Inevitable Post

As a general rule I don't like comparing Canada and my current country of residence. It was true for DK and it's true for SK. I tend to find the exercise pointless and almost always biased toward your current audience. That said, with the opportunity to return to Canada three quarters of the way through my stint in Korea, I am particularly aware of the differences these first few days back on Canadian soil.  In an effort to stop talking about Korea in every conversation, a common/annoying problem for people returning from abroad, here is a concise list of my observations.

• Seeing white people everywhere is weird. I feel like I should know them. Seeing white babies and old people is also pretty novel.

• Not feeling moderately guilty every time I flush toilet paper is quite nice.

• Being able to eavesdrop on conversations in the street or on the bus is fun -sort of like being let out of a bubble.

• Eating all foreign (aka not Korean) food all the time feels decadent.

• Tax is a pain.

• My suspicions are confirmed, my English has gone down hill, I said "big size" in a Canadian store.

• Traffic is stupidly calm here. The cars actually stop for yellow lights.

Typically, I can't remember half the things I want to now that I'm writing them down.

Two Wednesdays

I'm in Canada! What a shock to return so suddenly. But I'm very excited. I think it finally dawned on me aboard the BC ferry passing through active pass (~20 hours after leaving Busan). Also, man it's a beautiful country.

I'm pretending that I'm not tired and that I have simply lived two Wednesdays where most people only lived one. I left Busan on Wednesday morning and caught a flight Wednesday night. Fell asleep and woke up and it happened to be Wednesday morning... again. That's my strategy and I'm sticking to it.

Live from Incheon Int'l Airport

Just because I can. 

I am fairly impressed with Incheon (Seoul's airport). It's very big, bright and clean. There are helpful people stationed literally every 20 feet with huge banners tied around their bodies reading: "CAN I HELP YOU?" 

The five hour bus ride here was pretty good too. The driver was pretty good but prone to all too exciting sudden stops on the highway. I met a bunch of Uzbeks (or Uzbekis?) at the Nopodong bus station which I thought was pretty cool. Unfortunately they thought I was Russian. Which from a sketchy Korean would not be cool or exotic; its often used as a euphemism for how shall I say... woman of ill-repute. I've learnt to be very clear about being from Ca-na-da!

I arrived pretty famished and my main mission after passing security was to locate food. I'm giving Incheon minus points for only providing one "AmJoe" with crummy sandwiches stuck amid a myriad of designer shops. Who buys $1000 purses at an airport anyway?

Now to kill time before my flight. Maybe I'll peruse the Chanel bags...

It's a Beautiful Day

Today was stunning. I'll admit my mood was boosted substantially by the prospect of going home for xmas tomorrow but it was seriously nice out too. I had a very pleasing morning bagel set (latté incl) with J down at my favorite JavaCity. The balmy weather afforded us warm, sun-soaked seats on the beachy patio. Not bad for December 2nd. 

I think going home will do wonders for my appreciation of Korea. I must admit my enthusiasm has been waning in the past couple months. I know I am extremely lucky to have my sketchy school close in time for a month long xmas vacation. Though this reward is hardly without its price (months of job insecurity, multiple bosses...). I am leaving the country not 100% certain of a job in the new year and definitely with my fingers crossed. I feel better that B will be here the whole time and can keep me informed. 

Tomorrow morning I head off to Nopodong bus station to catch a five hour express to Incheon Airport. My flight leaves at a comfortable dinnertime hour and delivers me to Vancouver magically many hours before I left. Then a bus/ferry combo will take me all the way to Victoria. I think it's going to be a long day. Thanks Mor, the book arrived just in time!

Have a Hep-B Day!

I have a flight! I have confirmation of my month off. I don't have confirmation of my future salary/hours/job. I'll take what I can get.

One of the consequences of a looming international flight is I suddenly have to do the many things I could have done last week but at the time didn't have to ergo I didn't.

I spent my morning picking up the results of my medical check for teaching in France next year. I'm pretty sure it wasn't necessary to give me blood/urine tests and x-ray my lungs. I think they just needed to know I wasn't dying. But when operating in a completely foreign hospital with a weird language you sorta do what they say. It turned out that the series of Hep B shots from grade 8 had run their course and I got another today. Good times. Though it reminded me of the deeply cheesy  slogan I made the title of this blog post. Finally the doc checked and signed the "healthy" box. 

There's the issue of the global economic crisis that sadly has affected the Won rather catastrophically. Generally speaking the English teachers in Korea are extremely unimpressed. I am trying to devise a plan to best protect my hard earned millions (of Won) that will hopefully include a James Bond titanium suitcase ;)

I'll be home for Xmas... yes... no... yes... yes!?!

I think so at least. I will be in Canada for xmas this year. How surreal is that? Since signing up for Korea about 11 months ago I've had it firmly fixed in my brain that I would work in Korea for a year and that would include my first xmas away from all family.

That all changed dramatically when my school closed its doors yesterday. Originally I was led to believe I had happened upon an unexpected month of paid vacation (hanging out essentially until the new school opens at the beginning of January). Probably the most awesome deal ever. So I started thinking about what to do. It finally dawned on me two days ago I should go to Canada. It is xmas after all.  

I arrived at work yesterday totally jazzed about the prospect of going home for xmas and a list of questions to iron out the details of this holiday time; but also acutely aware that this seemed absolutely too good to be true and therefore probably was.  Well the trouble started around 2 pm. I was chatting to boss no.2 (whose English language skills are quite iffy) who said something that instantly put me in a heightened sense of alarm. He alluded to boss no.1 maybe paying for a flight home for me. (The standard operating procedure for teachers in Korea is we have our flights paid for at the beginning and end of a contract.) If I would be getting a flight I would not be getting a new job in January. Not good.

The last day had a very weird vibe to it as last days are prone to have. As the day wore on I got more and more jittery about the uncertainty of my future in Korea. What was I doing on Monday? Would I be in Canada or Busan? Or Jinju (at about 6 pm my boss inexplicably offered me a completely new gig in a city 1 hour north of Busan)? I can definitely say Friday was not a good day for Julia's nerves. 

So at the end of the day we had a work dinner. Ok, game time, I thought, let's clear this all up.

Hoo boy was it a doozy! Three hours of non-stop negotiation about December, pay, vacation, pay, contracts, pay, the new job, pay, hours, pay.... It was probably the most intense dinner discussion I've ever had riddled with language barriers and miscommunications at every turn. If I could, I'd like to offer this general piece of advice to employers in Korea: foreigners do not take kindly to statements such as "Frankly speaking, I don't know your old contract and I don't really have a contract with you." I almost had a heart attack at the table. 

That was probably the worst it got. There was also talk about not paying us for December, making us show up and do nothing at the school if he was paying us, and many conflicting statements and ideas about my future job in general. The most bizarre outcome of the night was without a doubt the exorbitant salary he is proposing to give us under the new school. It is literally more than double my current salary and 50% more than any salary I have heard of in Korea. And he signed the paper.

Currently I am still reeling from the events of last night. I'm looking at booking a flight to Vancouver but also waiting for a reply from my bosses to confirm what they said. I am quite unsure of what to make of it all. And I definitely haven't got my mind around the fact a week from now I could be walking along the Breakwater in Victoria, BC. 

A capital weekend

It must be the Canadian in me that is waiting for some form of meeting to confirm what exactly is happening to me and my job in my last 3 months in Korea. I can't help but feel that my unexpected month of holiday is somehow not real. But I think the few words I got out of my boss last Monday are probably all that I'm gonna get.

So in that spirit I'll accept my circumstance, believe it's happening and get back to my regular blogging. 

I went to Seoul last weekend to visit C and finally see some palaces. I caught an early morning KTX and discovered a new car of the high speed train: cinecar. For the price of a regular movie ticket I got a seat in the movie car where they showed "The Bank Job." I wouldn't have sprung for the extra entertainment but the rest of the econo tickets were sold out. 

Following in the tradition of my previous visits to the city it rained. It rained all day Saturday which is somewhat unusual for Korea where it usually pours and  then the sun comes out. 

The deep grey and stormy sky did serve as a phenomenal background to the fiery fall foliage surrounding Changdeokgung Palace in central Seoul. I thoroughly enjoyed the 1.5 h tour of the palace buildings and gardens. (Even if we had been forced to wait 30 mins in the rain for the English tour to start).

Afterwards we found warmth in a bowl of Korean porridge (a thick milky soup with rice, veg and tuna). The second palace we hit promptly shut its doors in our faces thus concluding the palace touring portion of my visit.

Not to worry, we were close to Insadong home of some awesome tea houses were we spent the rest of the rainy afternoon. 

We had a chill Saturday night with the exception of temporarily getting locked in a bank at 11:45 pm. Seriously how does that happen?

Sunday was a beautiful sunny fall day in which we traveled to the far reaches of the city bumping and pushing our way through ginormous Korean  crowds in the subway. There we found the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was good to get out of the city and see some open space and also get some culture. Busan is sorely lacking in the museum department so I appreciated the opportunity if not the tower of TVs that was offered up as art. 

Definitely a top notch weekend! Photos on Facebook.