Sheena's Korean Adventure

HOME!

2008-12-23T14:13:00.004+09:00

Team Poeun with Allie Me and Ruben!

Ruben was very happy with his award at the party! we shared a sweet moment!

Flying side kick over 5 people!! Yes that is really me...no strings!

It has been a month and a half now that I have been home!

I came back to Canada on the 5th of November, and ever since it has been a whirlwind for me! I came right back into working full-time as head instructor of Reid's TaeKwon-Do in Stittsville! We just had our annual Christmas potluck and awards dinner and did a small demonstration and everyone told me how wonderful I was and how much they missed em and how gald they are that I am home again....I am happy I was missed so much! I better not let my head swell too much though!!

Even though it is -25 and snowy out I still love Canada!

happy holiday everyone!

MOUNTAIN ADVENTURE!

2008-11-03T15:15:00.003+09:00

In the ITF Korea office after a long day of hiking up and down a huge mountain...I was totally ITFified.... We looked very cool in our Doboks on the mountain...some people were nice enough to take this photo for us...(below)

The view from near the top...all the fall colours looked great!!

From the top! It was foggy but still a great view! I was very tired by the time we got to the top! This peak was called Munjangdae and it was 1057 M high. It was a 6.3KM climb!

I had a great weekend with Zibby Kruk and Eva! We went to mountain and stayed overnight in a small town-everyone was so kind to us and we had a ton of fun! We found a shooting range and won some prizes and then climbed a rocky mountain all day Sunday! It was a great weekend, but now my body aches all over from the climb! On the way down we were running and bounding off of all the rocks-which was a lot of fun!! I am gald we went in Fall and got to see all the great colours! It was a bit chilly at the top- and foggy as well, but it was a great climb. We crashed a disco club as well and danced a for a while and were crazy "waygooks". I had a lot of laughs and enjoyed the small town atmosphere!

MORE weekend fun!

2008-10-28T13:41:00.003+09:00

To end my evening Dr. Kruk and a Taekwon-Do master Yoon from Morocco sang us songs on the street...I felt like a hobo but it was a lot of fun!

Downtown Daejeon streets! Packed with people and beautiful shops!

There is a river that runs through Daejeon, it has many tents next to it and at night time people and drink and sit by the river all night!

Me with many pretty Hanboks! They are all handmade and custom tailored to your body...but they are "numu pissayo!" which means very expensive!

Yes....this is some sort of intestines...they fill with meat and make something called sundae out of them...which is like a Korean sausage, the smell was pretty strong...

I went to the markets this weekend! I had some fun checking out all the various Korean wares! The market is very big and sells everything and anything for very cheap prices! You can get 7 cooked potatoes for about 50 cents! You can by fresh fish, shrimp, pots and pans, garbage cans, lights, slippers, purses...anything you can imagine! Everything is made in Korea...they are very proud of their own businesses and do not like anything from outside. Stuff that is made in China or Japan is hard to find! To end my evening I had a lovely time eating sashimi and singing songs on the street with a few Taekwon-Do Masters! You never know what is going to happen next in Korea...

BIKES AND BOARDS AND RAMPS oh my!

2008-10-28T13:21:00.003+09:00

One of our Korean friends decided to go down the ramps on his bottom, I also tried but it hurt pretty bad...

This is Eva our skateboard expert, she was teaching us all how to skateboard!

I took someones helmet and board and put my sunglasses on to look cool...SAFTEY FIRST!

This is Kate on a dirt bike...she even drove it around the track!

Hello all!

In Korea there are many skate parks, you can rent skateboards or Rollerblades or bikes or electric scooters for a cheap price and have fun all day in the park! One of our friends had 3 skateboards and a dirt bike so we had fun driving around and falling on our butts all afternoon! It was very cold that evening so we called it a night after a few hours and went and had some Korean waffles and hot chocolate! It was a good time and we laughed at each other and had a blast falling down and having races! There was a rock climbing wall...I could almost reach the top from just standing! Korean parks are really neat because they have exercise equipment that uses your body weight to train yourself! They have soccer fields and basketball courts and tracks for running that have rubber in them so it has less of an impact on your joints! And Korea is very safe...I never hear sirens or hear of crime here-people believe that if life gives you lemons you deal with it and change it so it suits you better.

This weekend I had a lot of fun....

BUSAN-part 2...

2008-10-23T14:16:00.002+09:00

After me and Eva got our medals...Zibby Kruk wanted to give us many hugs for putting on a good show!
My Korea TKD family! The students all came to Busan, which is a 3 hour train ride, just to cheer us on and see us compete!!

My sparring face...how ugly is that? I would not want to fight that!

Me and Eva giving a good show...we did 3 rounds of 2 mins! We had a lot of fun doing it!

Still friends...

Busan was a good tournament, good people and a good turn out overall! There was some people who had very good skill and I was happy I got to experience the tournament and meet new people!! I got a bronze in 3rd and 4th degree men's and women's patterns and I got a sliver in women's sparring. I wanted to sparr with the men but they were afraid I would embarrass them...But it was a good trip and will always remain one of my best memories of Korea!

Take care everyone...I will be sure to update again soon!!

BUSAN!

2008-10-22T20:54:00.004+09:00

NO SMOKING ON THE BEACH! Me and Eva were the scary "no smoking" enforcers!
Morning of the tournament I was getting pumped and ready with my coach Zibby Kruk...I look mean=-would you want to mess with this?
We warmed up and did some stretching before we went in the ring....
This is lovely Busan in the morning...it was a HUGE city with some of the tallest buildings I have ever seen! It is in the middle of mountains and on the one side is right on the sea. It is the major port between Japan and Korea...many businesses and many many people!! We had traffic at midnight!
This is all the competitors lined up getting ready for the competition to start-there was a quite a nice turn-out for the first ever ITF Busan open! It was run fairly well-we even had a lunch-which is very rare!

BUSAN! Was amazing...last time I went it was only for the airport so I did not see any of it-but it has amazing condo buildings and structures all along the sea! It was a lovely city to visit-even if it was just for 24 hours! I had a lot of fun and ate lots of sashimi-which is raw fish...I even got to pick the fish before I ate it...

I liked Busan...but there was crazy traffic at midnight and we could not get anywhere...too many people in one place I guess!!

The lost archives...

2008-10-22T18:57:00.002+09:00

This is a picture from Chusok, the Korean feast that is much like Thanksgiving...without the turkey.
A picture of me taking a picture of Eva taking a picture of Sunni!
A SHEVAS-(again) Sheena plus Eva plus Sunni = SHEVAS!
Eva trying to knock me out with an acupressure back scatcher...or something we were not sure what it was so we decided it must be a weapon...and Eva was going to try it out on me...

Hello Everyone!

These pictures are from my coach here in Korea, he is from Australia his name is Zibby Kruk! He found them on his camera and gave them to me so I figured I would post them since many of them are very entertaining! When I am not training we have a lot of fun around here! I think next weekend we will go to the mountains again and see all the fall colours and leaves changing all over the mountains-it should be fun and beautiful! I have had a lot of great experiences here in Korea, and I am happy I get to share them with everyone!

Have a great week!

My Korean Life.

2008-10-15T17:37:00.003+09:00

If you look to the right out of my balcony window you will see the "never-ending-apartments".
If you look to the left out of my window you will see downtown Daejeon, it is mostly government buildings-kinda' a lot like Ottawa actually. Daejeon used to be the capital of Chuncheongnamdo province.
This sign says "chung chong wo gao" and has a woman sitting on a toilet...I have no idea what it means, but it is a funny sign to walk past everyday none-the-less.

This is Master Yu making a lovley pose for me as I shove a camera in his face while he is in my office!

This is my room...I used to sleep on the floor until they found me a bed long enough...but it takes up pretty much my whole room...so my room is a long bed by a balcony!

Life in Korea!

Everyday I notice something new. When I first came here everything was almost too much to handle, but now I know my way around and things seem very comfertable now. Everything is very cheap here with the market booming in asia, and I have made lots of good friends!

So this post was for those of you who wanted a little peak into my everyday life, where I sleep and what I see, etc. I will make sure to find more funny signs to share with everyone! They are my favourite part of living here-I get a giggle whenever I go for a walk! TAKE CARE EVERYONE!

Fun things!

2008-10-07T20:51:00.004+09:00

WHAT IS THIS?? Me and my friend Kate were walking through the super market and found this in one of the bins...I still have no idea what it is...any suggestions?

Hello Everyone out in blog space!

I am now officially sick AND injured! It is a combination that I do not like...but I will suffer through. Lucky for me I have nothing to do tomorrow so I will go home and read and sleep and relax and take some medication for this illness and hopefully gain my strength back. I feel like a zombie...and I am about as pale as one too! This last weekend we did some training and took it easy. We watched a movie in Korean and I understood half of it until the end...it was half in Korean and half in Japanese...very confusing!

Lately I feel very tired-maybe it is the change in weather but I hope I gain back my strength and can train hard again sometime in the near future! The kids have been great, but sometimes the language barrier is a problem....it takes them a while to warm up to someone new. Now some of them try to climb me when they see me....I am now SONGSEAGNIM NAMU SHEENA which is teacher tree sheena! they ask me to spin them and pick them up and throw them-this for me is very fun-and I can imagine the kids love it as well! Most of the kids I find are very small...I guess compared to western children they are shorter and weigh less-so it is easier for me to spin them and throw them in the air and let them climb on me!

This week is really flying by...before I know it October will have passed me by! Unfortunately they do not celebrate our kind of Thanksgiving...so no big feasts on potatoes and turkey for me! They also do not know about Halloween! Which is one of my favourite holidays!!! So maybe I will dress-up and scare the kids....and then give them candy to make up for scaring them!

Speaking of scary....Eva got punched the other night and now looks like a PANDA! The man beside her is Master Yu who teaches ITF TKD here in Daejeon-he trains me and Eva pretty hard!

Take care everyone!

Happy Korea Day!

2008-10-03T13:21:00.003+09:00

HAPPY KOREA DAY! and to celebrate Korea Day everyone goes.....SHOPPING!

At least that is what I have witnessed so far today.

I went for a walk and this crab was trying so badly to escape... I took a picture of this because it made me giggle...It says "Mr. Pizza-made for women"...it made no sence to me but made me laugh!

Annoyong!

I went for a walk since it was my day off and took some pictures of various things....like giant crabs trying to escape being on someones plate next and the Mr. Pizza truck...pizza made for women...whatever that means! There are many more signs that I must take pictures of because they make me giggle whenever I walk by them, and Koreans always look at me like I am a crazy woman when I take pictures of things like signs...but I am going to go enjoy my day off...talk to everyone later!!

Training hard....

2008-10-01T14:31:00.003+09:00

Long time- no update!!

I have been a very busy lady lately!

I was even on TV the other day! I did an interview for a sports magazine and they showed me teaching the 3-6 year olds and trying to speak Korean-so for me it was very comical! Soon I will also get a big banner on the outside of the school with me and Eva in fighting stance! So soon I will be famous in Korea!

Recently I have been training two times a day to get ready for a tournament coming up in Busan in October! Busan is at the southern most tip of South Korea and this is the first ITF Taekwon-Do Friendship Tournament held in Korea for Koreans only. Right now I am walking with a limp because I am sore all over my body! Last weekend I dragged my friends to the spa so I could sit in a sauna and relax all my muscles! I am happy with my training here-I am improving on so much while I am here and getting to work on myself again, but it is hard after teaching for a while then having to be a student again.

Right now it is finally Fall here in Daejeon, it has dropped in temperature and Eva is very cold as she has never experienced a true winter before! I cannot wait to throw snowballs at her!! (hehe shhh don't tell her my evil plan!) I have been eating a lot lately-and most of it is very good food! Korean food is very spicy but once you get used to it you develop a taste for it!

This Friday it is Foundation Day (think Canada Day Korean style)! I am excited for it, but no one seems to celebrate it! It is the day that Dan-Gun (yes-just like the pattern in TaeKwon-Do) founded Korea....it was lost before but he found it! The story goes that Dan-Gun's mother was a semi-deity who was a bear she came down to earth and became a woman. She married a man and their son became a God King. The God King Dan Gun founded the Choson Kingdom in 2,333 B.C.! So Korea is really really really old...especially compared to Canada! In Korea the holiday fills everyone with National Pride, there are flags up everywhere, on every street corner there are at least 3 flags! But when I ask everyone what they do on this day they all reply "nothing, we rest!" so it is a holiday....to rest! I was hoping for crazy Korean fireworks...but I guess maybe another time.

Well that is all I have to update for now..take care everyone and I will be sure to share with you my next adventures!

Korean Temples!

2008-09-23T13:55:00.004+09:00

A wonderful Korean 'Babbling Brook'...
The 'Heaven Hand' done right....in a place it should be done- in front of a Korean tenple!!
Sheena + Eva = SHEVA!
One of the many great mountain peaks that surrounded me.
Inside a buddist temple, the ceiling filled with prayers the walls filled with candles and many Buddhas all around! This one was special as it was a women's only monestary!

Annyong Hasesyo!

I went on a very refreshing adventure this past weekend to one of the many mountain sites around Daejeon. It is a very popular site, but at the same time the nature looks untouched and very green and lovely! I almost felt at home in the woods, with mountains surrounding me and Temples every kilometer! It made me really appreaciate where I am and how lucky I am to be on such an adventure to get to experience so much! During the week with all the teaching and training I don't really get a chance to stop and slow down and think about why I am here, but on the weekends visiting many places it always reminds me that I am in a very different, but very grand place! There is still so much for me to see and learn here!!

On days when I am homesick I think about what I would miss if I was NOT here, how different my life would be, and for the moment I would not want to be anywhere else in the world BUT here! I get to experienece and make a piece of history! I am literally a pioneer of ITF TaeKwon-Do here, and although sometimes the road gets tough I must keep going and venturing forth into the unknown! Besides, at the end of the day I still have a smile on my face-and that's all that really matters!

Lots of gratitude to all of you who keep reading my blog!

I will make sure to keep up all my adventures for you all!

Training in Korea...

2008-09-22T12:30:00.003+09:00

This is some of the people in our late night adults class...we have a lot of fun while training- putting our blood sweat and tears into all that we do!
I am STILL the most flexible person I know! (Now I am the most flexible Korean I know!)
Some of the aftermath of training hard, many , many bruises and bumps and scratches and aches and pains.....

I really love training here in Korea! I train really hard and I am training with Dr. Kruk from Australia as well! I am getting a lot of training in while I am here and it is paying off! Already I have seen my timing in sparring greatly improve and even though I am covered in bruises and in pain from sore muscles I know in the end that it is all worth it! I like the training here because it is hard and challenging for me. But, similar to in Canada, everyone is still afraid of the long monstrous legs that are attached to me! They all yell "TOO LONG TOO LONG!!!" I just laugh! Even with a language barrier the classes are still a ton of fun for me! They are taught by Sean Yu, who is a 4th degree with ITF Korea and he makes us sweat and work hard! It is a joy just to say that I get to teach and train in the birthplace of TaeKwon-Do, actually where my building is located it is close to the location of where TaeKwon-Do was given its name!

Keep training hard everyone, and when I do come back to Canada I have a lot new bag of training tricks up my sleeve!!

ZOOLAND!

2008-09-22T12:03:00.004+09:00

WELCOME TO ZOOLAND! Thumbs up and hands out...
A TIGER OH MY!
I AM VERY MUCH LIKE THE GIRAFFE! We have a lot in common, long legs, stunning good looks...
Doesn't Eva look so cute as a nami? (Butterfly) I just had to kick her...
Me and my best buddy the polar bear! ( you can only see his bear bum...but I swear he was there)

Time for a BIG update!

I finally have lots of pictures to share with you all!

Last Friday I went to Zooland! I got to see Lions and Tigers and Bears...oh my!

And of course I finally got to see my best Friend Mr. Polar Bear, it was very hot that day so I felt extremely sorry for him! We went on all the rides at zooland, including one that drops you from 20 stories in the air! It was a good adventure and we spent the whole day there just walking around going on a safari and meeting many animals! I was exhausted afterwards, all those rides and the hot sun sure wore me out fast! It was the very first time I had ever been to a zoo! I had never seen so many animals in one place from all over the world. Korea is quite the place I must say! Everyday there is something new to see or do and I really am enjoying it here! It feels like a working vacation some days, many things aren't very expensive so we get to go a ton of places! I will miss all the animals, I have not seen many animals here in Korea besides tiny-purse-sized dogs...
Have a great week everyone!
I will have a ton more pictures and updates to come!

NEW CLASSROOM!

2008-09-19T13:51:00.004+09:00

Hello, and welcome to Songsaegnim Sheena's classroom!

(Songseagnim is teacher in Korean, in the Dojang I am a saebumnim which is instructor.)

These are pictures of my new classroom/office.

It is small and cosy, I don't keep the kids in their seats very much because we are always playing games and I encourage them to speak English and use sentences. Some of them are very shy so I tell them to whipser their English sentences to me. It has been fun so far and the kids have seemed to really warmed up to me in the last few weeks!

Right now I am covered in bruises and I am sore all over! I have been training with a great coach from Australia named Zibby Kruk, he trains me to the bone and is always trying to make me perfect-if it is not perfect it won't do. So I look and feel like I am training hard! Sean Yu, the 4th degree of ITF Korea also teaches me classes at night time from 9-10:30pm and he also works me hard...in Korean! I am loving doing TaeKwon-Do here, the Dojangs all look like a high class palace and there is a lot of Dojangs and tons of different martail arts! I can have my choice of things to do here that is for sure! I can do yoga, or sword fighting or archery or I can learn to write in Korean cursive writing! Nothing here looks like back home, there is always something to see or do and I am always wide-eyed and in awe of things here. I appreciate their respect for each other, and how kids really respect their peers and teachers.

I will be having another fun filled weekend coming up, I will be sure to get lots of pictures!

One of these days I also have to take pictures of my kindergarden class.... imagine 3-5 year olds trying to learn English and TaeKwon-Do-its a crazy class but somehow I can handle them for 45 mins everyday!

HAPPY CHUSOK!

2008-09-17T13:06:00.003+09:00

(The tenants of TaeKwon-Do)

It was Chusok here this past weekend!

I was very pleased to get a 4 days holiday!

But what is Chusok? It is a Korean version of Thanksgiving! You eat special rice cakes with sesame seed and pumpkin filling! You give thanks to your ancestors for the good harvest and clean their graves and have a big feast in which you honour the deceased. We honoured General Choi Hung Hi and had a a huge lunch and dinner in his honour. I was a good holiday, but 4 days makes it very hard to want to come back into work. I did not feel like it was a proper Thanksgiving, I had no turkey or mashed potatoes or gravy or carrots, rice and seaweed just doesn't really say Happy Thanksgiving to me, but I still ate a ton of food and got really really full!

Everyone here wore traditional clothing called a Hanbok and went out to their traditional country homes with their families! I stayed in the city and was shocked at how empty it was! All the lights of the signs were turned off and there was no noise at night, no cars to be seen anywhere and very few people out on the streets. It was very eerie after being here a month and seeing non-stop flow of cars and people and crazy lights everywhere, a big change for me, but it was nice to have everyone slow down for a few days.

I have been enjoying it a lot here, the leaves are changing just a little, I still say everyday that I am melting because the heat here is unbelievable for fall-time weather. It is 30 degrees here still everyday and maybe drops down to 15 at night. I miss Canadian fall, but hopefully it will cool down and then I will go climb some mountains and get some beautiful pictures!
I will be sure to post some more pictures soon!
Happy belated Chusok everyone!

Grand Master Choi in Korea!

2008-09-11T17:56:00.002+09:00

After 34 years Grand Master Choi finally got to come back to his home in South Korea!

I was honoured to see him as he made Taekwon-Do history in making some of the first steps to help bring ITF TaeKwon-Do back to South Korea! He came to our school to see where we teach and told me and Eva that he was very proud of us!

It was a very good day to finally see Grand Master Choi back in his home!

He will be back soon, in a few months time!

TaeKwon everyone!

Funny stories from the far east...

2008-09-10T11:57:00.003+09:00

HELLO from Korea!

This week for my update I decided I should share some of my cute and funny stories with you of some of my adventures so far!

I will start with my most recent one, while I was in Japan I visited a spa. This was no ordinary spa, it was called spa world and was 8 floors of hot tubs and baths and mud masks and massages and salt scrubs and all kinds of crazy things...8 FLOORS!!! It was truly a wonderful experience and part of the reason I will always love Japan. (They are crazy about spas and shopping...tons of malls as well!) While at the spa I grabbed a big towel before I went in...when I went to take a shower one of the managers saw I had a big towel and told me I could not have it (the use small towels in Asia...imagine drying off with a tea towel!) just then one of the older women started freaking out! I did not know what was going on but they told me I had to leave immediately! I was very upset and had no idea what I had done wrong, when she turned to me and said NO TATTOOS! (for those of you that don't know I have two tattoos, on my neck and on my back). Tattoos represent gang members in Japan so they were going to kick me out! Next thing I knew the woman brought me to the front desk....then she said "shhhhhh" while she put at least 10 band-aids on my back, she said, "our secret!". I was so happy that I could still go to the spa...but I had to hold my band-aids in place the whole time! (I also had to rip them off afterwards...that was not so much fun!)

Another funny story:

The other day I was teaching the English class and I was doing some bad acting! I grabbed my back and groaned to represent backache....instead one of the kids yelled out "GRANDMA!!". Then when I grabbed my stomach and groaned (again more bad acting) to represent stomach ache one of the kids yelled out "Paegupa?" Which means 'hungry' in Korean! Then last but not least I sneezed to represent a cold and one of the kids yelled out "bless you"! So needless to say that class I laughed a lot!

But wait, here is one more!

On one of my first trips out to the country side I was wide-eyed and so amazed at the greenery and farm fields and tons of mountains! I had just learned to read and was reading baby books so I could learn a lot of words (I am still reading baby books!). I suddenly pointed and shouted out OKSUSU!! Which is corn in Korean! Everyone in the car laughed because they said I was like a baby...yelling out the name of vegtables as we drove by-so one of my first Korean words was corn! I got a pat on the back for learning the word corn! My next words that I learned, again like a baby, was paegupa, which means hungry, paebula, which means full, kaja, which means let's go! Soon I hope to move up and maybe get to the toddler stage in Korean!

Though a lot of funny and crazy stuff happens here, I would not have it any other way!

I will be sure to update you all again soon...

until then take care!

SHEENA IN JAPAN....a short side adventure!

2008-09-06T23:53:00.003+09:00

This guy is saying "WELCOME TO JAPAN SHEENA!", or at least that's what I think he is saying!

This is a crazy market we literally stumbled upon and it went on for ever and there was even a mall that also went on forever. They were above ground tunnels... There was so many people!

This is a girl that we walked into in the mall...she called herself the Japanese Flower Girl!

I went into a small Temple in the middle of the city! It had incense and places to pray and gongs! Again, something me and Eva stumbled upon!

An Osaka sunset....

Hello everyone! Welcome to Sheena In Japan, a short side adventure! I was lucky enough to get to go to Japan for 24 hours! It was the most amazing place and I did not want to leave! It has millions of people, yet it is so clean, organized and beautiful in its own way! Every building is different, no two things look alike! All the signs can give you a seizure if you look at them too long! It is bright, modern and refreshing! The people could not speak any English, but yet could still understand us and tried so hard to accommodate us whenever they could!The people are all very unique as well...unique may not be the word I am looking for,the men had the craziest hairstyles I have ever seen anywhere!! The Japanese women all wore their clothes differently-no one looked the same at all! Very individual and pretty cool if you ask me!The lights of the city at night were breathtakingly beautiful! I really, really liked Japan! It was upsetting that I could only stay for such a short time! (I did what's called a "Visa Run", and got my Korean work Visa in Japan and it took only 1 hour!) I was in Osaka only a day and a night and I decided that I love Japan and I want to go back again and again!

I will be sure to update you all on my next adventure!

INSAM FESTIVAL!

2008-09-05T13:09:00.006+09:00

KOREAN GINSING FESTIVAL!

Making rice flour by hand...the old fashioned way!

Cally with our hand picked (dug) ginsing.

Mr. Ginsing...ginsing's name in Korean in Insam which means human being because they look a lot like the human body!

Hard work! I had to dig with a sharp tong thing...I almost got my own toe!

Ginsing is huge in Korea! Everywhere you look something is made of ginsing, candy, chocolate, drinks, tea...so many things! Every farm or country house has ginsing and they all say it is great for your health! There is a legend to the ginsing....It says long ago there was a man who prayed for his mother's recovery from an illness on mount Jinak. While he was praying a mountain God came to this man the God told him to pick a plant with three red berries on top, boil the root of this plant and give it to his mother. He did as the God said and his mother made a speedy recovery. So now ginsing is thought to have healing powers and they eat it everyday! It tastes not bad to eat, but the tea is very strong and so is the jelly, so many westerners do not like it...I did however LOVE ginsing chocolate!

I had a great Korean experience! And had a lot of fun...people always want to shake my hand they call out at me and tell me I am so pretty! Everytime I meet someone they all say you are so beautiful...everywhere I go!! I am getting a very big ego here in Korea!

Take Care everyone!!

Korea Country!

2008-08-31T20:37:00.003+09:00

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!

2008-08-30T22:01:00.007+09:00

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!

2008-08-26T12:02:00.003+09:00

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.

2008-08-24T17:08:00.003+09:00

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...

2008-08-21T13:47:00.005+09:00

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!

2008-08-19T12:51:00.002+09:00

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....

2008-08-14T11:32:00.003+09:00

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!

2008-08-05T05:18:00.002+09:00

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....

NEWS AT LAST!

2008-07-24T13:08:00.002+09:00

I have great news!!
My visa is on its way!
I am very excited (again) to be going soon!
Hopefully in 2 weeks I will be on a plane to Korea!
I cannot wait to get there, and to meet my new employer.
Once I know my fly-out date I will let everyone know!

Update....

2008-07-10T14:32:00.003+09:00

Hello everyone who reads my blog!

An update on my status:

I still have no idea when I am going to Korea! haha. I do know that my visa is coming soon, and that I do not have an apartment there yet. I am still (slowly now) packing-kinda' living out of my suitcase at home which is weird. I do hope that I can be there as soon as I can-I am getting anxious now. It is hard to wait, but as they say all good things come in time. I am hoping maybe by the end of the month I will be in Daejon.

I will keep updating everyone as I get more information myself.

Thank you for Monday

2008-07-03T07:23:00.003+09:00

Happy belated Canada Day!

(I just got my computer back-it was in the shop-Thankfully it is okay! I just hope it stays this way because it is coming with me when I go!)

I am getting excited now-I had my last classes in Stittsville on Monday and I want to thank everyone whop came out and thank everyone who signed my going away card! It means a lot to me that I have so much support! I have been keeping in touch with everyone in Korea, they have a huge TaeKwon-Do festival going on right now the first one where both ITF and WTF are together as one. It marks a huge step in history and will help to shape the future of TaeKwon-Do. I hope to also help make history when I am Korea with TaeKwon-Do!

Again thank you to everyone from Stittsville for everything-you have all been amazing students and it is hard to leave you all. I will come back to visit and I will be checking in on your progress with Mr. Reid!

Last test...

2008-06-21T12:29:00.002+09:00

Tonight was my last test at the Dojang. It was great to see so many people testing- and they all did me very proud! Watching your own students is very surreal, you feel so proud of what they have accomplished and you know that you were a big part in their success. I am sad to leave them all (my students) behind, I know they are all so talented and that they all have so much potential. This last test helped me see that there is a lot of greatness in the Stittsville Dojang.

Everything seems to be happening now at light speed! I know I may not be leaving for two-three more weeks, but it is flying by so fast! I just hope I can get everything done and organized before I go, I feel like there is so little time in a day lately to get done what I need to get done. My last day of work will officially be the 30th of June. It will be hard to say goodbye, it was hard to even hand out letters to everyone to let them know I am leaving for Korea. I hope everyone can understand that I am leaving for a great opportunity, if it were up to me I would have my cake and eat it to, but some of the best things in life require a bit of sacrifice.

waiting game

2008-06-03T14:33:00.002+09:00

So for now, it is a waiting game!
I am waiting on my work visa and my offical take off date from Canada!
I can already feel how hard goodbye will be, but I do not want to even think about that now, for now I will look forward to the opportunity and be happy I get to start a new adventure!

First Post!

2008-06-02T12:49:00.000+09:00

Hello everyone who ventures onto my blogspot!

It is only one month away, I am getting very excited!
For what you ask? For the adventure of a lifetime!
I am going to South Korea in less then a month to teach English as well as TaeKwon-Do.
Keep logging on as I will update my blog whenever I can to keep you informed of my adventure! Thank you to everyone for the support!