Out of here

We're flying to Seoul in 2 1/2 hours. Last night we had drinks with co-workers and I was sad to be leaving some of them. I've met some great people here. The puppy found a good home I think (I've got people here to check up on the situation) She's living with a Korean co-worker of mine (that's a funny story I'll write about later). We sold the computer and our sofa to the guy who's moving in here so that's really convenient. Anyway - I'll blog when in Seoul.

Bah!

I was outbid by about $100 dollars.....oh well.

Two Days to go

I can't believe we have only two days left.....awesome! I'm looking forward to our trip to Seoul before going back to Canada. We still haven't found a home for the puppy and we haven't sold our scooter or computer or sofa or a number of other things.....argh!!! People are so unreliable sometimes.

In other news - I've bid on a really cool Blythe on EBay. She's the Mondrian Blythe. She's usually a really expensive one because she's the second Neo Blythe made. So far I'm the highest bidder and it's only going for $112 US.....WHAT A STEAL. Anyway - hope I get her.

Giving In

I've been in Korea for about 10 1/2 months and I haven't once got my hair cut because I was afraid that it would end up looking like all the other horrible hair styles I see women walking around with. Needless to say - my hair looks crappy. I came here with a pixie cut and now it's chin length. Along the way I've trimmed it here and there hoping to give it some style but I haven't bothered trying for a few months now. Everyday I complain about how much I hate my hair. The initial plan was to wait until we flew into Toronto and get it styled there. Recently though we've met a hip gent on our corner who has a hair shop. He looks "with it" and he can speak some English. So in an hour I am going to his shop to get my hair coloured and cut (I have a pic of what I want - hope that helps - just hope the style looks good on me).......I'll post before and after pics (regardless of the outcome)....here's hoping for the best!

Karma

I believe there needs to be a balance in nature....I also believe in cause and effect (karma). The reason I bring up this topic is because last night I watched the pilot episode of My Name Is Earl It's a new comedy starring Jason Lee and it's about Karma. Anyway it was brilliant!

Well Friday is almost over (on this side of the world anyway) and now we have only five working days left. Today was a trying day. I had to kick a girl out of my middle school class because she just wouldn't stop talking. Then my manager met with me after the class and asked if I wanted her transfered to another class. I was annoyed but I didn't want to kick her out permanently. Then again why the hell should I care about her feelings?....she doesn't care that I'm standing in front of the class trying to teach when she is discussing the latest pop band with her friend (I assume that is what she is talking about - she's speaking in Korean) Anyway - I'll be glad when I don't have to get annoyed and angry every single damn day! Then again I guess I don't HAVE to be annoyed and angry - I choose to react that way - Don't I? You can't choose what happens to you but you can choose how you react.....there's always a choice I suppose.

A Few Hours Later......

..........I went and bought Pinafore Purple today. Yes! She has a purple wig! Awesome! Ok that's enough Doll purchasing for me. I have five Neo Blythes now.

Ten days left....

....in this city. 15 days left in this country then back to Canada where I can be an unemployed/unemployable librarian and Myles can be an unemployed/unemployable teacher/artist. Even though we both have multiple degrees we can't seem to get a damn job in our chosen professions.....but as Oscar Wilde accurately stated "Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."

I digress.....
I have a feeling I will be bored once back in Canada (after a while of course) and will be wanting to travel again. I will also hate being poor. Honestly we've been living it up financially here because it is so cheap to live. No taxes....no rent.....and the Won just keeps flowing in...and on that note...I may go buy another Blyhte doll costing (approx) $150.00 CAD. Yipee! I would have never been able to forsee myself as a doll crazed lunatic - but here I am!

A Pleasant Surprise

Myles and I headed out today feeling totally bored and very tired of being here in this city. It is a major holiday this weekend so at least the crowds and traffic have thinned out in the city. We decided to check out a new department store that opened up - of course it is the same as the department store that is a few blocks away - it carries all the same crap....until we get to the 7th floor. As the escalator brings us to the top I see in the distance a Blythe Doll.....yipee! As a previous post indicates...I went on a Blythe Doll shopping spree in Japan but they are very very hard to find in Korea. I was pretty surprised to see that they had 4 large ones and many petite ones. So needless to say I bought one big Blythe and one Petite Blythe.....YAY!! I bought Good Neighbor Cafe...she was just released August 25th and Marmalade Heart (also new)

Keeping me sane

These four albums are on my recent "must listen to" list.














The Bravery - Self Titled
(the frontman is HOT - second from the right)

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Kaiser Chiefs - Employment

Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better

9 more working days

Flying back to Canada soon. We're spending a few days in Seoul before we fly back. I'm so glad that I can now count all my days left at work on two hands. We've been busy trying to organize shit and I've realized that most people are really unreliable when it comes down to it. I mean - I understand that people have hectic lives and all that but if you say you are going to do something then why don't you stick to it? For example....a couple in Busan wanted to buy our scooter. Myles spoke to them a few times, gave them a price and they said they'd get back to us...never did. A woman at work (not the foreigner I mentioned before - things changed there too) said she'd like to take the puppy. However, she lives with her parents (as all single Korean women do) and her mother doesn't like animals but told her she could get a dog if she looked after it herself and kept it in her bedroom (that's a whole other story). We told her she could take the puppy just for the weekend and if it was horrible then she could give her back but she said "I'm not sure I can" - Well then you don't want the damn thing do you?!?!? We also had some guys from a shipping company come and look at and weigh our stuff so we could get a quote on how much it would cost to send it to Canada - that was Monday - still no quote.

So basically we're just waiting on others to get shit going and it's super frustrating. We just hope the puppy finds a good home (preferably not one where it's shut in a room all the time - or one where it's left home alone for 12 or more hours at a time) We have to sell the scooter and we have to ship our stuff home....I guess it will all fall in to place at the last moment - till then..........

1mm

Our puppy needed a hair cut so we took her to her vet and boy did she get one! A 1mm hair cut to be precise. I think she felt different because she didn't seem too happy when we picked her up. She is pretty much just skin so we thought we'd get her a very Korean outfit. I'm not one to use my puppy for amusement so I'm justifying her Tae Kwon Do outfit with "she is chilly"......


She looks a bit odd without her fur but we love her just the same and I'm sure she feels better to get all that fur out of her eyes.

Communication Lethargy

I've noticed lately that when I email friends that I obviously don't see and haven't seen in about a year; I always direct them to my blog. My emails usually go something like this
Hi - how are things with you? If you read my blog then you know what's going on with me - if you don't then here's the URL. Hope you are well........

I haven't decided if this is efficient or just lazy. In a time before "blogging" it'd be like handing someone your journal and saying "read this because I don't want to have to say it twice" Is it a communication breakdown or more of a global communication revolution that actually creates more of a social network? If I were living in Korea in a time before the computer I'd have to hand write letters to each and every person (none of this CC bull shit). Although I must say that I enjoy handwriting a letter.

Are we regressing or progressing?

I digress

Scratching the surface

I was tagged by Lorena so I thought I'd give it a go. I haven't really evaluated myself lately and this seemed like a good way to scratch the surface.


7 things I plan to do before I die:
1. Travel to India
2. be a great mommy
3. get more tattoos
4. write a great work of fiction
5. enjoy life one day at a time
6. listen
7. learn

7 things I can do:
1. be honest
2. adapt
3. laugh at myself
4. question
5. organize
6. relax
7. think outside the proverbial box

7 things I cannot do:
1. cook (mostly because I don’t try)
2. walk on grass in my bare feet
3. change other people
4. walk around alone in the dark (overactive imagination)
5. math
6. listen to someone rub fabric (of any kind)
7. swim in a lake (or anywhere else that sea creatures swim)

7 things that attract me to the same (or opposite) sex:
1. individuality
2. dry wit
3. honesty
4. intelligence
5. empathy
6. sincerity
7. confidence

7 things that I say most often:
1. Fucking hell
2. crazy
3. Hajima (Korean for “don’t do that”)
4. Luv
5. craptastic
6. What a bunch of morons
7. sheesh

7 celebrity crushes: (it didn’t specify dead or alive)
1. Johnny Depp
2. Justin Theroux
3. Audrey Tautou
4. Johnny Cash
5. Edgar Allen Poe
6. Ron Livingston
7. Blake Schwarzenbach (Jets to Brazil frontman – he’s an indie rock celebrity)

Losing my patience

Work is getting to me this week. It's probably the fact that I know I am out of here in 22 days. I also recently found out that one of the Korean teachers I work with "hates foreigners". We always just thought she was a bitch or couldn't speak English because she has never once acknowledged a foreigner. If you say Hello to here she just ignores you. If you co-teach a class with her (meaning she teaches one half - then you go in and teach the other half) she doesn't communicate anything going on - she won't even write down what she has done on the progress sheet. Working with someone you know is a discriminating bitch is unsettling. She hates us because we aren't Korean....that's it!
Don't even get me started on the discrimination I've dealt with here.....you definitely are reminded regularly that you are a second class citizen because you aren't Korean. I'm just tired of the looks and the pointing on the street...I'm tired of the discriminating bitch co-worker.....I'm tired of our shit hole apartment (which would not be a shit hole if a Korean were to move in - but because we are foreigners we live in it and no one cares). Anyway - September 30th - GOOD RIDDANCE!!!

Sunny

It's Wednesdays morning and the sun is shining. I'm not sure what the rest of the city looks like becuase I haven't been out but where we are everything stayed intact. However, this is a news report of damage in the city I live in (Ulsan, South Kroea)

In South Korea, which escaped the brunt of the typhoon, one person was reported missing and several hundred others were evacuated after heavy rains and winds battered the southern and eastern parts of the country.

The storm dumped about 622 mm (24.5 inches) of rain in the south-eastern industrial city of Ulsan and triggered landslides across roads and railroad tracks, snarling transport.

It tossed about ships docked in harbors like they were toys.

About 150 people in Ulsan remained in shelters, waiting for the water to recede in their neighborhoods.

Windy

Well the wind has started and the rain is falling as steadily as it has the past 24 hours. The wind is strong but I haven't seen any parts of buildings fly by so we're not too concerned....just hanging out here staying dry and enjoying our electricity....we're hoping it stays intact. I'll update if anything changes.

Typhoon Update

Well it's been raining heavily for about 24 hours now. The wind is starting to pick up a bit but nothing worth noting. In the next 24 hours we are supposed to get "tropical storm" winds but not typhoon winds. Which basically means damn strong winds but not really damn strong winds. The main concern is flooding from what we've read. We can't get any info from the Korean news channels as it's not in English.

We live on a hill and the street looks a bit like a river...nothing accumulating but there is a lot running down it. Our school cancelled classes today. Since it's only supposed to get worse in the next 24 hours I don't see how it will be open tomorrow either - which is fine with me - it means only 16 more working days in this country!! We're just hoping we don't lose power - or if we do it's not for long. I'll keep posting as it progresses.

Typhoon Nabi

Typhoon Nabi is getting closer to Japan this morning - no new weather here. However it looks like the storm is pushing more and more east - so we should just get some rain and wind but nothing crazy....we'll see in the next 24 hours as it hits Japan.

Speaking of bad weather......

Typhoon Nabi is headed our way - weather satellite images show it near us. It's supposed to affect Japan the most and not hit us full on. I've never experienced a typhoon before so I'm hoping it's not in full effect when it hits Ulsan (the city we live in) We live on the south east coast of South Korea so if nothing else we will get a lot of wind and rain - who knows. Typhoons aren't like hurricanes in that they don't keep their strength once they make landfall. The Korean news stations are showing it but of course I have no idea what they are saying about it - they could be saying "run for your lives" but I'd never know.....lol.

In the pic the top red arrow is us...and of course the bottom one is the Typhoon.

Either way - I'll keep posting but I'm not getting to excited/worried....it seems to be heading more to the East.

Later

Yikes!!!

With the recent resignation of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and now the death of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. George Dubbya has the opportunity to shape the supreme court for many years to come.

Unbelievable!!!!!

I have nothing to add to this - it speaks for itself.

Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?

Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

They ARE NOT Refugees!!!

A refugee is defined as a person outside of his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. Found here.

Why is the media calling the displaced victims of the Hurricane refugees? To add to the drama? Becuase they are poor?
They are fucking Americans.....who need help.......get it straight!

Inside Blogger

Some may want to check out this blog for first hand info.

Here are some highlights from a post that included a cell phone interview with a man at the convention centre

Any attempt to flag down police results in being told to get away at gunpoint. Hour after hour they watch buses pass by filled with people from other areas. Tensions are very high, and there has been at least one murder and several fights. 8 or 9 dead people have been stored in a freezer in the area, and 2 of these dead people are kids.

Before the supplies were pitched off the bridge today, people had to break into buildings in the area to try to find food and water for their families. There was not enough. This spurred many families to break into cars to try to escape the city. There was no police response to the auto thefts until the mob reached the rich area -- Saulet Condos -- once they tried to get cars from there... well then the whole swat teams began showing up with rifles pointed. Snipers got on the roof and told people to get back.

He says it's the slowest mandatory evacuation ever, and he wants to know why they were told to go to the Convention Center area in the first place; furthermore, he reports that many of them with cell phones have contacts willing to come rescue them, but people are not being allowed through to pick them up.

The Horror

Photo from CBC NEWS

I've watched more CNN in the last 5 days than I have in my entire life. Unfortunately that is the only english news channel we get here in South Korea.

I was just prompted to post because of a radio interview with the New Orleans Mayor that brought me to tears. He is so disgusted with what has NOT happened in the past 5 days - There isn't nearly enough help. Then this shit about Bush not being able to do anything until the Govenor formally "asks" him to step in. As the new Orleans Mayor points out - did Iraq asked Bush to go in THERE? They were in there in a second after 9/11. But it's taken him 5 days to fly over the damn disaster area in New Orleans?!? People are dying by the minute and they say they can't go in to help people because of violence. A man at the convention centre was on his cell phone telling reporters that the only people at the convention centre are the dying ones. There aren't any gun toting lunatics. I can't imagine how anyone there feels. The Government isn't even trying to save their own people....is it any coincidence that all these people trapped and dying are poor?!? Fucking Capitalist PIGS!!!!!

If anyone's interested......here's some of the interview I just heard. It was the mayor speaking to a local radio station (WWL) At the end it is written in that there are some pauses - that was the radio host and the mayor getting emotional. This was taken from the transcripts available here. I've cut out quite a bit. You'll find the whole interview somewhere on the page.....maybe mid way down.

ROBINETTE: Do you believe that the president is seeing this, holding a news conference on it, but can't do anything until Kathleen Blanco requested him to do it? And do you know whether or not she has made that request?

NAGIN: I have no idea what they're doing, but I will tell you this, you know, god is looking down on all this and if they are not doing everything in their power to save people, they are going to pay the price, because every day that we delay, people are dying. And they're dying by the hundreds, I'm willing to bet you.

They are -- we're getting reports and calls that is breaking my heart, from people saying I've been in my attic. I can't take it any more. The water is up to my neck. I don't think I can hold out. And that's happening as we speak.

ROBINETTE: If some of the public called and they're right, that there's a law that the president, that the federal government can't do anything without local or state requests, would you request martial law?

NAGIN: I've already re -- I've already called for martial law in the City of New Orleans. We did that a few days ago.

ROBINETTE: Did the governor do that, too?

NAGIN: I don't know. I don't think so. But we called for martial law when we realized that the looting was getting out of control. Then we redirected all of our police officers back to patrolling the streets. They were dirt, dead tired from saving people, but they worked all night because we thought this thing was going to blow wide open last night. And so we redirected all of our resources and we held it under check.

Most people are looking to try and survive. And you've got -- one of the things people have -- nobody's talked about this. Drugs flowed in and out of New Orleans and the surrounding metropolitan area so freely it was scary to me. And that's why we were having an escalation in murders. People don't want to talk about this, but I'm going to talk about it.

You had drug addicts that are now walking around this city looking for a fix. And that's the reason why they were breaking in hospitals and drugstores. They were looking for something to take the edge off of their jones, if you will.

NAGIN: Well, did the tsunami victims request, go through a formal process to request? You know, did Iraq? Did the Iraqi people request that we go in there? Did they ask us to go in there? What is more important? This is -- you know, I'll tell you, man, I am probably going to get in a whole bunch of trouble. I'm probably going to get in so much trouble that it isn't any funny. They probably won't even want to deal with me after this interview is over.

NAGIN: But we authorized $8 billion to go to Iraq lickety (ph) quick. After 9/11, we gave the president unprecedented powers lickety (ph) quick, to take care of New York and other places. Now, you mean to tell me that a place where most of your oil is coming through, a place that is so unique -- when you mention New Orleans anywhere around the world, everybody's eyes light up -- you mean to tell me that a place where you probably have thousands of people that have died and thousands more that are dying every day that we can't figure out a way to authorize the resources that we need? Come on, man.

You know, I'm not one of those drug addicts. I am thinking very clearly. And I don't know whose problem it is. I don't know whether it's the governor's problem. I don't know whether it's the president's problem. But somebody needs to get their (EXPLETIVE DELETED) on a plane and sit down, the two of them, and figure this out right now.

NAGIN: This is ridiculous. I don't want to see anybody do anymore (EXPLETIVE DELETED) press conferences. Put a moratorium on press conferences. Don't do another press conference until the resources are in this city and they come down to this city and stand with us when there are military trucks and troops that we can't even count. Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming in! They're not here! It's too dog gone late.

Now, get off your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and let's do something, and let's fix the biggest (EXPLETIVE DELETED) crisis in the history of this country.

NAGIN: I am just -- I'm at the point now where it don't matter. People are dying. They don't have homes. They don't have jobs. The city of New Orleans will never be the same in this time.

(PAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are both pretty speechless here. I don't know what to say.

NAGIN: I've got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Keep in touch. Keep in touch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)