Summer-Summertime

I've not been writing as often as I'd like, but life has begun to settl into a day-to-day hum and I find myself a little busy from the time I wake up until I tuck myself (and the pups!) in at night. Nonetheless, in case you're curious about how I've been doing, life is good, happy and chill in the Land of the Morning Calm. It's summer in Korea now, and I guess really it has been for the most part since near the end of May, I'm just thinking more about it these days I guess. No more chilly nights, no more thoughts of snow lingering on the edge of my mind, only heat. All. The. Time. Now as many of you are very well aware, I *hate* wintery cold days, so I am totally in my element over here in the summer time temperatures.

Along with this heat, which sits around 25-30C most days, there is a thick, sticky wall of mugginess. For anyone who has never been to a tropicalesque country it's hard to explain just what this feels like... funny that Korea ISN'T tropical, but embraces mugginess as though it were!! What it pretty much boils down to is the feeling that you are ALways covered by a sort of slick on your skin, sweating just from sitting outside or walking outside, even when the sun is hiding under cloud cover. I guess it's kinda like you are walking inside a greenhouse, with the heat cranked up around 30, the air just hanging around you... or like when you're stuck in the tiny drycleaner's shop on a really busy day, the air almost hits you as you walk in the door, and leaving gives you a 'thank god, I can breathe again!' kind of feeling... humid, humid, humid! Almost EVerywhere you go you find air conditioning, so the heat and the mug are easy to escape if you like, but I am almost ALways to be found outside, soaking up the heat a bit like a lizard, enjoying the fact that it's summer.

That being said, I *DO carry my umbrella almost everywhere I go, because Monsoon season is coming. Some days in the past week or two I've thought it was here, but then the next few days were sunny so I was obviously wrong, because monsoon season means 2-4 weeks of rain! rain! rain! with slight breaks... not what I've seen in my end of the country these days! 

Last week on my afternoon break there was a shower while the sun was still shining. It was raining enough that you definitely needed an umbrella if you wanted to arrive at your destination dry, but I found myself tucking my umbrella under my arm as I slowly walked back to school with my mocha frappe... the rain was beautiful, falling in light whispers from the cloudless sky, soft and warm warm warm like the summer sea. I remember closing my eyes for a moment and turning my face to the sky... I just stood there in the park, letting the rain fall down on me and thinking it was one of the most perfect feelings I've ever had... no traffic sounds, no pushy people, just the sound of the fountain in the park and the warm sunny rain. I was almost late to work because I walked so slowly once my feet started again, but I was on the edge of bliss and at the time it was worth raised eyebrows from the boss  :) 

Out at dinner with a Korean friend tonight we caught a bit of the weather, and the weather girl was talking about the meteorological confusion that was circling Korea since monsoon season hadn't arrivved yet... one day of light misty rain and then it's sunny - THAT is not a monsoon!! Nobody knows where the rains are, however I want to assure them that they're surely on their way (they seem to have gotten stuck down in Medicine Hat, Alberta if I've heard the news from home correctly!).

The Earth has a way of balancing itself out and doing it's thing, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. In the event that the rains DO come, perhaps I will have to go out and get myself a pair of polka-dot rain boots all the kids are wearing these days!!  :)  Ha, me, rainboots, haha, yeah... we'll see... stranger things have been known to happen!

World Cup Fever... but no chills

Today I went with 4 of my coworkers and watched a world cup game. My first of such an event since I'm not much of a sports-watchin' girl, but it was actually pretty fun!

CGV, the local (everywhere here) theatre decided that they would cash in by showing the games live on 6 of their 9 screens in our neighbourhood. Brilliant really, because more people would want to watch the game than a movie since South Korea is so soccer-crazy (particularly for the world cup!). At $10 a ticket we figured you really couldn't go wrong, and if nothing else it's a new experience, right??!! 

The theatre wasn't as packed as I'd expected, and suprisingly the crowd was a lot tamer than I thought they might be (save for the semi-neurotic woman sitting next to me who reached near-orgasmic (for her at least!) pitches any time a Korean player touched the ball).

At the end of the first half Korea scored their first goal against Argentina and everyone went a bit nuts, but that was where the scoring (for Korea ended). After half-time things went downhill for the Korean team, even though my non-educated self thought it was a pretty good, fast-paced game 75% of the time.

I can't imagine a better screen for seeing the game, and we had *perfect* seats, which was great. As well, they were selling beer in the theatre, so it was almost like being at the stadium (without the rain or the strange dust that's been hanging in the air here the past 2 days).

We are planning to do it again next week when we (I say we, see that??) play against either Nigeria or, well, crap I don't know who else it would be, lol... soooo not a fan... I'll have to get on that! Next time I'll bring my camera, because it would have been fun to show you the crowd when Korea scored.

I hope they (we?) do well in the coming games...

Bring it Korea, DaaaaaaeHan MinGuk!!

Just a Brief Update

School has been good these days, same same but different every day and I love it. There are times when I'm emotionally spent and have no spare ounce of patience for jumping screaming silliness once I leave the confines of my classroom, but mostly I leave school with more energy than I went in with - how's that for a job situation??! :)

One of my munchkins has left the class, which I'm sad about, but she went off to another school to be with her friend (Korean school, mom said English was too hard for her). She was the lowest level with reading and writing of all my kids. Crappy thing about it in Korea, nobody tells you ahead of time. Even if the school knows a student is leaving they hardly ever remember to say anything to the teacher. It sux that we don't get to say good bye. Oh well, I'm not much good at goodbye anyway I guess! I have a new student coming at the end of this month or the beginning of next, she is friends with Aran, one of my current lovelies, so we'll see how that goes!!

Korean class has been going well. I still go twice a week and it's only 2 subway stops from my house. My teacher is energetic and I really think she is doing a great job. As time goes on I'm slowly noticing that I understand more and more of what's being said around me, and I can have simple conversations with the hairdresser and shopkeepers downstairs that I just couldn't do before, so I'm really happy to feel like I'm making some progress!! Here's a pronunciation guide for you, now you can learn some Korean too!! Combine the red side with the green, for example (g) + (a) = ga!

I have, as I mentioned, started seeing an accupuncturist about my hip/leg/back problem. I've been going 3 times a week, it costs me $5 per visit (as opposed to the $50-$90 it costs at home). I always just want to scratch my head about the enmity that exists between medical practitioners from different fields, at home and away!

My family doctor tells me that I can try other things (e.g. see a chiropractor, go to a herbalist etc.) but doubts it will do me any good, instead prescribing muscle relaxants and stretching; My accupuncturist tells me to STOP taking the muscle relaxants because they're not relaxing my muscles anyway (which she can tell by the tension as she stabs me), and that pills are pretty much useless and more harmful than helpful, and then tells me just to let her take care of things with the poking and the heat and the 'ouch!ouch!ouch!'ies.

Today at the accupuncturist's I brought Jill, one of my coworkers. She had her foot stepped on by a 'big' girl in a high heel out at the bar around Christmas time, and since then has had severe pain when she walks. None of the 'normal' doctors know what to do about it, and xrays/scans have turned up nothing, so she decided to have a go at accupuncture.

In typical Korean fashion the doctor saw both of us at the same time even though I didn't need a new assessment. I was asked to come in with Jill to her assessment. I walked her through what was going on (which I think actually proved useful to my mid-western American friend who was a little wierded out by the whole thing!) and then they put us in a private room so we could get changed together (unlike my other visits where I got to change in front of everyone else!).

Once we had lain down a girl who was probably about 8 came into the treatment room. She stood between us, staring dumbly at us for a good 3 minutes no more than 6 inches from us at times, smacking her lips and looking back and forth between us. We both tried talking to her, in English and Korean, she just wouldn't answer. Honestly it was a bit creepy. After the 3rd time she came back in the room and stood between our beds I had run out of my less-than-endless patience with the absurd... my butt hanging out of my shorts and her standing there staring, it was very odd. So, very grown-up as I am, I just decided to ignore her and she did eventually go away... very, very strangey!!

If you're insterested in learning a little more about acupuncture the North American Spine Society has a great pamphlet/brochure on acupuncture that you can read by clicking HERE, along with 2 other handy information sites you can find HERE (out of Australia) and HERE! If you're interested, there you go! I'll keep you posted on what the result is over the long run, I'm assuming I'll still be going for awhile  :)

Otherwise, life in the land of the morning calm is pretty calm. It seems that the monsoon season may have arrived, though it's only raining not monsooning. I miss the sun and feel like I haven't seen it in awhile (though I'm sure it's only been a couple of days!). For now, back to school as I dream of sunshine.

Wedding P.S.

**The video in my Korean-Canadian wedding post is still processing so I have recalled the post back to the cupboard until it finishes logger tells me otherwise I'll NEVER get to share it with yoU!).

I'm assuming sometime before Christmas the Blogger server will finish with it.. check back if you want to check out the cute little singer... oh, and I edited the post a bit as well to include the only photo I had of Eunjin in her hanbok (traditional Korean clothes) and Joel in his kilt (which he assures me was worn in proper scottish form, eww thanx Joel!)...**

Korean-Canadian Wedding

Well, went to my first Korean-Canadian wedding here yesterday in the small town of Icheon that is famous for its pottery. My Canadian workmate Joel from Eastern Canada (Nova Scotia) married his Korean girlfriend Eunjin. His parents have been here for the last week and were very excited about the ceremony. The Boss' wife drove a few of us out (for which we were very thankful!), and I had a good time visiting with some of the people I work with. Once school work is done I want to look at organizing a weekend trip to the nearby waterpark for some of us, and maybe a trip to Busan in the south!

Here is the bride, Eunjin in the preparation room before the ceremony... it was more decorated in the little anteroom than the rest of the place!

You'll (maybe) notice that the dress in the portrait is not the one she got married in, and Joel is not in the same outfit either... in Korea you take your photos in a studio, rent a few dresses and accessories, and then you take about a bajillion pictures for an incredibly beautiful album. Those photos are not from the day OF the wedding, but rather beforehand.

The wedding was... well, in a word... strange, for me It was in a great big church that had a small room with theatre seating (the fixed red fold-down kind). It didn't seem overly decorated, kind of plain I thought, but the flowers were pretty (it's a tradition that women at the wedding can take a bouquet at the end of the ceremony, so the flowers don't go to waste!).

The parents were seated in the front just behind the couple, dad walked Eunjin down the aisle.

The ceremony was performed entirely in Korean with the exception of a 'next we'll have the benediction' sort of translations (but no translations of the actual service, despite his parents being in the ceremony). This is to be expected really, but I guess I thought a bit more of it would have been in English, as Joel's Korean is also incredibly limited (though he knows the basics). I guess maybe Eunjin will translate it for him when they watch the video!

At one point in the ceremony the reverend said, "Canada and America are good countries because they believe in God, but North Korea is a bad country because they don't believe in God."

I know what you're thinking, but Yes, I'm sure that's what he said (one of my Korean friends told me!). In. The Middle. Of. Their. Wedding: Wow... what?!?!

During the ceremony many people visited and chatted, and few were actually listening to the ceremony so there was actually a bit of a din in the church (which explains the crazy speakers they have hanging from the ceiling). I was actually waiting for someone to pull out their picnic lunch, because I thought they were acting more like they just happened to be in the same room as someone getting married, and not as though they'd been invited!

However, I guess that's how it goes here. A lot of the guests are friends of the family instead of friends of the bride and groom, so many don't know the 'kids' at all. But wow, different than home, that's for sure!!

After they were officially married Joel's kindergarten students went up and each handed him a rose of congratulations, see how all of the little girls were dressed up like brides? One of them even has a veil!

The little one who is the focus of attention in this shot refused to give up her rose after she accompanied her brother up the aisle... it was totally adorable, she handed it to Joel twice, but pulled it back each time, finally running back to mommy...

After the flowers one of the kids sang the Lion King's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" acapella, it was very sweet and made Joel cry... my favorite part was the end of the song,

...and if he falls in love tonight,
it can be assumed
his carefree days with us are history,
in short ouuuuuuur paaaaaaaaaal....
is dooooooooomed

I was laughing my pants off in my chair at the lyrics, it was wonderful and little Sally did a great job!

After that one of Eunjin's friends noraebahnged her a congratulations song and then there was a half hour of pictures with the Korean guests and family, and then pictures with the foreign guests, and friends. By that time many of the Korean people had left for the buffet.

Following that we foreigners made our way to the buffet as well, which was typically Korean food (yummy!), I enjoyed it. No alcohol served at the wedding, just apple and orange juice, which was also kinda nice, I didn't really want to have to deal with drunken adjoshiis and adjummas anway! Soup-to-nuts (less the bus there and back) the whole affair lasted about 2 hours, and that.was.that!

Congratulations Joel and Eunjin!

The whole big Korean famdamily with all the aunts and uncles and cousins and so-ons...

Joel and Eunjin with her family, his new inlaws...

There was much bowing once they were officially married... bowing to both sets of parents, and then to the guests, and each time Joel got down and did the full traditional bow seated on his knees with his forehead to the ground (to much applause every time from the crowd, and to the delight of Eunjin's parents, who had not been expecting it!)...

This below was the only time we saw Eunjin in her Hanbok... Joel wanted to dress in a kilt to honour his family's heritage along with Eunjin honouring her Korean heritage, so the family opted not to perform the traditional Korea ceremony as far as I know... As she and Joel came around to the dinner tables to say goodbye and thank you to everyone we got to see them in their fancy duds (sorry the picture doesn't do the kilt or the hanbok justice)!!

I'm gonna need to convince one of my Korea friends to get married so I can see the traditional Korean ceremony!!! :)

Are You Listening, God? It's Me, Shauna...

A few of weeks ago a friend of mine from the States who also lives in my building called me late one night for help getting to a doctor. She was having stomach pains that were really severe and hadn't abated all weekend and needed to get somewhere.

Over the course of the past few weeks, and due to the incredible level of care and assessment she's gotten at the Seoul National University (Bundang) Hospital she has received some stressful drastic news...

She has cancer in her small intestine, it's NOT a little mass, and it has metastisized to her liver. Apparently it was visible 2 years ago in previous visits to doctors in another smaller city in Korea when she went in about digestion trouble... since the doctors she saw were not specialists they missed it, handing her 3 days worth of pills because she wasn't digesting her food and sending her on her way.

From our neighbourhood the closest medical facility happens to be a very famous hospital in Korea, and as a result her care and assessment have been very thorough, and she has the top doctors at this hospital working with her and helping her deal with everything. She also has an English liaison person at the hospital who translates everything for her.

The doctors seem optomistic about treating her (surgery) but tell her she is "in a very dangerous place" with the cancer. I am sure that she is terrified, but she refuses to cry or "feel sorry for" herself.

Korea's medical system is fantastic, and even without insurance (which she actually does have) it's reasonably priced for medical care when compared to what we charge foreigners at home (and compared to what uninsured people have to pay in the US).

A person might ask "why doesn't she just go home? why is she staying in Korea instead of getting treated at home??" but it's just not that easy, especially for many Americans. My friend can't just return home for treatment, because in the US if you don't have insurance through an employer everything you need from the medical community is fee for service, and how is she going to pay for cancer treatment and surgery with no job and no insurance??

Things here are still a bit up in the air as to what the plan of action is (more appointments with the cancer clinic next week), but so far she is receiving good treatment, and I hope things will continue on that path until she is cancer-free.

She is understandably very upset, but in dealing with most of it all on her own, she doesn't want to talk about it much for fear that she will fall apart and not be able to pull herself back together. Her mom and sister know, but she hasn't told her dad or her 23 year old son yet... I think she wants to wait until things are dealt with rather than 'up in the air' before she says anything because she worries their stress will just add to her own rather than providing any level of comfort or support to her or to them.

My heart aches for her, and I just really needed someone else to be here, to hold this knowledge with me as I send my prayers out for strength of heart, love and peace of mind to her and the people who love her... and for a quick and full progression to life and cancer-free state of health as she knew it...

Acu*PUNCTURE!

I noticed my hip was a little sore getting on and off the bus with the kids this morning. Nothing too bad, but increasingly worse after each stop. I was fine while making my homework in the morning, and while teaching my first class. Halway through my second class I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand, everything hurt. I mean, I could do it, but it really hurt!! I sucked it up and got through my class, trying not to be an angry bear with my babies. At the break time boss offered to take me over to the hospital (I declined), one of the teachers ran home to grab some muscle relaxants, and at lunch I filled my prescription from Tuesday afternoon's doctor appointment and then promptly took one of my PRNs. That, in combination with the over-the-counters dulled it all enough by about 330pm for me to teach without straining, just alternating between sitting and standing. When I was done at 5pm I was done, and decided to go find some needling.

At 530pm one of the Korea teachers walked with me over to an acupuncture clinic that's right by my house, only 5 minutes from the school. When we walked into the clinic it SMELLed like you'd expect a herbal medicine shop to smell. Not unpleasant, but a very distinct smell. One of the girls had lived in Canada for a year so her English was great. I met with the doctor about my leg (turns out she's the mother of one of my favorite students (Connie) who gave me the lovely umbrella for teacher's day!!) and my hip. She asked me a few questions, tapped my wrists a few times while seeming to listen for an echo or something, and then (through her assistant) that it was 'no big problem,' I would have to come for 4 or 5 appointments and I would be fine.

I've been for acupuncture before for my neck, it wasn't too big a deal, didn't really hurt and overall left me feeling pretty relaxed... so... I was *NOT* prepared for the very ouchie badness of having deep-muscle work done!!!!

I changed into shorts and t-shirt in the middle of the room with everyone else (all women at least, lol) while chatting with the assistant. I was all calm and ready for the tiny pokes I remember from my last appointment. Only one thing to say... NO SAME-SAME!! 

Turns out that the muscle that's been causing all of the pain is quite deep in the butt, so while I tried to maintain my composure I was a pretty noisy jumpy pincushion while she was putting the needles in!! I was embarassed and tried to lie still and be quiet, but I couldn't help it!!! After being in pain most of the day I'd had about all I could take, so I was nearly in tears by the time she had done with the needling. The needles were all across my lower back, down my spine, one at the back of my neck, several in my hip and all down my right leg. Of course I couldn't see them because I was laying on my stomach, but if I could have taken a picture I would have!!
After the doctor inserted the needles (during which time I was on the edge of screaming "Ok! Ok! Connie has no homework for a year! I'll even do it for her! 100%! No Problem!!" wondering how she would treat me if her daughter DIDN'T like me!!) they turned on a heat lamp and I stayed there for 40 minutes.

As long as I didn't try to move they didn't hurt once they were in. The woman on the table next to me had a brief conversation with the assistant about how a foreigner managed to find her way into the clinic, and her opinion that foreigners didn't believe in acupuncture (hence much confusion on her part, thinking I came by mistake, lol). The assistant politely talked with her and kept tying to steer the conversation away from me, but the patient was curious, lol... where is she from, what does she do, how long has she been in Korea, on and on. Good thing I've been here long enough not to be too bothered by it all, I just pretended I had no idea what they were talking about and drifted off to sleep.
 

I woke up about 2 minutes before time was up, and the assistant pulled the needles out (which hurt a smidge but I was happy they were out). After that was done she put a series of hot glass cups on my back to withdraw toxins from the body. She heated the inside of each cup with a lighter stick and then applied them to my lower back. I tried to ask more about it, but of course the assistant has minimal knowledge of it and the conversation ended in "I don't really know, the doctor just says so," and I left it at that.
 

The cups stayed on for about 10 minutes or so (maybe 5?) before the were pulled off one-by-one. Now they didn't hurt going ON, a bit of pinchy feeling for awhile until you get used the it, but coming off... WHAT DID I DO TO THESE PEOPLE???! After she pulled off each cup she slapped the area to dissipate the pain, all the while giggling through my torture as I grimaced into my pillow, glad I was having my back worked on and not my stomach!! 

 
Then she told me the doctor would be coming back to do a bit more acupuncture work... nooooooooo!!!! This time she did some meridian work, some rhythmic tapping of my foot up to my hip, wrist and elbows with a very small needle in a poker stick... difficult to explain but easy to sit through and didn't hurt at all (even when she poked the soles of my feeet and teh tops of my toes - phewph!).
 
I resisted the urge to scowl at them while rubbing my 'wounds' as I paid, until they told me I had to come back 3 days in a row - then I scowled, lol... oh man... Connie's dad was at the desk when I was paying (it's their clinic), and they altered my fee. Foreigners are supposed to pay twice the fee of Koreans for medical attention, but they entered me in under my coworkers name and charged only charged me the regular half-price, lovely lovely people!
 

The best news? I walked out of the clinic with no pain in my leg or hip, and I went right to sleep when my head hit the pillow after Korean class. Next appointment, Friday 2pm... ugh... well, if the puppy can do it I can do it...

Happy Friday everyone!!