 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Week 44 (Dec 25th to Dec 31st) |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Sunday Dec 25th, Christmas Day. The first time ever that I won't be
having a big dinner with my mom's side of the family. The first time ever that I won't be eating jerk pork and macaroni pie. It's very surreal. Mike (sax player from the band) hosted an imtimate Christmas
dinner at his apartment tonight. It was lovely. Eoghan, our Irish friend, somehow managed to get a turkey (next to impossible in Korea), and even more importantly, managed to cook it! Ovens are not too
common here either . . . Mike made some mashed potatoes, Patricia made some stuffing, and I . . . made rice and peas . . . successfully, I might add! It was a big hit, as none of my friends had ever tried
it before, with the exception of Vance, who is Jamaican. I was just happy that I actually cooked something that didn't fail miserably (perhaps I'm exaggerating my lack of ability a tad). There was
plenty of wine and food and great conversation and even better music, so it was a really good first Christmas away from home. One thing that was kind of frustrating: The guitar player from my funk band is this really flaky Korean guy, Jong Rak. Apparently, this club THAT called him up at the last minute begging for a band for tonight, and Jong Rak stupidly agreed without asking anyone else. So Phil and Werner got roped into playing a gig, when we all had plans to go to Mike's for dinner. Jong Rak was calling me and nagging me all day,
trying to convince me to play the gig too, but I put my foot down. Friends come first . . . Mike was not too happy that the boys bailed on our dinner for a last minute gig. If the club owner wanted someone to play so badly, he should have booked it in advance, not the day of. But that's Korea for you . . . Despite this small conflict, a great time was had by all who showed up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tuesday Dec 27th,Today was our last day of work before our vacation.
As per usual, Sue sprung a last minute dinner on us. We went to a fancy buffet halfway between downtown and Chilgok that served some of the best food I've had since I got here: roasted vegetable, salmon, steak, sushi, homemade mandu, the list goes on and on and on. We all stuffed ourselves silly, and then went to a bar closer to our neighbourhood. We also met one of the other new teachers for the new school. His name is Mike, and he is from Windsor, seems nice enough.
I'm amazed so far at how well the new teachers seem to be settling in. It's also kind of cool to think that there's going to be 7 foreign teachers altogether between the two schools, like a little army of
Chilgokians.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wednesday Dec 28th, Tonight I had to say goodbye to two of the best
friends I've made since I got here. We had a going away party at Commune tonight, for Ali and Charlotte. Almost everyone I know was there, which was really nice, but it was also horribly depressing. Ali is going to Thailand to meet Evan for New Year's, and then she is going back to England. Charlotte is going back to England to meet her sister for New Year's. I know that they're both coming back to Korea, but it's
hard to imagine being here without either of them here. And it will be so different when they do come back-- we'll all be in different places. It was a happy time, but there were also a lot of tears shed.
One aspect of being in Korea that I will never get used to is the goodbyes. What's especially hard is that I lost my two first friends in Korea (Jason and Evan) at the same time, and now I'm losing three of mybest girlfriends at the same time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday Dec 29th,Today I had the pleasure of taking about 20 kids ice
skating and swimming. Actually, all sarcasm aside, it was sure to be an easy day-- all I had to do was play with the kids and pose for some pictures, plus eat all the free food that was given to me for the day. I had not been ice skating since I was about 7 or 8 years old, and I have never been more petrified in my life! Add about 10 kids hanging off of either arm to the picture, and you can imagine how I was feeling at the time. Embarrassingly enough, the kids were way better skaters than I ever was. They were basically pulling me along, and teasing me when I couldn't figure out how to bend my knees or stop properly. That being said, these are some of the sweetest kids I've ever met, and they were incredibly well-behaved, and genuinely enamoured with me. After lunch, it was time to go swimming. There was a big, warm pool that was decorated with palm trees, and had all kinds of special water massage areas. There was even a section with work-out equipment under water! Apparently Koreans take their swimming seriously . . . Swimming was much more enjoyable than the skating, although I did almost drown a couple of times due to some overzealous kids! This place also
had a spa area that I was going to go check out, but quickly changed my mind when I realized that there are no clothes allowed in the spa area. Being the only white person in the building meant that I was already getting stared at enough; I didn't feel the need to add to that, especially not around a bunch of children that I teach privately!
Best part of the day: I got paid $100 just to hang out and smile for the camera. I love Korea!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday Dec 30th, Tonight, Daegu Tones had a spontaneous gig at THAT,
which is the only jazz club in Daegu. None of us really wanted to play, but Jong Rak went ahead and booked the gig without really asking us. The thing with THAT is that it's a sit-down quiet kind of club, which doesn't really fit the whole Daegu Tones kind ofvibe . . .
There was another band before us, which kind of made it worth it, first time I've heard real jazz since I got to Korea. Granted, it was kind of sophomoric (ie sounded like 2nd year at U of T), but I'll take what I can get.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Saturday Dec 31st, New Year's Eve! I can't believe that another year has gone by. When I think about what I was doing last year (partying at Anna, Paul and Kieran's), and how much has changed since then . . . it's like I can barely remember what things were actually like in Toronto. Trippy . . .For New Year's, Daegu Tones had a gig at Commune. We did the countdown, and then we started playing our set. It was a total blast, super high energy, tons of people dancing and having fun; I couldn't have asked for a better time. I brought Angela and Mike (the two new teachers) with me, and at first I was kind of
worried about leaving them to their own devices while I went off and sang, but they were really social too, and I think they met a lot of people without my help! I have to confess though, I was missing Charlotte and Ali a lot, and I know that my time with Anna is almost
up too, so that put a little damper on my evening. Daegu Tones played two really long sets, the second one admittedly was a little tipsy on all of our parts. We hung around at Commune for awhile, and then went
to DMC for some serious dancing. My night ended at about 6 am, which sounds just about right, doesn't it? On a side note, I've kind of accidentally worked my way into a little love triangle, which will very
likely affect the band, and probably soon. That's all
I'm going to say about that . . .Happy New Year!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|