyone is drinking to celebrate St. Pattys. Yes, I'll be safe. Bellow is a picture of the Converse store. Every Korean owns a pair.

This was a picture of a little man sitting on a toilet with a smokey ash tray. If you ask me it looks like the picture is promoting smoking and not discouraging it. From what I learned last night it is very frowned upon- if not prohibited for Korean women to smoke in public so they crowd in washrooms and light up. At any rate I just thought that picture was very cute!

This is a downtown picture. I know it is on its side. I'll fix it later. The part of dt I went to was pretty awesome. There is every north american thing you could possibly want. McDonalds, Pizza Hut, BK, Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts. The list goes on... and as many of you know my biggest disappointment here was not being able to get a decent breakfast but now there is an american who opened up shop not too long ago and he serves brunch!! AMAZING. Oh, I haven't even told you the best part. Cab fair is dirt cheap.

A 1/2 hour cab ride cost me W10,000! That's 10 dollars. Unreal. On the way back it was cheaper. Only W8,000 because there was way less traffic.

My two days of school have been awesome. Above are bunny ears that I made for my Kindergartens. The ones in the FB album. They were so good with me yesterday. We are doing a st. pattys theme today for International day class. The school still seems very unorganized and it upsets me because as i learned last night the purposely hold back students to make money. These kid are eating up their work books but what they could accomplish in 2 weeks is being drawn out for a month. Oh well... when in Rome. Bellow is a really short clip of the entrance of my school.

This one is of one of the classrooms. They are pretty similar but I will get one of our activity room. The room is amazing. There are little dress up outfits and activity centres. Everything is brand new with the tag still on. Yesterday's physed went pretty smoothly but there was a point where I was hogtied and the two little monsters were trying to get a piggy back at the same time! They kill me.

Yesterday I was in my directors office to get something and saw that my degree is pinned up to the wall! How weird is that. I am the selling point of her school. I have to sit outside the office at the front desk so that when prospective students and their parents walk in I am the first thing they see. I feel so used! Ohh and my director and her husband must think I am a heathen because they gave me a korean/english bible yesterday. Hilarious. That's all for now!

PLH

Anyong Haseyo (hello)

First day of class was a little insane. The school has only been open a month and by the way things went today, it was painfully obvious. I taught 5 classes today.They run for about 45 minutes. I found teaching the 3-7 years olds almost impossible, they are the ones that I took pictures of today. The rest of the kids were responsive but still very, very hard to get through to. Except for Issaac, he was my shinning light of the day. Haha. He was my most advanced student and working with him was really fun.

The program itself is pretty good so far from what I can tell. It works on the premise that there are 8 different ways to learn and that children need to be taught from as many different angles as possible. That's enough for now. I am teaching physed tomorrow. Dodge ball, check! I teach Yippee red (kindergarten), Manners, P.E. International Day, Blocks, Board Games and First Steps in Phonics and Intermediate Engish. My life rocks. I have tons of downtime, lunch and snacks are taken care of by the school, I get to wear slippers and whatever else I want and the kids love me. The only down side right now is that I am still jett-lagged and feel like I haven't has a good night's sleep in over a week. Oh well, it will pass. What else can I tell you? Tomorrow night I am going to do my first solo adventure. Get in a cab and go downtown to the YMCA to play cards with white people. I am hoping it won't be too expensive. I made dumplings and broccoli for dinner. Yes, went grocery shopping! I sorta figured out where exactly I live in the Country of South Korea, I had to get the province, district and city down. It's something like that. My cognitive map sucks. Actually for day 3 I don't think that is too brutal. I just have to add friends' areas to it so I can build my social networking empire! Muahaha. Also this a video from my walk home. The actual amount of apartment buildings here is alarming. There are no houses in Korea, just apartments. haha, at least it seems that way

That is just a drop in the bucket. There has to be tens of thousands of apartment buildings in Chan-Nam. More to come later. I have dishes to do!

Lovelovelove

Exhaustion, Excitement and a lot of Craziness

Without a doubt the craziest 72 hours of my life. I am wipppeedd. Fist thing first. Let me tell you how my director wanted to convert my religion. I think her main objective was to wear me down initially so that I would bend to her Christian ways. Yesterday- being the day I finally arrived I was picked up by my director and one of her employees i.e, my co-worker Carrie or Cathy, still not sure. My director, Ian (pronounced Yawn) speaks no English and I speak no Korean. Set stage for disaster. As we were driving in from the airport I was informed that I had no apartment and no furniture but both would be taken care of. I got to pick between two apartments which were exactly the same- no exaggeration but one was closer than the other so I did what my director should have done and picked the closest one. After that was sorted we went to buy apartment stuffs. I you'll see, everything I own in the apartment was purchased yesterday besides the content of my luggage. I did this on 4 hours of sleep completely jett-lagged. SO after all was said and done and my director was saying her goodbye to me - in really, really broken English she asked if I would like to go to mass on Sunday which was this morning and I agreed thinking I was being polite and it would be a 40 minute ordeal. Well, I was wrong. Four hours later I walked out enduring a Korean attempt at converting me, a English service with an overly enthusiastic christian rock band and a totally awkward goodbye. I vow to spend th rest of my Sundays hungover!
The rest of my day I spent in the mall. I got a new camera- amazing 120 bucks. Wall socket converter, some cable and some apples. When I got back I had dinner and a movie with some new friends and I am just getting back now. Here is a list of my first impression of Korea

poison mushrooms- story to come
head of tree- story to come
no differentiation between breakfast, lunch and dinner
U-turns everywhere
Mountains
need to find westerners
socks with open toed stilettos
road lanes are only a suggestion
red lights are only a suggestion
no such thing as a pedestrian
And there is so much more to tell but that is all I can muster up right now. It is 10 3opm local time and I am effing tired. Shit. Tomorrow will be my first work day so I can definitely let you all know how that goes!

Below I have included my thoughts from when I was on my flight!
PLH

12:33am March 12, 2010

For some reason it always messes with me when the hush falls over an aircraft ready to take off. It is just creepy. Even the kids, sensing maybe their parents nervousness are quiet.
Ground speed 902km/h, altitude 9449m, distance to destination: over 10,000km. I have been in the air no more than 40 minutes and of course get the one guy in the row ahead of me that chooses to lean his set back. Fml. Oh well. It’s so pitch black outside. I got the window seat I asked for and to make it even better I got the window seat right in the middle of the right wing. The span of this thing is sheer enormity. I just noticed that the temp outside my window is -25 degrees C. The on flight entertainment is amazing though! I am going to watch The Blind Side, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Men Who Stare at Goats. Can’t wait! I was really surprised not crying when my family waved goodbye. An obviously bittersweet moment was compounded by the overwhelming sense of panic when I realized I didn’t know what the fuck I was really getting myself into. And now I am strapped into a Boeing 777 going almost 1000km/h, non-stop to Seoul! Wow.
There is a cute boy on this flight who I originally met in the consulate just days earlier. He is sitting 4 rows back and I just found out that his finally destination is the same as mine- Gwangju- Sessa, I know you are already excited, you’re not the only globe trotter now! Anyway I am going to conserve laptop battery and shut this thing down! I have to take some more pictures with my disposable camera. I feel so 90s it is incredible. Only so far being the minority is not that bad. I make friends quickly!
Taken somewhere over canada....

Random Pre-Trip Pictures

Approaching the 24 hour countdown mark to my departure I have finally finished packing and am relaxing and looking forward to the adventure ahead. Here are some photos that I have taken of random pre-trip stuff.

I opened this from a fortune cookie after picking up some Chinese on my way home from getting my VISA approved. It was a pretty crazy find especially because the VISA approval actually meant that my ticket to freedom was at hand! Another intense pre-trip find was that Korean money, won, only goes up to 10,000. A 10k bill is equivalent to about 9 dollars and the stacks get high pretty quickly. I may even get my month's salary in won which would be serious bling! Not so sure I would like to be carrying all that to the bank.

The denominations are 1000, 5000 and 10,000. It's pretty money too! There are a bunch of coins as well but I haven't gotten any change yet. So I'll post that later. There won't be many pictures at the beginning, I am going to buy a camera in Korea first! So you''l have to depend on my surly descriptions for the time being. Finally my epic pack. I am allowed two 50lbs suitcases, a carry-on and my purse. I am about 12 lbs over on the suitcases but as I said before it will only cost me $60 dollars to bring extra and maybe if they're nice they'll have pity on me and wave the fee.

This should be awesome fun to drag around in the airport! I am getting super excited and packing with mom sealed the deal. Everything is good to go. Liquids sealed away, breakables wrapped up and a year's supply of my life lovingly put away until I get to my very own apartment! Lots more to share when I settle in. Again thank you all for your love and support it means so much!

Peace, Love & Harmony

Let's Do This Shit

The last of the fair well parties behind me and my flight booked the possibility of sleep has diminished significantly. I fly out Thursday night and arrive in Seoul Saturday morning. My flight to Korea is direct but I need to take a domestic flight to the airport in Gwangju. My total trip time will take 23 hours. The best 23 hours of my life! Ha! I am trying to estimate how much my flight is costing and I think it is in the $1200 dollar range. I fly with Korean Air and thankfully they'll only charge me an extra $60 dollars for my overweight luggage. I get dinner and breakfast and free booze, well at least that is what I have been told. I have been spoiled and received 4 books as gifts as well as my iPod touch. These will keep me busy enough to pass the time along with my laptop and 6 on flight movies!
Packing almost everything I own into two suitcases was a little depressing. It is also nerve wrecking! What if- god forbid, something goes missing. One misplaced suitcase is half of my life. Another heartache is having to take this domestic flight solo. First time in korea, in an airport unfamiliar to me I have to navigate my way to domestic flights and try and find the flight to Gwangju. This should be interesting. I transferred over a hefty sum of Canadian into Korean so hopefully I will be more than set in the bills and misc. cost department. I am still so blown away by all the love and support I have gotten and cannot believe I am out of the country before the weekend arrives. How am I going to sleep now until Thursday?? Craziness!
Well the next time I'll be updating will be from Korea. So amazing to finally be here.
Let's pray for a turbulence free flight.
EFF YESSSSS!!
plh

Holy Effin Shit- The VISA has Arrived

I received my VISA number today. Well actually it is more a string of letters than numbers but who gives a shit. Finally something tangible. The last interview between me and my plane ticket could happen the end of this week. Dinner feels like it's coming back up- this is the first nervous feeling I have felt since starting this fiasco. The pressure is on from my agency, the director was the one who e-mailed me, not Jiyeon who I usually deal with. I need to spend more money, surprise , surprise about $1oo but that's minor at this point. The battle is almost mine, mission almost accomplished but there is still so much shit to take care of. I have to pack, get my meds, get more money, convert it into won. I have to stand on the scale with my bags and calculate the difference, I have to make sure there are no liquids in my carry-on. For all my preparation I know feel so utterly scattered, desperate and unorganized.

I also found out that I am the only white person at my branch. It is brand new and they are slowly recruiting other Westerners as were called, to the place. I feel like that could work in my benefit maybe I'll be the go-to person when they need a translation or the box of arts and crafts from the top shelf.

I have some contacts that need contacting. Jesus, I need something to drink. This is quite the head spinner. My mom is waiting for me to book my flight so she can go away and I have given my father so much anxiety he is not feeling well. My one sister needs my car and the other wants my room. I think it is time to go Canada. You rock, everyone here rocks but it's time for a change.

Another update after the interview. Snaps and crossed fingers I am going to rock this.

PLH