Instead of going away this weekend, we decided to stay home and enjoy the great weather. We got up just after noon....as per usual...and spent the afternoon lying on the beach and playing in the seemingly huge waves. I think I may have made a beach bum out of Yvon. It was so much fun just watching him laughing as the waves took him out. I have been picking sand out of my hair ever since!! We then stumbled on old bumper cars and took a turn with some of the little kids. The boardwalk is full of things that we keep discovering. Hopefully tomorrow will be as nice as today was!

Later!

Happy Peace Day!!!!!

"You are a child of the universe,no less than the trees and the stars;you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations,in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. "
-Max Ehrmann, Desiderata


I wanted to take the time to wish all my friends and family all the peace in the world. The quote above was shown to me by my good friend Leslee and I thought I should share it with you. I hope that you are all happy and healthy and taking care of those around you...that, I think is the best we can do. Be good to each other and hope that those feelings spread throughout those that aren't as close to us.

Lots of love from far away......

Just a little thought before we head off to bed.....I think I know how I will get to enjoy beaches, especially living so close to one. It has very little to do with baking in the sun all day, those of you who know me know I am not fond of that. I am so appreciating the awesome power of water, of the sea. These last few days the waves have been as big as I have ever seen due to the Shanshan Typhoon that hit Japan. Although I know there are many places in the world that boast much bigger ones, this is confirming my respect for mother nature. To hear the waves, to see them come in with such force, and to see various people - including Amanda -having so much fun in their own way with them makes the whole scene that much more breathtaking which is great. Even though I am not likely to join the local surfing scene, I look forward to enjoying them myself, as long as the riptide doesn't get me!!!!

On essaie d'ajouter des photos, mais on a des problemes techniques...

Ce fut juste un petit mot pour decrire comment je respecte la mer et sa puissance. Avec le temps ces derniers jours, on a de sacre grosses vagues sur la plage et j'adore regarder les gens locaux - Amanda incluse - s'amuser a leurs facons. Je crois avoir trouver ma facon de m'amuser sur la plage!!

A suivre...

Juste un petit mot...

Je me disais qu'un jour il faudrait que j'ecrive un mot ou deux en francais..en autant que vous me pardonnez pour l'absence d'accents...j'ignore toujours comment ajouter les accents avec ce laptop...

Nous nous portons tres bien ici, malgre le mauvais temps et le manque de motivation pour essayer la nourriture coreenne. On se contente de nouilles et de pizza pour l'instant, mais l'inspiration pour se lancer dans la nourriture locale se fait de plus en plus presente avec chaque journee qu'on est ici. Comme vous pouvez voir sur les photos ci-dessous, nous ressentons les effets secondaires de l'Ouragan qui a fait de serieux dommages au Japon. Les vagues sont grandes mais les "surfers" s'amusent tellement!! Il y a aussi quelques photos de notre marche de la journee sur le bord de la mer, se dirgeant vers le resto Indien ou nous avons mange diner avec un couple du coin de Moncton et notre collegue de l'Irlande, Sharon. Ne vous inquietez pas de ma main gauche, elle est bien derriere ce requin bel et bien mort!!

C'est tout pour l'instant, je vais laisser les photos parler a ma place. Nous nous sentons bien chez nous dans notre logement et dans notre petit coin de la ville. Reste maintenant a voir du pays dans cet immense parti de notre petit monde.

A votre sante...

TYPHOON!!!!!!!!!! Well, the effects of a Typhoon hitting Japan have caused some serious rainfall and wind, but we're still having fun!!! We spent the weekend pretty much eating with a couple from New Brunswick, Krista and Ryan along with our co worker Sharon. We enjoyed both Thai and Indian cuisine... I wonder when I will start to enjoy KOREAN food...I guess it is just a matter of time!! The storm has kept us in this afternoon however, I think I would blow over like a tree has just outside our apartment building!!! Us enjoying a pint at the local foreigners bar!
Surfers out this afternoon taking in the storm!
Yvon and I out in the storm (Notice tree down)
Yvon getting his arm eaten by the whale shark!
Sharon and the dead whale shark outside the aquarium.

Hasta Luego!!!!

Tonight, we weathered the Typhoon Rain to eat something a little more substantial that Ramen Noodles!!!

We would like to say that this was our first real venture into Korean cooking, but the truth is we had this same meal (almost) three nights ago with a slightly more experienced foreigner, our colleague Sharon from Ireland. Anyway, this was still somewhat of a virgin experience, as we likely ordered more than we thought we did as it cost us a pretty won...

This is Amanda trying a hot pepper...the pictures that follow shall remain hidden... it was HOT!
















Wrapping kalbi (Korean beef) in mint leaves with onion and sauce and bits of salad that was delicious!





Mom...SQUASH...even said yes when they asked if I wanted more....Look at all the food!!!!


Life has been pretty good here. Work is great, though Mr.Kim took four of my most troublesome boys into his office today and two of them came back crying.... there is to be no more swearing at Amanda in Korean!!!

I had a presentation with my youngest kids and their mothers today...I found it funny because the mothers didn't understand anything, but they clapped along enthusiatically so happy to see their kids speaking and singing in English..I felt so proud of them!!

Erin Way...Both Yvon and I can sympathize with you as we woke up this morning to a loud stopping Marching Band!!! There shall be more to come on that one in a blog of likes and dislikes!

Bonne Fin De Semaine!!

The rest of these pictures are from the market and our walk home. It is nice to have such a huge green space so close to home.

At the top of a peninsula close to home.

Watching the ocean.

View of the ocean and the harbour from the top of the peninsula!

Back in the Market....

Still the market..like I said..it was really big!!!

A restaurant close to home.

Today we took advantage of taking the subway to the Jalgalchi Market. It was a good fifteen minute walk through the largest fish market I have ever seen. It was full of little old ladies gutting and cutting up all kinds of seafood...from little fish, to big squid, to eels to certain creatures that I don't think I could ever eat!!

Where's Waldo?

One of the many fish stands !!

No way Jose.....

Hmm, talent I will never have....

Though it doesn't seem that busy, add random cars, trucks and motor bikes all trying to get through this street!!!

I thought I should introduce everyone to our new friend across the street, the ocean!

Day two at work and we have a photo for you, celebrating a colleague's birthday with some coffee cake. What the picture will not reveal is our boss, Mr. Kim, setting off a small but loud fire cracker in the office! Annie is a really nice person and very helpful to both of us. Actually, most of the teachers are very helpful to us as we begin our time here. This shot would also lead you to believe that Nicole is missing half of her arm....trickster camera!

We went for pizza on our way home and got another example or two of how they cater to their customers here in Korea. We were offered water as we waited for our take out pizza, and check out the packaging! Our box was wrapped in a ribbon!! If your eyes are sharp enough you will notice one of Mr. Pizza's slogans in the top left corner of the box... "Made for women!".

Need I say more?

A presto

After 2 short months of being on holiday....the holiday is finally over...or is it?? Yvon and I started work today and I have to say, I have never been paid so much to talk to students! Sure there is a curriculum to follow, there are set schedules, but my classes range from 3 to 10 students and I teach only 6 classes a day...40 minutes each. It felt as though the day began and so quickly after, it was done. The Korean teachers in the school are a great help, telling me which kids are "naughty" and how to keep them under control...the best advice was to mention Mr. Kim (Our school director) this brought me back to elementary school that the mere mention of Mrs.Wescott had me quiet!
The kids are funny..eager to poke fun at me...at least I think they are..I assume that is what is happening when I turn my back and they giggle and chat in Korean. Though I have told my name to each class, I am still just "Teacher", which at the same time makes me feel good...this being my first teaching job!
Some funny comments from today:
"Hi, what is your name?" ..."Tom and Jerry." When I asked if he was the cat or the mouse, he just laughed and shortened his name to Tommy!

I am slowly getting use to my new surroundings...It sometimes feels so sureal that we are here in Asia, of course it is very real the second we leave our apartment. I have a new appreciation for the asian culture, for the amount of hard work they do, even as young children.

Now that it is late enough, I think we are off to bed...hopefully to sleep later than 4 am!!!

Ciao!!!

Sidewalks and street smells!!

Okay, let's try to write this one without deleting it!! As we are walking around our neighbourhood we have realized that even walking the streets could be an Olympic sport. The sidewalks are scarce and one needs to be aware of the cars, buses, scooters and pedestrians trying to use the same space. I have been shoved by at least one granny on a mission, surely cursing this foreigner for staring at the signage rather than looking where I am going. We went looking for an adaptor this morning to keep this computer going and managed to get a free cord to connect to the computer instead...nice gesture from a complete stranger. It is nice to see there are good people everywhere. We also discovered Korea's version of Wal-Mart, the E-mart. Such a busy place, kind of like the Ikea stores at home on a Saturday only more people and signs in a language you cannot understand. We are also adjusting to the smells, which really are not that bad with the exception of the odd breaze from....the resturants, street food vendors, or maybe the ocean? Amanda swears this is the same odour plaguing Managua, so I guess this is a big city thing. All in all the smells are not as bad as I thought they might be and should be easy to get used to.

Tomorrow we start to teach and we are both happy to begin. Our body clocks are adjusting slowly and working will give us more sense of purpose. I am sure we will have many stories to share in the weeks and months to come.

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Thanks for your comments, they are appreciated and most welcome.

Plus d'histoires a suivre...

And we have finally arrived to Pusan, or is it Busan... I think the guy in Vancouver told us they spell it with a B now because that is the Korean way of pronouncing it. Either way, this city gives quite the first impression. The drive through the city to our apartment took us through a good part of it, giving us a peek at what seemed to be most of Busan. High rises, some lesser looking neighbourhoods and then the beach front that is across the street form our Korean palace now feel real and are not some place in the far east and in our imagination. The apartment is old but has lots of quirks and charm. The living space is larger than our Ottawa palace and our view of the ocean is super. Our bathroom is also our shower and drain for the washing machine... And thankfully Amanda found the switch to turn the hot water on which made the showering process much more pleasant. We are settled in and very happy with the place. In our immediate surroundings we have the beach - although swimming in this part of the Sea of Japan is apparently not all that safe - a fresh fruit and fish market and a couple of grocery stores. I have tried all foods thrown my way and am so far enjoying most of it. Most of the time I am not sure what I am eating but as long as I enjoy the taste I will continue to try new things. Amanda is still wrapping her brain around eating local food, although she has no problem with the rice! Bread and peanut butter are filling in quite nicely for her...well, for both of us!

Work begins on Monday and we both agree that that is a good thing. It will give us a little sense of purpose and more to do than adjust to our new surroundings. We saw the school yesterday after arriving and are both excited to see the kids and get started.

Most of the time we are thrilled to be here. We certainly have our mometns when we wonder what we are doing here, but these are normal jitters for both of us this early into anything new. We have already had one visitor, Sang Min from Pohang whom we met at our village last July in Ottawa. Such a nice, generous guy who took us out to a Korean bar and not an American one. A great place to spend our first evening here.

A presto...