That's all she wrote

        Sitting at the dining table in the home I grew up in, in the town I grew up in, it feels as though I've woken up from an ironically strange, yet familiar dream. This past year has been a whirlwind to say the least. 6 countries - South Korea, Japan, China, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia - 12 different flights -over 4000 pictures - and an excess of memories. Truly an experience of a lifetime, one which I will continuously try to top. Thank you to all that have supported me throughout this journey. And thank you to all the exceptional people I've met along the way. Remember, life is what you make it. 
                                                        
                                                           Fortune favours the bold.

Watching the lights display 2012 - New Year's at the Tokyo Tower, Japan  

Hiking and leaping for 6 hours at the Great Wall of China 

Swimming with elephants in Luang Prabang, Laos

Wandering for 3 days around the temples of Angkor, Cambodia

Karaoke and Soju until the sun rises in Gwangju, South Korea

Biking and caving in the countryside in Vang Vieng, Laos

Island hopping and beach bumming in Southern Thailand

Teaching others and learning about myself in Gwangju, South Korea

Bangkok Baby!

   Well this Friday marked the last day not only working at Sewoon but the last day in Korea as well. Teaching has finally come to an end and it feels oh so bitter sweet. But now onto the next chapter! After a long day/night of travelling we made it to Bangkok. And well in the course of a mere 5 hours in the city we've already ridden in a tuk tuk, visited an insane night market, tried the local beer, and had one gross encounter with a cockroach. Not to mention sampling a variety of local street dishes that I've been looking forward to thanks to a minor passion in culinary exploration that I've recently developed. All I can say that if this is any indication of the trip to come, we're in for the trip of a lifetime.

Summer Roses

       Capitalizing on the lovely weather (a balmy 30 degrees, sorry to brag!), we went for  a lazy weekend stroll to the Pungam Reservoir near our house. At the far end of the reservoir is an impeccable rose garden featuring the flower in every color, size, and variety. Mother nature never ceases to amaze me. Absolutely breathtaking!

Korea Y U SO CRAZY

     I'd like to add this photo to my growing collection of pictures titled "Korea, Y U SO CRAZY". Beneath the demure disposition of a traditional and reserved culture is this lust and desire for anything quirky and obscene. This is the window display for a new coffee shop that opened up near my house. The other windows show the same character holding a knife dripping with blood and wielding an ax. Inside it's actually quite cute and serves some delicious coffee and desserts but it definitely doesn't look appetizing from the outside. Only in Korea.

Sincere apologies!

Foreigner trying to sleep it off at one of the infamous "Waygook Wando"
beach parties.

        First of all, I am terribly sorry for the long hiatus from blog writing. I unfortunately lost the creative drive to publish frequent posts. But luckily, as my trip begins to come to a close, I am going to make an effort to get back into it. For the upcoming posts, expect more pictures than words. The old adage says 'a pictures says 1000 words' and I feel that through my photography I am able to express much more than mere consonants and vowels. Again, sincere apologies and thanks to those who have taken the time to keep reading. 


Peace and Love 

      After a lovely week with my parents in Gwangju, we headed up to Seoul on Friday night to spend the night and some of Saturday there before our departure for China. For Cam and I, it was a perfect opportunity to return to Gyeongbokgung Palace, this time with more bearable weather. For my parents, it was an opportunity for them to witness a cultural perspective of Korea. Gyeongbokgung is perhaps one of the best remaining cultural relics of Korea's history. That being said, the palace as it stands today, as previously mentioned, is only a small fraction of what it once was. 

     The trip to the palace was preceded by an interesting Friday night. Our train tickets purchased by a Korean friend, turned out to be valid for Wednesday, not Friday. Although they wanted us to pay for new tickets, eventually we managed to get them to let us simply ride the train on the platform in between the cars next to the bathrooms free of charge.  We capped off our night by staying in a seedy love motel, a Korean travel must.

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Year of the Tiger

Gwangju FC Home Opener

      Saturday marked the Gwangju Football Club's home game opener at World Cup Stadium in Gwangju. Although a little tired from my birthday celebrations the night before and despite freakishly cold weather (you wouldn't believe it is March here!), we managed to make it for opening kick off and watch the whole match. As we are foreigners, and well at the risk of sounding pretentious, foreigners get a lot of perks if you know the right people, a group of 6 of us were given free tickets to watch the match. Now the best thing about watching a Gwangju FC game, and this is the same for baseball games as well, is that you are allowed to bring your own food and drinks into the stadium. So not only are tickets cheap, even sometimes free, but you aren't forced to pay and arm and a leg for food and drinks (say goodbye to 8$ beers).
   Conveniently enough, the Gwangju World Cup Stadium is attached a huge department store called Lotte Mart. As such, we headed there before kick off and grabbed two extremely large pizzas and several beers at a mere 10 bucks per person. After stocking up, we went into the stadium to enjoy the match. Although the quality of the soccer itself is perhaps a little underwhelming, it is a pretty good way to spend a Sunday afternoon in the neighbourhood. 

Cheerleaders!

Dak Galbi

     One thing is for certain about Korea: the food is incredible. Stemming from the wisdom of the great Anthony Bourdain, Korean food is perhaps one of the most underrated foreign cuisines available in Western society. As such, before I left for Korea, I had barely even heard of any Korean cuisine, let alone had the chance to eat it. It seems for most, Korean food can be summarized simply with the word 'kimchi'. Although yes, kimchi comes with every meal, it really functions as more of a side dish or a complement to the main dish. 
     What Korean food is really about is the experience of eating. First off, a lot of the meals are interactive in that you are served raw meats and you cook them on mini barbecues either on or embedded in your table. Secondly, all the dishes are family style. Everyone eats kimchi (and all of the other sides) from the same plate and often you don't even have your own plate in front of you. This means that if you want some kimchi or radish, you just grab it off the communal plate and eat. Although this doesn't sound that strange, they also serve salads and soups like this. Usually there is one or two bowls of soup or salad served with dinner and everyone dips their chopsticks/spoons into them. Once you get past the put-off-by-germs phase, it's actually quite an enjoyable way to eat. Lastly, meals both at home and the restaurant are meant to be thoroughly enjoyed. Meals can last hours, becoming a real social gathering rather than a need for sustenance. However, sitting on the floor cross legged for this long can become a bit cumbersome!
        Currently my favorite Korean dish has to be Dak Galbi. It is a dish made by stir frying diced chicken marinated in chili pepper paste combined with sliced cabbage, potato, onions, and rice cake. The waiters bring over a huge pan filled with all of the ingredients and you cook it in the embedded table in front of you. After a while all the ingredients cook down into a almost stew like consistency. Although it doesn't sound like much, it is glorious. The chili pepper paste makes the dish considerably hot, so this dish isn't for the faint of heart. One of the best parts is after you are finished you can order cheesy rice. You cook the rice in the same pan as the dak galbi so the leftover sauce coats the rice and makes a spicy yet cheesy crispy fried rice. Another great thing about this dish is that it is very inexpensive. It originated as a food popular with university students. You can have a meal of more than enough food for under 10 bucks. 

I apologize for the lack of photos! But trust me, this pot cooks down into a fiery, red stew that is amazing!

Weekend in Daegu

     This past weekend I travelled by bus to the interior of South Korea to the city of Daegu to visit my friends Sashah and Lydia who are also teachers. At almost 1 million more people than Gwangju, the city itself felt a lot more metropolitan. The city is well-established with wide lane streets, an established subway, looming skyscrapers, manicured green spaces within the city, and a major train station. Another notable feature is the amount of foreigners. As Daegu has a pretty large military base, there are not only more foreigners but also more foreign food and clothing options. One street in particular, where most of Daegu's popular nightspots are housed, is almost like a mini-Itaewon. 
    I arrived in the afternoon on Saturday, and after briefly dropping off my bags, we headed to Daegu's biggest market, Seomun Market. Here they had the standard range of Korean market findings, from seafood to bad knock-off purses, and from stacks of dried kelp to beautiful pottery. Although we didn't buy anything (shocker I know), we did munch on a delicious snack of handmade waffles filled with cream and jam. At night, we partied with an awesome group of Daeguers at least 7 different bars, returning to our home after 5am. Lydia and Sashah also surprised me with a wonderful, yet kitschy, birthday cake as an early kick off to this week's celebrations. All in all, it was a great trip and the girls were fabulous hosts for a trip that I hope will be the first of many to visit them. 

VIVA Graduation

     First off, I should apologize for the lack of recent posts. As you will read from this entry, our kindergarten has been preparing for graduation. This means a lot of extra work for us teachers, accompanied by a lot of stress and a lot of post-work beer runs. Regardless, the graduation ceremony took place this past Friday and after all of the work, it was quite enjoyable to watch. 

     True to Korean style, the students have been working very hard on preparing for the big day as they were required to perform in multiple performances, both in English and Korean. Not to mention that the graduation is for 5, 6, and 7 year-olds (it should be noted that in Korea, all people turn a year older on January 1st, not their actual birthdays) so these kids are actually younger than their 'Korean age' in North America. The ceremony included many performances including dance routines to K-pop, ballet, and traditional Korean dances; musical numbers where the children played instruments including recorders, ukuleles, drums, bells, and yodeling; and speeches and plays in both English and Korean. All whilst wearing ridiculous outfits in front of a group of enthusiastic parents wielding every form of technology possible to record the moment. To complement the following photos, my coworker managed to take a video of 6 students from my class performing a dance number to the Korean pop song "Rollie Pollie" (make sure to watch Thomas, the smaller boy performing). ENJOY!

Boys in sequined crop tops performing a song on the recorder.

A gift from one of my student's parents!

Proud parents!