My Christmas Vacation...

Okay so unfortunately, I was forced to take one of my two weeks of holidays the third week I was in Korea... which happened to be Christmas - New years. And...since I arrived two weeks before the vacation, most of the other teachers at my school had already made plans to go to all the farthest corners of the world and East Asia for the break, which they had booked months earlier, leaving me to explore Seoul solo. Time to man up and stop relying on other people to tell me where to go and show me how...

Well, I will admit that I didn't jam-pack my break full of touristy activities--I needed a break after all, plus it has been an average temperature of absolutely friggin freezing, so the temptation to sleep in past noon, snuggle up with a cup of citron tea and watch a downloaded movie was a little more than tempting... but I did do SOME stuff...

First off, I wanted to take the break to try to acquaint myself with my own neighborhood, the lack of street names and intricate burrows of everything-looks-the-same housing make what would normally be confusing about moving to a new place ever that much more so... So I made this map. It might not mean much to those of you in Canada who have no idea how confusing, and impossible this place is to navigate, but i feel like its a geographical accomplishment for myself and possibly others. So, now I can progress from "left at Daecheon station, right at the SHOW across the street from KFC, right at the fruit lady, left at the next fruit lady and the orange glowing cross, then right at the lime green sign with the junk stacked in front of it, and across from the lanterns" (yes, i wish that wasn't how I remember where my house is...) to "ahhhhh...." and a mental (and somehow physical--thanks Google maps!) of where I'm going. The next step is to find out where my neighborhood is on a map of Seoul... but I'll leave that for summer vacation!! haha

I did some pretty awesome stuff actually, though. I attempted to see Tron in 4D with this foreigners social group in Korea called "Discover Korea", but after the plans got screwed up, we settled for 3D IMAX. 4D, for those of you who do not know, is a 3D movie, with a moving seat and "effects" like "punch and kick" feelings, mist, water, heat, etc to make you "feel" the movie in a FOURTH DIMENSION. So crazy, i know. But, since Tron was such a visual flick, the IMAX actually ended up being great anyway. and I got these two cool-as-hell collectible glasses with action figures, and stole an armload of these badass posters which I have since put up in my new pad ;)


I also went to the Seoul National Doll Expo, which was SO COOL, and everyone who I tell i went to it is like WTF, but seriously!! look at the website!! http://dollfair.mt.co.kr/2010/04_gallery/gallery_list.php
Okay, try to stumble through the Korean characters like I do every day of my life, and look through the gallery. Awesome, right? ... I think it's awesome anyway. and I got some sweet pics, and as soon as I find out how to upload them from my cameraphone, you will see them on Facebook. After the doll Expo, I also took a trip to the tiny, tiny, three dollar kimchi museum, which was very small and a little pointless, but it was interesting to learn about the national Korean, eat-it-with-every-meal-despite-the-fact-that-it's-actually-just-spicy-cabbage food. It's actually fermented too, for an added level of gross-ness--think of that like rotting/turning to wine.... but yet it tastes delicious!! I am all for not thinking about what I'm eating here, Kelly and I ended up with General Tao slugs last night because we thought it was okay to trust ordering from photos on a menu... They tasted good, so i ate the whole thing, I think she was on the verge of puking, hahaha... whaaaatever....

I ALSO went to the Bongeunsa Temple for "Temple Life", which was a shorter, mini, in-English version of Temple Stay (think the part with Julia Roberts chanting in Eat Pray Love). It was really cool! I saw a traditional tea ceremony, learned how to meditate properly, learned how to bow like a Buddhist, learned a lot about the religion and folk tales that I had no idea about before, did arts and crafts and made a lotus flower lantern, and got a mini-prayer bead bracelet as a souvenir! Quite the afternoon. I liked the story about the lotus flower, particularly... basically the lotus flower is used a ton in Buddhist art and worship because it represents like, rising pure about the filth and temptation of our society. When the lotus flower grows in the wild, it is one of the most beautiful flowers, but it only grows in swampy, muddy, disgusting environments. Despite this, it roots in the swamp, the bud and leaves all covered and mud and garbage, and then one day it blooms, its petals totally untouched by the filth all around it, a perfect, beautiful flower in the midst of a dirty world. How nice... I learned a lot of stuff like that, the Buddhist religion seems very... grounded, and logical in a way, I guess. It was a great experience.

It was also my first day of teaching today!! But, that said, it is almost midnight and I am DRAINED--teaching is brutally tiring, and I have to do it again in a little over 9 hours!! So goodnight, everybody!!!