Perfect in Seoul

To make an incredibly (and incredible) long story short: I met a girl when I was traveling this past summer. It's one of those things, there were SO many things that could have changed where I would have been when I met her. I mean, so many different places I could have been at that moment. So many times on my trip, I randomly selected the amount of days I was going to stay in a specific country/city. When I was planning the Hungary part (as I was traveling with my friend Elly), her and I decided spend 3 nights in Budapest. Hell, why not. It's a good, thing, too, because if I would have only been there for two nights, I wouldn't have met her:
I was sitting in the hostel in Budapest, much much much earlier than I would have ever been back sitting in the hostel, but Elly was leaving the next day (by plane), so she was packing. So we both came back early for her to pack. Anyways, as I'm sitting there this (obviously) Korean girl walks by me. At the time I was debating on whether or not I would talk to her. I always wanted to practice my Korean (and shock Korean people), so I went up to her and asked her "why are you here?" in Korean. And then that was it...

We only had a day together (less than 24 hours), but I think we both realized there was something there. We kept in touch after my trip, but we didn't really know what was going to happen. She was living in Dublin (studying English for a while), and I was moving to Seoul, where she wouldn't be for a while. While I was in Canada waiting to move to Korea, we sort of thought it might be possible for me to fly to Dublin to see her before I went to Seoul. It seemed like a good idea, as crazy as it may have been, so I did it. Obviously I was (and she was) really nervous about the whole thing, as its not very often you fly to see somebody after only spending a day together.

Everything in Dublin went amazingly well. I'd say things in Dublin were perfect, but after being with her here in Seoul, I guess I have a different definition of perfect. We had 5 days together, and I couldn't have asked for anything to be any better. We went on some little random day trips, and I was actually able to show her around, as I had been there only a few months earlier (at the start of my Europe trip). Nice shot of us at the top of some mountain we hiked:
Just one picture to show how incredibly cute she is:

So, after spending 5 days with her in Dublin, I had to leave her again to go to Seoul - her hometown, but where she wouldn't be until February. Just like after our time in Hungary, we continued to talk after we left each other. I'm incredibly lucky that I had the balls to go to Dublin, because if I didn't, we wouldn't have realized how amazing everything is between us. Things went so good, I somehow got her to come back to Seoul.
Things since she came back (a few weeks ago) have been absolutely perfect... and its amazing knowing that we have time to spend with each other for once.
I've even been able to meet some of her family, like this weekend when she invited me to her place to have some real home cooked Korean food with her brother:

My City

It's been forever since I've updated this thing. About a month. Wayyyyy too long. Especially considering when I was in Europe I was updating it every other day or so. But then again, I had lots to post about then.
Well, I shouldn't say that, because there is lots to post about (I'll get to all of it in later posts), but for now, take a look at my city.
Most weekends I'll walk to the downtown portion of my city. I live in a suburb of Seoul called Uijeongbu, and downtown Uijeongbu is actually pretty nice (and big). Not only that, but its an incredibly beautiful walk every time:


Most times I'll go down there to check out the market and see what's happening:


And then buy some sort of Korean food for lunch (I try to eat something different every time, although, most times I like the previous one so much I'll go back and have it again):
Just another picture to show what my downtown is like:

Everything is here really amazing. School is amazing, my girl is back in town, the place I live is cool, I'm learning SOOOOOOOO much Korean.
That's the only reason I haven't have time to post - I've been so busy with studying and everything else, I hardly get a chance to come on the internet.

Field Trip for a Day

My school and students are actually amazing. I can't say that enough. Last week, on Wednesday, each class got to leave school and go do something for a day with their homeroom teacher. I don't have a class, so I tagged along with another homeroom teacher and his class. We went to this village called KangChon (강촌), and it was by far the most fun since I've been here.
We had to take a train for an hour from Seoul... picture of me and some of the students at the station:



Once we got there, random Selca pictures:

After getting there, we went for a bike ride for about 20 minutes to get to a mountain/waterfall. Selca picture while riding a bike:

Once we got to the mountain we had some lunch, in traditional Korean style were all the food is everybody's food:

Some waterfall action with me, the other teacher, and some students:
After the waterfall we played some Korean games, where the losers would have to sing and dance infront of everybody:
Luckily, I've been learning how to play (and sing) a Korean song on the guitar, so I knew how to sing something Korean when I lost, which I did. I also threw down a moonwalk. No pictures of that, though.

Some scenery:
Picture of everybody:

People I've met again

I've met a few Korean people that I haven't seen in ages. Aside from how sick Seoul is, it's also really helping me keep in touch with some old friends.
Myunghe and her mom at a Korean Baseball game:


Also, if anybody remembers this post from back when I was making my way through Europe:

I met up with her again, which is SO sick. There aren't very many people I've been in four countries with.

Downtown Seoul

I've been to Seoul about 10 times since I've gotten here. Which is a lot when you think about it I guess, considering I haven't been here a month yet. So I guess it seems like I'm going every second or third day or whatever.
Couple of shots:
Busy-ass market:


Myeongdong (shopping area). It's ALWAYS this busy. Imagine being the one guy with red hair.
Korean drum dude outside Gyeongbukgong Palace:

Seoul: The perfect mix of: tons of people, modernization, culture, history and nature.
More coming....

Life in Seoul

I've got about a months worth of pictures on my camera... I figure I might as well go through them piece by piece. First post with pictures, I might as well show people where I'm at. I live in a suburb of Seoul, but the suburb itself has a million people living in it (bigger than Ottawa). So it's not like I live in the middle of nowhere. This is the street that I live off of:
... and is also what everything looks like around where I live.

Most nights I'll go for a walk, and study Korean while I'm walking. I usually walk down here:

Me in the morning of my first day of being a working-man:
I've also discovered a new bus that is WAY quicker than the bus that I used to take, and it brings me to a station that is much closer to Seoul. If everything works out and I catch everything on time, I can get to the center of Seoul in 45-50 minutes :).

Seoul, South Korea

Haven't posted in a really long time, although I think most people that follow this blog know/knew that I was moving to Korea to teach. I got here about two weeks ago, but I'm still working on getting errthing figured out (in terms of getting internet at my apartment, getting a phone, and stuff).

I have some pictures, but with no internet at my place (until the 24th of September), I won't be able to upload them.

Some facts about where I'm at:

It takes a little over an hour for me to walk out my door to reach the absolute mecca center of Seoul. I usually go every weekend for either Saturday and Sunday, and sometimes meet up with friends during the week after school.

I'm working at a high school teaching English, and my school, students, coworkers and principals are absolutely amazing. All of my coworkers and especially my principals are incredibly happy/impressed that I've been learning Korean (and about my knowledge/interests in Korean culture). My principal has taken me out to lunch a bunch of times, including today, which was because he wanted to take me out to celebrate 추석 (Korean Thanksgiving). A few minutes ago he invited me into his office because he bought me a present for the holiday.

My vice-principal used to be a Korean teacher. I'm an English teacher. He wants to learn English, I want to learn Korean. Everyday for the past little while we've been meeting for an hour to teach each other. I'm going to suggest to him that this be a daily thing.

Everyday for lunch, my school has 급식, which is essentially cafeteria food, but it's amazing here. For the price of $2, I get a buffet lunch every day, but lunch is only an hour. If anybody knows me, that simply turns into a game of "how much food can I possibly put down my throat in an hour"

I haven't used a fork since I've gotten here. I've only used metal chopsticks, and spoons when I need to (soup, cereal, and stuff like that). I've been to places where they give you forks, but I've asked to have chopsticks instead.

I teach myself at least 10 Korean words everyday. Korean words are easy. Korean grammar is impossible.

To say that my students love me would be an understatement. To say that I love my students would be an understatement.

I teach 22 classes a week, and each time its a different class. So, I have 22 different classes that I teach the same lesson to. 40 students a class, which makes about 900 students. I teach every student in grade 1 and 2 (high school here is three grades, called grade 1, 2, and 3).

I introduced myself to each of my classes in English first, and then in Korean.

At the first staff meeting, I introduced myself to the entire staff (of 90 teachers) in a speech about a minute long - entirely in Korean. At first I thought this was the most amount of people I had ever spoken to, but then I remembered all my Human Kinetics presentations that I did in-front of 200 or so people. Either way, 90 people is the most amount of people I've ever spoken to in a language other than English. :P

I got a present at the bank today because when I talked to the teller, I spoke to her in Korean (poorly, probably). She was so happy she gave me a present - 2 new packages of bank-quality toothpaste. Which is perfect because I was running of out bank-quality toothpaste.

I'm essentially off for the next two weeks, which is unfortunate because I actually love teaching here. The days fly by because I always have so much fun with my students. If I had my passport (Immigration still has it), I'd be on my way to Russia (or something like that) tomorrow.

Sorry, long, boring, I know. No pictures. First post in a while. Just saying what's up.

김 한성

Vienna, Austria

Few pictures of Vienna before I get into the "last-post" stuff. I stayed in a room with a guy that looks EXACTLY like Mike G in Vienna. Minus the skin thing on his face. He even had the Mike G walk thing going.

Stefansdom in Vienna... cool place:

Mozart and Me:

It's freaking crazy. In a way it sort of seems like it was yesterday that I left for Hong Kong. In another way it sort of seems like it was five years ago. I can't even really begin to think about all the people I've met, all the things I've seen, all the things I've learned, and all the places I've been. Although I am really excited to get home, it's going to be really weird to be back. A small list of things I can't wait to do when I get back:

Beat my dad in tennis

Beat Neil in tennis

Beat Neil in Smash

Eat a spoon-full of peanut butter

Drink some cold milk

Piss off my brothers

See all my friends

Outdoor workouts at Mooney's Bay

I just did a quick count. 31 countries since I last left Canada... which puts me at 54 on my list... and I have to tell you, that makes me excited in ways you can't even imagine. Throughout this trip I've sort of been thinking about what I will do next in terms of 'long-ish' term traveling. I've met a few people from Taiwan on this trip, and they've been making me think about biking around the island of Taiwan. I've also been thinking about walking from the top of the main (big) island of Japan to the bottom. In there somewhere too is going to have to be another "continent" trip. The next one will probably be every country in South America or every country in the Carribean, or something like that.

All I really know that I'm excited to be home soon. I'll rest up and see everybody for a month, and then I'll be off to Korea... which is also exciting me in ways you can't imagine.

Bratislava, Slovakia

Somehow I thought three nights in Bratislava was a good idea, haha. Well, I guess it was more that I had a week left in my trip, and I only had two cities to go to: Bratislava and Vienna, so I divided it in half.
I somehow managed to kill the time here. The city is pretty small but it is really nice.
Nice looking castle:
View from the castle:
I'm getting pretty sick of this Danube river. I've probably crossed it like 20 times on my trip. Sometimes going over it on a train/bus and going far away from it... but then sometimes I'll be on a city that is on it (like Bratislava, Belgrade, Budapest... and then I'll see it again in Vienna). So when the city is on the river I end up walking accross it a lot.

Prague, Czech Republic

Getting closer to the end of my trip... I have quite a few days in each of the cities that Ill be in from now on. Not really THAT long compared to a normal person's trip, but long for me I guess.

Three and a half days in Prague, which means I really really got to know the city. One thing about me - and one of the reasons that I travel - is that Im obsessed with maps. I also love knowing a city enough so that I dont need a map when I go back the next time. Three and a half days here was definitely enough for me to know this place like the back of my hand.

Ye olde town:

Typical sel-ca shot infront of something incredibly sick:

Bit of a boring post, I guess.

I got to meet up with Erika in Prague, which is sick on so many levels. No pictures of that, though.... although I did get to use my non-map skills to show them around the city.

I'll try to make the next one more exciting.

Budapest, Hungary

Being in Europe for the World Cup was cool. It sucks that its over because it always gave me an excuse to go out and chill at night. Last night especially, I went to a park where they were playing the game to watch it with a bunch of people.

Today I walked around Budapest for a really long time. It's the first time I've been in a big big city since Istanbul... which is nice because it's impossible to get bored:


There's also this fat policeman statue I thought was pretty sick:
This little guy is pretty cool, too:

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Forget following Willy... lets play some Where's Willy (which is what people said I should have called my blog when they found out the actual name of it).
Okay, Im not that hard to spot. But I did look small in the picture when my friend took it.

I know Ive said this a lot about the countries Ive been to lately - but Slovenia is really REALLY nice. Its almost like a fairy tale city. A picture that can sort of help my case of the fairy tale is this dragon:
Theyre big on thier dragons here in Ljubljana... little weird, but still sick.

Zagreb, Croatia

If anybody who reads these blog-posts cares at all - I hit a milestone when I entered Croatia. Croatia was the 50th country that I've been able to enter (in my life... even though its all been done in the past two and a half years). Entering Serbia was the 49th country, which, in itself, is a milestone because there are 195 countries in the world. Getting to 49 means I've covered over a quarter of the countries in the world. Sick.

... Anyways, arriving in Croatia was incredibly nice. I had been in eastern Eastern Europe for too long, and even though Croatia is still Eastern Europe, it's incredibly nice and if you didn't know any better, you'd swear you were in Paris (aside from the size of it) or something like that.
Typical refreshing European shot that I haven't had in a long time:

Belgrade, Serbia

Getting to Serbia was another long, fun bus ride. Crossing into Serbia was definitely the most nerve-wracking border so far, mainly because I had a Kosovo stamp in my passport - and Serbia apparently states that they block passports with Kosovo stamps. Nothing happened, though, so everything was cool.
Elly and I decided to do some couch surfing in Belgrade. For those who don't know what that is - you basically stay at a strangers house - for free - when you travel. In Macedonia we met these girls who couch surfed with this couple in Belgrade, so we contacted them. They told us to be at their house at noon, but there was nobody there:

Elly called her mom to check my email and saw that the hosts told us they wouldn't be home until 7:30 now, so we left our bags there (I felt a little weird leaving my bag at a strangers house without telling them- especially when I didn't even know if it was the right house) went back into the city.
Waiting until 7:30 was rough. We were up at 4 in the morning that day to catch our bus - and then a 7 hour bus ride - and then an hour or so of figuring out how to get to our hosts' house - and then getting back into the city - and then being so tired and hungry we couldn't make any decisions. I guess it seemed best to sit on the street and eat some corn on the cob and some bread.


The next day we had the whole day to check out the city. After all that mess the first day, I was really able to enjoy what the city had to offer. It is actually really nice (in the top 10 of the places I've been this trip). Even though there are some really nice things, there are still random buildings that are completely destroyed and look like they are going to fall over (on people) any minute.
The second night, Elly and I made dinner for our hosts. It was SOOO amazing. We made so much, and then at the last second our host pulled out all this food that she had made for us during the day WITH desert. So much food. Sooo sick.

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Elly and I took another fun night bus from Kotor into the capital of Bosnia and Hercegovina. Arriving in the morning is always nicer than arriving late at night, but when you arrive just when the sun is rising and you're miles from the city - it sucks. Luckily we walked up to some random people and one of them was German so we split a cab with her into the city.

If anybody ever remembers their history classes... the thing that started World War 1 was when some dude named Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot on some bridge in Sarajevo. Here she be:

Sarajevo has some cool cemeteries, and some even cooler views of cemeteries: