"We Stand On Guard For Thee"

Monday, March 1st, 5:00am South Korean time. Bryan, Selina, Ian, and Chelsea have arisen from a weekend slumber to watch the Olympic stream live. Hideously early, but we're far too patriotic (as well as competitive) to let this one pass us by.

Decked out in whatever Canadian apparel we managed to bring to Korea, we made it through an intense gold medal match. And the result? Team Canada defeats the States 3-2 in sudden death over time. Sidney Crosby from my home province steps up and makes the winning goal. I may be millions of miles away, but the Canadian hockey blood is flowing through my veins, and I'm pleasantly reminded of my wonderful country so many miles away.

Go Canada, eh!

Although it's only been 3 weeks, quite a bit has happened since we've last cyber-spoken. Queue the chronology.

First weekend of February was nerded out with a 3D viewing of Avatar. Post film, we did some exploring of Itaewon, the biggest Waegook (Westerner) district of Seoul. We stumbled upon a cabazillion of knock-off purses and enjoyed some Canadian (turkish) shawarmas, and momentarily devoured a little taste of home.

As the next weekend rolled around, so did the beers. Our Friday nights have turned into rituals of grabbing a post-work beer with Brent, which consistently turns into several pitchers and late night crashing. Brent is one of our co-workers and a great time. We've both become really good friends with him and are pretty stoked we have a good pal to enjoy this country with.

The following afternoon was spent at home as we proudly viewed our Vancouver 2010 Opening Ceremonies. We were quite the site: two Canadians in a far away country, curled up on our couch, both sporting our red Roots mittens, and ever so proudly cheering on our homeland. Never mind that it was dubbed in Korean, it made our actions all the more patriotic. Huge shout-out to Cheryl Parnell for sending the mitts abroad: they provided a piece of home while watching home, and it felt great. Go Canada, eh!



The following day we headed to Namsan, a small Seoul mountain, for a mid-winter hike. There is a tradition where lovers buy a lock, make it their own (engrave, pictures, inscriptions) and hike up to the top of the mountain. There is a massive fence surrounding the 360 panoramic of Seoul where you "lock your love". So we took part in this beautiful Korean tradition and locked ours; not a bad way to spend Valentine's Day 2010.

Next up was a particularly special weekend: Bryan's first Korean roommate, Greg, is still kickin' in Korea, and got married February 20th. The wedding was on an island off the South Eastern tip of Korea, a perfectly magical wedding destination. Friends and family from all over flew in for an undeniably legendary wedding. It included: knockout hotel on a cliff overlooking the ocean, some of the best food this country's got goin' on, and a perfect amalgamation of characters from Korea, England, South Africa, and Switzerland. Topping it off was the impromptu reception, in a no more than 20x20 samgypsal restaurant, shadiest of all shady venues, relaxed yet overflowing at the seams with love for the happy couple. The night stumbled back into the hotel, where noraebong (Korean karaoke) took over until the wee hours. We stumble upstairs and crashed, high on life and even more stoked for pending travels ahead.

I'm feeling a change that I had been waiting for for a while now. A growing up and a coming-to-be that I don't believe can be done within the comforts of your own country, inside the familiar walls of safety. I am even more excited for the endless possibility that awaits. I have a strong feeling that this question mark I have embarked on has only just begun.

Gan Bae to life.

January is now over, which means we have been in Dongtan for over 3 months. It's amazing how comfortable we are here, and how much it already feels like home.

January was a less eventful month, but still had some pretty solid highlights, including a Warhol exhibit, a pretty rad shisha bar, the discovery of Costco, a school field trip, and a sick snowboarding extravaganza.

First up was our school's field trip, which sounds lame, but was actually a ridiculous amount of fun. We took the whole school to a massive indoor playground, and for once, got to go crazy with the kids. Ahh, the perks of being an elementary school teacher.







Next up is our friend Chelsea's b-day. About 15 of us headed into Gangnam for some Mexican food, a shisha bar, and an American classic rock bar. The shisha bar was what I imagine being in Thailand on acid would be like, in a positive way of course. Solid times were had indeed.

We also discovered Costco, which was an event in itself. We ended up leaving with an unmentionable amount of cheese and ground beef, which are rarities in this neck of the Asian woods. Koreans love Costco too, so you gotta be fierce in order to survive it. Bryan's mild temperament landed him in the situation below. Ah, he has so much still to learn.

We booked in January with a snowboarding extravaganza, Korean style. Bryan, our co-teacher Brent, and our 2 desk guys (Ruy-Oh and Frank) took off Friday night after work. It was definitely Korean style, which included night snowboarding from midnight til 4:30am. Afterwards, we went home, pounding some beers and crashed by 6:30. The next morning we woke up, had some Ramyen for breakfast and headed to a jimjilbong, which is a Korean bathhouse. The hot springs and jets were incredible after a whole night of snowboarding. Bathhouses are negatory on the clothes-atory, but I'm oddly comfortable being naked around others. When in Rome, baby.

That's it for now. Still loving it, still happy, still game to see what's coming next.

LotsofLove from SK,

-Selina

A Korean Koristmas

This Christmas proved to be a merry one indeed. We celebrated in our apartment, along with my brother, 3 boxes of fried chicken, endless amounts of beer, wine, egg nog, and khalua. We drank and ate all night long, watching old Christmas movies around the Christmas tree. Come midnight, we started opening all of our gifts. It really felt like Christmas with the surprisingly huge loot under the tree. Cheryl Parnell came through with a box full of wrapped presents for us, and our kids at school gave us some pretty amazing goodies as well. All of that, accompanied with Bryan, Khalil and I doing our own exchange, turned our floor into the warm-hearted Christmas wrapping paper mess that I have come to love.



Another gift Bryan and I gave ourselves was a trip to Japan. We had been thinking about it a couple weeks prior, but clicked confirm at 3am Christmas Eve. The morning of the 26th we flew off to Osaka for 5 days of sushi, sashimi, and Satomi, Bryan's brother's fiancee.


Selina and I in front of a beautiful waterfall in Monkey Park. Located in the midst of a mountain range just outside of Osaka, there are hiking trails seethed in packs of monkeys ready to surround and attack unsuspecting Osakians for their snacks. In Nara, Selina fed wild deer cookies. The deer are trained to approach tourists and politely bow for their food.



Thanks to Satomi, we truly had an amazing trip. She took us everywhere: temples, deer parks, Buddhist shrines, 20 story high ferris wheels, and amazing mountain top views of Osaka. We stayed right downtown Namba, shopped in some of the coolest neighborhoods, and indulged in some of the most delicious food I've ever consumed. It was Bryan's second time in Japan, but my first, and it feels good to have another country to add to the archive.





Us in front of the Golden Palace, made from real gold.




















We made it back to the 'dong the morning of New Year's Eve, and geared up our engines for what turned out to be the best New Years Eve celebration of our lives. DJ Steve Aoki blew the roof of the party, while pouring champagne and vodka into the crowd for an added treat. At one point during the night, we found ourselves operating a heavy lift machine that took us to the sound booth at the back of the party, with the best view in the house. Then I look over, and Bryan and Ian are triple fisting inside the BMW that was on display. Needless to say, 2009 was rung in in style. 2010, if you can beat this year, as well as that blowout of a party, I will be both pleased and ridiculously impressed.



That's all for now, let's see what 2010 brings.



Lots of love from South Korea. ♥

World Cup Weekend

You can imagine I was easily convinced when Selina suggested we spend our one year anniversary at the 2009 Snowboard Big Air World Cup finals. We spent Saturday night in a hotel downtown taking advantage of the spa and club lounge facilities, then headed across town to the comp the next afternoon. Upon arrival it seemed all of Korea came out to watch the finals live as the closest we could get was near a huge TV screen. Something I didn't expect was the demographic of the crowd being between 50 and 80 years of age. Determined to get closer Selina and I battled our way through the congested and aggressive crowd of senior snowboard fans. Eventually we did make it the very front for the end of the semis. Highlights included the one Korean competitor preparing himself at the launch pad atop a sea of people shouting "KOREA! KOREA!" only to drop into a full double back-flip. Another unbelievable weekend in the Republic.

"Excuse me, which way to the VIP Lounge?"

This weekend started off as, what I had anticipated to be, a laid back celebration of mine and Bryan's one year anniversary (yes, I know, but please hold the applause until the end). Mr. Parnell, however, had other plans in mind. Impressively, my incredible boyfriend had secretly planned a weekend fit for cash money millionaires. He whisked me off to the Seoul Renaissance Hotel, where our VIP member status proved to be deliciously indulgent. VIP lounges, saunas, spas, pools, free booze, snacks, dinner, and countless extra luxuries is exactly the way an anniversary should be spent. I left the hotel with mini shampoos in my purse, but one large appreciation for this boyfriend I managed to snag.

The next morning we headed to Gwanghwamun Square, where Seoul was hosting the FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air Competition. The once in a lifetime opportunity combined with a gorgeous December day was a perfect way for 2 snowboard enthusiasts to book in the anniversary. Bry will post the deets on the event, I just thought it fitting to send a shout-out to the man with all the tricks up his sleeve. The first year proved to be nothing less than eventful, let's see where this second year takes us.

Stay tuned, folks.

Turkey Bowl

Selina's Turn - Let's hear it for Turkey Day!

To celebrate Thanksgiving, our school went on a field trip to an Education Playground - and icy wonderland of styrofoam igloos, tie-die t-shirts and a snow room. The 'snow', however, was a room full of flour for the kids to play in. Genius. With no type of heads-up to this detail, we were left teaching our afternoon kids covered head to toe in flour - also genius. However, the young ones had a ball, and it's great to see children running around at their happiest. Everyday I love my kids more and more, and find myself demanding hugs and squishes more and more often. I've learned that nothing beats an 'I love you, Selina Teacher' first thing on a Monday morning.

Our Thanksgiving continued with a dinner at school - turkey, spaghetti, and chicken balls - all of my traditional favourites. Thanksgiving ended with a deep appreciation for all that I'm thankful for: A glass shower, my family, the opportunity to explore the world, and you.