FINALLY! so if you download it too (it's free - just google skype), we can actually talk face to face online! you don't need to have a webcam if you don't want to be seen (or see us *sniff*), but you will need a microphone and speakers - standard equipment built into almost all computers...i think.
if you want (or have one) you can use a headset (skype will try to convince you that you should buy theirs), but do the sound test they give you for your computer equipment, it should do fine.
so our skype id is: gypsyfeet09 - original eh? heeheehee. we will have a skype land line that you can actually phone shortly, we'll let you know what's up with that after i've had some sleep and can actually figure that part out. in the meantime, the phone number we give you will be a canada number...and i haven't quite figured out what the rates for you will be to phone us. i just know it's disgustingly cheap.
for now, we can find eachother on skype. happy downloading! :)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Fishy, fishy, fishy, fish!!!!
Dr. Fish was an ‘interesting’ experience – very very ticklish!!! We’re not sure if the experience was meant as a relaxation or exfoliation – but neither worked. If the little buggers were trying their darndest to suck the chi right through us, well it was just too freaking ticklish. And if they were trying to exfoliate, well that backfired too, we couldn’t keep our feet in the water long enough for them to do their “best” work. Stacey managed 10 whole SECONDS only after Nancy bribed her with a free dinner!!! And Nancy, well she lasted about 30 – 40 seconds at the longest!!! Stacey got one poor little guy really good; flung him clear across the tank when he got between her toes. He was a little dazed and confused, but otherwise (we are happy to report) he was just fine.
We went to our first Korean BBQ this week. James from work took us to his favourite place close to his home. It was Stacey’s favourite Korean meal so far. There is an open BBQ right in the middle of each table, so they bring you thin slices of raw meat (we had pork) to place on the hot grill (above open coals). There is an exhaust fan that is lowered into place directly above the grill so there isn’t any real smoke to speak of. Meanwhile they bring many MANY side dishes, including lettuce and sesame leaves to wrap the meat. Once the meat is cooked you dip it in a combination of salts and oil, then place in on the leaves. You add thinly sliced green onion, red pepper paste, garlic, and rice, then wrap it all up in the leaves to ENJOY!! It is quite a social event for Koreans at the end of their long work day – so the place was pretty busy and very noisy. (also there was a baseball game on the large screen TV, apparently Korea vs Japan!!!) It might be a Korean version of a sports bar???
The next evening we went to the movie theatre. Another ‘experience’. First of all we had to go up like 80 escalators to get to our theatre!!! Okay okay, it was only four – but still!! How many different levels can there be?? In Korea everything expands UP, so the answer to that question is “quite a few!!” The seating is all assigned, so it was a good thing we bought the tickets a day in advance, and good that we were with a Korean who could read the tickets for us. We got great seats in the very middle of the theatre, that reclined and had speakers built in the head rests (it was a little loud actually – sigh). VERY comfy seats though – WOW!
Before going to the theatre, we went out for dinner at a taco place that is frequented by many foreign teachers. It was the most white people we’ve seen since we got here. In fact the FIRST westerners we’ve seen (besides the three other foreign teachers at our school). The food was fantastic, and now we know where to go when we are feeling isolated – lol – mind you, none of the other teachers actually wanted to TALK to us – hmmmm – strange.
The subway system, on there two trips we got to experience the subway system. And that really is the only name for it – an EXPERIENCE. All the senses were assaulted!!! At one point we were packed in LITERALLY like sardines. We’re not sure our feet were even touching the floor! And, being a baseball night, the alcohol fumes were thick. So here’s how it works…you stand on the platform waiting for the train to arrive. When it does you get pushed into the train along with the rest of the ‘cattle.’ Then you get pushed in further. Then you get pushed in closer. Then closer. And still closer. Then your feet seem to leave the floor as you get crushed to the point of levitation. Then the train moves and the solid mass leans backwards. Once acceleration is complete and the desired speed is reached the mass straightens up again, only to lean forward upon deceleration. The doors open, and you FIGHT your way through the alcohol stupefied mass. THEY DON’T CARE that you HAVE to get off the train right NOW!!! So Stacey frantically holds on to Nancy, and Nancy frantically grabs hold of Stacey and off the train we get – TOGETHER (thank goodness). Then you get to transfer, and read signs, and figure out directions, in the 32 seconds you have until your next train arrives and you do it all over again. Oh how we LOVE the subway system!!!!! Oh wait!! At the end of the subway ride you get to RUN up 58 flights of stairs (okay a slight exaggeration), find the correct exit, find the correct BUS and more fun begins. Praying that we are in fact ON the right bus, we watch as unfamiliar scenery rolls by and we make our way HOME in the dark! Oh what FUN!! It will be better once we have SOME idea where we actually ARE and what we are doing here.
We are both now full fledged Costco members (yes we went shopping) AND we visited Emart (think Walmart) – oh joy oh bliss – smirk!! Good grief, we are turning into stereotypical westerners – ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh – stop the insanity!!!! Oh well, it was all good – we found wine and cheese and butter!! It’s all for the best.
I never thought I would be thankful to be sick – but on Friday night we got out of Korean karaoke by the skin of our teeth because of it!!! It’s worth the hacking!!! LOL. Ah well, it’ll catch up with us another time, but that’s wayyyyyy in the future, for now we are safe (no need to worry about that for WEEKS – grin)!!
Stacey and Nancy are signing off for another week. And what’s in store for your next instalment – hmmmm – getting free food (lots of it) and oh yeah – the kids – the reason we’re here – tehehehehe.
We love you all, and we miss you! *Big hugs!!* :)
Monday, March 9, 2009
dr fish - tickle tickle tickle!!!
one fish...
two fish...
red fish...
blue fish...
oh fishy fishy fishy FISH!
two fish...
red fish...
blue fish...
oh fishy fishy fishy FISH!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
propaganda fruit!!
we’ll start with the flight. by the time we got to the airport we were sooooo freaking exhausted, nancy honestly didn’t care that she was getting in a plane and flying for 11 hours over the ocean. does that give you some indication of JUST how exhausted we were?? we slept much of the trip although we both got one movie and a good meal in between naps. the ticket lady had graciously changed our seats on our tickets so that we could sit together, which was great when it came to meal time!
during the meal we had our first taste of the generosity and patience that seems to be typical of the korean people (at least when they are dealing with foreigners – lol). we had a choice between ‘fish’ and ‘traditional Korean meal’. that’s it, that’s all we were told. so stacey picked the fish and nancy chose the traditional korean meal, that way we could try both and have a backup if one was gross!!
so we got our meals and stacey’s was pretty self explanatory, nancy’s on the other hand was a collection of small bowls and packages with one main bowl full of what looked like an assortment of vegetables, mushrooms, and meat. she started picking away at the mushrooms (as they are the most familiar thing in front of her) and an older korean man (sitting next to her with his wife) leans over and starts trying to explain that you have to mix certain things together. he was soooo patient with us as he helped us figure out that the rice gets dumped into the bowl with the meat, and then a tube of gochujang (a spicy red pepper paste), and then a small packet of sesame oil. in a bit of a panic he stopped nancy mid pour with the gochujang and had her taste it. she thinks he was afraid we wouldn’t like the spicy-ness of it because he looked genuinely surprised when we were delighted with the taste. finally, you were to stir it all up and eat it with a very long handled spoon, not with chopsticks.
all of this communication was done with a lot of pointing and hand motions as he knew VERY little English and we didn’t know ANY korean. so we split our meals in half and shared so that we could each have our first taste of a “traditional korean meal”. we both LOVED it!!! as it turns out, that meal was called beebimbap and is traditionally eaten on the lunar new year. however it is served in most korean restaurants as part of their regular menu AND yesterday we discovered that there is a vegetarian version too!!! yeaaa – all hope is not lost.
so we land in seoul, get our passports stamped, get our luggage, go through customs and find our driver waiting with a sign (in the most beautiful handwriting) that says “Welcome to Story’nKids Ms. Stacey and Ms. Nancy". yep that’s what everyone at the school calls us – LOL – it is so cute to hear the little kids call out our names!
the driver can’t speak a WORD of english, so he motioned us over to the side and made a phone call to patricia (our school’s director). she told us that it was about an hour and half drive to our apartment and she would meet us there. stace was excited about the drive through seoul because the city is so big and flat…with really cool bridges EVERYWHERE (she killed the last of her battery taking pictures – only to loose all of them later that week!! L). it felt a lot like toronto to nancy, but once we were off the freeway the drive got more interesting.
in fact, as the streets got narrower and narrower nancy began to feel like we were in an old chuck norris movie, with signs and shops EVERYWHERE. it also seems to us that, once off the freeway, the rules of the road are simply suggestions – people routinely go through red lights, drive on the sidewalk, and park anywhere. yet this is all done with a strange sort of grace and absolute confidence!
when we finally arrived at our apartment the driver just pulled up to the front door and parked. it didn’t matter that the bus was in the way of other drivers or that we had to stand in the middle of the road to unload – nope – didn’t bother him one little bit – lol. so we followed suit and helped grab our luggage out of the back. our landlord was waiting for us at the front entrance (he actually owns the building and lives on the ENTIRE top floor). he took us to our apartment and we waited in the hallway for patricia to arrive. it was a short few minutes, but seemed like looooooong many minutes because we were so tired and were standing in the hallway outside our apartment with all of our luggage.
when she arrived we were let in to our TINY new two bedroom home. honestly, it’s so crazy tiny!! hmmmm – 20’x10’ would be the entrance, kitchen and living room. then we have three doors directly off of that space (two bedrooms and a bathroom). that’s it!! oh wait, there is a small closed in balcony at one end of the living/dining/kitchen room which appears to be our laundry room. it has a small washing machine and a foldout clothes horse, all of which take up the ENTIRE ‘balcony’ space. the toilet runs constantly – so we’ve taken to calling it our “water feature”.
but it is relatively clean and recently refurbished with heated floors and a new air-conditioning unit. we actually quite like it now that we have become accustom to the size – and apparently it is a HUGE luxury suite compared to what the other teachers have. ahhhh - yet another benefit to traveling together. we’re slowly making it our home.
the next day we did a little exploring around the neighbourhood and (much to our chagrin) found a french bakery – doh!!! so much for loosing any weight while we’re here - humph!! alas, it’s on our way to work – so each morning we have a café americano and some sort of amazingly yummy (as in “have i even eaten this well at home??!!?!??”) baked goods (yes, plural) for breakfast. we’ve decided to TRY to limit ourselves to three mornings a week because there is no WAY our 30 minute walk to the school can begin to burn of those calories – lol.
we also discovered just how many restaurants and cafés there are in our little neighbourhood. in about a 15 block radius there are no less than 75 restaurants, and no less than 20 cafés!!! and convenience stores EVERYWHERE – we live right beside a 7-11! most of the restaurants are korean – but a few are american style, so when we are really in need of a fix (besides baked goods that is) we have a few to choose from. but we have been eating the majority of our meals at the korean mom-&-pop places. first because the food is SO freaking good, and second because the people are such lovely hosts!!
keep in mind that this is only restaurants we’re talking about here…there’s also clothing shops, spas, shoe stores, furniture stores, auto shops, office supply stores…pretty much you name it and we pass at least 3 on our way to work.
anyway, korean food does take some getting used to though. we were walking down the street last wednesday trying to decide which place to try for dinner. nancy looked up and found herself looking straight into a huge tank of something that looked like live water snakes (it was probably eels – but there were about 50 or 60 of them coiled around each other in the tank). nancy jumped, did an about face, and crossed to the other side of the street and made stacey walk on the outside to “shield” her. LOL! but for the most part the food is distinguishable, healthy, and soooo very very good!!
we spent much of sunday reading through the teacher manuals that patricia gave us, and so arrived at school on monday feeling COMPLETELY unprepared – lol. and we were right to feel that way. the first day was horrendous, with crying screaming kids totally uninterested and unable (or just plain unwilling) to communicate. the first week has been a whirlwind of teaching schedules and new faces, a bombardment of do’s and don’ts, and an inundation of tasks and responsibilities.
our fellow teachers are great (3 other english and 5 korean). for the english teachers, james is the head teacher at story'nkids, and gina and graham have been here for almost a year now. we all have an absolute BLAST together, which i think is pretty rare!! so we're lucky. and we're slowly getting to know the korean teachers....
the kids are freaking amazing!! not only are they smart, but they have so much energy and so very many questions. the curriculum is perfect for us, as it is literacy based and we both truly enjoy children’s books. our kinder classes are challenging because the kids are young, but hugging kids is encouraged here, which makes a big difference. our afterschool classes are more interesting as the children are older and have more to offer in terms of discussion. ALL the kids have endless questions about us and what it’s like to live in canada. for the most part the first week has been a success and we are getting our heads around organizational tactics for the coming weeks.
by the time the evening arrives, we walk home in a daze and then TRY desperately to stay awake until a reasonable time so that we can get over our jetlag and get into a regular sleeping schedule on korean time. the wireless internet at our apartment is spotty at best, so we have to get a land line installed. we’re hoping to do that this week so that we can download skype and msn.
oh oh oh – must tell you about “propaganda fruits”…
in the evening there are trucks that drive up and down the streets with loud speakers, yelling things (in korean of course). the tone of the voice sounds like in the war movies or futuristic movies where the trucks would drive the streets during curfew and spew propaganda. we discovered that it’s fruit sellers trying to get rid of there wares at the end of the day – LOL – so we call it ….you guessed it …propaganda fruit !!
so, what’s in store for next week?? well, mr. james is taking us out for dinner after school on monday and then he’s taking us to dr. fish. what is dr. fish you ask? – well so did we!!! apparently it’s a sort of spa treatment that is really big here in seoul where you sit down and dangle your feet in a pool of fish and the fish suck all the dead skin off your feet. sounds pretty gross eh!?!?!?!?! LOL – ah well – when in Rome – LOL LOL LOL we’ll tell you all about it in next week’s installment!!
during the meal we had our first taste of the generosity and patience that seems to be typical of the korean people (at least when they are dealing with foreigners – lol). we had a choice between ‘fish’ and ‘traditional Korean meal’. that’s it, that’s all we were told. so stacey picked the fish and nancy chose the traditional korean meal, that way we could try both and have a backup if one was gross!!
so we got our meals and stacey’s was pretty self explanatory, nancy’s on the other hand was a collection of small bowls and packages with one main bowl full of what looked like an assortment of vegetables, mushrooms, and meat. she started picking away at the mushrooms (as they are the most familiar thing in front of her) and an older korean man (sitting next to her with his wife) leans over and starts trying to explain that you have to mix certain things together. he was soooo patient with us as he helped us figure out that the rice gets dumped into the bowl with the meat, and then a tube of gochujang (a spicy red pepper paste), and then a small packet of sesame oil. in a bit of a panic he stopped nancy mid pour with the gochujang and had her taste it. she thinks he was afraid we wouldn’t like the spicy-ness of it because he looked genuinely surprised when we were delighted with the taste. finally, you were to stir it all up and eat it with a very long handled spoon, not with chopsticks.
all of this communication was done with a lot of pointing and hand motions as he knew VERY little English and we didn’t know ANY korean. so we split our meals in half and shared so that we could each have our first taste of a “traditional korean meal”. we both LOVED it!!! as it turns out, that meal was called beebimbap and is traditionally eaten on the lunar new year. however it is served in most korean restaurants as part of their regular menu AND yesterday we discovered that there is a vegetarian version too!!! yeaaa – all hope is not lost.
so we land in seoul, get our passports stamped, get our luggage, go through customs and find our driver waiting with a sign (in the most beautiful handwriting) that says “Welcome to Story’nKids Ms. Stacey and Ms. Nancy". yep that’s what everyone at the school calls us – LOL – it is so cute to hear the little kids call out our names!
the driver can’t speak a WORD of english, so he motioned us over to the side and made a phone call to patricia (our school’s director). she told us that it was about an hour and half drive to our apartment and she would meet us there. stace was excited about the drive through seoul because the city is so big and flat…with really cool bridges EVERYWHERE (she killed the last of her battery taking pictures – only to loose all of them later that week!! L). it felt a lot like toronto to nancy, but once we were off the freeway the drive got more interesting.
in fact, as the streets got narrower and narrower nancy began to feel like we were in an old chuck norris movie, with signs and shops EVERYWHERE. it also seems to us that, once off the freeway, the rules of the road are simply suggestions – people routinely go through red lights, drive on the sidewalk, and park anywhere. yet this is all done with a strange sort of grace and absolute confidence!
when we finally arrived at our apartment the driver just pulled up to the front door and parked. it didn’t matter that the bus was in the way of other drivers or that we had to stand in the middle of the road to unload – nope – didn’t bother him one little bit – lol. so we followed suit and helped grab our luggage out of the back. our landlord was waiting for us at the front entrance (he actually owns the building and lives on the ENTIRE top floor). he took us to our apartment and we waited in the hallway for patricia to arrive. it was a short few minutes, but seemed like looooooong many minutes because we were so tired and were standing in the hallway outside our apartment with all of our luggage.
when she arrived we were let in to our TINY new two bedroom home. honestly, it’s so crazy tiny!! hmmmm – 20’x10’ would be the entrance, kitchen and living room. then we have three doors directly off of that space (two bedrooms and a bathroom). that’s it!! oh wait, there is a small closed in balcony at one end of the living/dining/kitchen room which appears to be our laundry room. it has a small washing machine and a foldout clothes horse, all of which take up the ENTIRE ‘balcony’ space. the toilet runs constantly – so we’ve taken to calling it our “water feature”.
but it is relatively clean and recently refurbished with heated floors and a new air-conditioning unit. we actually quite like it now that we have become accustom to the size – and apparently it is a HUGE luxury suite compared to what the other teachers have. ahhhh - yet another benefit to traveling together. we’re slowly making it our home.
the next day we did a little exploring around the neighbourhood and (much to our chagrin) found a french bakery – doh!!! so much for loosing any weight while we’re here - humph!! alas, it’s on our way to work – so each morning we have a café americano and some sort of amazingly yummy (as in “have i even eaten this well at home??!!?!??”) baked goods (yes, plural) for breakfast. we’ve decided to TRY to limit ourselves to three mornings a week because there is no WAY our 30 minute walk to the school can begin to burn of those calories – lol.
we also discovered just how many restaurants and cafés there are in our little neighbourhood. in about a 15 block radius there are no less than 75 restaurants, and no less than 20 cafés!!! and convenience stores EVERYWHERE – we live right beside a 7-11! most of the restaurants are korean – but a few are american style, so when we are really in need of a fix (besides baked goods that is) we have a few to choose from. but we have been eating the majority of our meals at the korean mom-&-pop places. first because the food is SO freaking good, and second because the people are such lovely hosts!!
keep in mind that this is only restaurants we’re talking about here…there’s also clothing shops, spas, shoe stores, furniture stores, auto shops, office supply stores…pretty much you name it and we pass at least 3 on our way to work.
anyway, korean food does take some getting used to though. we were walking down the street last wednesday trying to decide which place to try for dinner. nancy looked up and found herself looking straight into a huge tank of something that looked like live water snakes (it was probably eels – but there were about 50 or 60 of them coiled around each other in the tank). nancy jumped, did an about face, and crossed to the other side of the street and made stacey walk on the outside to “shield” her. LOL! but for the most part the food is distinguishable, healthy, and soooo very very good!!
we spent much of sunday reading through the teacher manuals that patricia gave us, and so arrived at school on monday feeling COMPLETELY unprepared – lol. and we were right to feel that way. the first day was horrendous, with crying screaming kids totally uninterested and unable (or just plain unwilling) to communicate. the first week has been a whirlwind of teaching schedules and new faces, a bombardment of do’s and don’ts, and an inundation of tasks and responsibilities.
our fellow teachers are great (3 other english and 5 korean). for the english teachers, james is the head teacher at story'nkids, and gina and graham have been here for almost a year now. we all have an absolute BLAST together, which i think is pretty rare!! so we're lucky. and we're slowly getting to know the korean teachers....
the kids are freaking amazing!! not only are they smart, but they have so much energy and so very many questions. the curriculum is perfect for us, as it is literacy based and we both truly enjoy children’s books. our kinder classes are challenging because the kids are young, but hugging kids is encouraged here, which makes a big difference. our afterschool classes are more interesting as the children are older and have more to offer in terms of discussion. ALL the kids have endless questions about us and what it’s like to live in canada. for the most part the first week has been a success and we are getting our heads around organizational tactics for the coming weeks.
by the time the evening arrives, we walk home in a daze and then TRY desperately to stay awake until a reasonable time so that we can get over our jetlag and get into a regular sleeping schedule on korean time. the wireless internet at our apartment is spotty at best, so we have to get a land line installed. we’re hoping to do that this week so that we can download skype and msn.
oh oh oh – must tell you about “propaganda fruits”…
in the evening there are trucks that drive up and down the streets with loud speakers, yelling things (in korean of course). the tone of the voice sounds like in the war movies or futuristic movies where the trucks would drive the streets during curfew and spew propaganda. we discovered that it’s fruit sellers trying to get rid of there wares at the end of the day – LOL – so we call it ….you guessed it …propaganda fruit !!
so, what’s in store for next week?? well, mr. james is taking us out for dinner after school on monday and then he’s taking us to dr. fish. what is dr. fish you ask? – well so did we!!! apparently it’s a sort of spa treatment that is really big here in seoul where you sit down and dangle your feet in a pool of fish and the fish suck all the dead skin off your feet. sounds pretty gross eh!?!?!?!?! LOL – ah well – when in Rome – LOL LOL LOL we’ll tell you all about it in next week’s installment!!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
we're in seoul?!?!?!!?!!!!!!!
hard to believe...um, not so much actually, it's very obvious since we can't understand anything people say, or plug ANYTHING into the sockets (thank goodness we finally found an adaptor!!!). but we now know two words... "anyohasayo" (hello) and "cumsamneeda" (thank you) - an no, that is NOT how it's actually spelled. :)
we landed and got into seoul at about 8:15pm on saturday night (2 am friday your time). we met patricia at our apartment, which is quite nice and has very secure carded entry with an elevator, and a marble staircase. we are living in a residential area...meaning that all of the buildings are apartments with businesses on the ground floor - a great set up!!
we have a 7-11 literally next door (mmmm hagen dazs!), and patricia took us out for dinner that night, it was fish soup. soup here entails 4 vegetable dishes, and a bowl of rice in addition to a bowl (pot!!) of soup broth FILLED with big chunks of fish (seemed like 2 pounds!!). very yummy and filling - neither of us could finish our meal.
we found an AMAZING french bakery just down the street called "tous lesjours." so much for our waist lines...the walk to work DOES NOT negate the baked goods we devour on the way!! it is just too good to resist. the starbucks has nothing on this place, and charges an outrageous $4 for a grande americano.
we LOVE our neighbourhood! everything we could possibly need is within 5 blocks in any direction. it's just hitting the stores when they're open that is the issue during the week. as for school, we'll save that for our next blog.
we landed and got into seoul at about 8:15pm on saturday night (2 am friday your time). we met patricia at our apartment, which is quite nice and has very secure carded entry with an elevator, and a marble staircase. we are living in a residential area...meaning that all of the buildings are apartments with businesses on the ground floor - a great set up!!
we have a 7-11 literally next door (mmmm hagen dazs!), and patricia took us out for dinner that night, it was fish soup. soup here entails 4 vegetable dishes, and a bowl of rice in addition to a bowl (pot!!) of soup broth FILLED with big chunks of fish (seemed like 2 pounds!!). very yummy and filling - neither of us could finish our meal.
we found an AMAZING french bakery just down the street called "tous lesjours." so much for our waist lines...the walk to work DOES NOT negate the baked goods we devour on the way!! it is just too good to resist. the starbucks has nothing on this place, and charges an outrageous $4 for a grande americano.
we LOVE our neighbourhood! everything we could possibly need is within 5 blocks in any direction. it's just hitting the stores when they're open that is the issue during the week. as for school, we'll save that for our next blog.
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