South Korea

I went to Jeju and Seoul, Korea with 3 wonderful people: Anj, Catherine and Edgar. Jeju is known as the honey moon spot. Seoul is the soul of Asia. We had a week off and we wanted to go somewhere relaxing but a spot we haven't been to yet. We looked up a few places but we all decided we wanted to go to Korea. We went to Jeju for a few days before we flew to Seoul. Jeju was beautiful! It was so quiet and clean. All the washrooms had toilet paper and soap. When we found a taxi driver he was very helpful because he called our guest house for us to find out where it is and he drove us there. Great hospitality! Everyone is very friendly and helpful. All the taxi drivers had a GPS in their car. It showed the landscape and made a sound when there was a camera ahead. We didn't think Jeju was that big but it does take a few hours to drive around it. I thought I could ride a bike around it in a couple of hours with ease. Our guest house was very nice. The four of us stayed in one room and it was very clean. They people were very helpful.

The next morning, we all slept in. Breakfast was included; I had coffee, toast and eggs for breakfast. Then we were off on our adventure, we took the taxi into the small city and walked around. We didn't know what we were expecting but we just wanted to explore. We stopped by a bakery call “Paris Baguette”. I visited that bakery so many times and I even bought some things to take back to Dalian. The cinnamon buns are to die for! We saw a signed directing us to a waterfall. We followed the signs and we went through a market with a lot of cabbage for kimchi. When we were close to the waterfall we saw a sign for submarine. We got side tracked and followed the signs to a submarine. We went into a submarine and submerged about 40 meters. It was so COOL! I have always wanted to go in a submarine =) There were lots of fish and coral. The scuba diver, pretty cute, fed the fish near the submarine and the fish swam close to all the windows. The MC only spoke Korean but the tone and expressions he used were very funny. Everyone was laughing and having a good time =) After the excitement of submerging under water in a submarine we were hungry to we found a restaurant in the Lonely Planet and went to a Korean restaurant. It was a set meal with many dishes to share. It was yummy! I had a chance to try many different kinds of dishes. After lunch, we went back to our hunt to find a waterfall. We found the waterfall!!! It was in a park area with a lot of greenery. Then we crossed a bridge we saw earlier which went to a very small island. We walked around the island and took everything in. Then we went to find a coffee shop. We just sat at a coffee shop for a little bit and played on Edgar's iPad 2 and just caught up. When we were coming in from the airport to our guesthouse, we saw a big stadium. I wanted to go find it again! We found a taxi and we were on another adventure. The area did not have a lot of people, the stadium was deserted. We were going to climb over the fence to see the Fifa stadium but we were afraid that there were cameras everywhere. Therefore, I suggested we walked around and see if there was an entrance on the other side, and there was! The gate was opened for the public. It is HUGE! The field was very well maintained in close up. Get this, there is a movie theatre under the Fifa stadium Edgar really wanted to watch “Thor” and we did. I haven't even watched a movie yet in China. It was very sporadic. We had to make sure the movie wasn't going to be played all in Korean because none of us could help each other. “Thor” was a good movie. It was late and we hadn't had dinner yet, so we walked around and found E-mart which is a department store associated with Walmart. I had a slice of pizza. That was only the first full day in Jeju!

The next day, Edgar and Catherine went on a hike. Anj and I went to find an island to the “Anne of Green Gables” house. We took the bus and a ferry to the island. When we got off the ferry we saw people renting golf carts. Thank goodness I brought my BC driver's license. I have always wanted to drive a golf cart around a golf course but never thought about driving a golf cart around an island. I was not a very steady golf cart driver at first but then I started to get a hang of it. We covered a lot of different kinds of transportations on this trip. We stopped at different points of the island and took some pictures. It was a gorgeous day! I really wanted to go to a lava tube so we took the ferry back and a taxi. We did not have lunch yet. I don't think we actually had lunch that day. However, we did meet someone very friendly from U.S., Mike. Mike, thanks for getting us an English interpreter. It was so neat to be underground and feel and see the different lava formations. Some were rougher and some were smoother. It was dark and clammy underground. We still had quite a ways back to our guesthouse and we took the bus again. Mike, Anj and I went to a Korea restaurant for dinner. We were supposed to meet Edgar and Catherine earlier for dinner but we did not time it right. Sorry Edgar and Catherine =( The food was delicious! It was another eventful day =) 

The next morning we slept in a little because we had to fly to our next destination, Seoul. On our way to the airport, we stopped by a museum. Not just any museum, we went to the “Love Land” museum. Some parts were corny and some were artistic. Sorry no pictures included. The plane was not full at all and very comfortable. We flew on a Korean airline. When we got Seoul we went straight to our hostel. We stayed at “BeBop.” It is in the Hongik University area. It is in a good location because many clubs, restaurants, and coffee shops were around. It was harder to find but we asked locals and they helped us call the hostel. We did not end our day there because the day was still early. We explored the area and found a place for lunch. We had Italian food. There were many boutiques and small art studios. It is a very culturally vibrant place. We then took a taxi downtown, not knowing what to expect. The traffic was so bad that I got car sick... I eventually got better when we started walking around and I got distracted by the life size lanterns in the canal. The canal goes through the heart of the city. There was a very cool laser show too. I will try and upload it on Facebook.

The next day, we went shopping at Coex. The mall is huge and we didn't even make a dent. We did buy some stuff at the Body Shop and a book store with English books. It is hard to find English books in China. Only in the major cities. Catherine found an amazing book for her Physics students! We went to the Namsan Tower to take a look. It was so busy but so much greenery. I located Yoon by calling her. People are very genuine in Korea. I had no problems with finding a phone to use. People gave me either their personal or business phones to use. We had a delicious dinner and great company too =) Thank you for spending time with us Yoon in your busy schedule! I've never had it before, it kind of reminds me of teppanyaki but Korean style.

The next morning we had to wake up much earlier because we had a tour booked to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) between North and South Korea. There were many rules and restrictions, such as, where we can take pictures and where we should not go. We watched a 7 min. propaganda video which was quite positive. We then saw and took picture of the freedom bridge. I felt like I was being watched all the time, every step I took. There were four tunnels discovered that connected N. and S. Korea together. We went down to the third tunnel. Thank goodness I am shorter because I did not have to worry about hitting my head in the tunnel but I did wear a helmet just in case. I definitely cannot be a coal miner because I went a little crazy down in the tunnel. When we went deeper, the air was a lot thicker. There were rocks painted black to disguise they were trying to find coal but they were trying to enter the other side of Korea. There are probably many other tunnels we are unaware of. I was so close to N. Korea. I used the binoculars to see N. Korea, it looked like there were two main cities but there is a lot of natural land and mountains. One day I will enter N. Korea. 

Going down the third tunnel.

After the DMZ, we explored the city some more. The Insadong area is more artsy. There were many different paintings and vases. We went for Turkish food for dinner. DELICIOUS! It's in the Expat area where there are many import stores. We then went back to the Hongik University area because we didn't get a good vibe where we were before. We went to a bar and we walked around to find a good club. There are so many different clubs in the area but many of them were not busy at all. We eventually went to “S Club.” Foreigners get in free!!! We were there for a bit. We lost track of time too. When we left the club, it was almost 3am. It was so busy outside. There were hundreds of people outside even though it was pouring rain. We waited it out by going to a cafe. It was a place where the three ladies had many good chats. The area was still booming when we eventually got into a cab to headed back to our hostel.

We definitely slept in the next day, we had to pack too because we were leaving in the evening back to Dalian. We tried to find a shopping place but we didn't buy anything. I had street food for lunch =) Next time I have to go back for the dumplings, I never had a chance to try them. The Hongik area was booming again with an art market in a park. I bought a very nice sterling silver necklace and the man made it in front of me. In addition, we heard very talented musicians. People were sitting and walking around and taking everything in. We were sad to leave Korea =( It was very easy to get to the airport on the subway system. The worst part was the delay at the airport. I could have been at the lantern festival and the parade in Korea but I was stuck at the airport. We did not know when the plane was going to leave. It was supposed to be only about an hour flight home but I think it was delayed for about 5 hours. It was so late and we were all falling asleep or running on adrenaline. I fell asleep on the plane right away. I felt bad for the flight attendants because they were starting to fall asleep too as they were working. We did find a taxi driver to drive us to Jinshitan which is about an hour from the airport. We met Truong at the airport in Seoul so Anj, Catherine, Truong and I stayed awake on the ride home because the taxi driver was tired too and we had to make sure he wasn't going to fall asleep at the wheel. Thank you Truong for helping me lift my luggage up to my apartment. I think by the time I went to bed, it was around 3:30am. I noticed the sky was getting brighter.

I would definitely be back to Korea. There are many parts that I still want to go see. I was surprised that not many Koreans know how to speak English; however, everyone was very helpful. I even used Mandarin instead of English to speak to a bus driver for directions. He only spoke Mandarin and Korean. I've noticed that Mandarin is more common than before. Korea is a very clean city and many things to do and see.

A New Semester

After I went to Hong Kong and went back to Dalian, it was a new semester. Most of my students were new to me, except for my S.S. 10 class. About ½ of my S.S. 10 students' were from one of my 4 Planning 10 classes from the previous semester. It was nice to teach some of my previous students, because they knew the routines already. During this semester, I was observed by the principal because I was a first year teacher. It was quite interesting to observe my students when I was being observed and evaluated. They were nervous with me but most of them really wanted me to do well. One class went a little too far though. Two boys fought outside in the hallway because supposedly one student was not speaking in English and only in Chinese and the other student told him to stop because he wanted me to do well in my evaluation. My teacher instincts went up when one student asked to use the washroom and the other just walked out a few seconds after. They are both really good students of mine too. They both apologized after they relaxed and we discussed about it. It was very sweet that they cared about me but their actions were not called for.

April fool's was a lot of fun =) heehee I'm not going to reveal what I did but let's said I fooled two of my classes. However, I tried to fool a grade 12 English enhanced class and I was fooled instead. Let's just say they had more fun than I did and they ate the prop. before they even used it because they were hungry.

Another funny thing one of my student's did during the final exam was circled another teacher's name on the final exam front cover. Get this though, I know it's semestered at our school but I've been his teacher since September 2010 and the final exam was in June 2011. My last name only has two letters!!! I found him after his last exam and I told him and he was embarrassed. He did pass the final exam!

Sometime in the second semester, I brought my small toaster oven and some baking ingredients to school. It is not common to have an oven in a Chinese household because it is not normally used. Some of my students wanted to learn how to bake. I reserved three after school sessions for the students. I was amazed that some have never seen an oven before. I taught them how to make chocolate chip cookies! They learned about wet and dry ingredients and the different kinds of ingredients. They experimented a bit, such as, they did not mix chocolate chips in the mix but on top of the cookies, they made a huge rectangular cookie, a hand imprint, and engraved my name in a large cookie with chocolate chips. After they had about 2 warm and melting chocolate chip cookies each, I asked them if they prefer freshly baked cookies or the packaged ones; they all said the freshly baked cookies. I'm glad they had an opportunity to try something new. Maybe one day they would bake for their girlfriend/ boyfriend. I hope next time, they will teach me how to make jiaozi (dumplings) and/ zhongzi.

As I mentioned before, people in China go to a hospital instead of medical clinic or family doctors because I don't think it exists. I caught a cold and then I was start to lose my voice. As a teacher, a voice is very important. I try not to use it as often but doing different actions. However, I had to go to the hospital. I went to the VIP section again and a few doctors helped me out. One doctor believed that I had some sort of throat disease. I was a little freaked out because I didn't know what was happening and they were using many different instruments and sticking it down my throat. In the end, I just went home and took some pills and I was find in a few days. I do not have a throat disease. One of the most shocking part of my trip was, a woman went to the hospital for medical help I think for her eye. She had a patch on her eye so I assumed. She started to have a nose bleed and she asked a nurse to help her. The nurse gave her a few pieces of gauze but the patient needed more. The patient tried to ask for more and the nurse told her to go find her own gauze or tissue. I was in shock because I was in a hospital and the nurse and doctors did not even help this patient when she clearly needed help. Another observation that I made was there was no soap, warm water, and paper towel in a hospital washroom. I don't want other diseases or infections from other people. I always make sure I have tissue and hand sanitizer with me at all times.

I had a couple of relatives come to visit me in Dalian. Aunty Grace and her friend stayed at my place in Jinshitan for a few days. I climbed the rocks behind my building. I didn't even know they were there. Supposedly Jinshitan is known for the rocks. Therefore, my apartment is a prime location because I can see it from my balcony. Check out the pictures on my Facebook. My place is okay with 3 people. Not a lot of personal space though. They even had street food with me =) Bonnie and Raphael also came to visit me. Raphael kept me posted about the Canucks game because he was listening to it. GO CANUCKS GO!!! I stayed with them at the Kempinski for a night. It was so nice and comfortable. I even had a bubble bath. I cannot fit in the bathtub at my apartment ... We explored Dalian City. Autumn drove us to a few touristy places and we walked around a lot. It was nice to spend quality time with my relatives. Thank you for visiting =) Others, please feel free to come visit me or I can meet you somewhere else in China. Keep me posted!

Aunty Grace and I

Bonnie and I

There are many other events that happened at the school and in China. I will fill you in as I remember them. I have them written down in another journal that I left back in Dalian.

A few months later.... the last part of my Hong Kong trip.

I know I've been very behind with my blogging. A few people have mentioned it to me. I got the memo. I will try to remember what has happened in my life from Feb. until June.

So I stayed in Hong Kong for most of my winter holiday. I did go to Malaysia and Singapore for a week with my parents. My parents like to join tours so they don't have to plan anything. However, I will NEVER join a tour again. I hate being restricted and only go to see touristy things. I was never late for the meet up time but we were always the last ones to show up. I like to use up all the time to explore. Many of the people on the trip didn't really care. They just take a quick look and then they were ready to leave. They didn't really appreciate the culture and the surrounding. It was quite relaxing though since we just hopped on and off a tour bus. I went to KL and Melaka. I spoke English and Cantonese in Malaysia. I really like Singapore. It's so clean! I really liked the Chinatown and I took a river tour too. I will definitely go visit again.

During my stay in Hong Kong, I got a chance to spend a lot of time with my family. It was my third time in HK. The first two times, I only stayed for 2.5 weeks. I built a stronger relationship with them too. Thank you for the hospitality! I also saw a few of my friends in Hong Kong, such as Peggy and Benson. It was nice seeing you and catching up =)

Chinese New Year in Hong Kong:
I ate so much in HK because I went when it was Chinese New Year time. I'm not complaining about that at all. In addition, I got red envelopes with money inside because I am not married yet =) heeheeehee One of my aunt's and I went to see the fireworks on CNY night and it was busy. I know, I hear fireworks a few times a day in China but it was different. There were many different shapes, such as happy faces, flowers, bunnies and the number "8". Very creative!

Many markets are opened. The Richmond market will never be the same for me. 

My Birthday:
I celebrated my birthday in HK with my family members. For lunch, I spent my birthday with Bonnie, Raphael, Bill Yee Ma and Uncle Tommy. My cousin and I celebrated our birthday at the "Intercontinental Hotel". We had the buffet. I have never seen so many different kinds of crabs and lobsters... It was DELICIOUS!!! The best buffet I have ever had!

In the evening, I celebrated my birthday with my immediate family. I was so full already but I continued to eat and eat and eat....  I had great food but most importantly, I spent it with my family members in Hong Kong.

I also had a birthday celebration in China! The girls, Anita, Anjali, Catherine, Rachel and Sui Ki surprised me. I had long sparklers to play with to begin the festivities =) Delicious dinners (not just one), Sui Ki cooked for me a few nights later too. Most of the girls just came back from India and they got me gorgeous purple material from India to make an Indian suit for my birthday. Thank you!

Thank you for all the birthday wishes and hugs from Canada!!! Next year, which country will I be spending my birthday at? hmmm....


Some reflections about Hong Kong:
-It is quite small with the large population but very civilized
-Many expats, definitely on the HK side
-Variety types of food
-Lots of shopping and things to see (I went to see the Big Buddha and the Tai O Village)
-Many people can speak English
-Very fast paced, always go, go, go

I might want to move to HK in the future. We will see.