We finished work and are now packing all our belongings and heading to the airport. We anticipate a massive dose of jet leg...any tips for a quicker recovery? So long Korea...we hope to be back and for those in Canada...see ya on the flip side!
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Bye Korea...Thanks for all the Kimchi!
We finished work and are now packing all our belongings and heading to the airport. We anticipate a massive dose of jet leg...any tips for a quicker recovery? So long Korea...we hope to be back and for those in Canada...see ya on the flip side!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Gonna Miss Korea
Blake and I have been saying goodbyes to students this entire week and are currently on our second last day of teaching. While we are over the top with excitement about going home, there are some mixed emotions with having to leave everything here. Our home in Korea has been such a stable, secure place for us this year. There have been challenges with adapting to a new culture, but it has been so good in many ways. We're now on the verge of unknown...once again. We are going home to live in the basement of my parents' house with no car, no job and no secure plans for the future. Our desire is to spend good quality time with friends and family for the summer and then come back to Korea for round 2. We are currently applying for positions and going through interviews and while jobs are a dime a dozen, the right job takes some searching. Round 2 in Korea will also involve bringing 2 of our close friends from Canada with us for the ride in Korea- which we are thoroughly excited about. We would appreciate your prayer over the job search- we desperately need wisdom and God's direction.
As of late, my mind has naturally pulled out of the Korean scene and I have been thinking more about plans in Canada and the differences in culture and how we're going to have to adjust.
Here are some things I'm going to miss (or not miss) about Korea. In no particular order...
1. First up...Couple Wear!
Korean culture frowns at public displays of affection. Therefore, a couple who desires to publicly display their commitment and affection for one another will wear identically matching outfits. They will often wear the same shirt, pants, shoes and even carry the same bag. This is extremely popular with the younger generation of adults and youth. Blake and I have refrained from adapting to this part of culture, but we did get our first set of 'couple wear' as a goodbye present the other day.
2. Friends! We've made some amazing friends while being here in Korea that we love very much.
We are also going to miss the friends we have made in really random places. Sometimes when you can't communicate with many people, you make friends with people in the oddest places. We are quite sad to leave our friends who own our favourite coffee shop. They speak a little bit of English and we have become quite close from all our visits to get our 'frozen caramels' -which rock the socks off of Iced Caps (I'm sorry to say). Unfortunately, we don't have a good picture of our owner friends, so I'm just putting up a picture of the specialty drinks.
3. Korean Food
I don't think it's going to take long before the cravings start to hit. One of Blake's favourites is bibimbap and is displayed below. I don't think it looks so appetizing, but you've gotta trust me on this one...it's awesome. Mixed vegetables, rice, egg, meat with red peper paste.
5. Another thing that I won't miss is trying to avoid getting hit by scooters. Delivery people always use scooters because you can drive on both the road and sidewalks and seem to have the right of way regardless of where you are. They save on gas and get to the location very quick. I have to say I've never had the experience back home in Canada of being honked at while walking on the sidewalk. Delivery guys bring your food on plastic dishes and will return a few hours later to pick up the dishes that are left outside your door. For those uninformed foreigners who order food and then trash the dishes, it can be an awkward situation when the delivery guy comes looking for the dishes.
8. The Challenge of Communication
10. People not understanding us
As of late, my mind has naturally pulled out of the Korean scene and I have been thinking more about plans in Canada and the differences in culture and how we're going to have to adjust.
Here are some things I'm going to miss (or not miss) about Korea. In no particular order...
1. First up...Couple Wear!
Korean culture frowns at public displays of affection. Therefore, a couple who desires to publicly display their commitment and affection for one another will wear identically matching outfits. They will often wear the same shirt, pants, shoes and even carry the same bag. This is extremely popular with the younger generation of adults and youth. Blake and I have refrained from adapting to this part of culture, but we did get our first set of 'couple wear' as a goodbye present the other day.
2. Friends! We've made some amazing friends while being here in Korea that we love very much.
We are also going to miss the friends we have made in really random places. Sometimes when you can't communicate with many people, you make friends with people in the oddest places. We are quite sad to leave our friends who own our favourite coffee shop. They speak a little bit of English and we have become quite close from all our visits to get our 'frozen caramels' -which rock the socks off of Iced Caps (I'm sorry to say). Unfortunately, we don't have a good picture of our owner friends, so I'm just putting up a picture of the specialty drinks.
3. Korean Food
I don't think it's going to take long before the cravings start to hit. One of Blake's favourites is bibimbap and is displayed below. I don't think it looks so appetizing, but you've gotta trust me on this one...it's awesome. Mixed vegetables, rice, egg, meat with red peper paste.
4. Crazy Driving.
Ok, so this one I am not going to miss at all. I feel that I've somewhat adjusted to the way things just seem to work with traffic. When the light turns green you IMMEDIATELY honk your horn to let the people ahead of you know that you're waiting. Cars swerve from lane to lane without checking blindspots or signalling and it seems that it's a matter of luck rather than any skill that prevents countless accidents. Most cars also come equipped with tv's in the front and people watch while driving. It's crazy!
Cars also park everywhere. Just put on your emergency lights and it lets everyone else know you're doing something crazy. You can park on the streets or sidewalk and everywhere between. People will place their phone number in the front window of their car to call you if you need to move- towing doesn't seem to happen.
5. Another thing that I won't miss is trying to avoid getting hit by scooters. Delivery people always use scooters because you can drive on both the road and sidewalks and seem to have the right of way regardless of where you are. They save on gas and get to the location very quick. I have to say I've never had the experience back home in Canada of being honked at while walking on the sidewalk. Delivery guys bring your food on plastic dishes and will return a few hours later to pick up the dishes that are left outside your door. For those uninformed foreigners who order food and then trash the dishes, it can be an awkward situation when the delivery guy comes looking for the dishes.
Below are dishes waiting for pick up.
6. Korean Fashion
6. Korean Fashion
Fashion here reminds me of what the early '90's would have looked like back home. I don't think I have ever seen a more unashamed use of rhinestones on shoes or frills and lace on dresses. A very common outfit for a girl is a baggy t-shirt (they love Mickey here) with spandex pants, big earings and high heels. High heels are a bit of a staple and they accompany even some of the most frumpy outfits. Blake and I have found it somewhat entertaining to watch how these girls do almost anything in heels. We were hiking a mountain and saw a girl doing the same in heels. This is one area that I was not really anticipating to be a problem when coming to Korea. I skimped when packing shoes thinking shoes were universal and I'd find some in Korea. However, I haven't found much that I like. Sorry...that's not strong enough...I hate the shoes here!
7. Sun Visers and Sun Umbrellas- The most fashionable item for Korean ajummas (that's middle aged Korean women with permed hair and flower pants) are sun visors. These come in all shapes, sizes and colours, but my favourite has to be the tinted ones that cover your entire face. It seems that women here are obsessed with keeping their skin white and protected from the sun. Younger fashionable women carry umbrellas. Funny how our obsession back home is with getting our skin tanned and dark.
8. The Challenge of Communication
I've mastered the job of ordering pizza. I think our conversation goes something like this...
Pizza Lady: Hello?
me: Hello, pizza, please, 1, Hawaiian
Pizza Lady: Yes
(She has our address come up on call display when we call so rhymes it off and it sounds right)
me: yes, thank you
We're actually not as bad as we make ourselves out to be, but we do enjoy the challenge of communication for the most part. It's such a satisfying feeling when you finally understand each other- I'm going to miss that.
10. People not understanding us
I think Blake and I have developed a bad habit of talking to one another in loud voices because not many people can understand us. Just yesterday we were walking down the street and Blake commented in not so much a quiet voice about how big the woman's hair was. Granted it was huge hair, but I think we've become a little blunt and loud- maybe we've absorbed more of the Korean culture than we thought! This may present a bit of problem for us. It's going to be weird to have people understand us again!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Bird Flu and Kimchie
Because we work a somewhat odd shift of 4-10, we teachers never usually eat dinner. Our school thought this was a bit of a problem a few months ago so they decided to generously provide a snack for the teachers on our 5 minute breaks. Yesterday the menu read 'fried chicken' and everyone was really excited all night. However, we went to the snack room at 8pm, there was a sign saying that they wouldn't give us chicken because of the bird flu. Our bodies are probably better for it, but it was quite a disappointing moment.
This morning I've been trying to catch up on the status of this bird flu epidemic and can't help but giggle at the sometimes hilarious thinking in Korea.
Basically, there have been a few cases of bird flu and they have started to slaughter up to a million birds in an attempt to get rid of the disease. People are no longer eating chicken. The one article I read has told people that eating kimchie (that's the red pepper fermented cabbage that Koreans eat with EVERYTHING) may prevent you from getting the disease. Now they do qualify this by saying that it is far from scientifically proven, but it seems that the public doesn't remember or need that part in order to run with the idea that kimchie can cure anything. They love an excuse to tell the world about the miracle powers of their beloved kimchie! People are stocking up on kimchie now at record rates. One stat said that on average, each Korean will eat 40 lbs of kimchie annually.
This kimchie is the same food that the Koreans claim prevented them from getting the SARS virus. The kids vehemently defend this fact, yet can't quite articulate why it's is true. They don't think it's been proven scientifically, but how else can you explain why no Koreans got the SARS virus when the rest of the world was hard hit?! Duh- it's the kimchie! :)
After being here for a year...I still can't quite bring myself to eat it raw. I love it cooked on the bbq, but raw is still a little much for me. One thing I don't think I will ever get over is old men with kimchie breath! That's a shock for the senses!
This morning I've been trying to catch up on the status of this bird flu epidemic and can't help but giggle at the sometimes hilarious thinking in Korea.
Basically, there have been a few cases of bird flu and they have started to slaughter up to a million birds in an attempt to get rid of the disease. People are no longer eating chicken. The one article I read has told people that eating kimchie (that's the red pepper fermented cabbage that Koreans eat with EVERYTHING) may prevent you from getting the disease. Now they do qualify this by saying that it is far from scientifically proven, but it seems that the public doesn't remember or need that part in order to run with the idea that kimchie can cure anything. They love an excuse to tell the world about the miracle powers of their beloved kimchie! People are stocking up on kimchie now at record rates. One stat said that on average, each Korean will eat 40 lbs of kimchie annually.
This kimchie is the same food that the Koreans claim prevented them from getting the SARS virus. The kids vehemently defend this fact, yet can't quite articulate why it's is true. They don't think it's been proven scientifically, but how else can you explain why no Koreans got the SARS virus when the rest of the world was hard hit?! Duh- it's the kimchie! :)
After being here for a year...I still can't quite bring myself to eat it raw. I love it cooked on the bbq, but raw is still a little much for me. One thing I don't think I will ever get over is old men with kimchie breath! That's a shock for the senses!
Two Year Anniversary!
Has it really been two years?! I had to stop and think the other day whether it had been 1 or 2. Time has gone so fast! Yet, in other ways...I have to consciously try to remember what life felt like before being married.
I think it's hard to sometimes appreciate how attached we've become to one another until we're separated. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but I don't feel quite right without him by my side. These past few years haven't been without their share of struggles as these two imperfect people attempted to make marriage work. I look back on some of these pictures here and laugh at our naivety- not knowing all the things we would have to fumble our way through- sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing miserably. Marriage has been good. Sometimes hard, but good. I knew we were different when we got married, but marriage really seemed to magnify how different were really were! Some days I think that I could have a much loftier vision of myself i it weren't for Blake. I wonder if part of the purpose of marriage is to keep you humble and aware of who you really are.
Blake and I went on a coffee date yesterday to do some reflecting about where we're at and where we're going. One of the things we discussed was how this year in Korea has been so beneficial for us as a couple. We've been stretched, pulled, and placed in many rather uncomfortable circumstances, but these situations have forced us to rely on each other more than we ever had to before.
Thank you to those who have supported and encouraged us as we walk this road together. God has provided us with many beautiful examples of godly marriages. Please continue to pray for our marriage- that we would strive to put Jesus first and that we would love one another selflessly. I'm sure in the future we'll look back on this moment in time and again giggle at our naivety. We definitely haven't figured it all out, but we're a working progress by the grace of God.
Blakey,
Thank you for 2 years together! I love you very much!
This last picture is the one I have on my screen at school. I find it hilarious that the overwhelming majority of my students will look at it and the first thing they mention is concern about the possibility of getting hit by a train. I don't think it even crossed our minds!
I think it's hard to sometimes appreciate how attached we've become to one another until we're separated. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but I don't feel quite right without him by my side. These past few years haven't been without their share of struggles as these two imperfect people attempted to make marriage work. I look back on some of these pictures here and laugh at our naivety- not knowing all the things we would have to fumble our way through- sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing miserably. Marriage has been good. Sometimes hard, but good. I knew we were different when we got married, but marriage really seemed to magnify how different were really were! Some days I think that I could have a much loftier vision of myself i it weren't for Blake. I wonder if part of the purpose of marriage is to keep you humble and aware of who you really are.
Blake and I went on a coffee date yesterday to do some reflecting about where we're at and where we're going. One of the things we discussed was how this year in Korea has been so beneficial for us as a couple. We've been stretched, pulled, and placed in many rather uncomfortable circumstances, but these situations have forced us to rely on each other more than we ever had to before.
Thank you to those who have supported and encouraged us as we walk this road together. God has provided us with many beautiful examples of godly marriages. Please continue to pray for our marriage- that we would strive to put Jesus first and that we would love one another selflessly. I'm sure in the future we'll look back on this moment in time and again giggle at our naivety. We definitely haven't figured it all out, but we're a working progress by the grace of God.
Blakey,
Thank you for 2 years together! I love you very much!
This last picture is the one I have on my screen at school. I find it hilarious that the overwhelming majority of my students will look at it and the first thing they mention is concern about the possibility of getting hit by a train. I don't think it even crossed our minds!
Thailand Part 2
Here are the photos from our underwater adventures in Phuket, Thailand.
The picture below really makes me laugh. These baby bears were not being cared for by their mother so they were taken in and rescued. I love how Blake looks so comfortable holding the baby! I wonder if it's the stiff neck, straight back or the baby bear holding up his own bottle that screams, 'I'm comfortable!' I think Blake's commentary of this moment was,
"Erin, I think the bottle is running out of milk! What do I do then?!"
I think there's gonna be a huge learning curve when we have kids of our own.
The picture below really makes me laugh. These baby bears were not being cared for by their mother so they were taken in and rescued. I love how Blake looks so comfortable holding the baby! I wonder if it's the stiff neck, straight back or the baby bear holding up his own bottle that screams, 'I'm comfortable!' I think Blake's commentary of this moment was,
"Erin, I think the bottle is running out of milk! What do I do then?!"
I think there's gonna be a huge learning curve when we have kids of our own.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Thailand Adventures
Hey All! We're back home in Korea safe and sound. Thailand was an amazing week. It was so warm and beautiful and we have a ton of photos to share. Hope you enjoy!
These first few pictures are of us way up high in the jungle trees. The trees are all connected with ziplines and we flew from one tree to the next. It was pretty scary at first because we were so incredibly high, but so much fun!
These next few pictures are of the beautiful orchids in Thailand. Blake was in his glory with beautiful flowers and a camera.
I'm not sure what I was thinking about above with that frown, but I like how the photo is set up with the butterfly up close.
These next 3 photos are from a night safari. Unfortunately, most of the other photos didn't turn out because of it being dark.
These next few photos are from a few days on the ocean. We went sea kayaking and also took a speed boat out to a few islands. There have been a few movies filmed on some of these islands because they're so beautiful.
Below is Monkey Island. Blake is making some friends.
Phi Phi Island
Below are the fish we went snorkeling with.
Sea kayaking
Above: Blake showing off his white skin...err...I mean huge muscles!
Elephants!
Above: This elephant took off down the street right after the photo.
Above: Romantic Dinner
Below: Blake's amazing sunset shots.
So that's it! Hopefully we'll have some more shots to put up from our underwater camera when we went snorkeling- we're really not sure how they'll turn out. We've got lots of stories to share, but I don't think I'll put them up here right now. Today I just wanted to share some of the photos.
I think it's going to be extremely hard to our heads back into work tomorrow! However, we've only got 3 more weeks to go so the final countdown is on!
These first few pictures are of us way up high in the jungle trees. The trees are all connected with ziplines and we flew from one tree to the next. It was pretty scary at first because we were so incredibly high, but so much fun!
These next few pictures are of the beautiful orchids in Thailand. Blake was in his glory with beautiful flowers and a camera.
I'm not sure what I was thinking about above with that frown, but I like how the photo is set up with the butterfly up close.
These next 3 photos are from a night safari. Unfortunately, most of the other photos didn't turn out because of it being dark.
These next few photos are from a few days on the ocean. We went sea kayaking and also took a speed boat out to a few islands. There have been a few movies filmed on some of these islands because they're so beautiful.
Below is Monkey Island. Blake is making some friends.
Phi Phi Island
Below are the fish we went snorkeling with.
Sea kayaking
Above: Blake showing off his white skin...err...I mean huge muscles!
Elephants!
Above: This elephant took off down the street right after the photo.
Above: Romantic Dinner
Below: Blake's amazing sunset shots.
So that's it! Hopefully we'll have some more shots to put up from our underwater camera when we went snorkeling- we're really not sure how they'll turn out. We've got lots of stories to share, but I don't think I'll put them up here right now. Today I just wanted to share some of the photos.
I think it's going to be extremely hard to our heads back into work tomorrow! However, we've only got 3 more weeks to go so the final countdown is on!
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