agh, back to work on boxing day. the kids don't even know what boxing day is. the ones who do decorate for christmas throw out their decorations rather than boxing them for the following year.

twas a good weekend with varlo tho. definetly a highlight of being here so far, despite the homesickness. probly spending new years with that creep as well.

korean christmas

there's almost no ovens in korea. in fact, the group I teach with only knew of one that might be at our disposal, but alas, it was being used for christmas. as a result, we had to deep fried a 20 lbs turkey (an object that's terribly difficult to find in korea) in a garbage can (a new and clean one, but a garbage can nonetheless), in the parking lot (an act korean look down upon). it took only about 2 hours to cook. surprisingly, only one person got sick from this project.

obviously, every outdoor parking lot turkey frying extravaganza needs beer and machismo posing

koreans don't celebrate really. everything was open. it was just a regular monday here for the most part. we got together with all the english folk and had a secret santa day tho. twas fun.

merry christmas to all and to all a good night

pbf

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

These pictures are from Gwanghamun... a business and shoppinmg district in Seoul. I have more, but again, not on my cam. I'll get them soon.

Korean Mountain

The boss got us up (the ones who volunteered to go on the trip anyhow) at about 9 on saturday morning to go hiking. Korea is called the "land of the morning calm" so getting up at 9 is not always the easiest thing to do. There's nothing open yet, and there's no real point in buying groceries, so I'm having a hard time getting breakfast on the go, but whatevs. There's about ten of us (3 who speak english, and a couple more who speak enough to get by) pile onto the shortbus and drive for about an hour towards North Korea to mount Manni, which is just on the border of the DMZ.

There is sort of two spiritualities in Korea. One is whatever religious beliefs one may choose, usually Buddhist or Christian, and the other is to Korea. They look at their nationality in a very spiritual way. Ands this mountain is the center of that faith. I'm not sure of the names, and this is certainly a crude version of the myth, but essentially they believe a great man back in the day made love to a bear disguised as a woman and their children became the first Korean people and it all happened on this mountain. He was also the Prometheus of the Korean peninsula, having brought fire to his people from the gods and was punished for it. Or something like that... I'll find out more correctly, but its close to that. It is a major attraction to them. There were thousands of people there over the weekend, and there are just as many people there every weekend.

Thousands of people hiking sounds like an oxymoron where I come from. Hiking is something thousands of people cannot do all at the same time in Canada. Not so here. They pave a path up to the top of the mountain so everyone can walk up to the top. That didn't stop everyone from dressing up in the best hiking gear they could find. There were many walking sticks and brand new hiking boots out there. There were even a few lads with coils of rope attached to their attire. It was comedy.

a little seoul

the hammering man... this titanic sculpture stands five storeys tall and hammers away in Gwangwhamun. Very cool.

this gate was originally built to protect against tigers way back when seoul was really small. there are three more just like it and you can walk around them in about two hours. they used to border all of seoul. now they don't even border the neighborhood they're in.

I found this handsome belt in dondaemun. eeyarrr. tis a fine pantaloon holder, indeed

uncle kim

bagpipes

So I hadn't broke out the Hendersons since I've been here until today. I was playing small pipes and lots of chanter to pass the time, but I was a little worrisome about taking the big ones out in a new climate before oiling them really well. Not to mention its tough to find a place to practice where the population is so dense, and with such a small apartment, and any number of variables that would prevent me from playing in a foreign country with absolutely no interest in the Scottish performing arts. But today was the day. I oiled em up good for a few days, made sure the hemp was good on all the joints and headed er up to the roof of the building, as its a fairly nice day out there, similar to a September day on the island, at which time I certainly played quite a bit in the backyard.

And did they ever sound great. I was well out of shape, so I didn't play too long, which was probably nice for the 15,000 or so folks I was forcing a listen upon. But the reed sounding vibrant and was tuned really well; I didn't touch the tape at all. I knew the neighbors weren't going to say anything directly to me, as we speak little of the same language, but I thought the agecie (a man who runs something, whether its a building or restaurant or bus; as opposed to the female equivalent, "ajumma") might have something to say. But whenever I was finished and packed up, no one had come up to the roof or anything like that. I opened the door to go back to my place and get ready for work, and who was just inside the door but the agecie himself listening contently. I guess he didn't want to scare me or something, by coming out in the open and letting me know he was listening, but he left his post down on the ground floor and came up all the way to the roof to hang out behind the door. And he was a little embarrassed, as Koreans are prone to being in such a situation, and gave me a little bow for provided him with a few moments entertainment.

If the weather keeps up I'll be able to play outside for quite a while. Its so warm here all the time. Bonus!

So I was just out having dinner, eh, and this lady comes into the restaurant with a two of her own pots. I was quite perplexed initially, but then realized that she wanted the cook to use her pots for her meal. She appeared to want to sit down and eat whatever the cook was about to prepare, since she took off her jacket and sat down (most in Korea will stand patiently by the door should they want take out). But no, she asked the cook to put their food in her pots so she could take them home and make it seem to her dinner guests that she had cooked the meal. The cook wrapped up the pots in saran wrap and everything when she was leaving. It was a first for me. I would assume a cook back home would be offended by such a gesture. But not here, I was told they'll even deliver your own cookware back to you if you want to drop them off, and as always, at no extra charge. You only pay for the thing you ordered and get all the extras, such as side dishes, drink, and delivery, for free.

krazy korea

so I experienced my first Korean wedding the other day. it was nuts. weddings in this country usually take place in a Vegas style chapel. this one was no different. the chapel had about 10 weddings halls and was probably servicing upwards of 80 weddings that day. the reception was nothing more than a buffet meal that was used by each wedding taking place. most of the people invited to the wedding didn't even bother going to see the actual ceremony. rather, they simply stayed and ate the free food. The bride's parents, or whoever was paying for the wedding, mailed a meal ticket with the invitations and so you presented your wee meal slip and were able to have all the food and booze you wanted. As I said, most people didn't see the ceremony, and with good reason, as it only lasts about 10 or 15 minutes anyhow. and as soon as they're out of there, they clean the place up and have the next one. There is never really a time after the wedding to talk to either the bride or the groom. though you may get your picture with them beforehand. that's right, they're able to see one another in their tux and dress before the wedding takes place. it was wacky.

and another lovely feature of Korea... the bath houses. I went to a "ginjabong" last night for the first time. I'm sure they have these things in Canada, but not where I come from, and likely not like this. for 5 bucks, i was admitted to a 3 storey spa with hot tubs at 4 different temps, 7 saunas at different temps, a workout room, a place for haircuts, a restaurant, massage parlor, a sleeping room, a theater room, etc. it was gold. when you buy a pack of ten admissions, its only 3 bucks to get in. I think its so cheap because so many people do not have full bathrooms in their apartments, so just about everyone goes to a bath house regularly just for the grooming.