Thursday, December 16, 2010

I've got Seoul but I'm not a Seoul-dier

I have to dedicate this blog to Justin Timberlake, and I guess subsequently to The Killers.  I was recently reminded of Justin Timberlake's death in Southland Tales.  The movie is quite the mindsplasm (for lack of a better word).  Awesome concept, but too many storylines and big name actors to count for anything.  One of the best moments in the movie is when Timberlake is dying to the song of "All These Things that I Have Done".  Having watched Edison a few years back, the only time I thought I liked Timberlake's acting was when I was a giddy little kid watching the Mickey Mouse Club (I actually remember liking the large majority of popular ex-Mouskateers), but it seems, he only gets better with age.

Anyways, I digress.  So, I went to Seoul for the past two weekends where I did not have to study or listen to lectures.  I needed a weekend away from my little city so I ventured away.

First up on the docket: food.  By the time we arrived in Seoul we were craving galbi (갈비), so we set off around Hongdae to get some food.  I don't know why I love Christmas so much, but anything to do with lights and decorations turns me into the happiest person alive!  Of course, everything looks better when covered in snow, but I take what I get here and live off the lights whenever I see them.  One thing I love about Korea, everything is open.  We found a restaurant that was packed at midnight.  Where in Canada do you find that?


On Saturday we made it up N Seoul Tower.  N Seoul Tower much like the CN Tower is a communications tower, standing at 236.7m.  We took the cable car up Mt. Namsan (which you could trek up for free, but I didn't have the muscle for it).  Something I have never witnessed were the traditions of "Locks of Love" or love padlocks.  The tradition is, a couple places a lock on the fence and throws away the key.  What it does is symbolize their eternal love for each other.  This custom is practiced worldwide and I, quite personally, love it!


Of course, me being the creeper with a camera that I am, followed the love story of a couple getting ready to put up their lock.


Girl waiting
Boy writing message on lock
Like every girl, they're always looking in a mirror

After spending 5 minutes looking for the right place,
they find the perfect spot for their lock!












And then we headed even higher into the tower.

Yes, exactly how far I am from the homeland!



Then we ventured to the Korean War Museum.  I knew the vague history of Korea and its invasion of the Japanese and then the North Koreans, and I'm not one to actually like museums, but this museum is truly amazing.

Made of all the fallen soldiers dogtags


Nothing ends a great day other than shopping!  Myeungdong is every shopper's dream.  Kinda like Oxford and Regent streets in London but condensed along one major strip.  I had my first Forever 21 shopping experience- quite the experience indeed!


Then we partied around Hongdae.  Out of the few bars I've been to in Korea, I must say that Motto is my favourite.  Not just because Kurt Cobain's MTV Unplugged session is on the tv screen, but their music feels like home to me.  They know their music- and I love that.  You can request music, and I'm not talking the pop that plays at Thursday Party, I'm talking good music.  I've met some good people at this place.

In case I hadn't shopped enough, Insadong is perfect for getting those Korean souvenirs and gifts for other people. and I filled my Subway craving!

All in all, I love this city.  I wish I lived there, and I will be back.  Plenty of times!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

John Holt

Its unfortunate that most people have never heard of this man.  He is awesomeness personified.  Born in Jamaica then moved to UK, he is a legend in reggae music.  For those of you who say "John who?", he penned The Tide is High made famous by Blondie (I refuse to credit the most recent cover), but I have a sudden craving for him.

This is for my mom and Lloyd.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

I'm thankful for...

So the last of my Thanksgiving's was last weekend. 
My first week in Korea happened to fall on the week of Chuseok (추석).  Korean Thanksgiving is similar to Canada in that it celebrates the end of the harvest.  Koreans usually flock to their hometowns and indulge in traditional Korean feasts.  However, it lasts for three days.  Being blessed with having met Chloe she made us dinner at Corinne's house... my first Korean family!


Then Canadian Thanksgiving rolled around in October and I ventured out to Busan.  Never did I realize that I would have a Busan family, but thanks to Jamie and all the girls over there I was able to celebrate my Thanksgiving away from home: chicken, mashed potatoes, nachos, mac and cheese, salad, pizza, pumpkin pie and dessert! 

According to Wikipedia "The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean.[7] Frobisher's Thanksgiving was not for harvest but homecoming. He had safely returned from a search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony in Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving the long journey. The feast was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations by Europeans in North America. Frobisher was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him — Frobisher Bay."


Finally, comes American Thanksgiving.
Again, according to Wikipedia "The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive their first brutal winter in New England. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans. The feast consisted of fish and shellfish, wild fowl, venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "Thanksgivings"—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought."

Now, of all the people that I've met in Daegu, the large majority have been American.  In fact, I think I've met more South Africans than Canadians here, so it only seemed natural that I would be celebrating American Thanksgiving.  The first of it came with a Burrito Friday night party.  I still don't really understand the Taco Bell fascination that Americans, but I could never refuse a real burrito party.  And of course every good meal must end with dessert, which came from homecooked caramel and candy cane fudge!
Then came Thanksgiving dinner... turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, mac and cheese, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and apple pie  (my delicious contribution).  It was an awesome night filled with a champagne toast!
And then of course the real stuff happens.  I left my phone in the cab and ended up getting it back thanks to the help to the great Shaun, got it back a couple of hours and 10,000won.  Then after being in a overly packed bar with low ventilation, I end up getting my cough, which doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. 

But overall, having spent three months in Korea, I should say its all been worth it. 

Fall into Korea

Unfortunately, its December.  Time flies by and I have no idea sometimes how fast it goes.  However, there's always something to do and somewhere to be every week in Korea.


Jjimjilbang (찜질방)
So, these are a godsend really.  The concept?  Its a public gender segregated bathhouse, but the kicker: get yourself naked with everyone else and chill out in the various saunas and spas.  Quite recently, the awesomely awesome show Bored to Death, featured a New York jjimjilbang in its episode as Jonathon must find a Korean woman- it made me quite proud although I have no idea why. Its a slightly weird concept for foreigners, but after your first time, you're addicted!  Multiple pools with varied temperatures and dry and wet sauna's to drain all your toxins.  Its a bit of an adjustment to get used to walking around naked with other naked Koreans.  I heard that Koreans usually stare at the foreigners, but I had to say, it didn't happen as much as I thought.  They are quite the experience, and I am somewhat addicted, come winter time and I'm sure to hit these bad boy's every week!

Woobang Tower Land
The amusement park developed around the tower that reminds me of a much smaller CN Tower.  This tower is 312 metres high, where the CN Tower is 553.3 metres AND you can extreme skyfly from the Woobang Tower!  This was my birthday present to myself.  While the amusement park is nothing big, there were a few rides that certainly took me for a ride (for once!).  The roller coasters were really nothing special, and while my friends kept dropping like flies as we kept going on the rides, it was the last couple of rides that felt like they took days of my life.
The Can Can: You sit in the seat and as it spins you around you flip up and down and eventually go upside down... having done this twice in a row, I can honestly claim it to be an awesome ride!  
I'm the red blur!
Tag A Disco: The concept of this ride, you hold on tight and make sure you don't get flung out of your seat.  There's no seatbelts or any kind of safety mechanism to keep you held down on this ride.  You just hold on tight and hope you don't get bounced off.  The ride revolves around in a circle and then starts bouncing up and down.  At one point I seriously thought I was getting flung off this thing but no matter what I couldn't stop giggling the entire time!  Needless to say, I've found my new favourite ride!
That's me hoping I don't get knocked off
DVD Bang (DVD방)
The concepts of these are very simple.  You rent a movie and you get a place to watch it.  The room comes fully equipped with a couch, heating pad, blanket, surround sound and a projector screen.  Now, if you're a Korean couple and you wanted some "alone" time, but you both live with your parents, where else are you going to get your freak on?  I would assume it'd be these places, especially when you get the pull out couch and heating pad!  Nonetheless, when you're bored and/or tired and you want a couple of hours of rest, its not a bad place!


Orphanage
Yes, you heard correctly!  Korea to  me, is not all about drinking, partying, getting paid and travelling, its also about getting to hang out with Korean kids and acting like a kid!  To set the record straight, orphanage's here do not quite mean the same as they do back home.  Its located in a school and its more for kids to stay when their parents either don't have the time or can't afford to look after them.  They still get to see their kids on the weekend and such, so its not all a negative experience.  My friend Corinne had been volunteering with the orphanage for a while and I was more than happy to give up 2 hours of my day to hang out with kids where I didn't have to worry about correcting their English and not acting like a fool around them.  There were about 6 boys and we arm wrestled, chicken leg fought, played baduk and a pog-like game.  When they got ahold of my camera I ended up with a gazillion videos of them dancing and making faces, and a million more pictures (some of them are quite the photographers!), and the next thing I knew, time was up!  I wish I could do more of this.  It makes me miss my little cousins back home and playing games with them, and even though none of them knew English and we didn't know Korean, we still managed to have a good ole time causing trouble and creating mischief in the orphange.