Some Thing's I've Done So Far

In South Korea there is so much to do and see. I'm hoping that by the end of my time here, I can say that I've experienced all thats to be offered. I've read about many foreigners who come here to teach don't end up doing all they expected they would. It's apparently pretty easy to get caught in the "Seoul Gravitational Effect" which means that you stick around Seoul and don't travel to the other parts of Korea. It is easy to miss out on the "Real South Korea" they say. I plan to use as much of my time off to see as many places as possible.

Today me and Rachel climbed one of the many mountains that scatter the Korean landscape. Our choice was Gwanik mountain, which is directly across from our apartment buildings. There could not be a better view to wake up to each day. My walk to work is through a beautifully landscaped park with tons flowers and trees (many cherry blossoms right now) and this huge mountain across the way. It's about a 2 hour hike from the bottom of it to the top and another 2 down. Certainly 4 hours WELL SPENT! The legs are feeling pretty sore, but worth it.

The main sport over here sort of surprised me. I figured it had to be Ping Pong or Badminton but was overwhelmingly Baseball. It's as big here as anywhere. Thousands of people file in for the games over here, chanting like it's the World Cup finals. The World Baseball Classic was all that people were talking about here (from what I could understand). Also up on the list is Soccer which was a big relief for me. There are many leagues to join and fortunately a couple of teachers at my school are big fans. There's a league on Saturdays that I now play in regularily. There isn't many grass fields here so we resort to dirt and sand fields but I don't mind as long as I can play. I also found a Ball Hockey league which I've joined for Sunday afternoon games. Defintiely keeping active over here so far.



A few weekends ago I officially found out how big gamblers the Koreans are. If your looking for a place to make you feel like your in a can of sardines, look no further. The Seoul Racetrack has to be the most insane place I've been to so far. About half a million Koreans jam packed into this place. With people shouting like they just bet their lives on a horse, it was certainly a sight to see. Winning 40,000 won ($40) certainly helped me leave with a positive view of the place though.

A visit to Seoul Tower was in order the next weekend. A saturday night view of Seoul was quite the spectacle. When I walk down the streets at night I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not in Vegas, so you can imagine the sight when looking over the entire city.

Something that very big over here is a site called www.AdventureKorea.com. It's a group that organizes tons of trips all around South Korea. From temple stays to mountain hikes to white rafting it gives you many options to see and do tons of stuff. I plan on doing a lot of the things they offer. A good and easy way to get aroudn without having to plan things for yourself. So far my travelling has been limited to places reachable on the subway line. I get my first paycheck on the 15th so a portion is definitely going to travel expenses.

A Month in Korea...

I have now been in South Korea for one month. A couple weekends ago the bunch of us went to Seoul Tower (basically the Seoul version of the CN Tower). On all the windows looking out they had the exact distances to major cities around the world. Paris, London, New York, Sydney, etc. I looked around until Toronto showed up. The exact distance was 10,607.77 km's to home. It was then and there that I realized just how far away I really was from everything I've known for the last 22 years of my life...

The last month has been a rollercoaster ride to say the least.The ups and downs of travelling to the other side of the world andattempting to start a year long adventure has been quite the experience. All signs point to this being an awesome time and I am now just starting to feel somewhat settled into this crazy place. The culture shock is wearing off and the jetlag is long gone. In a city that has the population of Canada within its greater area, its been a hard and sometimes annoying process to get used to but at the same time a pretty funny experience. The poorly written english signs and terrible driving were expected, but there are many customs and quirks here in the Korean culture that requires some getting used to. Bumping shoulders with someone, where back home one would expect a "sorry" or maybe even a fight doesn't get a second look here. Just accepted happenings of walking in downtown Seoul.

I arrived at the beginning of March not really knowing what to expect. Would it be hard? Would it be crazy? Would I like the food? Could I get around not knowing Korean? Many questions bobbled in my head, but I figured I'd just go with the flow and hopefully things would work out. To my surprise it's actually quite welcoming for a foreigner to come and live here. A lot of signs have some sort of bizzaro enlgish written on them to help you understand. Many people in stores do understand some basic english, if you use exagerated hand signals. It's fairly westernized over here and that makes certain things a little more familiar to all of us. The Koreans at my school have also made sure all of us foreigners feel super comfortable giving us directions, showing us ettiquette and the other day even helped me translate the instructions on my washing machine. Now if only they had dryers, I would be set. I've found it a little easier to settle into my surroundings though with all this in mind. Still, Im 10,607.77 km's from home and it's hard not to feel the distance at times. But thankfully, if you ever get homesick, there's always a Starbucks or McDonalds just around the corner.