WON 60 bucks for singing "You Are My Sunshine."

I just got home from the Christmas party. It's only 1:30 AM but considering I arrived at the party around 6PM, it's been a long night (7 1/2 hours!)

Koreans sure know how to throw a party. We sat at silk wedding chairs. There was enough food for like a thousand people! And the drinking was ridiculous. The head of the hogwon (4 campuses and probably millions of dollars) kept filling our glasses with everything imaginable: whisky, soju, beer, as he made toasts! He acted like he was my best friend.

There were about 200 people at the gathering. Koreans are fond of karaoke. They call it "noraebang." I thought I'd be meeting foreign teachers from the other campuses, but there was only one overly friendly black guy and two old Canadian men, married to Koreans.

I got called up to the front of the hall, in front of 200 people! The guy hired to be the entertainer chose me to sing a song. My light hair must have been a bulls-eye target. Oh great! "What do you want to sing?" he asked. The first thing that came to mind? "You are my Sunshine!" I gave a horrendous performance and forgot the words, but laughed at myself.

I got called up a couple more times to dance with Korean teachers. For my humility, I won a prize. The school gave me a photo album and an envelope with $60,000 in it (more than $65. Canadian!) I'd say it was worth it!

Afterwards, the head honcho, my boss, Jacques, Ludwig and a bunch of others went to a noraebang club. In a more intimate setting, singing was fun. I belted songs like "I WILL SURVIVE" by Gloria Gaynor. Dried octopus was passed around the red-lit norebang room.

While getting fresh air outside, Yuno: a new friend whose classroom is next to mine, told me I have to experience the communal bath. Women bathe with women and men with men. This is very common in Korea. He said it's the ultimate Korean experience. I told him I was too modest to disrobe in front of other girls. He laughed at me and said I had to learn Korean culture.

In the end, I ended up at a small, traditional Korean restaurant with a few of the teachers. I felt burnt out and, knowing I had the ball game tomorrow, I called it a night before they put their order in.

I felt emotional walking home... maybe just a little overwhelmed, missing The Hora Homey and others back home. It was a big day between the amusement park and Christmas party.

Woncheon Amusement Park & fallen leaves

It's 4:00 on Saturday and I just came back from a fall-like day with Chung. We took a bus to Woncheon Amusement Park: a 1190000sqm wide park built on woods and a reservoir.

Leonard Cohen says everything has a crack in it- that's how the light gets in. The park was old, rusty and fantastical, with the air of a ghost town. There were swan boats to ride around a pond, princess chairs knocked over and broken mirrors.

It felt like Canada's autumn, even though it's nearly mid-December. The trees were bony and had lost their leaves. We kept our cold hands in our pockets. Most of the rides weren't in use- just a few kiddy ones. Chung said it's the gaming influence. Boys would rather sit in front of a computer than ride the ferriswheel.

Leaving the grounds, we saw an old man in a toque beside an open fire. He was selling something. As soon as I asked Chung what, he approached the man and bought us a brown bag of what turned out to be baked sweet potatoes- 4 of them for 3 USD.

We hopped in a cab and he told the driver to swing by Ajou University. I got a good view and was excited about the nearby shops and bars. It's fun to see a new part of town. We ended up at a Japanese restaurant. I got a delicious, hot bowl of soup with beef, mushrooms and tofu. I don't remember what Chung ate. I was too mesmerized by the tiny orange fish eggs he brought to his mouth on chop sticks.

Tomorrow I'm going to watch his baseball game. He told me to bring a blanket to wrap around myself as I watch. We have so many plans for the future. Soon we're taking a train to the Oceanside where I'll tour the South Korean marine operation. A tour of the DMZ costs 70 dollars! This will be cheaper, and probably more interesting.

I have to get ready for the party tonight. I promise to catch up on my e-mails when I get home.

Christmas Party at at Wedding Hall

Weddings are a big deal in Korea. Everywhere I look I see a wedding hall: a huge building (often ornate with pillars out front) that houses numerous weddings at the same time. Pretty tacky, right? The school Christmas party tomorrow night is held at one.

I wish I had a camera! Next weekend, after 'Pay Day Friday', that Canon's all mine!

Male Sexuality in Korea

"So... tell us. Just how pretty are we?"

No, it isn't a gag store. This is men's fashion in Korea.... I've always liked a man in pink...

Teenage boys in my classes hang all over each other. They hug and touch each other's hair. It's human to want affection and I think the lack of homophobia here is refreshing.

Standing in line at Wooribank the other day, a business man in front of me was absentmindedly grooming the hair of his coworker.

My friend Camille was instructed by her boss to touch the younger students so they'd feel loved. She was told to touch their hair, their hands and to hug them.

In Canada if you work with children, you're put through an obligatory police check, but not in Korea... this I admittedly take issue with.

Fed for nothing in Korea? Tested my hypothesis!

* Use your foreign bank card at HANA BANK.

I woke up late today and had to spend the late morning and early afternoon preparing workbooks for my classes. Needless to say, I didn't have time to take the Scotia Bank advice I got from a fellow Suwon blogger: Melodie.

I didn't eat a thing. The plain rice and pasta last night was enough to turn a girl's stomach twice. Looking at the clock, I knew I didn't have time to walk 40 minutes to the nearest Hana Bank: apparently the only bank that accepts Scotia cards, before teaching my first class. My stomach was crying for food.

I decided to test my hypothesis. I walked into a restaurant I go to fairly often- the place where I get the special: $2.00 kimchi noodle soup and kimbap. The waitress who once gave me a sweet potato to cure a cold wasn't there, but thankfully the other waitresses remembered me. As I explained myself, they waved a guy over to translate. The chef got to work, preparing a big hearty meal. Food never tasted so good. I slurped it down, smiling, thanking them profusely.

My last class ended at 10 P.M. and, figuring I couldn't subject my body to a 4th nutritionless day, I pulled up my hood, slipped on my mitts and began my trek to this "Hana Bank" I had heard good things about. It was quite an adventure. I got to the Home Plus/Galleria area and couldn't find it. The cold was biting at my fingers, my toes. I must have asked 17 people where the bank was but no one knew! I saw a drunken business man held up by the arms and I was followed by another, asking where I was going and who I was meeting there (the bank! the bank! just find me the bank!)

I was out in the cold for about an hour and had almost given up when I spotted a familiar storefront. The lettering was faint from my vantage point but YES YES it was indeed Hana bank. Oh the excitement! It was like finding gold, finding relief from my desperation in the form of food and a cab ride home. My coworkers had all become walking wallets. At work, I fantasized about borrowing money but I really didn't want to.

Inside, I found an ATM with English on it, pulled my frozen fingers from my mitts and began to press the buttons nervously. Why? I must have tried every other bank, in my month here, told again and again that my bank card was a credit card, invalid at that.

The relief was glorious. I almost didn't believe the cash in my hand. I decided to reward myself with a vegetable wrap from the Home Plus cafeteria so I waited at the cross section, sorely disappointed when it was closed. I was so happy to find myself in the back of a Taxi, headed home. He drove quickly and I only had to spend $2.00 on the ride.

I stopped at a convenient store across from my building, drank down two yogurt drinks and contemplated where I would go for food. I had a 30 minute talk with a guy behind the register as my toes and fingers came back to life. They burned as they thawed. He told me he had seen me around. He was sweet looking and I got a good vibe, so I agreed to go for dinner with him and his friends, sometime soon. To top off my evening, he offered to give me a treat- anything in the store! "Please, please, take something," he kept offering. I said, "why?" and he said because I was being so patient with his English!

What a country ; )

Trusting Nature of Koreans

You feel it. Koreans trust in people's integrity.

Shops leave stacked chairs outside, even at night.
I've heard numerous stories about foreigners losing things: wallets, cameras etc. to have them immediately returned.

Food delivered from Korean restaurants comes on dishes. You simply set the used saucers and plates outside of your door and someone picks them up later. Leaving my apartment yesterday morning, I saw a pile of dishes waiting for the delivery guy. I thought, 'but someone could so easily steal those!'

I'm broke right now because I was paid on November 15th for the previous month, even though I arrived near the end of October!

Money wired from my Canadian account, 6 days ago, has yet to arrive. I have dry food: pasta and rice but nothing to put on it and nothing to drink. In Canada I'd be freaking but, here, I bet I could walk into any restaurant I frequent, explain my situation, and be fed. It's comforting. If worse comes to worse tomorrow, I might test out my hypothesis and beg the Kimchi waitress for a hot meal on a rain check.