Korea Country!

Me, Eva and Cally in the park!



The view from the top! (about 2km's up)



Pretending to be farmers!



A traditional Korean grave (Cally's Grandma)
They are lumps instead of flat with headstones.




A traditional Korean oven! Our feast was cooked here!

I has been quite the eventful weekend!

I celebrated a holiday today. I went with our English teacher Cally out to the country side to tend to her grandma's grave site! We went and climbed a mountain in a little park that not many foreigners visit. We could see all the mountains around us at the top and the city in the distance! We then went to a town where Cally's father grew up and there was a country home that belonged to the family, was once her grandma's home. It was all wood and we all had a feast and helped to tend to the grave site to honour the dead. Me, Eva and Cally all pretended to be farmers for a while and picked peppers and eggplant and sweet potatoes. We had fresh apples, watermelon, grapes, chestnuts-it was all very good! Korea is all organic so they do not believe in pesticides and they all produce and eat their own local foods! It was a wonderful day! Cally's family was so sweet to us and kept asking us all kinds of questions and giving us tons of food! I really enjoyed today! I had good food, great company and got to see and be a part of the Korean country side! It was the first time I saw first hand a rice field and bamboo trees! I have not seen many animals while here...I don't know where they all are?! So soon we will go to Zooland...so I can see all kinds of animals...I hear they even have a polar bear!(Everyone teases me saying he will be my best friend).


I cannot believe tomorrow is Monday already! Back to work again!


annyong!

Annoyong Haseyo!

Here is Kate and Eva! Eva is the other TaeKwon-Do instructor and the girl who helped get me to Korea, Kate is a student of ours at TaeKwon-Do and also and teacher at an academy in DaeJeon!



This is the underground mall! (goes on for a few streets!)



I wanted to try on one of the big visor/hats that older women wear around here, the store clerk said I was very pretty! I asked if I could have a job modelling hats for her....she did not understand me...

Hello Everyone!

The past two weeks have gone by so fast it has been amazing so far!

I am learning a lot of Korean now...I am getting better at reading...at about a grade 1 equivalent reading level-haha I am reading baby books now and signs and asking everyone what things mean! I am teaching 8 classes a week now and also training 4-5 times a week. They train hard which is very nice...but everyone here is still afraid of my long legs in sparring! I am making new friends everyday! I am content just walking around stores and looking at things because I am still amazed at all the lights, signs, different clothes, nik-nacs and 100's of cellphones (cellphones are like the main accessory here, your cellphone must make a statement!).

Today at my Korean lesson I learned how to tell everyone I am Canadian: "Kaenada-saram". After the Korean lesson we went to the underground mall-which Ivisited before in 2004. (For those of you who do not know in 2004 I came to DaeJeon for the World Championships, I got a sliver for Special Techniques and a gold and two bronzes from team events). The underground mall is alongside the subway- I never get sick of it because it is so bright and has so many cool things to look at!

Everyone here comments on my skin, they say it is so white and that I am very beautiful! I get people coming up to me all the time just to tell me they think I am pretty! Maybe that is part of the reason I love it here so much! Korean standard of pretty is clear white skin, shiny hair, skinny waist and bright white teeth! I am not half as skinny or small as the women here! They eat so much at one meal that it takes 2 people to finish one meal(Eva and I share meals!) Korean women eat a lot but stay so skinny, I am so jealous!!! Although back home I may have fit a small or medium...here I fit maybe a men's extra large!!!

The last two weeks have flown by pretty fast, I have not had a huge bout of homesickness yet-but sometimes I think about how different things are in Canada and I miss some things...like green grass-that is hard to come by around here. The sun I find here is very hot-just standing to wait for the lights to turn so I can cross the street I find too hot! But, soon it will be fall and cooler weather will come-then I will be much happier because it will remind me of home.

Every morning now I am doing yoga! It is very hard here, not like the yoga I did at home! It is fun and many people try to speak English to me. It is good because it immerses me in Korean and helps me stretch my muscles after all the hard training from the week. Sometime in the near future I want to go and do Korean Traditional Archery! There is a lot to learn a do in Korea-if you want to get into the culture! I want to go from being a Waygok to a Hangok (westerner to Korean) and I think after two weeks I am well on my way!

Take care everyone!

Annoyonghi Kayseyo!

Where I work!

This is the Dojang that I am currently teaching at!! It is right in the business section with a lot of other English schools around. It is brand new with wood floors, lots of windows and mirrors. (The wood floors are tearing up my feet...but soon enough I think my feet will better for it!) The school name is TaeKwon-Do Uniting Language Academy. The school is very clean and bright and very big compared to any Dojang I have seen back home. International Taekwon-Do Federation Korea is a very goal driven and determined organization. ITF Korea works together with our school, so I wear Korean uniforms, shirts, jacket-they say soon enough I will be Korean!

Right now at our school we only have 3-4 classes a night, but the kids really enjoy the TaeKwon-Do and in 6 months that the school has been opened no one has quit yet! I have seen and met other teachers in the area! It is very nice to meet other foreigners, it makes me feel less homesick because someone else is around who may be from Canada or the States that I can talk to. Yesterday I also learned to finally read a bit of Korean, it took me about 10mins to learn the sounds and many of them sound the same to me so I am still learning. I sound out each sign-it takes me a while but I think I will pick up Korean soon enough. It has been 1 week so far and I am settling in nicely. At first everything was so different, but now I beginning to like the different things and places and people here!

I am still training hard-maybe even harder then I did before because now I have to impress lots of people! I always feel good after a good sweat, that's the best kind of Taekwon-Do class!

Take Care everyone- I will be sure to update you again soon!

TaeKwon!

Around DaeJeon.

This is the block that my apartment building is on...It has never ending apartments on both sides...and to the right and left...I am happy I learned my bearings early because otherwise I would be really really lost. The other day a taxi got lost dropping me off in amonst all the apartment complexes!!

It was a beautiful, crazy hot day today. I decided to take a walk and take some pictures...I found out that DaeJeon smells pretty bad on a hot day, but so do most big cities...I also found out that this place is pretty awesome! There are mountains all around me in every direction when I look down a street. Right now the mountains are a lush green. This city is fairly new so it has many big glass buildings that are very modern! Everything looks very high class and everything is so ornate and decorative...nothing is left untouched.

For my first week here so far it has been pretty great!

A few days in...

Hello Everyone!



It has now been 4 and a half days that I have been here. So far I am really liking it-they feed me a lot and the food is all very good. I got a new mobile phone-it is a phone that would easily be worth $400 at home but it is very cheap here. It has TV, radio, Internet, MP3, I don't even know what else! I finally got a real bed last night...I was sleeping on a cotton mat on the floor and it was not very comfortable for me. I am hopefully getting an apartment soon, right now I am living with one of the executives of ITF Korea. They are really nice and do whatever they can to accommodate me and make sure I am happy and well. (this picture is of my first bed when I got here)

I am trying to learn more Korean everyday...I so far know how to say that I am hungry, that I am full, hello, goodbye, thank you, count to 20, sorry, your welcome. Everyday I learn a new word or two. I am very tired this week from jet lag. I have been training a bit here and there to help me adjust to things here. I have been getting many presents everyday- I have t-shirts, golf shirts, uniforms, jacket that all have ITF Korea on them.

Miss Eva Plessing is the other teacher that has been here almost 6 months. She and I have competed against each other several times and now we are teaching together here in Korea. She is from Australia. She now knows a lot of Korean-I hope to learn as much as her. I will be going to Korean lessons on Saturday, and exploring DaeJeon with Miss Plessing! The kids here so far have warmed up to me pretty quickly, and they are very fast learners! They call me Shi-Nah which is my new Korean name. The "I" is extra long to sound like double "E". I have been helping out Miss Plessing a bit here and there with the classes. The facility here is very beautiful.

I will be sure to take some pictures soon!!

Take Care everyone!!

GONE!

Hello from KOREA!!!

I am finally here!
It is very hot and humid, but so far I am enjoying the food, the people and just being here.
It was a very long journey (not just the wait to get here) but also the flights. I went from Ottawa to Vancouver which took 5 hours then I went from Vancouver to Seoul which took 11 hours!!! After I got to Seoul I then got on a bus to come to Daejeon which took yet another 3.5 hours! When I got here I had lost a whole day and travelled a whole day! I cannot believe it is Wednesday today....
I am in a daze but taking in as much as I can and very excited to be here!!
I have meet some wonderful people and I am staying with a family right now until they can get me a good apartment!
I will update you on all my adventures as much as I can!
Miss you all....keep in touch!

love_wolf@hotmail.com

Going, Going....

Some of you may have already heard, but I finally have a fly out date!

It is quite soon, it was a last minute flight. I was told that I really need to be there, in South Korea-so I booked a flight for this weekend. I am leaving this Sunday the 17th at 7am!!!!

I am getting excited (again) and this time I am for sure 100% going. There are no more ifs' ands' or buts', this is it. I have no time really to double think on this decision now....I have had some doubts, but how will I know what I am missing out on, or what I am not missing out on until I actually get there! I have been told I will be VERY well taken care of once I get there, many people are looking forward to finally meeting me. I have been so frustrated with waiting and I was ready to throw in the towel, but through a little perseverance I prevailed and I will now be fulfilling both of my passions as once. It is not many people who get to live their dream, or to go out and go after things that they have always wanted in life. I am happy I get to do while I am young and can enjoy this experience!

My niece who is three told me that I was her "superhero", and as I prepare to leave my country, my family, my students, my instructor I keep that thought with me. That I am someones role model and someones "superhero", it makes me proud to be able to represent the International TaeKwon-Do Federation, Canada and myself in the birthplace of my sport!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me so far- keep checking in for updates, as I am sure I will have a lot to tell about Korea.

TAEKWON!

Almost!

Almost there!
My working visa was supposed to come in last Thursday, there is a bit of a delay and it is going to be late they said, so hopefully fingers crossed this week it comes in!
As soon as my visa comes in I am off on a flight to Korea. When I get there I have even more paper work and stuff to figure out, like residency cards, taxes- all the yuckie stuff. I never knew how hard it was to immigrate to another country until now! I sure do appreciate everything I have now, and I am also gald I have help in Korea, otherwise this would be much harder. I have made a lot of friends and I now know I will be very well taken care of when I am there. I am loved by people a world away who I have only meet once or twice in person! I am re-packing things now, as I will be there for one hot month and then fall will come. Packing for what your going to wear for a whole year is hard!
Soon I will be off....